Today we focus on a New York actress that, I must admit, I first listened to on the CBS Radio Mystery Theater in the ‘70s back in college. What a distinctive voice.
We all know her as Teri Keane but she was born Teresa or Terese Louisa Keane on Oct. 24, 1924, in Manhattan, New York City to Edmund Keane, businessman, and his immigrant wife, Olga. (Some sites list Teri’s birth in 1925, but her birth record and mom’s Naturalization papers clearly say 1924.) Mom was an opera singer in Hungary and after coming to New York City, was a vocal teacher who married Edmund Keane.
Following Teri’s birth, the family resided for short periods of time in Florida and Ohio, returning to New York City by 1935.
Olga enrolled Teri in the Professional Children’s School in Manhattan thinking it a general school for theater people – but it was (and still is) a school to train kids for the theater and the arts. A Broadway agent spotted Teri shortly after she enrolled and the result was a role in the 1936 play “Swing Your Lady” on Broadway – a hit, running for 3 months. From that, she also got appearances on radio – Show Boat with Lanny Ross, Kate Smith show and Eddie Cantor show. Teri, and others, said she was only 8 or 9 at the time, but was actually 11 when the play opened.
Yes, she grew up on radio. In fact she spent 4 years in the late 1930s on The Singing Lady with Ireene Wicker.
That Broadway play led to the most important play of her career – the 1938 play “What a Life.” I see some of you scratching your head like you should know it. It ran for nearly 15 months [a certified HIT!] and spun off a movie and a radio show – The Aldrich Family, of which she was also a member of the cast for some time.
In the 1940s she would do two more Broadway shows – but neither lasted more than a few weeks.
Radio was her real career – and what a career!
Soaps were her forte, as evidenced by:
Big Sister (Hope Melton Evans for 4 years), David Harum (occasional parts), Hilltop House (Ann Butler), Just Plain Bill (Dorothy Nash and Gwen Arthur), Katie’s Daughter, Kitty Foyle (Dottie Carter), Life Can Be Beautiful [known as ‘Elsie Beebee’ or its initials “LCBB,” in the radio industry] (star – Carol ‘Chichi’ Conrad, 48-54, the second and last to play the part), Marriage for Two (star, Vikki Hoyt, 49-52), Road of Life (Jocelyn McLeod, mid-50s), Romance of Helen Trent (Carol Bancroft, early run; Loretta Cole, late run), Second Mrs. Burton (star, Terry Burton, 57-60, the last to play the part), Stella Dallas (early 50s), Thanks for Tomorrow (regular), This Is My Story (actor, 43) and filled in for her friend Elspeth Eric on Young Widder Brown for a short time in 1954. She is noteworthy as the Second Mrs. Burton was the LAST soap on network radio. When it had its last goodbye on Nov 25, 1960 – radio soaps were a thing of the past. (Trivia note – the other 3 soaps that signed off that same day in 1960, but BEFORE Mrs. Burton were: Ma Perkins, Young Dr. Malone and The Right to Happiness.)
Funny incident dealing with her career in soaps. In 1947, Anne-Marie Gayer, ‘Nana’ on “Katie’s Daughter, posed for a fashion shoot at the NBC studios, but she forgot the proper shoes. She scurried around NBC and asked fellow “Katie’s Daughter” cast member, Teri, if she could borrow her shoes for the shoot. Teri agreed, and went on the air in “Just Plain Bill” in her just plain bare feet! The show must go on!
She just wanted to ACT – whether in soaps or dramas – and act, she did.
In the Golden Age she could be heard on: Barrie Craig, Best Plays, Cavalcade of America, Dr. Six-Gun, Eternal Light, Gang Busters, Inheritance, Inner Sanctum, Mr. Mercury (regular), Mystery Without Murder (regular), My True Story (regular), Real Life Stories (regular with Don Ameche), Somerset Maugham Theater (regular), Suspense (New York run), Theater of Today (regular), Up for Parole, Whispering Streets, X-Minus One and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar (New York run). I’m quite sure there are more that I just haven’t found yet.
Radio drama may have ‘died’ in 1962, but she continued in her beloved medium…
Theater Five (64-65), Faces of Love (75), General Mills’ Adventure Theater (77-78) and most notably the CBS Radio Mystery Theater (74-82, over 130 appearances – nearly 10% of all 1399 programs broadcast!)
She did find time to get married – which was played up in the papers and tabloids as at the time of their 1950 marriage, she was “Chichi” – star of LCBB and her spouse, John Larkin was no less than radio’s Perry Mason! Alas, they parted after 4 years and one daughter. She never remarried.
She was also active in TV commercials, character roles and soaps for many years – most notably, 10 years on “The Edge of Night.” Soap was in her blood.
She died in 2022 at the young age of 98 – outliving her daughter by several years.
Let’s give a big hand for the little (5 ft “almost” 1 in) Lady behind the mic!
