Building A Yolande Langworthy Research Collection

Yolande Langworthy (center), director of Columbia Broadcasting System's children's programs c. 1928 - 1930.  She is picured with Artells Dickson captain of the "Ship of Dreams" on "Land O' Make Believe", and Patricia "Pat" Ryan possibly the first child star on CBS. 
From "What's On The Air, August 1930, from Media History Digital Library

Yolande Langworthy was the earliest known director of children's programs for the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). She held this role from 1928 until 1930 as creator.  , writer and producer of three children's series: "The Adventures of Helen and Mary" (1929-1934) "Littmann's Mountainville True Life Sketches" (1929-1930), and "Land O'Make Believe" (1929 - 1932). "Helen and Mary", a fantasy series with two little girls as the protagonist, was the foundational series for "Let's Pretend" (1929- 1954) the Peabody award winning program that dramatized fairy tales under the direction of Nila Mack.

Langworthy was the nom de plume of Frances Lawson Reade (1882 - 1976) a Canadian singer and writer. As far as is known none of her original scripts for children have survived. Therefore it is hard to judge or research her work as the first children's programming director.

(above) A slowly growing Yolande Langworthy Collection, with original signed book, articles and photos. 

However, it is possible to trace and explore Yolande Langworthy's career from newspapers, auctions of rare items, and radio magazines. From these sources I built a "Yolande Langworthy" collection.

To date I have a signed copy of “Poems from Arabesque”, a collection of writings from her acclaimed primetime CBS radio drama. Also in this collection is an original photo of actor Artells Dickson who was the Captain of the Ship O’ Dreams in “Land O’ Make Believe”. Original images from her career at CBS are rare, but online auctions are have made some of them accessible.

Summary of an episode of "Land O' Make Believe" for Sunday, December 01, 1929. 
From Chattanooga Times, Dec. 01, 1929. Newspapers.com

Online newspapers are full of listings for Langworthy’s programs. There are brief snippets of episode plots for her series. Since radio broadcasts could be interrupted or changed at the last minute, the snippet may not 100% reflect what audience heard, but could give a summary of what was planned for the broadcast. 

With a carefully curated collection of information about Langworthy, I hope to learn more about her career in children's radio and renew appreciation for her impact as the first children's program director for CBS. 

OTR Child Star of the Month: Patricia Ryan Part I

In order to speed up a goal of completing a definitive history of children's radio before 1960, I will try to write about one juvenile star a month. Another February could not go by without acknowledging Patricia Ryan. 

Old Time Radio Child Star of the Month, February 2024: Patricia Ryan – Part I

Photo of Patricia "Pat" Ryan, from Radio Mirror, April 1936

Patricia Marion “Pat” Ryan (February 25, 1921 – February 15, 1949)

Selected Radio Programs
Adventures of Helen and Mary [Let’s Pretend]

Land O’ Make Believe (Land of Make Believe)
Daddy and Rollo
Sunday Morning at Aunt Susan’s
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch

Aunt Jenny

The Parker Family

American School of the Air
Claudia (and David)
The Aldrich Family 

Patricia “Pat” Ryan was a leading child, teen, and young adult actress of Radio’s Golden Age. She acted on radio constantly from the age of 7 or 8 until her untimely death in 1949 at the age of 27. Now 75 years after her passing and for February which was also the month she was born here is a research complication of Patricia’s story. 

Patricia Marion Ryan born February 25, 1921 in London, England, the second child of John and Edith Lottie (Wood) Ryan. Her New York born father and English born mother also had Pauline Edith (b. 1917 - 2007), and baby sister Juanita (b. 1926 - ????). Edith, Paulina and Patricia immigrated to Ellis Island, NY when Patricia was just 3 months old.

“Pat” as she was commonly named as a child, began appearing in radio broadcasts around 1929 on the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). In future press articles Pat Ryan was sometimes called Columbia's first child star. The series she would be most identified for was the Saturday morning children's series “The Adventures of Helen and Mary” (1929-1934) with Estelle Levy*. Levy and Ryan would work together for nearly 20 years. This fantasy series created by Yolande Langworthy would become the Peabody award winning “Let’s Pretend” (1934-1954) under the direction of Nila Mack. As Let’s Pretend, children of all ages were swept into the best fairy and folk tales, all enacted by a juvenile cast. 

Patricia "Pat" Ryan, with Yolande Langworthy, and Artells Dickson on "Land O' Make Believe",
From "What's On The Air, August 1930.

most radio histories (and ongoing publicity from CBS and the press) Pat Ryan was the first and only Mary**, but recent research for the Children’s Media Archive blog has found that she began this role in 1930 following actress Jean Derby. At the same time Derby was on the series, Ryan was listed as a featured CBS child actress, so further research is needed to confirm which children's series Pat Ryan appeared on first. 

Pat Ryan and Estelle Levy c. 1935

Before the age of 14 little Pat was featured on Land O’ Make Believe, Littmann’s Mountainville True Life Sketches, Daddy and Rollo, and Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch. 

Ryan was part of a new generation of wonder children who were leading and starring in network radio programs and would graduate to adult programming, stage, and screen like Jimmy McCallion, Baby Rose Marie, Nancy Kelly, Shirley Bell, the Mauch Twins, and Franklin Adams.... just to keep the list short. 

Ryan went a step further and was also a writer and director. Pat was already writing plays for local theater, but it even more was widespread news when 12-year-old*** Pat was allowed to write and cast players for an original story for Let’s Pretend. She was reported as the youngest playwright for nationally broadcast radio program. Her story “The Silver Knight” was originally broadcast April 27, 1935. While a recording does not exist, an abridged version was published in the September 1935 edition of “Radio Stars. A script copy exists in the Let’s Pretend Collection at the Emerson College Archives and Special Collections. Pat did not appear in the play herself, but reportedy was interviewed by Nila Mack at the beginning of the broadcast. 

Abridged version of "The Silver Knight" from Radio Junior section of "Radio Stars" September 1935. Arty by Jim Kelly. 

Sources for Part I

"New York Passenger Arrival Lists (Ellis Island), 1892-1924", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J6J7-938 : Thu Feb 08 23:09:00 UTC 2024), Entry for Patricia Marion Ryan and June Wood, 09 May 1921.

The Silver Knight, 1935-04-27, MSS 004-01-70, Box: MSS 004 Box 02. The "Let's Pretend" Collection, MSS 004. Emerson College Archives and Special Collections. https://archivesspace.emerson.edu/repositories/2/archival_objects/15006  

"United States, New York, Index to Passengers Arriving at New York City, compiled 1944-1948", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:78Z3-1DMM : Thu Oct 05 04:06:39 UTC 2023), Entry for Patricia Marion Ryan, 1921.

Notes***

*Estelle Levy would later act, sing, and do animation voice overs as "Gwen Davies". Her married name was Gwen Greenhaus (1922-2022).

**Many contemporary sources list Pat Ryan in either role of Helen or Mary.  

***Like many child stars of the past, there are discrepancies with her age. Press articles from 1935 say Pat was 11 or 12 when the The Silver Knight premiered, but Patricia was really 14.