# Family Skeleton
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{{Short description|American old-time radio serial drama}}
{{For|the novel by Doris Miles Disney|Family Skeleton (novel)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name = ''Family Skeleton''
| image = Studio publicity Mercedes McCambridge.JPG
| imagesize = 250px
| caption = Mercedes McCambridge,
star of ''Family Skeleton''
| other_names =
| format = Serial drama
| runtime = 15 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
| home_station =
| syndicates = CBS
| television =
| presenter =
| starring = [Mercedes McCambridge](/source/Mercedes_McCambridge)
| announcer = Charles Lyon
| creator = [Carlton E. Morse](/source/Carlton_E._Morse)
| writer = Carlton E. Morse
Sidney Marshall
| director = Jack Johnstone
| senior_editor =
| editor =
| producer = Carlton E. Morse
| exec_producer =
| narrated =
| rec_location =
| rem_location =
| oth_location =
| first_aired = {{Start date|1953|06|08}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1954|03|05}}
| num_series =
| num_episodes =
| audio_format =
| opentheme =
| othertheme =
| endtheme =
| sponsor = Sweetheart Soap
Prom Home Permanent
Toni Creme Rinse
| website =
| podcast =
}}
'''''Family Skeleton''''' is an American [old-time radio](/source/old-time_radio) [serial drama](/source/serial_drama), "the story of a girl with a dark past and highly uncertain future."[{{cite book|last1=Sies|first1=Luther F.|title=Encyclopedia of American radio, 1920-1960|date=2014|publisher=McFarland & Co.|location=Jefferson, N.C.|isbn=978-0-7864-5149-4|page=223|edition=2nd}}] It was broadcast on [CBS](/source/CBS) from June 8, 1953, to March 5, 1954.[{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EwtRbXNca0oC&dq=%22Family+Skeleton,+serial+drama%22&pg=PA240 | last=Dunning| first=John| author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author)| title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio| date=1998| publisher=Oxford University Press| location=New York, NY| isbn=978-0-19-507678-3| page=240| edition=Revised| access-date=2019-09-30}}]
''Family Skeleton'' focused on Sara Ann Spence[ and her problems. She became the "family skeleton" because she arrived at her home pregnant "with her marriage license obliterated by bloodstains" and could not prove her marital status.][ The sponsors were Sweetheart Soap,][{{cite book|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/57386388/Jim-Cox-Sold-on-Radio-Advertisers-in-the-Golden-Age-of-Broadcasting|title=Sold on radio advertisers in the golden age of broadcasting|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|date=2008|publisher=McFarland & Co.|isbn=9780786451760|location=Jefferson, N.C.|pages=262–263|accessdate=27 October 2017}}] Prom Home Permanent and Toni Creme Rinse.[{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=US5zBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Family+Skeleton%22+CBS&pg=PA152|title=Radio Series Scripts, 1930–2001: A Catalog of the American Radio Archives Collection|last1=Berard|first1=Jeanette|last2=Englund|first2=Klaudia|date=2006|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9781476606705|pages=152–155|language=en|accessdate=27 October 2017}}]
==Personnel==
[Mercedes McCambridge](/source/Mercedes_McCambridge) starred in the program. Others in the cast included [Parley Baer](/source/Parley_Baer), Michael Ann Barrett, Tony Barrett, [Mary Jane Croft](/source/Mary_Jane_Croft), [Dix Davis](/source/Dix_Davis), [John Dehner](/source/John_Dehner), [Sam Edwards](/source/Sam_Edwards), [Eddie Firestone](/source/Eddie_Firestone), [Frank Gerstle](/source/Frank_Gerstle), Robert Griffin, [Bill Idelson](/source/Bill_Idelson), [Byron Kane](/source/Byron_Kane), Lou Krugman, Earl Lee, [Forrest Lewis](/source/Forrest_Lewis), James McCallion, Kate McKenna, [Howard McNear](/source/Howard_McNear), [Marvin Miller](/source/Marvin_Miller_(actor)), George Neise, [Jeanette Nolan](/source/Jeanette_Nolan), [Jay Novello](/source/Jay_Novello), Ruth Perrott, Ken Peters, George Pirrone, [Alice Reinheart](/source/Alice_Reinheart), Janet Scott, Marilyn Steiner, [Russell Thorson](/source/Russell_Thorson), [Les Tremayne](/source/Les_Tremayne), David Vail, and [Ben Wright](/source/Ben_Wright_(English_actor)). Charles Lyon was the announcer.[
[Carlton E. Morse](/source/Carlton_E._Morse), who created ''Family Skeleton'' specifically for McCambridge, produced the program and wrote its scripts. Ron Lackmann, in his biography of McCambridge, described the show as being "loosely based on Morse's immensely successful ''One Man's Family'' program."][{{cite book|last1=Lackmann|first1=Ron|title=Mercedes McCambridge: A Biography and Career Record|date=2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786419791|page=82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OvsJBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Family+Skeleton%22+CBS&pg=PA82|accessdate=27 October 2017|language=en}}] Sidney Marshall also wrote for the show. Jack Johnstone was the director.[
==See also==
* [List of radio soap operas](/source/List_of_radio_soap_operas)
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{US radio soaps}}
Category:1953 radio programme debuts
Category:1954 radio programme endings
Category:1950s American radio programs
Category:CBS Radio programs
Category:American radio dramas
Category:American radio soap operas
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Family Skeleton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Skeleton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_Skeleton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
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