"This portrait is a great work. Did you paint it from life?"
"It is all from memory; it is all from hate."
Here is a riveting play showcasing the best of what radio once was and very much worth your time to listen to.
"Portrait of a Memory," first broadcast on April 28, 1980, on CBS Radio Mystery Theater. The play is an adaptation of the Henry James story, "The Tone of Time," originally published in the November, 1900, issue of Scribner's. You can read the story in that issue of the magazine here.
All the actors in this play were once regulars on the Broadway stage, then went into teaching, acting in television, in soap operas or became voice actors and appeared in commercials.
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| Marian Seldes |
Marian Seldes studied under Martha Graham and Sanford Meisner, among other greats. She first appeared on the Broadway stage in the 1948 production of
Medea and went on to win five Tony awards. She was a regular guest star on television's golden age series,
The Hallmark Hall of Fame. She became a member of the faculty of the Juilliard School. She is listed in the
Guinness Book of World Records as "the most durable actress," having appeared in all 1,809 performances of
Deathtrap.
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| Carol Teitel |
Carol Teitel studied under Lee Strasberg and made her Broadway debut in 1941's
Stage Door. Over the years she acted in numerous Broadway shows, including appearing next to Richard Burton in
Hamlet, and winning two Obies, In television, she acted in the soap operas
The Guiding Light, The Edge of Night and
Lamp Unto My Feet. She was killed in an automobile accident a few years after acting in this CBS radio play. Her papers are archived at the New York Public Library in the Billy Rose Theater Division.
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| Norman Rose as Juan Valdez |
Norman Rose studied at the Actors' Studio before being drafted in World War II, where he was a news announcer for Armed Forces Radio. After the war, he began his Broadway career acting in such plays as
The Respectful Prostitute, Richard III and
St. Joan. He was described as having "the voice of God" during his acting career. He became the spokesman in television commercials for Colombian coffee, portraying the coffee grower Juan Valdez. He also acted in the soap operas
One Life to Live, Search for Tomorrow, The Edge of Night and
All My Children. His voice was heard in the movies
Love and Death, Radio Days, The Nutcracker, Biloxi Blues, Message from Space and
Destroy All Monsters. He was the promotional announcer for both NBC and ABC television.
