Himan Brown OTR Giant

[JIMMY TYNER]

The ffollowing is an excerpt from the obituary of Hiram Brown, the legendary Producer/Director/Creator of Inner Sanctum, The Thin Man, CBS Radio Mystery Theater, Terry and the Pirates, Bulldog Drummond, Dick Tracy, Adventure Theater, Grand Central Station, and an endless list of daytime soap operas.Obituary: Himan Brown / Produced radio showsJuly 21, 1910 -- June 4, 2010Thursday, June 10, 2010By Emma Brown, The Washington PostHiman Brown, a producer of popular radio dramas in the 1930s and 1940s including the series "Dick Tracy" and "The Adventures of the Thin Man," and who continued to tell stories in sound long after the rise of television, died June 4 at his home in New York City. The cause of death was not reported. He was 99.Mr. Brown's classic mystery and detective shows kept families huddled around their radio sets during the Depression and World War II, hooked on tales spun through actors' voices and the inventive use of organ music, foghorns and other mood-making sounds.He is perhaps best remembered for the creaking door he employed to open each episode of "Inner Sanctum Mysteries," an anthology of mystery, terror and suspense stories that ranked among the top 20 shows during its run from 1941 to 1952. Each episode ended with the host issuing a creepy invitation to his listeners to enjoy "pleasant dreammms, hmm?""I am firmly convinced that nothing visual can touch audio," Mr. Brown told The New York Times in 2003. "I don't need 200 orchestra players doing the 'Ride of the Valkyries.' I don't need car chases. I don't need mayhem. All I need to do is creak the door open, and visually your head begins to go. The magic word is imagination."In 1974, he resurrected his creaking door for the ghoulish tales of "CBS Radio Mystery Theater," which aired seven nights a week for nine years and won a prestigious Peabody Award.Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10161/1064568-122.stm#ixzz0qeXfMnTk