The Screen Guild Theater

The Screen Guild Theater

Jack Benny, George Murphy, Joan Crawford and Reginald Gardiner on the premiere of The Screen Guild Theater (January 8, 1939)
Other names	The Gulf Screen Guild Show The Gulf Screen Guild Theater The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater The Camel Screen Guild Players Stars in the Air Hollywood Sound Stage Hollywood On Stage
Genre	Anthology drama
Running time	30 minutes 60 minutes (1950–51)
Country	United States
Language(s)	English
Home station	CBS (1939–48) NBC (1948–50) ABC (1950–51) CBS (1951–52)
Hosted by	George Murphy (1939) Roger Pryor (1940–52)
Announcer	John Conte (Gulf Oil, 1939–42) Truman Bradley (Lady Esther Cosmetics, 1942–47) Michael Roy (Camel, 1947–50)
Written by	Bill Hampton Harry Kronman
Directed by	Bill Lawrence
Produced by	Bill Lawrence
Air dates	January 8, 1939 to June 29, 1952
No. of series	14
No. of episodes	527
Audio format	Monaural sound

The Screen Guild Theater is a radio anthology series broadcast from 1939 until 1952 during the Golden Age of Radio. Leading Hollywood stars performed adaptations of popular motion pictures. Originating on CBS Radio, it aired under several different titles including The Gulf Screen Guild Show, The Gulf Screen Guild Theater, The Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater and The Camel Screen Guild Players. Fees that would ordinarily have been paid to the stars and studios were instead donated to the Motion Picture Relief Fund, and were used for the construction and maintenance of the Motion Picture Country House.

The Screen Guild Theater had a long run beginning January 8, 1939, lasting for 14 seasons and 527 episodes. Actors on the series included Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Cantor, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Jimmy Durante, Nelson Eddy, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Johnny Mercer, Agnes Moorehead, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Temple, and Dinah Shore.