Last Man on Earth’s New

New Zealand Listener, Volume 4, Issue 98, 9 May 1941, Page 14

Last Man on Earth’s New

Role MERICAN radio audiences will A not soon forget the "Last Man on Earth" in Orson Welles’s broadcast of the fabulous invasion of men from the planet Mars. During the second. half hour of that progtfamme, which unintentionally frightened the wits out of millions of listeners, the dialogue was almost entirely an interview between the Martian general, played by Orson Welles, and the "Last Man on Earth," a part played ‘by Carl Frank, a young Broadway theatrical star. The voice of Carl Frank is known to New Zealand listeners also, as he plays the part of Bob in the serial drama Betty and Bob, which is starting again from the ZB stations after an interval of some months. Frank had a meteoric rise on Broadway, being first noticed by the critics in Sidney Howard’s play Path of Glory in 1936. In radio few other actors have played so many parts. As Buck Rogers he became the hero of countless young Americans; in daytime dramas he has stirred the hearts of countless women listeners. The part of Betty is taken by Arlene Francis, another Broadway player. She starred in Maxwell Anderson’s Road to Jerusalem. The announcer and commentator is Milton Cross, well known in the U.S. for his Information Please sessions. The part of Bob was origifally taken, nearly ten years ago, by a young actor named Don Ameche, who was then making his first appearance in radio. "Betty and Bob" has already started again over 1ZB and 2ZB, and will start from 3ZB on May 15, and trom 4ZB on May 22.