Sandra Shudt — From WWSC to stage and screen
This is the latest in an occasional series of posts leading up to the 75th anniversary of Glens Falls radio station WWSC on Dec. 18, 2021.
Former WWSC announcer and fashion commentator Sandra Shudt was back in the area in summer 1949, playing lead female dramatic roles in the Lake George Playhouse productions of “Night of January 16th” and “Spring 1865,” each of which was held over an extra two weeks.
In “Night of January 16th,” an Ayn Rand crime drama in which the jury was chosen each night from the audience, leaving the outcome uncertain ahead of time, WWSC announcer Dick Weld played the male lead, his first professional acting role.
Shudt, who grew up in Troy, began her career at WWSC in 1947 and ’48 as an announcer and interviewer specializing in women’s issues and interests.
Shudt was the daughter of Roy Shudt, a well-known Albany area sportscaster and horse race announcer.
The WWSC gig was her first job after graduating Emerson College, where she majored in radio and drama and was musical director of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System, a radio drama educational cooperative of five Boston area colleges.
While at WWSC, Shudt was organizer and commentator in February 1948 of “Fowler’s Fashion Show” at The Queensbury Hotel in Glens Falls to benefit the National Cancer Fund, and was commentator in March 1948 for “Spring Festival of Fashions,” a two-night fashion show The Fashion Shop on Ridge Street presented at the Paramount Theater in Glens Falls.
She had a role in the WGY Schenectady radio drama series “The FBI in Action.”
Shudt left WWSC to act in summer stock at the Pitchfork Playhouse in Sharon, Conn., which led to a long career on stage, television and the big screen.
At the suggestion of an MGM director, she took the stage name Sandra Stone.
Her theater experience included the lead female role in “George Washington Slept Here,” at Ben Bird’s Theatre in Hollywood in 1950 and the lead role in “A Year of Waiting” at Los Angeles in 1959.
In 1956 and ’57, she had an extended run for more than 14 months in the role of Janice Revere in “Anniversary Waltz” at Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In film, she appeared with George Raft and Edward G. Robinson in “A Bullet for Joey” in 1955, and with Debbie Reynolds in “Give A Girl A Break” in 1953.
Television roles included “The Loretta Young Show” and “The Plainclothesman” in 1954, “Schlitz Playhouse” in 1955, “Oh! Susanna” in 1957, “Wyatt Earp” in 1959,“Gun Street” in 1961, and “Ben Casey” in 1962.
Sources: The Post-Star Feb. 26, March 4, 1948; July 19, 28, 1949; May 15, 1950; Feb. 5, 1954; May 9, 1959; Lake George Mirror July 29, Aug. 5, 1949; Glens Falls Times June 21, 1957; Aug. 3, 1959; IMBd
Click here to read the most recent previous post in the series.
