The In his earliest radio incarnations, Brett Holiday's private eye Michael Shane was definitely on the softer side of the fence.

Voiced by Wally Mayer, Shane was a determined detective who had crack his cases, but he usually did the job with charm, a quip or two, and the aid of his lovely secretary, Phyllis Knight.

When the character returned to radio in a syndicated series, both Phyllis and the Drool

demeanor were gone.

They were replaced with a new take on Shane, hard-boiled, gritty, ready to give a beating and frequently on the receiving end of one.

To pull off this transformation and to do it effectively required the right voice in the lead role

and producers found it with a prolific actor who could play characters at every end of the

spectrum from a bashful biology teacher to a tough, cynical, private eye.

Jeff Chandler was born Ira Gossil in Brooklyn on December 15th, 1918.

He always wanted to be an actor,

and he worked in local radio and theater

before he got involved in touring stage productions.

World War II put a hold on his acting career.

Chandler served in the army for four years, fighting mostly in the Pacific Theater.

His acting career began again when he returned home from the war.

Chandler moved to Los Angeles and he could be heard in multiple shows all around the radio dial.

He demonstrated his versatility as an actor on shows like Academy Award, The Whistler, and Escape.

Far back in the southern mountains, it's quiet and hot and lonely.

One Pine Scott Hill is very much like the next and one Wyandon Creek

differs little from another. The area through which Cashier Creek twisted was the same

as all the rest except for the snakes deadly venomous

cottonmouths marcassons.

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