Theater of the Mind
The Eddie Cantor Show
192 episodes · 1932–1949 · NBC, CBS, Armed Forces Radio Service · Variety & Music

Play The Eddie Cantor Show on Radio Days
Eddie Cantor, the banjo-eyed star of the Ziegfeld Follies, was one of radio's first big comedy stars. This station follows him from The Chase and Sanborn Hour (NBC, early 1930s) to Texaco Town (CBS, 1936-38), It's Time to Smile for Bristol-Myers (NBC, 1940-46) and his Pabst Blue Ribbon show (NBC, 1946-49). Along the way he featured young singers Deanna Durbin, Bobby Breen and Dinah Shore early in their careers, with Jimmy Wallington, Harry Von Zell, Parkyakarkus and Bert Gordon's Mad Russian among his regulars.
Sources: RadioGOLDINdex
Episodes
Tap a year to see its episodes, then a title to play it on Radio Days.
19321 episode
- First Song: No Wonder We're in Love
The season opener, with a welcome-home tune written by a member of Rubinoff's band.
19334 episodes
- First Song: Keep Young and Beautiful
Eddie rides horses, runs an auction and breaks into an apartment to steal jokes, and as Judge Cantor he talks a desperate man out of ending his life. - First Song: Roll Out of Bed with a Smile
Eddie is supposedly in the hospital after a tonsil operation, until he turns up on stage in his nightgown; later he visits a nudist colony dressed in leaves. - First Song: I'm Living on Love
Women play the stock market, and a new invention takes Eddie and Jimmy to visit the old woman who lived in a shoe. - Cantor the Salesman
Eddie and Jimmy clerk in a department store, and Dr. Cantor runs a hospital for the country's economic recovery.
19342 episodes
- First Song: I'll Do Anything for You
An Easter show: Eddie comes on dressed as a clown, Judge Cantor holds court, and Parkyakarkus drops by. - First Song: Over Somebody Else's Shoulders
Georgie Price impersonates Ed Wynn, Al Jolson and Eddie himself, and the gang does Little Red Riding Hood and plays bridge at Rubinoff's.
193615 episodes
- First Show
The first Texaco Town: Eddie introduces his new theme song, and the cast plays a whole drama using nothing but letters of the alphabet. - Radio Station Broadcast
Eddie, Deanna Durbin and Bobby Breen sing in the second Texaco Town show. - Advertising
Eddie revives a novelty hit he introduced years earlier, and Parkyakarkus joins in. - The Missing Radio Show
Eddie loses his script on the air, and the cast spoofs the Major Bowes Amateur Hour and The March of Time. - Putting Texaco on the Map
A salute to Fred Astaire, and a crime drama acted out to a tap dancer's rhythm. - The Female Elephant
News bulletins on the British royal crisis interrupt the show, and Leslie Howard trades comedy and a song with Eddie. - Bobby Wants a Raise
Bobby Breen asks for a raise, and Peter Lind Hayes nearly stops the show with his impressions. - Football
A football show, and Eddie announces he's going to New York to play Hamlet. - From the New York Hippodrome
The show comes from the Hippodrome in New York. - The Script Is Stolen
Someone has stolen the script, so songwriters bring Eddie a new number and an impressionist does Jack Benny and President Roosevelt. - The Script Is Found
Last week's script turns up, the network censor complains, and Eddie and Jimmy play a prison scene to a tap dancer's beat. - Guest: Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard rehearses Hamlet with the cast, while bulletins on the abdication crisis break in. - The Cast Goes on Strike
Jimmy Wallington and the bandleader go on strike, so Eddie does a hillbilly drama all by himself. With Borah Minevich and his Harmonica Rascals. - Rehearsing for the Texaco Town Follies
Eddie is back from New York, and the Texaco Town Follies does Little Red Riding Hood. Eddie closes with a few words about Europe's dictators. - Texaco Town Follies Act 1
The Texaco Town Follies, act one, with guest Ted Lewis.
193748 episodes
- Texaco Town Follies Act 2
Act two of the Follies: the search for Oscar the trained flea, and Al Jolson sings. - Oscar Is Still Missing
Eddie posts a reward for Oscar the trained flea and hires two comic detectives to find him. - No Music for the Program
The bandleader has vanished too, so a comic street band tries out for the job. Big-game hunter Frank Buck and songwriter Pinky Tomlin visit. - Camille
Oscar the flea comes home, Eddie impersonates Ed Wynn, and the cast does its own Camille. - Eddie's Birthday
A birthday show for Eddie, with Irving Berlin at the piano. - Gangsters Take Over the Show
Eddie hires the detectives again, and now the bandleader has disappeared. - Hamlet
Eddie plays Hamlet, coached by a stuttering comedian. - Balancing the Budget
Eddie tries to balance the budget, and the show ends with a touching scene between Eddie and Bobby Breen about the death of a dog. - Government Radio Show
The government asks Eddie to help put on a radio show. - On the Town in Hollywood
A night on the town in Hollywood, at Louis Prima's club. - At the Coconut Grove
The gang goes to the Cocoanut Grove, with Ben Bernie and Lupe Velez. - Renard's Parents Visit
A visit to Universal to meet Deanna Durbin, then on to the Russian Eagle, with Gregory Ratoff as a waiter. - Guest: Igor Gorin
An Easter egg hunt in the studio audience, and a trio of young sisters sings. - Man from Harvard
Bobby Breen sings, and the cast acts out a scene from Gone with the Wind. - Casting 'Gone with the Wind'
Who will play Rhett Butler? Ella Logan sings. - Russian 99915B
The winner of the contest to name the show's telephone operator is announced, and Disney cartoon voices sing. - Wallington Wants to Quit Show
Jimmy threatens to quit unless he can sing, and rival announcers Don Wilson and Ken Niles try to sneak in their own sponsors' commercials. - On a Picnic
The cast goes on a picnic, and Eddie closes with a heartfelt tribute to mothers. - How Eddie Met His Co-Stars
Eddie remembers his big night in the Ziegfeld Follies, just after his daughter's wedding. - Eddie's Book on Marriage
A salute to Walt Disney, with the Three Little Pigs, Goofy, Clara Cluck and Donald Duck. - House-To-House Broadcast
The microphone fails, so Eddie broadcasts house to house. - Show Aired to England
A salute to England, with Leslie Howard. Eddie's last show before his summer break. - Texaco Town Eddie Stanley Meets the Cast
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Texaco Town Saymore Goes for Pinky
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Texaco Town Father's Day
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Texaco Town the Love Bug
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Texaco Town Saymore Wants to Marry Pinky
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Bribing the Judge
Summer show: Eddie Stanley fills in for Eddie Cantor, and Pinky Tomlin lands in jail after a lawsuit. Cantor himself turns up unannounced at the end. - Texaco Town the Case Goes to Court
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Texaco Town the Trial Continues
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Texaco Town the Case Is Closed
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Preparing to Return to Hollywood
Summer show without Eddie Cantor: oil turns up on Pinky Tomlin's Oklahoma ranch, and the gang plans to put on Shakespeare. - Shakespeare in Hollywood
Summer show without Eddie Cantor: Pinky's Shakespeare company rides the train to Hollywood. - Pinky Inherits One Million Dollars
Summer show without Eddie Cantor: Pinky inherits a million dollars. - At the Gold Mine
Summer show without Eddie Cantor: Pinky now owns a gold mine. - First Show of the New Season
Eddie is back for the new season, and Jimmy Wallington has just become a father. - The Prisoner of Zenda
A sound-effects telephone bell won't ring, and the cast gets ready to play The Prisoner of Zenda. - Jimmy Gets Acting Fever
Jimmy refuses to announce because he wants to be an actor, so Pinky reads the commercial and Eddie does the sound effects. - Eddie Starts a Movie Company
Eddie starts his own movie company to get Jimmy and the bandleader into pictures. - 25 Years in Show Business
Eddie marks twenty-five years in show business by playing every part in a courtroom sketch and singing his old hits. - French Movie Star
P.U. Pictures presents The Warrior Returns, and Eddie and Pinky sing a medley. - The Men Fall for Fifi
Jimmy's wife wants Eddie to get rid of Fifi. - Shooting the Picture
Shooting the picture, and Fifi wants a French director. - Pinky Falls for Fifi
Pinky wants to marry Fifi, and Eddie makes a Thanksgiving offer to young people far from home. - The Movie Opens
Eddie's picture has its premiere, with impersonations of Garbo, Hepburn, Fred Allen and Jack Benny. - Good Humor Water
A spring of good-humor water turns up on Eddie's land in Palm Springs. - At Eddie's Palm Springs Sanitarium
A visit to Eddie's Palm Springs sanitarium, and three young sisters sing. - Guests: Dave Rubinoff, Tony Martin
Newlyweds Tony Martin and Alice Faye sing, and a New Year's sketch at Dr. Cantor's hospital.
193811 episodes
- Listener Poll
Eddie asks how to improve the show, and he's named most popular radio personality. - Snow White
Eddie still wants to improve the program, and the cast does Snow White. - Eddie Buys a Race Horse from Pinky
Eddie buys a race horse from Pinky. - Renard Rides Eddie's Horse
At Santa Anita, the bandleader rides Eddie's horse. - Race Against Jack Benny's Maxwell
From Santa Anita: Eddie's horse Molasses will race Jack Benny's Maxwell. - School for Radio (February 9, 1938)
After the race, Eddie opens a school for radio, and the cast does The Buccaneer. - School for Radio (February 16, 1938)
Eddie's radio students put on a show of the future, crammed with commercials. - A Day at Eddie's Radio School
From New York: Eddie demonstrates a new style of radio announcing. - Guest: Gloria Swanson
From New York, another visit to Eddie's announcing school. - 25 Years in Show Business, Again!
Eddie relives his life in show business, from the Lower East Side on. - Last Show of the Series
The last Texaco Town: Eddie has spring fever and trouble with the tax man.
19404 episodes
- 9th Year in Radio
From New York, on his ninth anniversary in radio, Eddie tries to join the Navy. - Off to Washington
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Cantor Family Tree
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Drugstore Follies
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
194116 episodes
- Guest: Phil Harris
Eddie runs a movie company, and Phil Harris will star in his next picture. - Guest: Jinx Falkenburg
A birthday show: just how old is Eddie? Jinx Falkenburg poses in front of his apartment building. - Guest: Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio moves into Eddie's apartment building, and Eddie finds an abandoned baby boy. - Guest: Dr. M. Sayle Taylor
Eddie shops for the baby, a mysterious caller warns him not to let it cry, and the radio adviser known as the Voice of Experience visits. - Guest: John Barrymore
John Barrymore trades age jokes with Eddie, and the mystery voice says the baby is worth a million dollars. - Guests: Humphrey Bogart, Hattie McDaniel
Eddie hires Hattie McDaniel to look after the baby and Humphrey Bogart to guard it. - Guest: Sidney Toler
Eddie hires detective Charlie Chan, played by Sidney Toler. - IRS Tries to Give Eddie A Refund
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists this date as “Guests: Tito Guizar, Hattie Mcdaniel.” - Guest: Oscar Levant
Oscar Levant coaches Eddie for a lecture at Columbia University. - Guest: Tallulah Bankhead (1941)
Eddie has bought a farm and wants Tallulah Bankhead to star in a play in his barn. - Guests: Ezra Stone, Adelaide Moffat
Ezra Stone, radio's Henry Aldrich, has just the play for Eddie's barn theater. - Guest: John Garfield
John Garfield recites the song Ida as a gangster melodrama. - Guest: Bob Feller
Eddie's team will play baseball against Jack Benny's, with Bob Feller pitching. - Eddie's Life Story
Al Jolson helps Eddie celebrate his wedding anniversary and remember their boyhoods in New York. - Guest: Victor Mature
Victor Mature meets the Mad Russian, and Eddie sings Irving Berlin's new Any Bonds Today. The last show of the season. - Guest: Boris Karloff
Eddie plays Santa at Macy's, and Boris Karloff comes as the Frankenstein monster.
19426 episodes
- Guests: John Charles Thomas
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Guest: Gracie Allen
From Camp Elliott in San Diego: Gracie Allen nurses Eddie back to health. - Guests: Hattie McDaniel, Ida Lupino
From Camp Callan: Hattie McDaniel is Eddie's new maid, and Ida Lupino plays a scene with him. - Guest: Rudy Vallee
From Terminal Island: Eddie tried to join the Navy, and Rudy Vallee drops in but doesn't sing. - Guest: Jack Benny (1942)
Jack Benny wants to take Eddie's cast to New York. - Guest: Ida Lupino (1942)
Eddie takes diction lessons to impress Ida Lupino, and reads a famous wartime railroad advertisement.
194314 episodes
- Guests: George Raft, George W. Holley
Everyone is in the service but Eddie. A boy who joined the Marines at thirteen is interviewed, and George Raft wants his money back on Eddie's house. - Guests: Rudy Vallee, Jimmy McHugh, Betty Hutton
Rudy Vallee throws a party, and Betty Hutton sings. - Guest: Adolphe Menjou
Eddie gets his shots for a USO tour, and Adolphe Menjou teaches him foreign customs. - Guest: Kay Francis
From March Field: Kay Francis guests, and soldiers sing along on Comin' In on a Wing and a Prayer. - Guests: Marlene Dietrich
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Guest: Edward G. Robinson
The show is 'dedicated' to Hitler, and Eddie and Edward G. Robinson tell him a bedtime story. - Guest: Fred Astaire
Broadcast to Latin America too: Desi Arnaz sings in Spanish, and Fred Astaire appeals for war bonds. - Guest: Rochester
Eddie wants to borrow Jack Benny's typewriter, but Rochester is pawning it. - Guest: George Burns
Jack Benny, Burns and Allen and Groucho Marx help Eddie celebrate his wedding anniversary. - Guests: Joe E Brown
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Guest: Vera Vague
From the El Toro Marine base, with Marine flying ace Marion Carl. - Guests: Martha Raye
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists a broadcast on this date but gives no title. - Guest: Ida Lupino (1943)
Eddie tries to get the romantic lead in Ida Lupino's next movie. - Guest: Betty Hutton
The housing shortage: Eddie has to evict Betty Hutton, who's been renting a room in his house.
194422 episodes
- Guest: Ginny Simms
From Camp Santa Anita: Ginny Simms sings, and the cast does a racetrack murder mystery. - Guest: Bonita Granville
From the Great Lakes Naval Training Station: Eddie and Harry play two sailors in trouble with the Shore Patrol. - Guest: Tallulah Bankhead (1944)
From Fort Monmouth, a show promoting enlistment in the WACs, and Eddie goes rowing with Tallulah Bankhead. - Guest: William Gargan
From the Coast Guard base at Manhattan Beach: William Gargan plays Ellery Queen in a mystery sketch. - Guest: Morton Downey
From the Maritime Training Station at Sheepshead Bay: Eddie plans a club for sailors, and Morton Downey sings. - Guests: Lawrence Tibbett
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Guest: Maurice Rocco
Harry Von Zell's birthday, and a private is honored as America's typical fighting man, with his family on hand. - Guest: Jackie Coogan
Jackie Coogan describes flying troops in Asia and promotes the Fifth War Loan. - Guest: Alan Reed
Will Bristol-Myers renew Eddie for another season? The season finale. - Guest: Joan Davis
The season opener: Leonard Sues's band makes its radio debut, and the Mad Russian runs for president. - Guests: June Allyson, Gloria deHaven
June Allyson and Gloria DeHaven join the cast's version of Two Girls and a Sailor. - Guest: Martha Raye
The show starts late, then the Cantors through history, from Christopher Cantor to the old West. - Guest: Esther Williams
Esther Williams makes her radio debut, and Eddie and Harry can't decide between college and the Navy. - Harry's New Baby
A party for Harry Von Zell's new baby. - Elections
After the election, Eddie dreams he's been elected president. - New Apartment
Nora Martin sings, and she and Eddie do The Trolley Song. - Guest: Alan Ladd
Eddie tries to buy a Thanksgiving turkey, and Alan Ladd is asked to do the deed. - First Song: Sweet Georgia Brown
From the Navy's Sixth War Loan exhibit in Chicago. - Guest: Don Wilson
Harry Von Zell quits, and Eddie tries to hire Don Wilson. - Eddie Finds Harry
Eddie goes looking for Harry and talks him into coming back. - Christmas Show
Eddie and Harry shop for a Christmas tree for Harry's baby. - New Year's Show
The cast spoofs The March of Time and looks back on 1944.
194527 episodes
- Guests: The Andrews Sisters
Eddie remembers growing up on the Lower East Side and sings with the Andrews Sisters. - Eddie Is Jealous
Eddie is jealous that Bing Crosby won the critics' award. - Ida Wants a Divorce
Ida threatens divorce when Eddie buys a dress for another woman. - Guests: George Burns and Gracie Allen
Eddie is blue on his birthday, and George Burns and Gracie Allen try to cheer him up. - Kidnapping
Eddie and Nora Martin open with Accentuate the Positive. - Guest: Hoagy Carmichael
Hoagy Carmichael guests. - Guest: Ella Logan
From an Army Air Forces center in Santa Ana: Ella Logan reads from her USO tour diary. - Army Intelligence
Eddie dreams he's in Army Intelligence and visits Hitler's mountain retreat. - Beautiful Baby
Eddie plays enemy newscasters, and he and Harry end up in jail. - On Trial
Eddie and Harry go on trial. - Adoption
Eddie tries to convince an adoption official that Harry would make a good father. - Golf
Eddie and Harry want to golf, but Ida has housework for them. - Guest: Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer has been Eddie's house guest for weeks. - Twenty Years in Radio
A look back at twenty years of radio, for the sponsor's anniversary. - Introducing Fred Martell
Eddie brings a sailor home to dinner and gives him a singing job. Eddie also pays tribute to President Roosevelt. - The Fur Coat
Harry tries to borrow money for his wife's fur coat. - The FBI Agent
Eddie is a G-man on the trail of a nylon-stocking gang. - Camp Pendleton
From Camp Pendleton: Marilyn Maxwell sings, and Eddie pays tribute to the men who died on Iwo Jima. - A Visit from Rochester
The cast gets ready to sell war bonds in St. Louis, and Rochester visits. - Scott Field
From Scott Field: Eddie and Don Wilson are in the Air Force and looking for dates. - Missing Baby
From a WAVES training school in New York: Eddie's 'son' gets lost in the train station. - Guest: Marilyn Maxwell
From Mitchell Field, with Marilyn Maxwell; the commercials give way to the bond drive. - Guest: Ann Sheridan
From the Coast Guard station at Manhattan Beach: Ann Sheridan plays a Coast Guard instructor. The last show of the season. - Opening Night at the Lodge
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Harry's Birthday
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Army Air Corps
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date. - Gus Edwards
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists the same title on this date.
19463 episodes
- First Song: Onesy, Twosey
Eddie inherits a South American plantation and becomes a Latin playboy. - Guest: Jack Benny (1946)
Jack Benny has rented Eddie's Palm Springs house and turned it into a hotel. - Pabst Blue Ribbon Guests: Burns and Allen
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists a broadcast on this date but gives no title.
19478 episodes
- Guest: Jack Benny (January 1947)
On his birthday, Eddie wants to borrow money from Jack Benny to start his own network. - How Eddie and Al Jolson Got Started
Eddie and Al Jolson imitate each other and sing their first duet. - Eddie Interviews a Prospective Son-In-Law
Eddie interviews a would-be son-in-law, then heads to Washington about the housing shortage. - Eddie Gets a Threatening Letter
Eddie gets a threatening letter and looks for protection. - Guest: Audie Murphy
Boxers Maxie Rosenbloom and Max Baer guard Eddie from Baby-Faced Moore, and Audie Murphy appeals for disabled veterans. - Guest: Jack Benny (November 1947)
Eddie needs Jack Benny to pay his ransom to Baby-Faced Moore. - Thanksgiving Program
Eddie gets away from Baby-Faced Moore by promising the gangster's girlfriend a job in radio. - Guest: Cici Blake
Baby-Faced Moore is still holding Eddie and Harry for ransom.
194810 episodes
- Pabst Blue Ribbon Guests: Al Jolson (January 1948)
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists a broadcast on this date but gives no title. - Pabst Blue Ribbon Eddie the G-man
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists a broadcast on this date but gives no title. - Pabst Blue Ribbon Foreign Radio Shows
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists a broadcast on this date but gives no title. - Going After the Smith Vote
Eddie runs for president and courts the Smith vote, with Abbott and Costello as the cough-drop Smith Brothers. - Guest: Lauritz Melchior
Eddie plans to save money by hiring a Lauritz Melchior impersonator, and Harry sings the beer commercial as opera. - A Revue Called Inside Hollywood
The cast puts on a revue called Inside Hollywood, with a salute to policemen. - Eddie Goes to UCLA
Eddie enrolls at UCLA as a freshman. - Pabst Blue Ribbon Guests: Al Jolson (June 1948)
- (Pabst) Guest William Powell
Jerry Haendiges' Vintage Radio Logs lists a broadcast on this date but gives no title. - Eddie's 18th Anniversary
Eddie throws a party for his eighteenth anniversary in radio, with Dinah Shore and George Montgomery.
19491 episode
- Guest: Al Jolson
Al Jolson guests, and even sings the beer commercial.