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Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio is a non-fiction book by Tom Lewis, a history of radio in the United States, published by HarperCollins in 1991. The book was adapted into both a 1992 documentary film by Ken Burns and a 1992 radio drama written and directed by David Ossman. The source of the title is from a quote by Lee DeForest.
Original Release
01/29/1992
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Jason Robards | Narrator / Narrator (voice) |
Red Barber | Self - Radio Announcer |
Erik Barnouw | Self - Historian |
Ken Bilby | Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff |
Norman Corwin | Self - Writer |
Susan Douglas | Self - Historian |
Frank Günther | Self (engineer) |
Jeanne Hammond | Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong |
Loren Jones | Self - Engineer |
Garrison Keillor | Self - Writer |
Directors
Writers
Ken Burns, Geoffrey C. Ward, Tom Lewis
Cast
Name | Character |
---|
Jason Robards | Narrator / Narrator (voice) |
Red Barber | Self - Radio Announcer |
Erik Barnouw | Self - Historian |
Ken Bilby | Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff |
Norman Corwin | Self - Writer |
Susan Douglas | Self - Historian |
Frank Günther | Self (engineer) |
Jeanne Hammond | Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong |
Loren Jones | Self - Engineer |
Garrison Keillor | Self - Writer |
Helen Kelley | Self - Radio Broadcaster |
Robert Morris | Self - Engineer |
Dana Raymond | Self - Friend of Edwin H. Armstrong |
Gertrude Tyne | Self - Engineer |
Fred Allen | Self - Predicts Demise of Radio |
Gene Autry | Self - Sings |
John Barrymore | Hamlet |
Winston Churchill | Self - Finest Hour Speech |
Charles J. Correll | Self - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast |
Lee De Forest | Self - Objects to Quality of Radio Programming |
Producers
Name | Role |
---|
Ken Burns | Producer |
Tom Lewis | Producer |
Morgan Wesson | Producer |
Editors
Year | Type | Category | Won |
---|
1992 | Emmy | Outstanding Informational Special | Nominated |