The Traitor Within was a 30-minute program produced by NBC in cooperation with the American Cancer Society. It was broadcast on Sunday afternoon, April 12, 1953, between 4:30 and 5 p.m. (EST). The show was written by Richard George Pedicini and featured music composed and conducted by Robert Armbruster. Dr. Ian MacDonald was the show’s technical consultant. Jimmy Stewart acted as the narrator-host of the program.
The show featured very frank information about cancer and the state of our treatment methods at that time. The story was told with dramatic sketches and speeches from experts. The entire story was tied together by Stewart’s narration.
The show didn’t receive a great deal of attention from the newspapers; simple listings were about all that were found. The first is from the New York Times on the day of the broadcast.
The second example, from The Decatur Herald, Decatur, IL, adds the name of another famous guest who would appear on the program.
If you are familiar with the voices of old time radio, or early television for that matter, you will probably recognize the voices of Parley Baer and Virginia Gregg in the sketches. Neither is identified in the credits.
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Part 2:
