The American Radio Archives Presents Norman Corwin
Friday, October 26, 2007

On Friday October 26, 2007 the Thousand Oaks Library Foundation, home of the American Radio Archives, paid tribute to famed writer Norman Corwin as he directed his own comedy, “The Strange Affliction,” originally written for radio.

“The Strange Affliction” was produced by the California Artists Radio Theater (CART) and starred Carl Reiner and Samantha Eggar in the leading roles, with Norman Lloyd, Linda Henning, Marvin Kaplan, Janet Waldo, John Harlan, Peter Dennis, and Gil Stratton also appearing.

The comedy was first written and directed by Mr. Corwin for the Sears CBS Radio Theatre, which was produced in the late 1970s by Elliott Lewis and Fletcher Markle. Then in 1994, Norman Corwin directed the play for CART at the Cinegrill of the historic Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Ms. Eggar and David Warner played the leading roles in the 1994 CART production.

The cast included many of the veteran CART repertory players. Composer Kenneth Stange played his original score, with Marty Halperin as the engineer. Tony Palermo, associated with current CART and Thousand Oaks Library Foundation productions handled sound effects.

The American Radio Archives houses one of the largest archives of radio, film, and TV scripts, audio tapes, and television films, in the United States. A 44,000 square foot American Radio Archives and Museum will soon be built to house the growing collection. Proceeds from “The American Radio Archives Presents Norman Corwin” will contribute to the construction.

The program was held in the Smith Community Room of the Thousand Oaks Grant R. Brimhall Library, located at 1401 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91362.