Stop the Presses!

Bob O'Hara
Created by Gilbert Thomas

"From O'Hara - Hong Kong to Interconpress, San Francisco. Check Southeast Asia files for quote Mister Marco unquote and advise. If I'm right you'll have two thousand words for tomorrow's front page. If I'm wrong you're going to need a new boy in Hong Kong. Signed - - O'Hara."

BOB O'HARA, a foreign correspondent based in Hong Kong, was the main character/narrator in a short-lived crime drama series, O'HARA, that ran on CBS radio in 1956.

The first short run (seven episodes) starred Jack Moyles starred as O'Hara, while the second, even shorter run (five episodes) starred Stacy Harris.

While O'Hara was ostensibly a reporter, he usually became involved in investigating and solving some crime. O'Hara
was essentially a detective in reporter's clothing.

The audition show for O'Hara, written by Gilbert Thomas, was unusual in that it was recorded nearly FIVE YEARS before the series aired on CBS.

RADIO

• O'HARA
  (1951, CBS)
  Audition
  Writers: Gilbert Thomas
  Directed by Tommy Tomlinson and Sterling Tracy
  Music: Jerry Goldsmith, Don Ray
  Theme song: "Hong Kong Blues"
  Produced by Tommy Tomlinson and Sterling Tracy
  Announcer: Art Gilmore
  Starring Jack Moyles starred as BOB O'HARA
  Also starring Byron Kane as Commissioner Phelps
  and Ben Wright as Ah Chang
  Guest stars: To
  .

• "The Judas Face"
  .

• O'HARA
  (1956, CBS)
  7 half-hour episodes
  First Show: May 20, 1956
  Writers: Les Crutchfield, Irene Winston, William N. Robson, Tony Barrett
  Directed by William N. Robson
  Music: Jerry Goldsmith, Don Ray
  Theme song: "Hong Kong Blues"
  Produced by William N. Robson
  Announcer: Hugh Douglas
  Starring Jack Moyles starred as BOB O'HARA
  Also starring Byron Kane as Commissioner Phelps
  and Ben Wright as Ah Chang
  Guest stars: Tony Barrett, Richard Beals, Herb Butterfield, Lillian Buyeff, John Dehner, Don Diamond, John Dodsworth, Fritz Feld, Virginia Gregg, Betty Harford, Lou Krugman, Jack Kruschen, Peg La Centra, Raymond Lawrence, Charlie Lung, Shep Menken, Ralph Moody, Ellen Morgan, Jeanette Nolan, Peter Rankin, Alan Reed, Tracey Roberts, Eric Snowden, Larry Thor, Lurene Tuttle, Peggy Webber, Miriam Wolfe, and Ben Wright.
  .

• "Visa Vice Versa" (May 20, 1956)
• "The Woman Who Had Everything" (May 27, 1956)
• "Celestial Celestine" (June 6/, 1956)
• "The Legend" (June 10, 1956)
• "Godfathers' Day In Old Hong Kong" (June 17, 1956)
• "The Set-Up" (June 24, 1956)
• "The Purloined Mig" (July 1, 1956)
  .

• O'HARA
  (1956, CBS)
  5 half-hour episodes
  First Show: October 1, 1956
  Writers: Antony Ellis, Charles B. Smith
  Directed by Antony Ellis
  Music: Don Ray, Amerigo Marino, Carl Fortina
  Theme song: "Hong Kong Blues"
  Produced by Antony Ellis
  Announcers: George Walsh, Gil Warren, Dan Cubberly
  Starring Stacy Harris as BOB O'HARA
  

• "The Girl Who Waited" (October 1, 1956)
• "The Story of Sister Mary" (October 8, 1956)
• "Mother's Little Darling" (October 15, 1956)
• "Red October" (October 22, 1956)
• "The Lost Boy" (October 29, 1956)

INFORMATION SOURCES

• O'HARA Scripts and other documents pertaining to the series.
  The American Radio Archives, KNX Collection, Grant R. Brimhall Library. Thousand Oaks, CA
  .
• New York Times 1956 Radio listings.

Report respectfully submitted by Stewart Wright.