Stella Dallas was an America radio soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 that ran from 1937 to 1955. The title character was the beautiful daughter of an impoverished farmhand who had married above her station in life. She was played for the entire run of the series by Anne Elstner (1902–1982).
Her husband Stephen Dallas was portrayed at various times by Leo McCabe, Arthur Hughes

Arthur Hughes (actor)

Arthur Hughes was an American actor on the stage, radio and films. On Broadway, he performed in two dozen plays between 1923 and 1968, including Mourning Becomes Electra and Elizabeth the Queen...

 and Frederick Tazere. Initially, Joy Hathaway played Stella's daughter Laurel with Vivian Smolen later taking over the role. Laurel's husband was Dick Grosvenor (played by Carleton Young

Carleton Young

Carleton Scott Young was an American character actor born in New York City, New York and known for his deep voice.-Private life:...

, Macdonald Carey

Macdonald Carey

Edward Macdonald Carey was an American actor, best known for his role as the patriarch Dr. Tom Horton on NBC's soap opera Days of our Lives...

, Spencer Bentley, George Lambert and Michael Fitzmaurice

Michael Fitzmaurice

Michael Fitzmaurice was a radio actor, best known for his portrayal of Superman.Born in Chicago, the baritone-voiced Fitzmaurice was heard often on radio dramas during the 1940s as both announcer and actor. From 1944 to 1947, he was the host of Mutual's Quiz of Two Cities...

).

The series was created and produced by the husband and wife team of Frank and Anne Hummert

Anne Hummert

Anne Hummert was the leading creator of daytime radio serials during the 1930s and 1940s, responsible for more than three dozen drama series....

, based on the 1923 novel Stella Dallas by Olive Higgins Prouty

Olive Higgins Prouty

Olive Higgins Prouty was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now, Voyager Olive Higgins Prouty (10 January 1882 – 24 March 1974) was an American novelist and poet, best known for her pioneering consideration of psychotherapy in Now,...

. The 15-minute drama began as a local show in New York City in late 1937, in the wake of the successful movie version

Stella Dallas (1937 film)

Stella Dallas is a 1937 film based on the Olive Higgins Prouty novel of the same name. It was directed by King Vidor, and stars Barbara Stanwyck, John Boles, and Anne Shirley. Stanwyck was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Shirley for Best Actress in a Supporting Role...

 starring Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck

Barbara Stanwyck was an American actress. She was a film and television star, known during her 60-year career as a consummate and versatile professional with a strong screen presence, and a favorite of directors including Cecil B. DeMille, Fritz Lang and Frank Capra...

, and it was picked up by the NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

radio network beginning June 6, 1938, running weekday afternoons.

The program's opening told the premise of the drama:

We give you now Stella Dallas, a continuation on the air of the true-to-life story of mother love and sacrifice, in which Stella Dallas saw her own beloved daughter marry into wealth and society and, realizing the differences in their tastes and worlds, went out of Laurel's life.

The radio play inspired the name of the home furnishing store Stella Dallas in Dallas, Texas.

External links

• "Hummerts' Mill", Time, January 23, 1939.