The Romance of Helen Trent' was a radio soap opera which aired on CBS from 1933 to 1960. The show was created by Frank Hummert and Anne Hummert, who were among the most prolific producers during the radio soap era. The first TIME cover devoted to soap operas: Dated January 12, 1976, Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes of Days of our Lives are featured with the headline Soap Operas: Sex and suffering in the afternoon. A soap opera is an ongoing, episodic work of fiction, usually broadcast on television... CBS (an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... Year 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ...

Helen Trent revolved around a dressmaker who, even at the age of thirty-five, fascinated men as she worked her way up to becoming the chief costumer designer for Hollywood figures. Helen was played by three different actresses (Virginia Clark, Betty Ruth Smith, Julie Stevens), but Stevens had the longest tenure. Stevens, who was only 22 when she joined the cast (she had recently finished playing the title role on radio soap Kitty Foyle), played the part from 1944 to the show's cancellation in 1960. Stevens said she saw Helen as being similiar to Edith Head. Stevens felt the role was boring and remembered the director allowed the actors to "fall around and scream with laughter during rehearsals. We had to keep our sanity. By air time we had gotten it all out of our systems and could be dead serious about the story." ... Kitty Foyle, subtitled The Natural History of a Woman, is a 1940 film which tells the story of a white-collar girl who falls in love with a young socialite, despite the objections of his family. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Edith Head on the cover of the book The Life and Times of Edith Head by David Chierichetti Edith Head (October 28, 1897 – October 24, 1981) was an American costume designer who had a long career in Hollywood that garnered her more Academy Awards than any other woman in history. ...

Although Helen never married, she had a long-running beau, Gil Whitney. A shocking incident occurred during a 1948 broadcast, as documented in cast member Mary Jane Higby's (Cynthia Carter) biography Tune In Tomorrow. As Gil again tried to convince Helen of his love for her, Helen again demurred and hesitated. Suddenly, a voice came over the airwaves, saying, "Ah, for chrissakes, lay the dame and get it over with!" As crew members tried to figure out where the voice was coming from inside the studio, the man proceeded to give sexually graphic examples of what Gil should do with Helen. In spite of the shock, there were few protests from viewers. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

After 7,222 (more episodes than any other radio soap), the series ended in 1960. Helen never married.

The epigraph was:

"And now, 'The Romance of Helen Trent': the real-life drama of Helen Trent, who, when life mocks her, breaks her hopes, dashes her against the rocks of despair, fights back bravely, successfully, to prove what so many women long to prove, that because a woman is thirty-five, or more, romance in life need not be over, that romance can begin at thirty-five."

External links

• Radio soaps hall of fame feature

Further reading

• LaGuardia, Robert. Soap World. New York: Arbor House, 1983.