GOODMAN & JANE ACE

Goodman and Jane Ace became a radio team quite by accident. Goodman Ace was a film critic for Kansas City’s KMBC in 1930 when circumstances forced him to continue broadcasting after his show had finished. He brought his wife Jane in for an impromptu discussion; the favorable response led Goodman to create and write a 15-minute domestic comedy, Easy Aces.

Billed as “radio’s laugh novelty,” the low-key Easy Aces featured Goodman as a harried businessman and Jane as his scatterbrained wife, prone to malaprops like “She has a voice like a nightingown” and “Congress is still in season.” In 1931, Easy Aces joined the CBS radio lineup, moving to WBBM in Chicago.

Ace kept the material fresh by only permitting a quick reading rehearsal just before air time. A special table with a hidden microphone was constructed to cure cast members of mike fright.

Easy Aces left the air in 1945, but Goodman Ace remained one of radio’s most respected writers, crafting material for Danny Kaye, Perry Como and The Big Show.

Jane Ace died on November 11, 1974. Goodman Ace died March 25, 1982.

Easy Aces was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.