The Monty Masters Papers of the American Radio Archives consists of 3.5 linear feet of scripts, story treatments and other material documenting the radio career of San Francisco-based comedian and writer Masters. Included in this collection are scripts for programs that Masters either wrote or starred in between the years 1946-1951. Most of these programs were broadcast locally in San Francisco by radio stations KGO and KNBC, such as Spotlight Theatre and The Eddy King Show, although some, such as Candy Matson, were carried nationally by the NBC network. Short stories, as well as story treatments and scripts for potential television shows in the 1950's are also included in this collection

Monty Masters (1912-1969) started writing scripts for local radio programs in his native San Francisco prior to World War II (most of these scripts have his original name, Monty Mohn, on them). During the war he served in the army, working in a unit that produced theatrical performances for troops stationed in locations such as Fort Ord, near Monterey, California. Several of the short stories and plays that he wrote during this time period reflected this military background. After the war he returned to San Francisco, and one of his first jobs was writing scripts for Spotlight Playhouse, a dramatic anthology series broadcast over ABC affiliate KGO. In late 1947 he began working for KNBC, the local NBC radio station, on The Eddy King Show, a musical variety program. In addition to writing and producing various episodes, Masters was also a recurring character, alongside Sherman "Scatman" Crothers. Masters worked on this program until the fall of 1948, when he started hosting his own program, The Monty Masters Show, which was similar in format and featured a number of the same performers. In addition to his own show, Masters was also writing the scripts for Ready for Brady, another variety program featuring local radio announcer Ed Brady. Two of Masters' best known programs, which were both carried beyond San Francisco on the NBC network, were programs on which he collaborated with his wife, Natalie. The first, The Mad Masters, was a musical variety show featuring both Monty and Natalie as hosts, which ran as a summer replacement for Truth or Consequences in 1947. In early 1949, however, Masters began work on a detective series titled Candy Matson, 4 which would feature Natalie in the title role. This series was aimed to appeal to radio listeners who wanted something other than hard-boiled, male detectives. The character of Candy was a shrewd yet sensitive and glamorous figure, who often worked alongside Detective Mallard of the San Francisco Police, to whom she was romantically attracted, and who she ended up marrying at the conclusion of the series in 1951. Another feature of this series was the use of San Francisco and Northern California locales, reflecting the program's origins as a local program broadcast over KNBC before its jump to network status in September 1949. After the conclusion of Candy Matson in 1951, Masters started writing for television. Having relocated to Encino, California, Masters worked on several story treatments and scripts for TV broadcasts, hoping to place them through his agent. He also continued writing scripts for radio, even submitting a sample script to the writers of the radio version of Fibber McGee and Molly. He was unable, however, to recreate a series that enjoyed the success of Candy Matson. In the early 1960's he went to work for Warner Brothers, and later Paramount, as an assistant director, and continued to work in the film industry until his death in 1969.

3 Linear Feet; (3 record boxes)

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

The collection is open for research.