Recordings of Screen Guild Players radio programs used as a fundraising effort for the Motion Picture Relief Fund, sponsored by the Lady Esther Corporation and Camel Cigarettes. The collection contains recordings of 33 shows originally aired between 1940 and 1948; directed by William Lawrence and written/adapted primarily by William Hampton and Harry Kronman. Performers included Nelson Eddy, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Agnes Moorehead, Bing Crosby, Johnny Mercer, Eddie Cantor, Dinah Shore, Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck, Jimmy Durante, Ethel and Lionel Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.

The Screen Guild Players radio program originated as a manner in which to raise money for the Motion Picture Relief Fund. The Motion Picture Relief Fund was created on December 24, 1924 in response to increasing financial need in the Hollywood community. While there had been an earlier attempt to provide relief in the form of the Motion Picture War Service Association (created to help the families of those in the motion picture industry who had either enlisted or been drafted), it disbanded at the end of World War I. However, in many cases the need for financial assistance remained. And, with the onset of the Depression, many other individuals found themselves in financial straits. The Motion Picture Relief Fund was created to deal with these issues. Unfortunately, from 1924 to 1938, the fund's expenditures consistently exceeded its income. As a result, the fund was reorganized

Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.

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