I've been listening to old radio shows and know many of those actors ventured into TV, Movies, stage (Vaudeville and/or Broadway) and records.

So based on that who had the best career.

I'm not sure who that would be but right off I can list a few.

Jack Benny
George Burns (Gracie Allen too if she did retire early)
Bob Hope
Jack Webb
Lucille Ball
Abbot and Costello

Who else should be on this list, and who's the best of the bunch?

Dick Van Dyke

Dick Van Dyke

Possibly, but I don't recall him on radio.

He truly would be the most talented campaired to the ones I listed but he wasn't active in all of the mediums I listed.

William Shatner

William Shatner

No one could sing the Beatles like he did.
https://youtu.be/AB3uVARNhmM?si=SQz3SAydiXQ_dYZS

And we can't forget Mister Tambourine Man
https://youtu.be/XmCi_-9Shhg?si=POLM11j7r3Mc7Wtu

My sense is that Bob Hope was the most durable star. George Burns lasted longer, but a lot of that was with reduced expectations because he was so old. Hope kept doing his same thing after Crosby, Benny, and Lucy had faded.

Some other people to consider: Red Skelton, William Conrad, Ozzie & Harriet, Robert Young, Frank Sinatra, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Orson Wells. Mel Blanc had an interesting career.

Bing Crosby gets my vote!

George Burns & Lucille Ball

FRED MACMURRAY

DONNA REED

BOB NEWHART

DON KNOTTS

JON RITTER

My sense is that Bob Hope was the most durable star. George Burns lasted longer, but a lot of that was with reduced expectations because he was so old. Hope kept doing his same thing after Crosby, Benny, and Lucy had faded.

Some other people to consider: Red Skelton, William Conrad, Ozzie & Harriet, Robert Young, Frank Sinatra, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Orson Wells. Mel Blanc had an interesting career.

You know I never thought of Mel Blanc. Even though he was never a stage actor he did cover everything else on the list. Plus I found out his voice has been used on video games and amusement parks. Would Edgar Bergen have gotten as far without Charlie McCarthy?

George Burns & Lucille Ball

FRED MACMURRAY

DONNA REED

BOB NEWHART

DON KNOTTS

JON RITTER

Nice list. John Ritter was not involved in radio although his voice work on video games is similar. I see he voiced for the Clifford the Big Red Dog video games. Don Knotts had a far richer career than I realized. The military served him well with using his acting as his contribution to the service.

Bing Crosby gets my vote!

Anyone who could do a duet with David Bowie is high on my list. https://youtu.be/lBVrwKXZHQc?si=0QbxuoDfHQ5o_XG6

Plus he once was an owner of my favorite baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates!

When I posted this thread I neglected to list the people that gave me the idea for this subject.

Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet.

I thought of them for pure longevity and the amount of work they did. Which is the direction I intended when posting this question.

I mean how many comedy radio show would you hear either one or both together? Gale was Lucy's go to guy and could have been Fred Mertz if he wasn't tied to Our Miss Brooks. Bea would have been Ethal Mertz. Gale arguably worked far longer than he should have but Lucy kept insisting to use him upto and including Life With Lucy. Bea worked pretty much to her death.

They hit all the mediums I listed.

Stage - Vaudeville and/or Theater (including Broadway) = both did minimal here
Radio
Voice Acting including things like, records, cartoons,video games, amusement parks, audio books (neither did audio books to my knowledge), etc.
TV
Movies

Some others we've listed had similar career paths. Would anyone else fit here?

I'd add an honorable mention to Burt Mustin. He got an incredibly late start in acting starting at age 67! And worked until he was 92! 25 years! Just amazing!

Add Allan Melvin to this list. He didn't have much experience in radio but worked in sound effects prior to getting involved in acting. Plus he voiced a bunch of cartoon characters including Magilla Gorilla. Lots of character acting work between being on the regular character list for Sgt. Bilko and much later All in the Family/ Archie Bunker’s Place. Seemed to be constantly working considering how many TV shows he was on.

Add Allan Melvin to this list. He didn't have much experience in radio but worked in sound effects prior to getting involved in acting. Plus he voiced a bunch of cartoon characters including Magilla Gorilla. Lots of character acting work between being on the regular character list for Sgt. Bilko and much later All in the Family/ Archie Bunker’s Place. Seemed to be constantly working considering how many TV shows he was on.

Yeah I just learned about 5 or 6 years ago that Allan Melvin did the voice for Thun the Lion Man in the early 1980s Saturday morning cartoon Flash Gordon! Not something I would've ever expected. But the show only ran for 2 seasons.

Ed.

I like the concept of this thread but I think it has to be limited to maybe 5 or 6 entities that have similar skill sets and at their peak during the same general era.

Here's the list started by 24/7 reruns:

Jack Benny
George Burns (Gracie Allen too if she did retire early)
Bob Hope
Jack Webb
Lucille Ball
Abbot and Costello

Good list, I would like to substitute Groucho for Jack Webb, not that Webb wasn't successful but he belongs in a different group. With all that dealt with, as Casey Kasem would say, let's get the countdown started:

6. Abbot and Costello: Huge in movies in the 1940's, strong in-person performers, successful in radio, TV to a lesser extent, easiest act to rank.

5. Groucho: I love the Marx Brothers, but objectively speaking some of their movies did well at the box office some didn't. To a certain degree he were struggling in the 40's, he got a second life when You Bet Your Life became a successful radio show before moving to TV where it had a very long and successful run.

4. George Burns: The 4 and 3 ranking are as close as two ranking can be. If someone wants to reverse the order, I really couldn't argue.

3. Jack Benny: I picked Jack over George, Jack was more successful on radio, they had about the same success on TV, although I might give a slight edge to Jack, George was obviously more successful in films. George also went on to have a great career as America's original old timer during the 80's and 90's. I'm giving Jack the edge because I believe at their peak Jack was more popular.

2. Lucille Ball: Very close call between 2 and 1. Her primary success was as a TV star, one of the biggest of all time. She owned Monday night during the 50's, 60's into the early 70's. Movies had a steady career, and did well in radio.

1. Bob Hope: Had a successful movie career (his movies in the 40's and early 50's are very funny and very underrated), successful and very high rated tv specials well into the 80's and had a long and very accomplished run in radio.

I like the concept of this thread but I think it has to be limited to maybe 5 or 6 entities that have similar skill sets and at their peak during the same general era.

Here's the list started by 24/7 reruns:

Jack Benny
George Burns (Gracie Allen too if she did retire early)
Bob Hope
Jack Webb
Lucille Ball
Abbot and Costello

Good list, I would like to substitute Groucho for Jack Webb, not that Webb wasn't successful but he belongs in a different group. With all that dealt with, as Casey Kasem would say, let's get the countdown started:

6. Abbot and Costello: Huge in movies in the 1940's, strong in-person performers, successful in radio, TV to a lesser extent, easiest act to rank.

5. Groucho: I love the Marx Brothers, but objectively speaking some of their movies did well at the box office some didn't. To a certain degree he were struggling in the 40's, he got a second life when You Bet Your Life became a successful radio show before moving to TV where it had a very long and successful run.

4. George Burns: The 4 and 3 ranking are as close as two ranking can be. If someone wants to reverse the order, I really couldn't argue.

3. Jack Benny: I picked Jack over George, Jack was more successful on radio, they had about the same success on TV, although I might give a slight edge to Jack, George was obviously more successful in films. George also went on to have a great career as America's original old timer during the 80's and 90's. I'm giving Jack the edge because I believe at their peak Jack was more popular.

2. Lucille Ball: Very close call between 2 and 1. Her primary success was as a TV star, one of the biggest of all time. She owned Monday night during the 50's, 60's into the early 70's. Movies had a steady career, and did well in radio.

1. Bob Hope: Had a successful movie career (his movies in the 40's and early 50's are very funny and very underrated), successful and very high rated tv specials well into the 80's and had a long and very accomplished run in radio.

Thanks for detailing your choices. My list was strictly based on who I thought of and not in any order.

I do agree that Jack Webb doesn't really fit here. At the time I included his directing and producing which didn't fit the criteria I set. I completely forgot about Groucho Marx. He definitely fits the list.

My goal on this is not necessarily picking the best actor but the one who had the best career based on the amount of work they had. That's why I added Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet. They would actually top my list with an honorable mention going to Burt Mustin. Allan Melvin as well. Those four have had a huge body of work. Any where you look or listen you'd find them there.

As far as TV actors, Michael Landon is worthy of mention. After 14 seasons in the starring cast of Bonanza, he went right on to star in the highly successful Little House on the Prairie series and then Highway to Heaven. He accomplished all of that prior to his death while still in his 50s, including writing, directing etc.