INCREDIBLE, BUT TRUE

KEN NORDINE

"Incredible But True" was a hosted horror anthology radio series from 1950 until 1951; with Ken Nordine as the host / narrator. The short radio dramas would tell of some sort of unexplained phenomena that was mysterious and yet, true! The syndicated series was produced by "Unusual Features Syndicate". There were 15 minute and 3-minute versions of the show syndicated with 80 different three-minute episodes in circulation. A Typical Intro: Announcer: "Contrary to popular belief, and to the conceptions of writers of horror stories, strange and mysterious events do not require strange and mysterious settings. One of the most remarkable occurrences in all the annals of the incredible took place on the teaming streets of New York City. It was there that the girl named Dorothy Arnold was last seen... in human form." An Opening Narration: Host: "Missing persons have long been a daily phenomenon in this largest city in the world. Consequently, the chief of the missing persons bureau of New York City looked upon it as a matter of routine when on December 13, 1910, a middle aged man, in great agitation came bustling into the room." KEN NORDINE From IMDB: Legendary voice-over artist, narrator, and disc jockey Ken Nordine was born on 13 April 1920 in Cherokee, Iowa, USA. He was the son of an architect. Nordine attended Lane Technical College Prep High School and the University of Chicago. Blessed with an exquisitely deep, rich, soothing, and resonant baritone voice, Ken was heard on "The World's Great Novels" and other Chicago radio programs in the 1940s. He married his wife Beryl Vaughan on 27 July 1945; the couple had three sons. Nordine achieved his greatest popularity in the 1950s at the peak of the beatnik jazz and poetry movement with his delightfully hip and creative free-form spoken-word aural vignettes on such albums as "Word Jazz", "Son of Word Jazz", "Love Words" and "My Baby." These albums showcase Ken's sublimely smooth and mellifluous narration over cool jazz music by the Chico Hamilton jazz group. His vignettes ranged from the lightweight and humorous to the more dark and paranoid to just plain odd and dream-like. Nordine did readings on the television series "Faces in the Window" and Fred Astaire danced to Ken's divinely mellow ditty "My Baby" on a television special. Nordine also narrated the 1948 documentary short "Against the Tide" (1948) and was Linda Blair's vocal coach for the landmark horror classic "The Exorcist" (1973). Not surprisingly, Ken also lent his supremely dulcet tones to numerous film trailers and television commercials, with his narration for a bunch of funky and imaginative television commercials for Levi's jeans made throughout the 1970s and 1980s rating highly as some of his most famous and beloved work in this particular field. In 2005 Ken released the DVD "The Eye is Never Filled". He continued to host his own weekly radio show and perform live in concert almost right to the end. Ken lived in both Chicago, Illinois and Spread Eagle, Wisconsin. Nordine died at 98 on 16 February 2019 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. Below is a YouTube episode "The Man Who Walked Behind":

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "Ken Nordine"	Old Time Radio Catalog "Incredible, But True"	Radio Horror Hosts "Incredible, But True"
Chicago Sun Times "Ken Nordine Dies At 98"	Red Circle "Incredible, But True"	Old Time Radio Downloads "Incredible, But True"

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