Carl Bixby

Carl Bixby (May 4, 1895 - June 29, 1978) was an American writer who worked primarily on radio and television programs.

Early years Bixby was born on May 4, 1895, in Worcester, Massachusetts, He moved to Richmond, Virginia, when he was 12 years old. While there he acted in, directed, and wrote amateur theatrical productions. During his junior year he left high school for a job in the newspaper business. He went into the military in 1917, serving briefly in a cavalry unit in Brownsville, Texas. While he worked at an advertising agency in New York City he suggested using "Good to the last drop" as an advertising slogan for Maxwell House coffee. At one point, a client sought a radio program on which he could advertise. Bixby, with no actual program available, made up a concept that the client liked. Having sold the idea, Bixby had to create it, and he spent a week in his Long Island apartment writing the beginning of the serial Dangerous Paradise. That was his entry into radio. This Day Is Ours, The Man I Married, on the series Stories America Loves. Bixby's other work on radio included producing Radio Reader's Digest.

Club Romance A "musical romance built around a mythical night club" was the focus of the Club Romance serial. The show's format limited scripting for it. Two solos by the male singing lead, two by the female singing lead, their duet, and at least three orchestral pieces left limited time for spoken words in each episode. Bixby typically began by writing about 4,000 words for an episode, after which he edited until the final script contained about 10 percent of that total. A review of the program commented that the remaining "pungent lines" tied the episode's segments together with humor while retaining "a keynote of romantic suspense".

Dangerous Paradise In its first year, Dangerous Paradise progressed from being "just another radio drama" to ranking "as one of the most acclaimed features of its type". Bixby wrote a popular novel adapted from the program's scripts. Published by The Macaulay Company in 1934, the 309-page book was one of the first novels adapted from a program that had been "acclaimed by the radio audience". A review said that the book had much the same interest and suspense as the radio program.

By 1938 Bixby had parted ways with Nick Dawson, the program's star, and Bixby sued to prevent continuation of the series. He lost the case when New York's Supreme Court ruled that any content created by a script writer belonged to his or her employer. The ruling on December 24, 1937, was one of the first legal decisions regarding rights of people who wrote for radio programs. Bixby's attorney submitted a 180-page brief in support of his position.

Other activities

Magazine In October 1948 Bixby launched a magazine, Life Can Be Beautiful. Although the name was the same as that of the radio show, the publication was not affiliated with the program. The magazine was designed to have a personal focus for men and women, covering topics that included divorce, education, family life, health, religion, and sex. Bixby called it "a personal magazine of practical optimism" and added, "Our message is that life can be beautiful if you have the courage to make it so."

Plays When Bixby lived in Richmond he often had male lead roles in productions of the Little Theater League, and he performed in the Legion Follies for the American Legion. In the early 1930s he performed with the Salon Players, part of the Salon of Seven Arts, in Jackson Heights in New York City.

Beginning when he was 12 years old, Bixby wrote one play a year. Many of them were presented by amateur theatrical groups, including the Westport Players in the area of Connecticut in which he lived. For those productions he also acted, directed, and helped with creation of sets.