Harry W. Junkin

Harry W. Junkin (5 January 1916 - 1 April 1978) was a Canadian writer for radio and television programs who sometimes hosted and directed radio shows. He wrote more than 1,000 scripts for radio shows

He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF)

Career After Junkin left the RCAF he became an advertising copy writer in Toronto, Canada.

Radio Junkin began writing for radio soon after World War II ended.

He wrote for Radio City Playhouse and sometimes was the show's director and host. Other radio programs for which he wrote included Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons, Big Town, The Chase, Mr. District Attorney, Mr. I. A. Moto, Popular Playhouse, Sunday Serenade, and Top Secret. Conflict, and The Catholic Hour.

Junkin returned to Winnipeg in 1978 to write scripts for three radio plays broadcast on the CBC's Playhouse.

Television Junkin's writing for TV programs began in 1949. Programs for which he created scripts included The Telltale Clue, Front Row Center, Star Tonight, The Philco Television Playhouse, Studio One Summer Theatre, Cameo Theatre, Modern Romances, Lux Video Theatre, The Saint, and Wagon Train.

In 1956, Junkin was one of nine writers signed to one-year contracts with CBS that called for a salary of $12,000 - $15,000 for a year for each writer in return for providing five TV scripts of one hour or 90 minutes each. The New York Times reported, "The idea itself is not new; but it is probably the first time that a network has embarked on a project of this type." Payments were made weekly to create a feeling of security.

Junkin created The Befrienders, an 11-part series broadcast on BBC One in 1972. He also was the series's script editor and co-producer. Episodes dealt with efforts of the Samaritans organization to prevent suicides.

"Long Distance" One of Junkin's scripts, "Long Distance" has been called "a broadcasting classic". It originated from his experience when he was in the RCAF. An unexpected leave prompted Junkin to call his wife to let her know he was headed home. All of the telephone circuits were busy, however, and he could not complete the call. He said, "I started thinking about the busy circuits and wondering what a person would do if the message were a matter of life and death. And then I sat down and wrote 'Long Distance.'"

"A Public Figure" Junkin's "A Public Figure" story was presented on CBS-TV's Studio One on January 23, 1956, with Mercedes McCambridge and James Daly starring. The episode focused on a scandal magazine's exposure of something an actor did when he was a boy and the actor's efforts to fight back. Daly's character (a children's-show hero) lost his job after the revelation that he had been imprisoned for an armed robbery that he committed when he was 17 years old. The episode had another victim of an expose (a Nobel Prize-winning poet) take his own life.

Critical response An advance review of the episode distributed in newspapers by TV Key Previews said that the episode "has moments of real impact" with "good performances all around".

Bernie Harrison, writing in The (Washington, D. C.) Evening Star, called the episode "an imaginative topical drama that fairly crackled for three exciting acts." Fannin felt that Junkin should have had a victim of smear articles respond with a lawsuit and dramatized the potential legal consequences when a publication committed libel. He described some parts of Junkin's script as "darn good lines" but added that other parts were "pure soap opera, and not very good soap at that". An announcement related to acquisition of the film rights by MGM head Dore Schary said, "While Hollywood has been fighting vicious misrepresentations of facts concerning celebrities in the entertainment world for many months, 'A Public Figure' is the first story to turn the spotlight on the anonymous publishers."