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Norman Corwin

Norman Lewis Corwin (May 3, 1910 – October 18, 2011) was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the 1930s and 1940s.

Corwin was among the first producers to regularly use entertainment – even light entertainment – to tackle serious social issues. In this area, he was a peer of Orson Welles and William N. Robson, and an inspiration to other later radio/TV writers such as Rod Serling, Gene Roddenberry, Norman Lear, J. Michael Straczynski and Yuri Rasovsky. His work was very influential on successful creative and performing artists, including Ray Bradbury, Charles Kuralt, The Firesign Theatre, Robert Altman, and Robin Williams among many others.

A major figure during the Golden Age of Radio, his work was very influential both at the time and later. He has been called "The Grand Master of American Audio Theatre". During the 1930s and 1940s he was a writer and producer of many radio programs in many genres: history, biography, fantasy, fiction, poetry and drama. He was the writer and creator of series such as The Columbia Workshop, 13 by Corwin, 26 by Corwin and others. After leaving the CBS Network, he was Head of Special Media Programming for the United Nations in the early 1950s, producing radio programs explaining the U.N.'s organization and goals, and documenting some of its efforts worldwide. He was a lecturer in Journalism at the University of Southern California until he was 97.

A documentary film on Corwin's life, A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Feature) in 2006. Les Guthman's feature documentary on Mr. Corwin's career, Corwin aired on PBS in the 1990s. He was inducted into the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters Diamond Circle in 1994.

On Corwin's 100th birthday, the Writers Guild of America West gave him a "Gala" in Hollywood, which was hosted by Leonard Maltin and featured live performances of two of his favorite works and birthday speeches and reminiscences by many people, including Carl Reiner, Hal Kanter, William Shatner, and others. On that occasion, the National Audio Theatre Festival organization announced the creation of the Norman Corwin Award for Excellence in Audio Theatre, which is given annually to an individual or group who have made significant contributions to the art form in the United States.

Birth and Death Data: Born Boston (capital and largest city of Massachusetts, United States), Died October 18, 2011 (Los Angeles (seat of Los Angeles County, and largest city in California, United States) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1939 - 1944

Roles Represented in DAHR: speaker, director, arranger

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-036886 10-in. 5/11/1939 Daniel The Koralites Dramatic scene arranger  
Victor BS-036891 10-in. 5/11/1939 The pobble The Koralites Dramatic scene arranger  
Columbia HCO187 10-in. 1/3/1941 Encouragements to a lover (Sir John Suckling); On his blindness (John Milton); In Flanders fields (John McCrae) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia HCO188 10-in. 1/3/1941 From the Santa Fe Trail (Vachel Lindsay); Lost (Carl Sandburg) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29074 10-in. 11/14/1940 Boots (Rudyard Kipling); Sea Fever (John Masefield) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29075 10-in. 11/14/1940 Boot and saddle (Robert Browning); A red, red rose (Robert Burns); Break, break, break (Alfred Lord Tennyson) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29077 10-in. 11/15/1940 The lark (Lizette Woodward Reese); Song of the Chattahoochee (Sidney Lanier) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29080 10-in. 11/15/1940 The man with the hoe Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29082 10-in. 11/15/1940 She walks in a beauty (George Gordon Byron); Dover Beach (Mathew Arnold) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29083 10-in. 11/15/1940 Crossing the bar (Alfred Lordy Tennyson); Ozymandias (Percy Bysshe Shelly); The tiger (William Blake) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29084 10-in. 11/14/1940 Kubla Khan Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29163 10-in. 11/27/1940 Silver (Walter de la Mare); The runaway (Robert Frost); A wet sheet and a flowing sea (Allan Cunningham) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29197 10-in. 12/4/1940 When I heard the learn'd astronomer (Walt Whitman); To Althea, from prison (Richard Lovelace); November night (Adelaide Crapsey) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Columbia CO29198 10-in. 12/4/1940 The fog (Carl Sandburg); The railway train (Emily Dickinson); Deserted (Madison Cawein); In the time of "The breaking of nations" (Thomas Hardy) Norman Corwin Recitation speaker  
Decca 71967 4/10/1944 The lonesome train: Part 3 Burl Ives director  
Decca 71968 4/10/1944 The lonesome train: Part 6 Burl Ives director  
Decca 71969 4/10/1944 The lonesome train: Part 1 Burl Ives director  
Decca 71970 4/10/1944 The lonesome train: Part 2 Burl Ives director  
Decca 71971 4/10/1944 The lonesome train: Part 4 Burl Ives director  
Decca 71972 4/10/1944 The lonesome train: Part 5 Burl Ives director  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Corwin, Norman," accessed January 6, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/101936.

Corwin, Norman. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 6, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/101936.

"Corwin, Norman." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 6 January 2026.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/101936

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