Frank Siedel

Frank Siedel (5 September 1914 – 9 May 1988) was an American writer, historian, educator, and broadcaster. Siedel wrote over 1,500 movie, radio, and television scripts and two historical novels - ''The Ohio Story'' and ''Out of The Midwest''.

In 1947, Siedel created and wrote the first scripts for the "Ohio Story" radio episodes. For five years, the 15-minute show was broadcast live three days a week from the studios of WTAM in Cleveland to a network of Ohio radio stations. In 1952, the format changed to 10 minutes a night, and the shows were pre-recorded for distribution to 20 Ohio radio stations. "Captain Dodge's Uncommon Courage," the last radio show, aired on 29 December 1955.

In 1953, Siedel initiated a weekly television version of the ''Ohio Story.'' For two years, the Ohio Story radio and TV episodes overlapped. One hundred seventy-five Ohio Story TV episodes were produced.

Ray Culley of Cinécraft Productions, owner of a sponsored film studio in Cleveland, Ohio, directed the television episodes. Stuart Buchanan was the producer for both the radio and TV series. The narrator of the radio-TV series was initially Robert Waldrop, and later, Nelson Olmsted (1914–1982). William Ellis, Lee Templeton, and Leo Trefzger co-wrote with Siedel some of the later scripts. Anson Hardman, General Advertising Manager of Ohio Bell, coordinated the radio series project and did much of the early episode research. The radio and TV series sponsor for the entire run was the Ohio Bell Telephone Company.

The ''Ohio Story'' radio-TV series (1947-1961) is said to be the longest-running scripted regional radio/TV show of its time. Two of Siedel's three books were offshoots of the "Ohio Story" radio and television series.

In 2019, the Hagley Museum and Library started a project to digitize and post online the movies and TV episodes Siedel produced through Cinécraft Productions. Provided by Wikipedia