Enjoy an afternoon listening to Boris Karloff perform in various dramatic roles when Golden Age of Radio meets on Thursday, May 5, at 1 p.m. in the Community Center.

Best remembered for his non-speaking roles in the movies “Frankenstein” and “The Mummy,” Karloff was a fine actor, as he demonstrated in many radio appearances on the “Lights Out” radio program as well as the “Screen Guild Players,” “Philip Morris Playhouse” and “Theatre Guild” on the Air” shows.

The youngest of nine children, Karloff was born William Henry Pratt on November 23, 1887, in East Dulwich, London. He changed his name to Boris Karloff for acting purposes only, presumably to save his family shame. In fact, Sir John Thomas Pratt, Karloff’s older brother and member of the British Foreign Service, strongly disapproved of acting as a career choice.

Classic radio programs such as those mentioned here are available in Golden Age of Radio’s Bruce Florence Library, an extensive collection of timeless radio broadcasts on records, cassette tapes and CDs.

Membership in the Community Center is required to attend meetings of the Golden Age of Radio. For more information, contact Bill Whittaker at 480-837-7961, or the Community Center at 480-816-5200.

From the twilight of the Jazz Age to the dawn of the Space Age, The Golden Age of Radio celebrates the reign of the first electronic medium, the then-modern miracle that brought news, entertainment and information into homes throughout a significant period of our history.