Wilda Wilson Church was a pioneer radio drama producer and director. Born in Ohio, she was an English teacher and dramatic instructor at the Cora L. Williams Institute, a private high school for girls in Berkeley, when she was recruited by KRE to produce radio drama in 1922.
She honed her talents on KRE before moving to KGO. At KGO, she was responsible for a weekly program called KGO Players, which broke new ground by integrating the spoken word, music, and sound effects. This use of multiple audio sources presaged the sort of programming that filled the airwaves during radios “Golden Age”. Church would join NBC as a producer of dramatic programs for the Pacific Coast Network. She was said to have produced more radio dramatic programs than any individual on the West Coast up to that time.
Her directing technique involved sitting in a room without visual contact with the studio. Preferring to experience the broadcast the way listeners would hear it, she used a telephone to provide direction to the performers in the studio. More images of Wilda Wilson Church are available here.
