Sandra Michael

Sandra Michael
BornAnna Marie Mikkelsen
(1906-05-20)May 20, 1906
Aarhus, Denmark
DiedAugust 29, 2003(2003-08-29) (aged 97)
Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego County, California, U.S.
Occupation
  • radio soap opera writer
  • radio host/announcer
  • radio actor
  • television writer
LanguageEnglish
Alma materUniversity of Illinois, University of Chicago
Spouse
John Gibbs
​
​
(m. 1935; died 1997)​

Sandra Michael (born Anna Marie Mikkelsen;[1][2] May 20, 1906[1] – August 29, 2003[3][4]) was an American writer—and sometimes host/announcer or actor[5][6]—who had a relatively brief but high-profile career spent primarily in old-time radio, best known for creating ambitious daytime dramas (she disdained the term "soap opera"). Most notable among these was Against the Storm, which, in 1942, became the first and only daytime radio drama to ever win a Peabody Award.[7][8][9][10][11]

  1. ^ a b "Denmark Census, 1911", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q2WW-T8YK : Sat Mar 09 00:09:40 UTC 2024), Entry for Jens Mikkelsen and Cathrine Mikkelsen, 1911.
  2. ^ "Ex-Montanan Authors Radio Drama". Great Falls Tribune. May 25, 1949. p. 12.
  3. ^ "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, Births, and Marriages 1980-2014", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKWD-YPH5 : Sun Mar 10 00:36:52 UTC 2024), Entry for Anna Marie or "sandra" Gibbs, 03 Sep 2003.
  4. ^ Lester, John (November 21, 1955). "Radio and Television". The Gazette and Daily. p. 14.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference RNR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Goldberg, Dan (May 29, 1940). "She Knows Her P.'s & G.'s; ACTOR ROLL CALL (Those listed below are employed, or have been employed, on the various dramatic serials of Irma Phillips' authorship)". Variety. p. 26. ProQuest 1505815774. Malcolm Meacham, Dorothy S. Meade, Ralph Menzing, June Meredith, Sandra Michael, Bob Middleton, Don Mihan, Kay Miller, Margaret Miller
  7. ^ "Peabody Awards Focus on Program Merit; Prizes Conferred on Shortwave Outlets". Variety. April 13, 1942. p. 29. ProQuest 1040442485. PROCTER & GAMBLE's Against the Storm, set at mythical Harper University in Hawthorne, won the 1941 Peabody drama award because of its human interest and integrity and as a standout 'above the mediocrities in its field.' Of this Monday-thru-Friday serial on the Red, and its author Sandra Michael, John K. Hutchins of the New York Times wrote: 'They are recognizable human beings instead of figures carved out of the sponsor's product ... They are sensitive and intelligent and they talked literstely of such subjects—not usually discussed on the radio at 3 p.m.—as politics, art and poetry ... The explanation doubtless is that Miss Michaels is herself a sensitive, intelligent and literate person.
  8. ^ Skutch, Ira; ed. (1998). Five Directors: The Golden Years of Radio : Based on Interviews with Himan Brown, Axel Gruenberg, Fletcher Markle, Arch Oboler, Robert Lewis Shayon. Lanham, MD: The Scarecrow Press. p. 61. ISBN 0-8108-3483-9.
  9. ^ Horten, Gerd (2003). Radio Goes to War: The Cultural Politics of Propaganda During World War II. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-520-24061-2.
  10. ^ Landry, Robert J. (May 3, 1967). "Radio-Television: 'Radio's Golden Age': A Nostalgic Binge". Variety. p. 55. ProQuest 1032441254. A quick rundown of forgotten or semi-forgotten personages will push many a light-button. There is Sandra Michael, once the great white-robed priestess of soap opera to conjure with.
  11. ^ Landry, Robert J. (January 2, 1974). "Radio-Television: Irna Phillips, 72, Dies; Dominant Daytime Serial Force For 40 Years". Variety. p. 31. ProQuest 1032472294. Phillips would invariably be mentioned in any discussion of 'soaps' along with such pioneers as Ann Hummert, Elaine Sterne Carrington, Sandra Michael, Mona Kent, Paul Rhymer ('Vic and Sade,' also from Chicago), Myrtle Vail ('Myrt and Marge'), Bess Flynn, Gertrude Berg, Lee Gebhart, Addie Richton and Lynn Stone, and others.