Blondie (comic strip) was adapted into a long-running series of 28 low-budget theatrical B-features, produced by Columbia Pictures. Beginning with "Blondie" in 1938, the series lasted 12 years, through "Beware of Blondie" (1950). The two major roles were Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake (whose first starring role was another comic strip character, Harold Teen) as Dagwood. Faithfulness to the comic strip was a major concern of the creators of the series. Little touches were added that were iconic to the strip, like the appearance of Dagwood's famous sandwiches—and the running gag of Dagwood colliding with the mailman amid a flurry of
Hanley Stafford Hanley Stafford Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin 22 September 1899 in Hanley, England, United Kingdom; died 9 September 1968, Los Angeles, California, USA) was an actor principally on radio. He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on "The Baby Snooks Show". Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers, the boss of Dagwood Bumstead on the "Blondie" radio program. He is commemorated by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Stafford emigrated from England to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1911. He enlisted in the 43rd Battalion of the Canadian Scottish Infantry in 1915, was wounded in the Third