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
Kerry Norton-Smyser actress Ellen Morgan. Around this time, Norton reached what she considered the peak of her radio career. Ron Beck, former producer of the Colgate-Palmolive shows, had entered into production with his own company. He obtained scripts of "Blondie", an American show based on Chic Young's comic strip of the same name, and set about producing an Australian version of them. Willie Fennell played Dagwood Bumstead, Blondie's rather put-upon husband, but competition for the title role was very keen. Norton won it from a large field of auditioning actresses. "Blondie" went to air in November 1951, but its run was not