Command Performance

Broadcast History: 1 March 1942 to 20 December 1949 and 7 October 1945 to 21 April 1946

A surprising fact about this series is that all talent was donated, in other words no one received payment – not even the stars. This was even more remarkable when you see the list of stars who contributed to the entertainment. Stars of the silver screen like Charles Laughton, Red Skelton, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, to name but a few. Anybody who was anybody got in on this act and those guys serving away from home were glad of it.

When the war ended it was decided that it would still be necessary to carry on producing the show and it continued to be broadcast to the serving men and women of the United States Armed Forces right up to the end of 1949.