Arch Oboler

Arch Oboler was an American writer and director who became one of the most inventive voices of early radio drama. Born in 1907 and active through radio's golden age, he wrote and directed the anthology series Arch Oboler's Plays and the wartime series Plays for Americans, and is best remembered for creating the horror anthology Lights Out, which used sound alone to build some of the era's most unsettling broadcasts. His scripts favored bold psychological and speculative premises rather than conventional melodrama, and his flair for self-promotion made him one of broadcasting's most visible personalities. He later moved into film, directing works including Five in 1951, Bwana Devil in 1952 and The Twonky in 1953. He died in 1987.