Empire of the Air: The Men Who Made Radio (1991) | Full Cast

Ken Burns

DIRECTOR

Jason Robards

Narrator (voice)

Red Barber

Self - Radio Announcer

Erik Barnouw

Self - Historian

Ken Bilby

Self - Biographer of David Sarnoff

Norman Corwin

Self - Writer

Susan Douglas

Self - Historian

Frank Günther

Self (engineer)

Jeanne Hammond

Self - Niece of Edwin H. Armstrong

Loren Jones

Self - Engineer

Garrison Keillor

Self - Writer

Helen Kelley

Self - Radio Broadcaster

Robert Morris

Self - Engineer

Dana Raymond

Self - Friend of Edwin H. Armstrong

Gertrude Tyne

Self - Engineer

Fred Allen

Self - Predicts Demise of Radio (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Gene Autry

Self - Sings (uncredited) (archiveSound)

John Barrymore

Hamlet (uncredited) (archiveSound)

Winston Churchill

Self - Finest Hour Speech (uncredited) (archiveSound)

Charles J. Correll

Self - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Lee De Forest

Self - Objects to Quality of Radio Programming (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Ralph Edwards

Self - Host of 'This Is Your Life' (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

Self - Announces Landing in Normandy (uncredited) (archiveSound)

Eugenia Farrar

Self (with Lee De Forest) (uncredited) (archiveFootage) (unconfirmed)

Freeman F. Gosden

Self - Prepares for Amos 'n' Andy Broadcast (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Guglielmo Marconi

Self - Visits Sarnoff at RCA (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Marie Mosquini

Self - with Lee De Forest (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Nelson Rockefeller

Self - Eulogizes Sarnoff (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Self - Makes Broadcast About Banking Reform (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

David Sarnoff

Self - with Marconi at RCA (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Frank Sinatra

Self - Serenades Sarnoff (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Arturo Toscanini

Self - Conducts NBC Symphony (uncredited) (archiveFootage)

Harry S. Truman

Self - Announces Bombing of Hiroshima (uncredited) (archiveSound)

Bob Warren

This is Your Life Announcer Dr. Lee DeForrest episode (uncredited)

Orson Welles

Professor in War of the Worlds Broadcast (uncredited) (archiveSound)