Henry Slesar (Writer)

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(06-12-1927 - 04-02-2002) Age 75

Henry Slesar wrote hundreds of short stories under the pen-name O.H. Leslie

He appeared in the following 43 episodes of Radio Mystery Theater
Date Episode Title Plot
01/06/1974 0001 The Old Ones Are Hard to Kill An old lady rents a room to a sick boarder. She runs into problems with his strange deathbed confession.
01/07/1974 0002 The Return of the Moresbys A husband kills his wife for donating all their money. Now, he is certain that she has been reincarnated in the form of a cat to wreak revenge on him.
01/09/1974 0004 Lost Dog A husband cannot appreciate his wife's phobia of dogs. Once he gets one home, his wife sets it against him.
01/19/1974 0014 The Girl Who Found Things A young girl with criminal tendencies is taken by a couple who discover her peculiar talent for retrieving lost things - including corpses
01/20/1974 0015 The Chinaman Button A perfectly anonymous murder offers the opportunity to earn a fortune for a man in dire financial straits.
01/24/1974 0019 Deadly Honeymoon A honeymoon turns nightmarish as a woman realises her husband to be culpable of the murders of his previous wives - during their honeymoon
01/26/1974 0021 The Ring of Truth A tortured story about a father's coercion to get his daughter to testify against her beloved in a homicide by vehicle case.
02/06/1974 0032 After the Verdict An upcoming attorney discovers to his dismay that the man he acquitted of homicide is indeed culpable. Now he must find a way to straighten out the facts.
02/24/1974 0045 The Horse That Wasn't for Sale Hereditary equestrian passion notwithstanding, a woman has to put up her horses for sale after her father's death. All except one that is fabled to be the best to the dismay of her dad's rivals.
02/28/1974 0047 A Choice of Witnesses The tables are turned on a seasoned blackmailer as his past victims team up to create a deadly plan to ensnare him.
03/18/1974 0058 Sea of Troubles A trans-Atlantic voyage on a ship is also the scene of a murder conspiracy where a man enlists the help of his brother to kill his wife for her wealth.
04/08/1974 0070 The Locked Room The bride's mother plays villain in the life of a newly wed couple. She is convinced the boy has married her not-too-beautiful daughter simply for her wealth and plans a nasty surprise for him.
04/09/1974 0071 The Murder Museum A wax museum made especially for infamous criminals is an eerie concept. Things become creepy when it becomes the place for the re-enactment of a past murder as an exhibit protests his inclusion in the museum.
04/16/1974 0075 Men Without Mouths A gangster adopts the daughter of a dead comrade and sees her off faithfully until her happy marriage. With approaching old age however, he is tormented with visions of men without mouths despite the sincere aid from his sworn daughter.
05/16/1974 0093 The Trouble with Ruth Despite her best attempts, a kleptomaniac falls back into her old ways and is found out by some thieves. They blackmail her to rob a diamond pin or they will reveal her true nature to her husband.
06/10/1974 0103 A Bargain in Blood When a strange turn of events allows a young man to switch illnesses with the diseased, a young man uses his gift to win the approval of his sweetheart's father.
06/25/1974 0110 Where Fear Begins The strange circumstances surrounding her sister's death prompt a young woman to dig deeper. She soon learns that the medication her sibling was taking was prescribed by a mysterious doctor.
08/01/1974 0126 The Hit Man A chance meeting with the wife of his next victim changes the mindset of a hired gun.
08/15/1974 0134 The Final Vow Sister Pamela owns a priceless figurine that is stolen from her. So she quits the church and dedicates all her time to find the missing statue in order to return it to a dying nun. Help comes from a source that she never would have imagined.
08/19/1974 0135 The Hands of Mrs. Mallory Shortly after the death of her husband, Mrs. Mallory loses control of both her hands mysteriously. She meets a woman in Central Park who seems to have lost her legs in a similar manner and decides to consult her doctor. The consequences are beyond her expectations.
08/22/1974 0138 The Case of M.J.H. A professional swindler seduces a lonely unmarried woman who works as a psychiatrist's assistant. He persuades her to pilfer her employer's patient files in order to extort money from them.
09/17/1974 0149 Thicker than Water A tired lawyer is made to take on a murder trial with the defendant adamantly professing his innocence. But the lawyer refuses to believe his client's claims and orders a series of tests to be run on the weapon allegedly used in the crime.
10/10/1974 0159 The Doll A professor obsessed with his niece uses a voodoo doll in order to win her love.
10/17/1974 0162 The Last Escape An elderly escape artist wants to try his hand at the greatest escape - the one that Houdini failed to complete. But his wife and her lover don't want him to succeed in his endeavor.
11/04/1974 0169 Bury Me Again A seasoned charlatan somehow survives a massive train accident. He then plots to claim the insurance money belonging to a widow.
04/15/1975 0257 My Own Murderer Joe Vinacelli is obsessed with murdering Joe Vincent. The latter goes into therapy to seek help as we slowly understand that the pursuer and the pursued are the same individual. But things get creepy when Vincent gives both his therapist and himself - the slip.
05/16/1975 0275 The Rise and Fall of the Fourth Reich A Nazi fantasy? In this weird tale, two scientists discover an aged and sickly Adolf Hitler in 1970's Mexico City. They begin to try and restore his health and youth through their experiments.
07/04/1975 0303 The Slave When two friends agree to be the other's slave for a year in the event that they lose the bet they made, to what length's will they go in order to win?
08/19/1975 0329 Welcome for a Dead Man After serving a 21-year prison sentence, a criminal convicted for the murder of a payroll assistant is finally set free. He learns something more important during a journey to recover his ill-gotten wealth.
12/03/1975 0389 Promise to Kill After learning that the killer's sentence was reduced to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty, a man plans to mete out his own brand of justice against the deviant that brutally raped and murdered his wife and daughter.
02/11/1976 0429 You Owe Me a Death Haunted by dreams and visions of the untimely death of her deceased twin, a woman desires to put the voices to rest. In order to do so, she must first unravel the mysteries surrounding her identical twin to find the truth.
03/17/1977 0618 Jobo A mildly retarded hick from Texas seems to be the heir of the gods of Easter Island. An archeologist and his daughter take separate paths to discover the truth.
06/02/1977 0658 A God Named Smith A young child prodigy creates an entire planet of his own, intending it to be a better world than earth. He finds volunteers to populate it, and establishes himself as a god.
06/10/1977 0663 The Night We Died It's con man versus con man in this sci-fi story of double-crossing and murder as a veteran of the Lunar Revolt tries to scam a war widow.
12/12/1979 1038 The Movie Makers A man is driven to suicide after obsessively watching several video recordings of his whole life. The wife enlists the assistance of his friend to uncover the truth behind her husband's passing, and the mysterious company that provided him with the films.
01/16/1980 1051 Prisoner of the Machines A group of rebels are taken prisoner by robots during a war between man and machine; and their commander plans to liberate them from Asteroid Prison One.
04/09/1980 1075 Kitty Sharing a love for creatures of the feline persuasion, a New York dancer and her roommate become even closer. A series of bizarre deaths send a police detective and college professor knocking on their door when her rivals are found scratched to death!
05/19/1980 1086 Two of a Kind An idle and selfish oaf leases two identical rooms and outfits them in the same manner in an elaborate scheme to relieve his aunt of her wealth, and to continue driving her crazy!
05/28/1980 1089 The Bluff In a high stakes game of blind man's bluff, a retired police detective uses himself as bait to lure out the man who blinded him to exact revenge for ruining his life.
07/16/1980 1103 Murder Preferred In an effort to make her husband's suicide less of an embarrassment, his widow fakes a crime scene in order to make it look like murder. When an innocent man is caught in the cross-fire, she admits her felony to the lawyer she hired to save the unfortunate man.
11/17/1980 1136 The Eleventh Plague After being marooned on a strange world for fifteen years, a magician develops god-like powers. When a group of men are sent to retrieve them, he sends the Biblical plagues of Moses to meet them.
04/19/1982 1317 Shelter The threat of nuclear war forces a group of people to take refuge in the bomb shelter of their neighbor. As tension rises, the shelter's owner spreads ill will amongst the camp's members.
10/29/1982 1388 I Hate Harold When his boss hires a slick and overbearing sales manager, his executive assistant detests him on sight. When he discovers that the man is an expert jewel thief out to rob them blind, he lends his assistance to the local police.


13 Responses to Slesar Henry

My favorite writer on CBS RMT; He really knew how to write a script to engage an audience.

Liam OCearuil

Right on, Liam! Henry Slesar was an outstanding writer and my favorite too! One of CBS Radio Mystery Theater's absolute best!! Slesar wrote the very first Radio Mystery Theater episode "The Old Ones Are Hard to Kill" and continued writing exciting and innovative dramas for many years. Best was his character development; essential to a good radio play. You cared about Slesar's characters - even supporting ones. He accomplished this through precise and meaningful dialogue which was never wasted; never seeking merely to fill time. I love his use of flashbacks too. Among great episodes are The Final Vow and The Slave, BUT at the absolute TOP of my list of favorite episodes of ALL TIME, are 'Murder Preferred' and 'Prisoner of the Machines' (read my reviews on the respective episode pages). Both are episodes I have listened to literally dozens of times and still never grow tired of them. Slesar respected the intelligence of his audience, and of his actors. I think the actors responded by giving Henry's radio plays their very best (examples: Tony Roberts and Terri Keane in 'Murder' and John Lithgow in 'Prisoner'). I invite Radio Mystery enthusiasts to spend some time focused on Slesar's stories. You begin to understand the essential and complex elements of a successful story, which must be difficult for many other writers to capture because so many episodes from other writers have gaps. Radio Mystery Theater and we listeners are fortunate to have had Henry Slesar as a resource. Thank you so much, Henry, for giving your creative self so devotedly for the enjoyment of so many!! - JUROR #4

JUROR #4

Henry Slesar's entries in Wikipedia and IMDB illustrate his extreme prolificity which goes back a long time and included much more than radio. He seemed to like writing science fiction short stories and short dramas with twists such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

JUROR #4

Henry Slesar was one of my favorite writers from the Alfred Hitchcock show, to the Alfred Hitchcock Magazine to the Edge of Night and CBSRMT. The master of the twist ending

Kevin

Check out his story "The Stuff". Excellent twist.

Declan

Henry Slesar was such a well-regarded author, I'm surprised there's no comprehensive collection of his stories. There is a book called "Death on Television" that collects his stories that were adapted for the Alfred Hitchock series (called "Death on Television), but no other collections as far as I can tell.

John

Henry Slesar wrote for Ellery Queen ‘s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine, Saint Mystery Magazine also. He is on par with O.Henry with unexpected twists at the end. More talented but unfortunately less recognized by anthology editors. He is my all time favorite author and I adore his works. Any one can tell us about his family? Wife, children etc? Couldn’t find it anywhere.

Malladi

Henry Slesar was a great sci-fi writer. He wrote 'Prisoner of the Machines', 'The Eleventh Plague', and "A God Named Smith', which are great episodes. I enjoy a lot of his non sci-fi stories as well. I wish he had written more episodes because he was one of the best writers for the series.

Amy

I just saw another episode of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents' starring Carmen Mathews, and written by Henry Slesar. (He is one of my favorite writers on CBSRMT.) As I am watching this series, it seems that he wrote quite a few of the Hitchcock episodes, so the show has a CBSRMT "feel" to it, (at least the episodes I've seen so far). It's so cool to see a TV show that reminds me of CBSRMT! 'One Step Beyond' is another show I mentioned before which also has a similar 'flavor'.

Luann

He was also the writer for the excellent "Edge of Night" daytime soap. I believe he was head writer 1968-1984. He also wrote for "Search for Tomorrow" and "Somerset."

Angie

Henry Slesar is such an excellent writer. Will check out One Step Beyond, too.

Pam

am not certain that Henry Slesar wrote for 'One Step Beyond'. I just think the latter is a very good show with a similar quality to it.

Luann

By the way, 'Twilight Zone' is another good series. Henry Slesar wrtoe for that one too.

Luann


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