Director(s) for the radio show?

[shimp scrampi]

Maybe this is a silly question - but I can't remember ever hearing a "director" credited for the radio show. Hilliard Marks is credited as producer, but surely someone would be directing the individual programs, i.e., working with the actors on timing and "staging" etc. Other radio programs credit directors, can anyone explain this?

[Gerry O.]

Actually it's not a silly question at all....but for some strange reason, directors were hardly EVER credited on radio comedy programs. The only example that readily comes to mind is Tallulah Bankhead's "The Big Show", which credited Dee Engelbach as the director.

[BT]

My sense from reading the accounts of Benny's coworkers (Milt Josefsberg's book is one source), Jack Benny himself directed the radio shows, though he never claimed any such title. He also acted informally as the head writer, though he took no writer's credit.

[shimp scrampi]

Thanks for the responses. That was the underlying gist of my question, did Jack really "direct" the program? There are anecdotes around of him cueing the other actors (particularly guest stars), working with his timing and so forth. I assume if there was a steady "director" in the traditional sense there would be some info out there, like Ralph Levy who directed a lot of the TV programs; obviously a much more involved task than radio direction. I always get a chuckle out of OTR like "Screen Director's Playhouse" thinking, well, what the heck are these famous directors like Hitchcock DOING there in front of the microphones? Not very well cutting and working on angles and movements and shot composition.