The concept for the publication has been attributed to Dougles DeVeny Martin (1885–1963), one of five 1932 Pulitzer Prize winning journalists from the Detroit Free Press,[3] who, in April 1934, proposed – to Malcolm Wallace Bingay (1884–1953), managing editor – publishing a weekly tabloid supplement in full color, 16 pages covering cinema and radio entertainment "to interest adult-minded readers, with no salacious gossip and a bare minimum of press-agent claptrap.
[5] The Detroit Free Press first published S&RW April 29, 1934, with a photo of Janet Gaynor on the cover – an era marked by the Great Depression, before television.
Movies and radio, in 1935, according to author Donovan A. Shilling, served as a relief for people living in an era of few jobs.
Fashion and beauty Film Hollywood Managing editors Radio Theater The issues of Screen & Radio Weekly include neither mastheads nor volumes nor issue numbers – only dates.
The Margaret Herrick Library – the main repository of print, graphic and research materials of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – holds issues of Screen & Radio Weekly.