Actors on the series included Ethel Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Eddie Cantor, Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, Bette Davis, Jimmy Durante, Nelson Eddy, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Clark Gable, Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, Sam Levene, Johnny Mercer, Agnes Moorehead, Dennis Morgan, Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Frank Sinatra, Shirley Temple, and Dinah Shore.

With uncertainties in the oil market due to World War II, Gulf dropped the show, and in 1942 the Lady Esther cosmetics corporation assumed sponsorship.

[7] "A table of highlights would run many pages", wrote radio historian John Dunning, who lists the following notable Screen Guild broadcasts:[5]: 601 Shirley Temple's parents declined an offer of $35,000 for her to perform a radio version of The Blue Bird on a commercial broadcast; instead, she presented it on the Screen Guild program without payment.

As Temple was singing "Someday You'll Find Your Bluebird", a woman in the audience rose from her seat and pulled out a handgun, pointing it directly at her.

Few broadcasts are known to have survived in radio collections:[5]: 601 [12] The Screen Guild Theater was hosted by George Murphy in 1939, and Roger Pryor for the remainder of its Gulf-sponsored run.