Wyllis Cooper Wyllis Cooper Wyllis Oswald Cooper ( 1899 - June 22 , 1955 ) was a writer during the golden age of radio . He is best remembered for creating and writing the programs Lights Out and Quiet , Please . Biography Born Willis Oswald Cooper in Pekin , Illinois , he graduated from Pekin High School in 1916 and soon thereafter joined the U.S. Cavalry where he spent time on the Mexican border . In 1917 he became a part of the Signal Corps and was sent to France during World War I . While in France he was gassed at the Meusse-Argonne Offensive 1 . He remained on active duty until 1919 when he left to become an advertising writer , though he maintained his reserve status . By 1930 he was writing advertising copy in Chicago when he left to work for CBS as a continuity editor . Though he worked for CBS , he also freelanced radio scripts including some that were used on the early NBC radio program The Empire Builders . In 1933 he left CBS for NBC in the same position . In 1934 he created a late night horror radio program called Lights Out , which he also directed . Airing at midnight , the program quickly earned a reputation for its gory deaths and sound effects . The show would prove to be a long term success , but in 1936 he resigned from NBC and moved to Hollywood , California , where he worked as a screenwriter for various film studios . He wrote the screenplay for the 1939 film Son Of Frankenstein , and a few of the Mr. Moto films . At the same time he continued to provide radio scripts for various series including Hollywood Hotel . Arch Oboler , who took over control of Lights Out when Cooper left , would suggest that Cooper was the first person to create a unique form of radio drama , writing , `` Radio drama ( as distinguished from theatre plays boiled down to kilocycle size ) began at midnight , in the middle thirties , on one of the upper floors of Chicago 's Merchandise Mart . The pappy was a rotund writer by the name of Willys Cooper . `` About 1940 , he moved to New York City where he changed his name from “Willis” to “Wyllis” in order `` to please his wife 's numerological inclinations '' . He continued to make his living freelancing radio scripts for various network programs including The Campbell Playhouse , the sponsored successor of Orson Welles ' Mercury Theater . During World War II , he was made a consultant to the Secretary of War and produced , directed and wrote The Army Hour , a weekly news and variety propaganda series . In 1944 , Cooper joined the radio department of New York 's Compton Advertising , Inc . In 1947 , he created what was arguably his finest radio effort , Quiet , Please , which began over the Mutual Broadcasting System network but which later moved to ABC . He also wrote and directed a 44-part crime anthology for NBC called Whitehall 1212 that debuted on November 18 , 1951 . Hosted by Chief Superintendent John Davidson , curator of the Black Museum at Scotland Yard , it featured an all-British cast and told stories inspired by artifacts held by the famous London crime museum . Cooper 's show competed with a similar program ( hosted by Orson Welles ) , which ran on Mutual in 1952 . As television began to become the dominant entertainment medium , Cooper experimented with various programs including a series he wrote and directed called Volume One . He also wrote and directed episodes of the prestigious Stage 13 in the early fifties . Cooper died in High Bridge , New Jersey on June 22 , 1955 . External links Quiet Please site with discussion forum and MP3 downloads Discusses Welles ' and Cooper 's similar productions inspired by the Black Museum `` Wyllis Cooper 's 'Quiet , Please ! ' '' , by Harriet Cannon ( from Writer 's Digest , May 1949 Categories : 1899 births | 1955 deaths | American screenwriters 