The Life of Riley starring William Bendix as lovable, blundering, Chester A. Riley, was a radio situation comedy broadcast during and after wartime 40s. Because of its overwhelming radio popularity, Riley graduated as easily to a 1949 feature film, as it did to 1950s television. Also, in 1958, it hit the newsstands, when Dell Comics released &#34;The Life of Riley&#34; in comic book form..Although &#34;The Life of Riley&#34; had originally begun as a proposed Groucho Marx radio series &#34;The Flotsam Family,&#34; the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head-of-household role for the comedian. Groucho went on to host Blue Ribbon Town from 1943 to 1944 and then &#34;You Bet Your Life&#34; from 1947 to 1961. Producer Irving Brecher saw Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in Hal Roach&'s The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942). &#34;The Flotsam Family&#34; was re-worked, with Bendix cast as blundering Chester A. Riley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California.<br></p><p>His frequent exclamation of indignation became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s: &#34;What a revoltin&' development this is!&#34; The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby &#34;Digger&#34; O&'Dell (John Brown), &#34;the friendly undertaker.&#34;</p>