DICK POWELL COLLECTION

OLD TIME RADIO - 8 CD-ROM - 203 mp3 - Total Playtime: 100:04:15

Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, film producer, film director and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardbitten leading man starring in projects of a more dramatic nature.
Born in Mountain View, the seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas, Powell attended the former Little Rock College in the state capital, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Charlie Davis Orchestra, based in the midwest. He recorded a number of records with Davis and on his own, for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s.

Powell moved to Pittsburgh, where he found great local success as the Master of Ceremonies at the Enright Theater and the Stanley Theater. In April 1930, Warner Bros. bought Brunswick Records, which at that time owned Vocalion. Warner Bros. was sufficiently impressed by Powell's singing and stage presence to offer him a film contract in 1932. He made his film debut as a singing bandleader in Blessed Event. He went on to star as a boyish crooner in movie musicals such as 42nd Street, Footlight Parade, Gold Diggers of 1933, Dames, Flirtation Walk, and On the Avenue, often appearing opposite Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell.

Powell desperately wanted to expand his range but Warner Bros. wouldn't allow him to do so, although they did (mis)cast him in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) as Lysander. This was to be Powell's only Shakespearean role and one he did not want to play, feeling that he was completely wrong for the part. Inscrutably, the young actor felt that he was too old to play romantic leading men anymore, and so he lobbied to play the lead in Double Indemnity. He lost out to Fred MacMurray, another Hollywood nice guy. MacMurray’s success, however, fueled Powell’s resolve to pursue projects with greater range.

In 1944, Powell's career changed forever when he was cast in the first of a series of films noir, as private detective Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet, directed by Edward Dmytryk. The film was a big hit, and Powell had successfully reinvented himself as a dramatic actor. He was the first actor to play Marlowe — by name — in motion pictures. (Hollywood had previously adapted some Marlowe novels, but with the lead character changed.) Later, Powell was the first actor to play Marlowe on radio, in 1944 and 1945, and on television, in a 1954 episode of Climax! Powell also played the slightly-less hard-boiled detective Richard Rogue in the radio series "Rogue's Gallery", beginning in 1945.

In 1945, Dmytryk and Powell re-teamed to make the film Cornered, a gripping, post-WWII thriller that helped define the film noir style. He became a popular "tough guy" lead appearing in movies such as Johnny O'Clock and Cry Danger. But 1948 saw him step out of the brutish type when he starred in Pitfall, a film noir that sees a bored insurance company worker fall for an innocent but dangerous woman, played by Lizabeth Scott. Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as The Reformer and the Redhead and Susan Slept Here (1954), he never sang in his later roles. The latter, his final onscreen appearance in a feature film, did include a dance number with costar Debbie Reynolds.

From 1949–1953, Powell played the lead role in the NBC radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30-minute weekly was a likable private detective with a quick wit. Many episodes ended with Detective Diamond having an excuse to sing a little song to his date, showcasing Powell's vocal abilities. Many of the episodes were written by Blake Edwards. When Richard Diamond came to television in 1957, the lead role was portrayed by David Janssen, who did no singing in the series.

In the 1950s Powell was one of the founders of Four Star Television, along with Charles Boyer, David Niven and Ida Lupino. He appeared in and supervised several shows for that company. Powell played the role of Willie Dante in Four Star Playhouse, in episodes entitled "Dante's Inferno" (1952), "The Squeeze" (1953), "The Hard Way" (1953), and "The House Always Wins" (1955). In 1961, Howard Duff, husband of Ida Lupino, assumed the Dante role in a short-lived NBC adventure series Dante, set at a San Francisco nightclub called "Dante's Inferno".

Powell guest-starred in numerous Four Star programs, including a 1958 appearance on the Duff-Lupino sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve. He appeared in 1961 on James Whitmore's legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones on ABC. In the episode "Everybody Versus Timmy Drayton", Powell played a colonel having problems with his son. He hosted and occasionally starred in his Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater on CBS from 1956–1961, and his final anthology series, The Dick Powell Show on NBC from 1961 through 1963: after his death, the series continued through the end of its second season (as The Dick Powell Theater), with guest hosts.

Powell's film The Enemy Below (1957), based on the novel by Denys Rayner, won the Academy Award For Special Effects.

Powell also directed The Conqueror (1956), starring John Wayne as Genghis Khan. The exterior scenes were filmed in St. George, Utah, downwind of U.S. above-ground atomic tests. The cast and crew totaled 220, and of that number, 91 had developed some form of cancer by 1981 and 46 had died of cancer by then, including Wayne. This cancer rate is about three times higher than one would expect in a group of this size and many have argued that radioactive fallout was the cause.

On September 27, 1962, Powell acknowledged rumors that he was undergoing treatment for cancer. The disease was originally diagnosed as an allergy, with Powell first experiencing symptoms while traveling East to promote his program. Upon his return to California, Powell's personal physician conducted tests and found malignant growths on his neck and chest.

Powell died from lymphoma at the age of fifty-eight on January 2, 1963, seven years after The Conqueror was made. His body was cremated and his remains were interred in the Columbarium of Honor at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.

Dick Powell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6915 Hollywood Blvd.

Powell was the son of Ewing Powell and Sallie Rowena Thompson.

He was married three times:

Mildred Maund (1925–1927) — although most biographies say they were divorced in 1927, there are strong indications this is not true. They appear on the 1930 census in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he is working in a theater, and they appear on a 1931 passenger list where they are returning from Havana, Cuba aboard the SS Oriente.
Joan Blondell (married September 19, 1936, divorced 1944), with whom he had two children, Ellen and adopted son Norman
June Allyson (August 19, 1945, until his death), with whom he had two children, Pamela (adopted) and Richard Powell, Jr.

Powell's ranch-style house in Mandeville Canyon, Los Angeles, was used as the setting for the television show Hart to Hart. Robert Wagner, the actor who portrayed Jonathan Hart in the series, was a close friend of Powell's. Dick Powell also was a major television player with his own production company, Four Star Television, owning several network shows.

EPISODES LIST

Disc 1

America Calling 41-02-08 A Salute to the Greek Nation
Bill Stern Sports Newsreel 48-08-27 Guest - Dick Powell
Bing Crosby Show 50-11-08 Chest-Dick Powell
Campana Serenade 43-09-04
Cavalcade of America 440131 The Sailor Takes a Wife
Cavalcade of America 480913 Gettysburg
Cavalcade of America 510612 The Silent Service
Chesterfield Show - 50-11-08 Guest - Dick Powell
Command Performance - 42-07-21 Pat O'Brien, Harold Peary, Dick Powell
Command Performance - 43-05-15 Joan Blondell, Dick Powell, Martha Tilton
Command Performance - 49-06-21 Evelyn Knight, Dick Powell
Dave Garroway Show 50-01-09 Mel Torme & Dick Powell
Dick Powell Biography
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy 49-11-13 Dick Powell
Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarty 54-02-28 June Allyson and Dick Powell
Front and Center 47-07-13 Guests - Jack Carson, Dick Powell
Hollywood Calling 49-07-03 Host- Dick Powell
Hollywood Hotel 36-12-18 One In a Million
Hollywood Is On The Air - Broadway Gondolier
Hollywood Star Time 46-06-08 Murder, My Sweet
Hollywood_Calling 49-07-03 Host Dick Powell
Leo is on the Air - Dames (1934)
Leo is on the Air - Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
Leo is on the Air - Reckless (1935)

Disc 2
Lux Radio Theater 36-12-21 The Gold Diggers
Lux Radio Theater 41-05-19 Model Wife
Lux Radio Theater 43-01-18 My Gal Sal
Lux Radio Theater 44-05-22 Springtime in the Rockies
Lux Radio Theater 44-11-20 It Started with Eve
Lux Radio Theater 45-06-11 Murder, My Sweet
Lux Radio Theater 47-05-12 Johnny O'Clock
Lux Radio Theater 49-05-23 To the Ends of the Earth
Lux Radio Theater 50-04-24 Mrs Mike
Lux Radio Theater 55-01-11 Island in the Sky
Mail Call 43-07-15 Edward G Robinson, Dick Powell, Marion Hutton, Ann Miller
Mail Call 45-04-04 Jack Carson
Midnighters Club - Guest - Dick Powell
Philco Radio Time 48-03-31 Dick Powell
Radio Hall of Fame 45-01-28 Evalina
Recollection at 30 - 561219 Red Skelton Debut
Request Performance 46-04-21 Spring Comes to Central Park - Dick Powell, George Raft, Abbott and Costello
RKO Radio Pictures Presents - Cornered - 46-02-27
Sam Spade 50-12-01 The Dog Bed Caper
Screen Directors Playhouse 49-10-17 Pitfall
Screen Guild Theater 39-06-04 Variety-End Gulf Screen Guild Show
Screen Guild Theater 44-04-03 Hello Frisco Hello
Screen Guild Theater 44-09-25 It Happened Tomorrow
Sealtest Variety Theater 48-10-21 Happy Ending
Smokey the Bear and the Sons of the Pioneers 1959 Guest - Dick Powell
Suspense 500223 Slow Burn
Suspense 510531 Over Drawn
This I Believe - Dick Powell
UN Radio 1953 The Korea Story 1.2 - The Korea Story
UN Radio 1953 The Korea Story 2.2 - The Quiet War
Virginia Gregg Biography
Warner Brothers Air Trailers 1935 Shipmates Forever
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar 1948-12-07 000 Milford Brooks III (Audition with Dick Powell)
 

Disc 3

Rogues Gallery 45-10-04 016 Blondes Prefer Gentlemen
Rogues Gallery 45-10-11 017 Murder In Drawing Room Amystery Playhouse 137
Rogues Gallery 45-10-25 019 Murder With Muriel
Rogues Gallery 45-11-08 018 Little Drops Of Rain
Rogues Gallery 45-11-15 022 The House Of Fear
Rogues Gallery 45-11-29 024 Little Old Lady
Rogues Gallery 45-12-13 026 Blood On The Sand
Rogues Gallery 45-12-20 027 Fortune In Furs
Rogues Gallery 46-01-03 029 Murder At Minden
Rogues Gallery 46-01-17 031 Anson Leeds Is Dead
Rogues Gallery 46-01-31 033 Special Added Attraction
Rogues Gallery 46-02-21 036 The Triangle Murder Case
Rogues Gallery 46-04-04 041 The Message
Rogues Gallery 46-05-09 046 Snowbound
Rogues Gallery 46-05-16 047 The Impossible Murder
Rogues Gallery 46-05-23 048 Latin Type
Rogues Gallery 46-06-06 050 Blue Eyes
Rogues Gallery 46-06-13 051 The Corpse I Didnt Kill
Rogues Gallery 46-06-23 053 The Star Of Savoy
Rogues Gallery 46-06-30 054 Lady With A Gun
Rogues Gallery 46-07-07 055 Cabin On The Lake
Rogues Gallery 46-07-14 056 Where Theres A Will Theres A Murder
Rogues Gallery 47-06-29 070 Phyllis Adrian Is Missing
Rogues Gallery Intro

Disc 4

Richard Diamond 49 05 01 002 The Barton Case
Richard Diamond 49 05 15 004 Ralph Chase Case
Richard Diamond 49 05 22 005 The Stolen Purse
Richard Diamond 49 05 29 006 The Betty Moran Case
Richard Diamond 49 06 19 009 Fred Sears Murder Case
Richard Diamond 49 06 26 010 The Tom Waxman Bombing Case
Richard Diamond 49 07 02 011 The Bloody Hat Case
Richard Diamond 49 07 09 012 Charles Walsh Bob Wells
Richard Diamond 49 07 16 013 The Man Who Hated Women
Richard Diamond 49 07 23 014 The Martin Hyer Case
Richard Diamond 49 08 06 016 The Lynn Knight Case
Richard Diamond 49 08 20 018 The Jean Cooper Murder Case
Richard Diamond 49 08 27 019 The Eddie Garrett Case
Richard Diamond 49 09 03 020 The Harry Baker Case
Richard Diamond 49 09 10 021 The Van Dyke Seance Case
Richard Diamond 49 09 17 022 The Jerome J Jerome Case
Richard Diamond 49 09 24 023 The 200000 Dollar Bundle
Richard Diamond 49 10 01 024 Million in Diamond
Richard Diamond 49 10 08 024 Gibson Murder Case
Richard Diamond 49 10 15 025 The Bogus Bills Case
Richard Diamond 49 10 22 026 Rene Bennet Protection Case
Richard Diamond 49 10 29 027 Bill Kirby Murder Case
Richard Diamond 49 11 05 028 The Singing Critic
Richard Diamond 49 11 12 029 50000 Dollar Diamond Heist

Disc 5
Richard Diamond 49 11 19 030 The Jacoby Case
Richard Diamond 49 11 26 031 William Carter Loses Memory
Richard Diamond 49 12 03 032 The Ruby Idol Case
Richard Diamond 49 12 10 033 The House Of Mystery Case
Richard Diamond 49 12 17 034 The John Blackwell Case
Richard Diamond 49 12 24 035 A Christmas Carol
Richard Diamond 49 12 31 036 Thomas Jason Case
Richard Diamond 50 01 07 037 Butchers and Protection Racket
Richard Diamond 50 01 15 038 Mr Victors Daughter
Richard Diamond 50 01 22 039 Martin White Sees Dead Men
Richard Diamond 50 02 05 040 To Guard A Seal
Richard Diamond 50 02 12 041 Elaine Tanner Case
Richard Diamond 50 02 19 042 The Jewel Thief
Richard Diamond 50 02 26 043 The Blind Man And The Cop Killer
Richard Diamond 50 03 05 044 Louis Spence Case
Richard Diamond 50 03 12 045 Joyce Wallace
Richard Diamond 50 03 19 046 Private Eye Test
Richard Diamond 50 03 26 047 Photographers Card
Richard Diamond 50 04 05 048 William Logan And The Ivory Statue
Richard Diamond 50 04 12 049 The Man Who Hated Women
Richard Diamond 50 04 19 050 Messenger Service Patty Clark
Richard Diamond 50 04 26 051 The Ralph Baxter Case
Richard Diamond 50 06 14 052 Eighty Thousand Dollars In Jewels
Richard Diamond 50 06 14 053 Mrs X Cant Find Her Husband

Disc 6
Richard Diamond 50 06 28 054 Mary Billman Killed
Richard Diamond 50 07 05 055 Mike Burton Murder Case
Richard Diamond 50 07 12 056 Ice Pick Murder
Richard Diamond 50 07 26 057 The Martha Campbell Kidnap Case
Richard Diamond 50 08 02 058 The Fixed Fight Case
Richard Diamond 50 08 09 059 Edna Wolfe Case
Richard Diamond 50 08 16 060 The Carnival Case
Richard Diamond 50 08 23 061 The Evans Farmer Case
Richard Diamond 50 08 30 062 The Big Foot Grafton Case
Richard Diamond 50 09 06 063 The Misplaced Laundry Case
Richard Diamond 50 09 13 064 The George Lexington Murder Case
Richard Diamond 50 09 20 065 The Bald Head Case
Richard Diamond 50 09 27 066 The Oklahoma Cowboy Murder Case
Richard Diamond 50 10 04 067 The Pete Rocco Case
Richard Diamond 50 10 11 068 The Homing Pigeon Case
Richard Diamond 50 10 18 069 Lt Levinson Kidnapped
Richard Diamond 50 11 08 072 Dead Mans Letter
Richard Diamond 50 11 15 073 Mona Lisa Murder
Richard Diamond 50 11 22 074 The Cover Up Murders
Richard Diamond 50 12 06 076 Missing Night Watchman
Richard Diamond 51 01 12 078 Marilyn Conners Case
Richard Diamond 51 01 19 079 The Man With The Scar
Richard Diamond 51 01 26 080 The Rawlins Case
Richard Diamond 51 02 02 081 The Caspary Case

Disc 7
Richard Diamond 51 02 09 082 Blue Serge Suit
Richard Diamond 51 02 16 083 The Grey Man
Richard Diamond 51 02 23 084 The Lady In Distress
Richard Diamond 51 03 02 085 The Red Rose
Richard Diamond 51 03 09 086 The Butcher Shop
Richard Diamond 51 03 16 087 Monsieur Bouchon
Richard Diamond 51 03 23 088 Little Chiva
Richard Diamond 51 03 30 089 The Carnival
Richard Diamond 51 04 06 090 The Dead Heiress
Richard Diamond 51 10 05 103 The Pete Rocco Case (repeat 50-10-04)
Richard Diamond 51 11 02 107 The Bowery Case
Richard Diamond 51 11 09 108 Buried Treasure
Richard Diamond 51 11 16 109 Hollywood Story
Richard Diamond 51 12 07 112 The Brown Envelope Case
Richard Diamond 51 12 21 114 Christmas Show
Richard Diamond 51 12 28 115 The Plaid Overcoat Case
Richard Diamond 52 01 04 116 Merry Go Round Case
Richard Diamond 52 01 11 117 White Cow Case
Richard Diamond 52 01 18 118 Simpson Case
Richard Diamond 52 01 25 119 The Al Brenners Case
Richard Diamond 52 02 01 120 The Garribaldi Case
Richard Diamond 52 02 08 121 The Eddie Burke Case
Richard Diamond 52 03 14 126 The Dixon Case
Richard Diamond 52 03 21 127 The Hank Burton Case

Disc 8
Richard Diamond 52 03 28 128 Mr Walkers Problem
Richard Diamond 52 04 04 129 The Enigma Of Big Ed
Richard Diamond 52 05 16 135 The Eddie Garrett Case
Richard Diamond 53 05 31 142 The William Holland Case
Richard Diamond 53 06 07 143 The Eight OClock Killer Repeat of 50 11 22
Richard Diamond 53 06 21 144 Missing Night Watchman repeat 50 12 06
Richard Diamond 53 06 28 145 Rifle Case repeat 50 10 25 1
Richard Diamond 53 07 05 146 Man With A Scar (Repeat 51 01 19)
Richard Diamond 53 07 12 147 The Pete Rocco Case (repeat 50-10-04)
Richard Diamond 53 07 19 148 Chapel Hill Police Officer Symposium Speech
Richard Diamond 53 07 26 149 Mona Lisa Murder (Repeat 50 11 15)
Richard Diamond 53 08 02 150 Lt Levinson Kidnapped repeat 50 10 18
Richard Diamond 53 08 09 151 The Ice Pick Murder Case repeat 50 07 12
Richard Diamond 53 08 16 152 The Oklahoma Cowboy Murder Case repeat 50 09 27
Richard Diamond 53 08 23 153 The Hollywood Story
Richard Diamond 53 08 30 154 Big Foot Grafton Case
Richard Diamond 53 09 06 155 The George Lexington Murder Case (Repeat 50 09 13)
Richard Diamond 53 09 20 157 The Wolfe Murder Case
Richard Diamond 53 09 27 158 Diamond is Beaten and Kidnapped
Richard Diamond 53 11 18 161 Three Murder Suspect
Richard Diamond 53 12 07 169 German Gun Maker Gustave Heiden
Richard Diamond xx xx xx xxx Neighbor Tries to Ruin Diamonds Voice
Richard Diamond xx xx xx xxx The Doris Romano Case
The Dick Powell Biography
The Richard Diamond Private Detective Intro
The Virginia Gregg Biography

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