Dick Powell
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, producer, director and studio boss.
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 up 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. Finally, reaching his forties and knowing that his young romantic leading man days were behind him 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 and in 1944, 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.
The following year Dmytryk and Powell re-teamed to make 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 femme fatale, 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 National Broadcasting Company radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30-minute weekly was a likable private detective with a quick wit. When Richard Diamond came to television in 1957, the lead role was portrayed by David Janssen.
Known for
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Host
American Experience
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Self - Host
Climax!
Philip Marlowe
What's My Line?
Self - Mystery Guest
What's My Line?
Self - Panelist
Four Star Playhouse
Willie Dante
Four Star Playhouse
Eddie White
Four Star Playhouse
US Marshal Philip Dana
Four Star Playhouse
Burt Stroude
Four Star Playhouse
Paul
Four Star Playhouse
Mike Donegan
Four Star Playhouse
Graham
Four Star Playhouse
Dan
Four Star Playhouse
Dan Hodges
Four Star Playhouse
Dave Robinson
Four Star Playhouse
Fred
Four Star Playhouse
Chris
Four Star Playhouse
Jeff
Four Star Playhouse
Eddie
Four Star Playhouse
Dave
Four Star Playhouse
Capt. Avery
Four Star Playhouse
Andrew
Four Star Playhouse
Will Sonnett
Four Star Playhouse
Fleet Mason
Four Star Playhouse
Grover Doane
Four Star Playhouse
Steve
Four Star Playhouse
Priest
Four Star Playhouse
Philip Benton
Four Star Playhouse
Dan Matson
Happiness Ahead
Bob Lane
Station West
Lt. John Martin Haven
Right Cross
Rick Garvey
Cornered
Laurence Gerard
42nd Street
Billy Lawler
This Is Your Life
Self
Rogues' Regiment
Whit Corbett
Hollywood Hobbies
Self (uncredited)
Stage Struck
George Randall
Hollywood Hotel
Ronnie Bowers
Johnny O'Clock
Johnny O'Clock
Varsity Show
Charles 'Chuck' Daly
Cry Danger
Rocky Mulloy
Blessed Event
Bunny Harmon
Wonder Bar
Tommy
Colleen
Donald Ames
Pitfall
John Forbes
True to Life
Link Ferris
Flirtation Walk
Dick "Canary" Dorcy
To the Ends of the Earth
Commissioner Michael Barrows
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(archive footage)
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Paul Martin
The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Dr. Timothy McVey
Hearts Divided
Jerome Bonaparte
Susan Slept Here
Mark Christopher
It Happened Tomorrow
Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
Lux Video Theatre
Self - Intermission Guest
In the Navy
Thomas Halstead
The Tall Target
John Kennedy
That's Dancing!
Mrs. Mike
Sgt. Mike Flannigan
Breakdowns of 1938
Elly Jordan (archive footage) (uncredited)
Christmas in July
Jimmy McDonald
Ricochet
Self - Host
Hard to Get
Bill Davis
College Coach
Phil "Sarge" Sargeant
Riding High
Steve Baird
You Never Can Tell
Rex Shepherd
Gold Diggers of 1937
Rosmer Peck
Shipmates Forever
Richard 'Dick' Melville III
The Bad and the Beautiful
James Lee Bartlow
Gold Diggers of 1935
Dick Curtis
Big City Blues
Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Lysander
Dames
Jimmy Higgens
A Dream Comes True
Himself (uncredited)
Hollywood Newsreel
Himself
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Self (archive footage)
Star Spangled Rhythm
Dick Powell
The King's Vacation
John Kent
One Must Die
Too Busy to Work
Dan Hardy
Who Killed Julie Greer?
Host / Inspector Amos Burke
The Emmy Awards
Self
Happy Go Lucky
Pete Hamilton
Page Miss Glory
Bingo Nelson
Meet the People
William 'Swanee' Swanson
Television: The First Fifty Years
Self (archive footage)
On the Avenue
Gary Blake
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
Self (archive footage)
It's Showtime
Self (archive footage)
The Reformer and the Redhead
Andrew Hale
I Want a Divorce
Alan MacNally
Thanks a Million
Eric Land
Going Places
Peter Mason
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Self
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
Self (archive footage)
Blow-Ups of 1947
Self
Breakdowns of 1937
Self
Model Wife
Frederick "Fred" Chambers
Things You Never See on the Screen
Self
The Singing Marine
Bob Brent
Naughty But Nice
Professor Donald Hardwick
The DuPont Show of the Week
Self
Just Around the Corner
Jerry
Murder, My Sweet
Philip Marlowe
Gold Diggers of 1933
Brad
Twenty Million Sweethearts
Buddy Clayton
Footlight Parade
Scotty Blair
The Road Is Open Again
The Songwriter
And She Learned About Dames
Himself
Cowboy from Brooklyn
Elly Jordan
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Studio Highlights
Self (archive footage)
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
Self (archive footage)
The All-Star Christmas Show
Self
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
Self (archive footage)
Convention City
Jerry Ford
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
Self (archive footage)
Broadway Gondolier
Richard 'Dick' Purcell, aka Ricardo Purcelli
Three Cheers for the Girls
Singer (archive footage) (uncredited)
One And One Is One
Himself
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self
Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Self
The Dick Powell Show
Self - Host