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 Powells 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 wouldnt allow him to do so although they did miscast him in A Midsummer Nights Dream 1935 as Lysander This was to be Powells 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 MacMurrays success however fueled Powells 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 reteamed to make Cornered a gripping postWWII thriller that helped define the film noir style He became a popular tough guy lead appearing in movies such as Johnny OClock 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 19491953 Powell played the lead role in the National Broadcasting Company radio theater production Richard Diamond Private Detective His character in the 30minute 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