Johnny Fletcher
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Johnny Fletcher
Johnny Fletcher is a fictional character created by Frank Gruber. Fletcher is a con-man and reluctant amateur detective. The character was the protagonist of several mystery novels published between 1940 and 1964. Additionally, he was featured in a feature film adaptation scripted by Gruber, and a short lived radio series. Overview Fletcher and his sidekick Sam Cragg are small time scam artists. Fletcher is the brains, and the muscular Cragg the brawn. They often stumble upon crimes, and reluctantly end attempting to solve them. They often pose as private detectives. List of stories Novels * ''The French Key aka Once Over Deadly'' (1940) * ''The Laughing Fox'' (1940) * ''The Hungry Dog'' aka ''Die Like a Dog'' (1941) * ''The Navy Colt'' (1941) * ''The Talking Clock'' (1941) * ''The Gift Horse'' aka ''Heir to Homicide'' (1942) * ''The Mighty Blockhead'' aka ''The Corpse Moved Upstairs'' (1942) * ''The Silver Tombstone'' aka ''The Silver Tombstone Mystery'' (1945) * ''The Honest Dea ...
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Frank Gruber (writer)
Frank Gruber (born February 2, 1904, Elmer, Minnesota, died December 9, 1969, Santa Monica, California) was an American writer. He was a writer of stories for pulp fiction magazines. He also wrote dozens of novels, mostly Westerns and detective stories. Gruber wrote many scripts for Hollywood movies and television shows and was the creator of three TV series. He sometimes wrote under the pen names Stephen Acre, Charles K. Boston and John K. Vedder. Career Gruber said that as a nine-year-old newsboy, he read his first book, ''Luke Walton, the Chicago Newsboy'' by Horatio Alger. During the next seven years he read a hundred more Alger books and said they influenced him professionally more than anything else in his life. They told how poor boys became rich, but what they instilled in Gruber was an ambition, at age nine or ten, to be an author. He had written his first book before age 11, using a pencil on wrapping paper. Age 13 or 14, his ambition died for a while but several y ...
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Broadcasting & Cable
''Broadcasting & Cable'' (or ''Broadcasting+Cable'') is a weekly telecommunications industry trade magazine published by Future US. Previous names included ''Broadcasting-Telecasting'', ''Broadcasting and Broadcast Advertising'', and ''Broadcasting''. ''B&C'', which was published biweekly until January 1941, and weekly thereafter, covers the business of television in the U.S.—programming, advertising, regulation, technology, finance, and news. In addition to the newsweekly, ''B&C'' operates a comprehensive website that provides a roadmap for readers in an industry that is in constant flux due to shifts in technology, culture and legislation, and offers a forum for industry debate and criticism. History ''Broadcasting'' was founded in Washington, D.C., by Martin Codel, Sol Taishoff, and former National Association of Broadcasters president Harry Shaw, and the first issue was published on October 15, 1931. Originally, Shaw was publisher, Codel editor, and Taishoff managi ...
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Detective Radio Shows
A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads them to arrest criminals and enable them to be convicted in court. A detective may work for the police or privately. Overview Informally, and primarily in fiction, a detective is a licensed or unlicensed person who solves crimes, including historical crimes, by examining and evaluating clues and personal records in order to uncover the identity and/or whereabouts of criminals. In some police departments, a detective position is achieved by passing a written test after a person completes the requirements for being a police officer. In many other police systems, detectives are college graduates who join directly from civilian life without first serving as uniformed officers. Some argue that detectives do a completely different job and ...
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ABC Radio Programs
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television Group, the former name of the parent organization of ABC * Australian Broadcasting Corporation, one of the national publicly funded broadcasters of Australia ** ABC Television (Australian TV network), the national television network of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation *** ABC TV (Australian TV channel), the flagship TV station of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation *** ABC Canberra (TV station), Canberra, and other ABC TV local stations in state capitals *** ABC Australia (Southeast Asian TV channel), an international pay TV channel * ABC Radio (other), various radio stations including the American and Australian ABCs * Associated Broadcasting Corporation, one of the former names of TV5 Network, Inc., a Philippine te ...
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1948 Radio Programme Endings
Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The Constitution of New Jersey (later subject to amendment) goes into effect. ** The railways of Britain are nationalized, to form British Railways. * January 4 – Burma gains its independence from the United Kingdom, becoming an independent republic, named the ''Union of Burma'', with Sao Shwe Thaik as its first President, and U Nu its first Prime Minister. * January 5 ** Warner Brothers shows the first color newsreel (''Tournament of Roses Parade'' and the ''Rose Bowl Game''). ** The first Kinsey Reports, Kinsey Report, ''Sexual Behavior in the Human Male'', is published in the United States. * January 7 – Mantell UFO incident: Kentucky Air National Guard pilot Thomas Mantell crashes while in pursuit of an unidentified flying object. * January 12 – Mahatma Gandhi begins his fast-unto-death in Delhi, to stop communal violence during the Partition of India. * ...
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Paul Stewart (actor)
Paul Stewart (born Paul Sternberg; March 13, 1908 – February 17, 1986) was an American character actor, director and producer who worked in theatre, radio, films and television. He frequently portrayed cynical and sinister characters throughout his career. A friend and associate of Orson Welles for many years, Stewart helped Welles get his first job in radio and was associate producer of the celebrated radio program "The War of the Worlds", in which he also performed. One of the Mercury Theatre players who made their film debut in Welles's landmark film '' Citizen Kane'', Stewart portrayed Kane's butler and valet, Raymond. He appeared in 50 films, and performed in or directed some 5,000 radio and television shows. Biography Paul Stewart was born in Manhattan, New York, on March 13, 1908, as Paul Sternberg. His parents were Maurice D. Sternberg, a salesman and credit agent for a textile manufacturer, and Nathalie C. (née Nathanson) Sternberg; both were born in Minneapo ...
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Suspense (American TV Series)
''Suspense'' is an American television anthology series that ran on CBS Television from 1949 to 1954. It was adapted from the radio program of the same name which ran from 1942 to 1962. Series overview Like many early television programs, the show was broadcast live from New York City. It was sponsored by the Auto-Lite corporation, and each episode was introduced by host Rex Marshall, who promoted Auto-Lite spark plugs, car batteries, headlights, and other car parts. Some of the early scripts were adapted from ''Suspense'' radio scripts, while others were original for television. Like the radio program, many scripts were adaptations of literary classics by well-known authors. Classic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, and Charles Dickens all had stories adapted for the series, while contemporary authors such as Roald Dahl and Gore Vidal also contributed. Many notable actors appeared on the program, including Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Cloris Leachman, Bria ...
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Read Morgan
Read Lawrence Morgan (January 30, 1931 – April 20, 2022) was an American film and television actor. He was known for playing the role of Sergeant Hapgood Tasker in the American western television series '' The Deputy''. Life and career Morgan was born in Chicago, Illinois. He attended the University of Kentucky, where he played basketball and football. After two years there Morgan left to study drama at Northwestern University, then served in the United States Air Force for two years. He began his acting career in the crime drama television series '' The Big Story''in 1949. Later he joined the cast of the western television series '' The Deputy'', playing army officer Sergeant Hapgood Tasker, who had blindness in one eye, wearing a eye patch. Morgan also appeared in the Broadway play ''Li'l Abner''. Morgan appeared in numerous television programs, his credits including ''Gunsmoke'', ''Wagon Train'', ''The United States Steel Hour'', '' M Squad'', '' How the West Was Won' ...
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Jim Cox (radio)
Jim Cox, a retired college professor living in Louisville, Kentucky, is a leading historian on the subject of radio programming in the 20th century. He has written extensively on the history of radio from the 1920s to the present. Books Through McFarland & Company and Scarecrow Press, Cox has published more than 15 books, including the recent ''Radio Speakers: Narrators, News Junkies, Sports Jockeys, Tattletales, Tipsters, Toastmasters and Coffee Klatch Couples Who Verbalized the Jargon of the Aural Ether from the 1920s to the 1980s—A Biographical Dictionary'' (2007). The book profiles of more than 1,100 “radio speakers,” including Red Barber, H. V. Kaltenborn, Dorothy Kilgallen, Edward R. Murrow, Louella Parsons and Walter Winchell. Other books by Cox include ''The Daytime Serials of Television, 1946–1960'' (2006), ''Historical Dictionary of American Radio Soap Operas'' (2005), ''Music Radio'' (2005), ''Mr. Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons'' (2004), '' Frank and Anne Humme ...
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Albert Dekker
Thomas Albert Ecke Van Dekker (December 20, 1905 – May 5, 1968) was an American character actor and politician best known for his roles in '' Dr. Cyclops'', ''The Killers'' (1946), '' Kiss Me Deadly'', and ''The Wild Bunch''. Early life and career Dekker was born in Brooklyn, New York City, the only child of Thomas and Grace Ecke Van Dekker. He attended Richmond Hill High School, where he appeared in stage productions. He then attended Bowdoin College, where he majored in pre-med with plans to become a doctor. On the advice of a friend, he decided to pursue acting as a career instead. He made his professional acting debut with a Cincinnati stock company in 1927. Within a few months, Dekker was featured in the Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's play ''Marco Millions''. After a decade of theatrical appearances, Dekker transferred to Hollywood in 1937 and made his first film, 1937's ''The Great Garrick''. He spent most of the rest of his acting career in the cinema but ...
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Old-time Radio
The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early 1920s and lasted through the 1950s, when television gradually superseded radio as the medium of choice for scripted programming, variety and dramatic shows. Radio was the first broadcast medium, and during this period people regularly tuned in to their favorite radio programs, and families gathered to listen to the home radio in the evening. According to a 1947 C. E. Hooper survey, 82 out of 100 Americans were found to be radio listeners. A variety of new entertainment formats and genres were created for the new medium, many of which later migrated to television: radio plays, mystery serials, soap operas, quiz shows, talent shows, daytime and evening variety hours, situation comedies, play-by-play sports, children's shows, cookin ...
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