Dick Powell

Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.

Early life

Powell was born the middle of three sons of Ewing Powell and mother Sally Rowena in Mountain View, Arkansas.

He married Mildred Maund, a model, but she found being married to an entertainer not to her liking. After a final trip to Cuba together, Mildred moved to Hemphill, Texas, and the couple divorced in 1932. Later, Powell joined the Charlie Davis Orchestra, based in Indianapolis."Richard Ewing Powell." ''Dictionary of American Biography'' (1981) Charles Scribner's Sons, New York He recorded a number of records with Davis and on his own for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s.

Stardom

Powell moved to Pittsburgh, where he found great local success as the master of ceremonies at the Enright Theater and the Stanley Theater.

Warner Bros.

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''."Dick Powell." ''International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers'' Vol. 3. (2000) Gale, Detroit

He was borrowed by Fox Film to support Will Rogers in '' Too Busy to Work'' (1932). He was a boyish crooner, the sort of role in which he specialized for the next few years. Back at Warner Bros., he supported George Arliss in '' The King's Vacation'', then was in '' 42nd Street'' (both 1933), playing the love interest for Ruby Keeler. The film was a massive hit.

Warner Bros. (WB) got him basically to repeat the role in ''Gold Diggers of 1933'', another big success. So too was '' Footlight Parade'' (also 1933), with Keeler and James Cagney.

Powell was upped to star for '' College Coach'' (1933), then went back to more ensemble pieces including ''42nd Street'', '' Convention City'' (both 1933), '' Wonder Bar'', '' Twenty Million Sweethearts'', and '' Dames'' (all 1934).

'' Happiness Ahead'' was more of a star vehicle for Powell, as was '' Flirtation Walk'' (both 1934). He was top-billed in ''Gold Diggers of 1935'' and '' Broadway Gondolier'' (both 1935), both with Joan Blondell. He supported Marion Davies in '' Page Miss Glory'' (1935), made for Cosmopolitan Pictures, a production company financed by Davies' lover William Randolph Hearst, who released through WB.

WB gave him a change of pace, casting him as Lysander in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' (1935).

More typical was '' Shipmates Forever'' (1935) with Keeler. 20th Century Fox borrowed him for '' Thanks a Million'' (1935); back at WB, he did '' Colleen'' (1936) with Keeler and Blondell. Powell was reunited with Marion Davies in another for Cosmopolitan, '' Hearts Divided'' (1936), playing Napoleon's brother.

He made three films with Blondell, Broadway Gondolier'' (1935), '' Stage Struck'' (1936) and '' Gold Diggers of 1937''. 20th Century Fox then borrowed him again for '' On the Avenue'' (1937).

Back at WB, he appeared in '' The Singing Marine'' and ''Varsity Show'' (both 1937), '' Hollywood Hotel'', ''Cowboy from Brooklyn'', '' Hard to Get'', '' Going Places'' (all 1938), and '' Naughty but Nice'' (1939). Fed up with the repetitive nature of these roles, Powell left WB and went to work for Paramount Pictures.

Paramount

At Paramount, Blondell and Powell were cast together again in the drama '' I Want a Divorce'' (1940). Then Powell got a chance to appear in another non-musical, '' Christmas in July'' (1940), a screwball comedy which was the second feature directed by Preston Sturges.

Universal borrowed him to support Abbott and Costello in '' In the Navy'' (1941), one of the most popular films of 1941. At Paramount he had a cameo in '' Star Spangled Rhythm'' and co-starred with Mary Martin in '' Happy Go Lucky'' (both 1943). He supported Dorothy Lamour in '' Riding High'' (1943).

In 1944, he was in a fantasy comedy directed by René Clair, '' It Happened Tomorrow'', then went over to MGM to appear opposite Lucille Ball in '' Meet the People'', which was a box-office flop.

During this period, Powell starred in the musical '' Campana Serenade'', which was broadcast on NBC radio (1942–1943) and CBS radio (1943–1944).

"Tough guy"

By 1944, Powell felt he was too old to play romantic leading men anymore, so he lobbied to play the lead in ''Double Indemnity''. He lost out to Fred MacMurray, another Hollywood nice guy.

Powell's career changed dramatically when he was cast in the first of a series of films noir, as private detective Philip Marlowe in '' Murder, My Sweet'' (1944), directed by Edward Dmytryk at RKO. 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.

In 1945, Dmytryk and Powell reteamed to make the film '' Cornered'', a gripping post-World War II thriller that helped define the film noir style.

For Columbia, he played a casino owner in '' Johnny O'Clock'' (1947) and made '' To the Ends of the Earth'' (1948). Also in 1948, he stepped out of the brutish type when he starred in '' Pitfall'', a film noir in which a bored insurance-company worker falls for an innocent but dangerous woman, played by Lizabeth Scott.

He broadened his range appearing in a Western, '' Station West'' (1948) and a French Foreign Legion tale, '' Rogues' Regiment'' (1949). He was a Mountie in '' Mrs. Mike'' (1950).

From 1949 to 1953, Powell played the lead role in the NBC radio theater production ''Richard Diamond, Private Detective''. His character in the 30-minute weekly show 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. Prior to the ''Richard Diamond'' series, Powell starred in ''Rogue's Gallery''. He played Richard Rogue, private detective. The Richard Diamond tongue-in-cheek persona developed in the ''Rogue'' series.

Powell took a break from tough-guy roles in ''The Reformer and the Redhead'' (1950), opposite his wife, June Allyson. Then he was back to tougher movies: '' Right Cross'' (1950), a boxing film with Allyson; '' Cry Danger'' (1951), as an ex-convict; '' The Tall Target'' (1951), at MGM directed by Anthony Mann, playing a detective who tries to prevent the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

He returned to comedy with '' You Never Can Tell'' (1951). Powell had a supporting role in MGM's popular melodrama ''The Bad and the Beautiful'' (1952). His final film performance was in a romantic comedy '' Susan Slept Here'' (1954) for director Frank Tashlin.

Even when he appeared in lighter fare such as ''The Reformer and the Redhead'' and ''Susan Slept Here'', he never sang in his later roles. The latter, his final onscreen appearance in a feature film, did include a dance number with co-star Debbie Reynolds.

Director

By this stage, Powell had turned director. His feature debut was '' Split Second'' (1953) at RKO Pictures. He followed it with '' The Conqueror'' (1956), coproduced by Howard Hughes and 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 Powell and Wayne.

He directed Allyson opposite Jack Lemmon in '' You Can't Run Away from It'' (1956). Powell then made two war films at Fox with Robert Mitchum, '' The Enemy Below'' (1957) and '' The Hunters'' (1958).

Television

In the 1950s, Powell was one of the founders of Four Star Television, with Charles Boyer, David Niven, and Ida Lupino. He appeared in and supervised several shows for that company. Shortly before his death, Powell sang on camera for the final time in a guest-star appearance on Four Star's ''Ensign O'Toole'', singing " The Song of the Marines", which he first sang in his 1937 film '' The Singing Marine.'' He hosted and occasionally starred in his ''Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater'' on CBS from 1956 to 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.

Personal life

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

He married three times:
* Mildred Evelyn Maund (b. 1906, d. 1967). The couple married in 1925, and appear on the 1930 census in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Powell was working in a theater, and on a 1931 passenger list for the , returning from Havana, Cuba

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