''I Led 3 Lives'' (also known as ''I Led Three Lives'') is an American drama series syndicated by

Ziv Television Programs Ziv Television Programs, Inc., was an American production company that specialized in productions for first-run Broadcast syndication, television syndication in the 1950s. History The company was founded by Frederick Ziv in 1948 and was a subsid ...

from October 1, 1953, to January 1, 1956. The series stars Richard Carlson. The show was a companion piece of sorts to the radio drama '' I Was a Communist for the FBI'', which dealt with a similar subject and was also syndicated by Ziv from 1952 to 1954.

Synopsis

The series was loosely based on the life of Herbert Philbrick, a Boston advertising executive who infiltrated the U.S. Communist Party on behalf of the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

in the 1940s and wrote a bestselling book on the topic, ''I Led Three Lives: Citizen, 'Communist', Counterspy'' (1952). The part of Philbrick was played by Richard Carlson. The "three lives" in the title are Philbrick's outward life as a

white-collar worker A white-collar worker is a person who performs professional service, desk, managerial, or administrative work. White-collar work may be performed in an office or similar setting. White-collar workers include job paths related to government, co ...

, his secret life as a Communist agent, and his even more secret life as an FBI operative helping to foil Communist plots. ''I Led 3 Lives'' lasted 117 episodes. Philbrick served as a technical consultant, with Carlson narrating each episode. The episodes often had very little to do with the actual events of Philbrick's life as related in his book—Philbrick is credited with only 5 of the 117 screenplays. Screenplays gradually became more and more outlandish, featuring, for example, such supposed " Communist plots" as the conversion of household

vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum, is a device that uses suction, and often agitation, in order to remove dirt and other debris from carpets, hard floors, and other surfaces. The dirt is collected into a dust bag or a plastic bin. ...

s (1942-1954

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish Multinational corporation, multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool Corporation, Whi ...

) into tactical missile launchers with which the Communists intended to destroy America's Nike anti-aircraft defensive missiles, and the manufacturing of untraceable "ghost guns" (unserialized Colt M1911 .45 cal semi-automatics) with which the Communists intended to assassinate their political enemies. The FBI reviewed all of the series's scripts. The series was honored by the

Freedoms Foundation Freedoms Foundation at Valley Forge (now Founding Forward) is an American non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization, founded in 1949. The foundation is located adjacent to the Valley Forge National Historical Park, near Val ...

as the best television program of 1955.

Main cast

* Richard Carlson – Herbert A. Philbrick * Virginia Stefan – Eva Philbrick * Patricia Morrow – Constance Philbrick * Charles Maxwell – Special Agent Joe Carney * William Hudson – Special Agent Mike Andrews * John Beradino – Special Agent Steve Daniels * John Zaremba – Special Agent Jerry Dressler * Ed Hinton – Special Agent Henderson

Guest stars

Vivi Janiss Vivi Janis (born Vivian Audrey Jamison; May 29, 1911 – September 7, 1988) was an American actress, known for such films as ''The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues'' (1955), ''Man on the Prowl (film), Man on the Prowl'' (1957), and ''First, You Cry'' ...

as Comrade Elaine in "Gun Running" and Comrade Endora in "Counterfeit" * Eve McVeagh as Miss Cutler in "Commie Dies" * Ewing Mitchell as Mr. Collins in "Defense Plant Security" * Victor Rodman as Comrade Arthur in "Commie Dies"

Episodes

Season 1 (1953–54)

Season 2 (1954–55)

Season 3 (1955–56)

In popular culture

The show was a favorite of

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...

, according to his brother. The title of the TV series '' I Had Three Wives'', which aired briefly in 1985, is a pun on the name of the original; it was an otherwise unrelated comedy-drama about a private detective's three ex-wives, who cooperate on cases.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0045397, I Led 3 Lives
''I Led Three Lives'': Army Infiltration (S1 E7)
at

The Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

''I Led 3 Lives'' - Pilot
via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

1950s American drama television series 1953 American television series debuts 1956 American television series endings Black-and-white American television shows Cold War espionage American English-language television shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Propaganda in the United States Television series by Ziv Television Programs