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. 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.

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, James Cagney and Joan Blondell.

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).

"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.

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 Guest stars for the premiere episode of The Dick Powell Show, "Who Killed Julie Greer?" Standing, from left: Ronald Reagan, Nick Adams, Lloyd Bridges, Mickey Rooney, Edgar Bergen, Jack Carson, Ralph Bellamy, Kay Thompson, and Dean Jones, seated, from left, Carolyn Jones and Dick Powell. In the 1950s, Powell was one of the founders of Four Star Television,

Powell enjoyed general aviation as a private pilot. He and Farouk of Egypt were the only two known buyers of the Gaylord Gladiator automobile.

Illness and death On September 27, 1962, Powell acknowledged rumors that he was undergoing treatment for cancer. The disease was originally diagnosed as an allergy, with Powell first experiencing symptoms while traveling east to promote his program. Upon his return to California, Powell's personal physician conducted tests and found malignant tumors on his neck and chest.

The marker on Dick Powell's niche in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale, California, incorrectly identifies his year of death as 1962. Powell died at the age of 58 on January 2, 1963.

It is speculated Powell developed cancer as a result of his participation in the film The Conqueror, which was filmed at St. George, Utah, near a site used by the U.S. military for nuclear testing. About a third of the actors who participated in the film developed cancer, including Powell, who directed the film, John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead and Pedro Armendáriz. However, in a 2001 interview with Larry King, Powell's widow June Allyson stated that the cause of death was lung cancer due to his chain smoking.

During the 15th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 26, 1963, the Television Academy presented a posthumous Television Academy Trustee Award to Dick Powell for his contributions to the industry. The award was accepted by two of his former partners in Four Star Television, Charles Boyer and David Niven.

Dick Powell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard.

Filmography As actor Features Year Film Role Director Notes 1932 Blessed Event Bunny Harmon Roy Del Ruth Big City Blues Radio Announcer Mervyn LeRoy Uncredited; voice only Too Busy to Work Dan Hardy John G. Blystone 1933 The King's Vacation John Kent John G. Adolfi 42nd Street Billy Lawler Lloyd Bacon Gold Diggers of 1933 Brad Roberts Busby Berkeley Footlight Parade Scotty Blair College Coach Phil Saegent William A. Wellman Convention City Jerry Ford Archie Mayo Lost film 1934 Wonder Bar Tommy Busby Berkeley Twenty Million Sweethearts Buddy Clayton Ray Enright Dames Jimmy Higgens Busby Berkeley Happiness Ahead Bob Lane Mervyn LeRoy Flirtation Walk Dick "Canary" Dorcy Frank Borzage 1935 Gold Diggers of 1935 Dick Curtis Busby Berkeley Broadway Gondolier Richard "Dick" Purcell Lloyd Bacon Broadway Hostess Quartet member Frank McDonald Uncredited Page Miss Glory Bingo Nelson Mervyn LeRoy A Midsummer Night's Dream Lysander Max Reinhardt & William Dieterle Shipmates Forever Dick Melville III Frank Borzage Thanks a Million Eric Land Roy Del Ruth 1936 Colleen Donald Ames Alfred E. Green Hearts Divided Capt. Jerome Bonaparte Frank Borzage Stage Struck George Randall Busby Berkeley Gold Diggers of 1937 Rosmer Peak Lloyd Bacon 1937 On the Avenue Gary Blake William Seiter The Singing Marine Bob Brent Busby Berkeley Varsity Show Charles "Chuck" daly William Keighley Hollywood Hotel Ronnie Bowers Busby Berkeley 1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn Ellyn Jordan / Wyoming Steve Gibson Lloyd Bacon Hard to Get Bill Davis Ray Enright Going Places Peter Mason 1939 Naughty but Nice Prof. Donald Hardwick 1940 I Want a Divorce Alan MacNally Ralph Murphy Christmas in July Jimmy McDonald Preston Sturges 1941 Model Wife Fred Chambers Leigh Jason In the Navy Thomas Halstead Arthur Lubin 1942 Star Spangled Rhythm Himself Paul Weatherwax Segment: "Hit the Road to Dreamland" 1943 Happy Go Lucky Pete Hamilton Curtis Bernhardt Riding High Steve Baird George Marshall True to Life Link Ferris 1944 It Happened Tomorrow Larry Stevens René Clair Meet the People William "Swanee" Swanson Charles Reisner Murder, My Sweet Philip Marlowe Edward Dmytryk released in the UK as Farewell, My Lovely 1945 Cornered Laurence Gerard 1947 Johnny O'Clock Johnny O'Clock Robert Rossen 1948 To the Ends of the Earth Commissioner Michael Barrows Robert Stevenson Pitfall John Forbes Andre de Toth Station West Haven Sidney Lanfield Rogues' Regiment Whit Corbett Robert Florey 1949 Mrs. Mike Sgt. Mike Flannigan Louis King 1950 The Reformer and the Redhead Andrew Rockton Hale Norman Panama & Melvin Frank Right Cross Rick Garvey John Sturges 1951 The Tall Target John Kennedy Anthony Mann Cry Danger Rocky Mulloy Robert Parrish You Never Can Tell Rex Shepard Lou Breslow 1953 The Bad and the Beautiful James Lee Bartlow Vincente Minnelli 1954 Susan Slept Here Mark Christopher Frank Tashlin

Short subjects

The Road Is Open Again (1933) Just Around the Corner (1933) Hollywood on Parade No. A-9 (1933) And She Learned About Dames (1934) Hollywood Newsreel (1934) A Dream Comes True (1935) Hollywood Hobbies (1939)

As director

Split Second (1953) The Conqueror (1956) You Can't Run Away from It (1956) The Enemy Below (1957) The Hunters (1958)

Radio appearances Powell was the first actor to play private detective Philip Marlowe on radio, in 1945.

Partial list of recordings "Is She My Girl Friend?" (1927-Vocalion 15647), the first commercially released record by Dick Powell. Although it was his first released record, it is not his first recording - "Time Will Tell" was his first recording, being for Gennett Records, however it was never pressed. "I Only Have Eyes for You" (1934) from the film Dames. "Roses in December" (1937) words and music by Herb Magidson, Ben Oakland and George Jessel. (The song first appeared in The Life of the Party.) ISWC: T-070127274-3 "Over There"/"Captains of the Clouds" (1942–Decca 4174) Issued early in World War II, the A side brought back a patriotic song that had been popular in World War I. The B side came from a James Cagney film of the same name. "Susan Slept Here" (Jack Lawrence)/"Hold My Hand" (Richard Myers-Jack Lawrence), Bell Records 1048. Both songs were sung (not by Powell) in the film Susan Slept Here (1954).