1904-11-14 ( 120 years old ) in Mountain View, Arkansas, USA
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 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. 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. wouldn't allow him to do so, although they did (mis)cast him in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935) as Lysander. This was to be Powell's 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. MacMurray’s success, however, fueled Powell’s 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 re-teamed to make Cornered, a gripping, post-WWII thriller that helped define the film noir style. He became a popular "tough guy" lead appearing in movies such as Johnny O'Clock 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 1949-1953, Powell played the lead role in the National Broadcasting Company radio theater production Richard Diamond, Private Detective. His character in the 30-minute 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.
Movies
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
2024-06-28
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
2013-01-29
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
2006-03-21
Television: The First Fifty Years
1999-01-01
That's Dancing!
1985-01-18
Going Hollywood: The '30s
1984-01-01
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
1983-02-25
It's Showtime
1976-03-31
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975-08-06
Ricochet
1961-10-03
Who Killed Julie Greer?
1961-09-26
Susan Slept Here
1954-07-28
The Bad and the Beautiful
1952-12-25
You Never Can Tell
1951-09-23
The Tall Target
1951-08-17
Cry Danger
1951-02-23
Right Cross
1950-10-06
The Reformer and the Redhead
1950-05-05
Mrs. Mike
1949-12-23
Rogues' Regiment
1948-12-28
Station West
1948-09-01
Pitfall
1948-08-11
To the Ends of the Earth
1948-02-07
Blow-Ups of 1947
1947-12-31
Johnny O'Clock
1947-01-07
Cornered
1945-11-23
Murder, My Sweet
1944-12-14
Meet the People
1944-06-01
It Happened Tomorrow
1944-03-31
True to Life
1943-12-24
Riding High
1943-11-11
Three Cheers for the Girls
1943-05-08
Happy Go Lucky
1943-01-04
Star Spangled Rhythm
1942-03-05
In the Navy
1941-05-30
Model Wife
1941-04-17
Christmas in July
1940-10-25
I Want a Divorce
1940-09-20
Naughty But Nice
1939-06-23
Hollywood Hobbies
1939-05-03
Going Places
1938-12-31
Breakdowns of 1938
1938-12-31
Hard to Get
1938-11-05
Cowboy from Brooklyn
1938-07-09
Hollywood Hotel
1938-01-15
Breakdowns of 1937
1937-12-31
Varsity Show
1937-09-04
The Singing Marine
1937-07-03
On the Avenue
1937-02-12
Gold Diggers of 1937
1936-12-28
Stage Struck
1936-09-12
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
1936-09-11
Hearts Divided
1936-06-20
Colleen
1936-03-21
One And One Is One
1936-01-01
A Dream Comes True
1935-12-31
Things You Never See on the Screen
1935-12-01
Thanks a Million
1935-11-13
Shipmates Forever
1935-10-12
A Midsummer Night's Dream
1935-10-09
Page Miss Glory
1935-09-07
Broadway Gondolier
1935-07-27
Gold Diggers of 1935
1935-03-15
Flirtation Walk
1934-12-01
Happiness Ahead
1934-10-27
Dames
1934-09-01
Studio Highlights
1934-08-01
Twenty Million Sweethearts
1934-05-26
Wonder Bar
1934-03-31
And She Learned About Dames
1934-03-27
Hollywood Newsreel
1934-03-24
Convention City
1933-12-14
College Coach
1933-11-04
Footlight Parade
1933-10-21
Gold Diggers of 1933
1933-05-27
42nd Street
1933-03-11
The King's Vacation
1933-02-25
The Road Is Open Again
1933-01-30
Just Around the Corner
1933-01-17
Too Busy to Work
1932-12-02
Big City Blues
1932-09-18
Blessed Event
1932-09-10
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