Richard Diamond, Private Detective

_____________________________________ In 1945, Dick Powell portrayed Phillip Marlowe in the movie "Murder My Sweet" based on Raymond Chandler's novel "Farewell My Lovely." This was a radical departure in character for Mr. Powell from a Hollywood song and dance man to a hard-boiled detective. On June 11, 1945, the LUX RADIO THEATER brought "Murder My Sweet" to radio, again with Dick Powell in the lead. These two performances prompted his selection for the part of Richard Rogue, in ROGUE'S GALLERY after his role for LUX and Richard Diamond four years later. RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE came to NBC in 1949. It was the creation of Blake Edwards who wrote most of the early scripts and directed some of the shows. Diamond was a slick, sophisticated detective, with a sharp tongue for folks who need it. Diamond enjoyed the detective life, but not as much as entertaining his girl, Helen Asher. After each show, he would croon a number to his Park Avenue sweetheart. Mr. Powell, as a former song and dance man, was perfect for the role, adding an extra dimension to the typical 1940's private eye drama. Helen Asher was portrayed by Virginia Gregg, who also played the part of Brooksie on "Let George Do It" and Betty Lewis on "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar". The series started unsponsored on NBC. Rexall picked up sponsorship on April 5, 1950 through the last NBC show on December 6, 1950. The series moved to ABC on January 5, 1951, sponsored by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. They remained sponsor until the series end on June 27, 1952. Richard Diamond made one more appearance on Old-Time radio for a Summer series in 1953, replacing Amos & Andy. All shows were repeats of earlier shows. RICHARD DIAMOND, PRIVATE DETECTIVE made it to TV in July, 1957 and ran until September, 1960, with David Janssen as Diamond. Many of the TV episodes used rewritten radio scripts. 49/05/01 2 The Barton Case 49/05/15 4 Ralph Chase Case 49/05/22 5 The Stolen Purse 49/05/29 6 The Betty Moran Case 49/06/19 9 Fred Sears Murder Case 49/06/26 10 The Tom Waxman Bombing Case 49/07/02 11 The Bloody Hat Case 49/07/09 12 Charles Walsh, Bob Wells 49/07/16 13 The Man Who Hated Women 49/07/23 14 The Martin Hyer Case 49/08/06 16 The Lynn Knight Case 49/08/20 18 The Jean Cooper Murder Case 49/08/27 19 The Eddie Garrett Case 49/09/03 20 The Harry Baker Case 49/09/10 21 The Van Dyke Seance Case 49/09/17 22 The Jerome J Jerome Case 49/09/24 23 The 200,000 Dollar Bundle 49/10/08 24 Gibson Murder Case 49/10/15 25 The Bogus Bills Case 49/10/22 26 Rene Bennet Protection Case 49/10/29 27 Bill Kirby Murder Case 49/11/05 28 The Singing Critic 49/11/12 29 50,000 Dollar Diamond Heist 49/11/19 30 The Jacoby Case 49/11/26 31 William Carter Loses Memory 49/12/03 32 The Ruby Idol Case 49/12/10 33 The House Of Mystery Case 49/12/17 34 The John Blackwell Case 49/12/24 35 A Christmas Carol 49/12/31 36 Thomas Jason Case 50/01/07 37 Butchers and Protection Racket 50/01/15 38 Mr Victor's Daughter 50/01/22 39 Martin White Sees Dead Men 50/02/05 40 To Guard A Seal 50/02/12 41 Elaine Tanner Case 50/02/19 42 The Jewel Thief 50/02/26 43 The Blind Man And The Cop Killer 50/03/05 44 Louis Spence Case 50/03/12 45 Joyce Wallace 50/03/19 46 Private Eye Test 50/03/26 47 Photographer's Card 50/04/05 48 William Logan And The Ivory Statue 50/04/12 49 The Man Who Hated Women 50/04/19 50 Messenger Service, Patty Clark 50/04/26 51 The Ralph Baxter Case 50/06/14 52 800,000 Dollars In Jewels 50/06/21 53 Mrs X Can't Find Her Husband 50/06/28 54 Mary Billman Killed 50/07/05 55 Mike Burton Murder Case 50/07/12 56 Ice Pick Murder 50/07/26 57 The Martha Campbell Kidnap Case 50/08/02 58 The Fixed Fight Case 50/08/09 59 Edna Wolfe Case 50/08/16 60 The Carnival Case 50/08/23 61 The Evans Farmer Case 50/08/30 62 The Big Foot Grafton Case 50/09/06 63 The Misplaced Laundry Case 50/09/13 64 The George Lexington Murder Case 50/09/20 65 The Bald Head Case 50/09/27 66 The Oklahoma Cowboy Murder Case 50/10/04 67 The Pete Rocco Case 50/10/11 68 The Homing Pigeon Case 50/10/18 69 Lt, Levinson Kidnapped 50/10/25 70 The Rifle Case 50/11/08 72 Dead Man's Letter 50/11/15 73 Mona Lisa Murder 50/11/22 74 The Cover-Up Murders 51/01/12 78 Marilyn Conners Case 51/01/19 79 The Man With The Scar 51/01/26 80 The Rawlins Case 51/02/02 81 The Caspary Case 51/02/09 82 Blue Serge Suit 51/02/16 83 The Grey Man 51/02/23 84 The Lady In Distress 51/03/02 85 The Red Rose 51/03/09 86 The Butcher Shop 51/03/16 87 Monsieur Bouchon 51/03/23 88 Little Chiva 51/03/30 89 The Carnival 51/04/06 90 The Dead Heiress 51/10/05 103 The Pete Rocco Case (repeat 50-10-04) 51/11/02 107 The Bowery Case 51/11/09 108 Buried Treasure 51/11/16 109 The Hollywood Story 51/12/07 112 The Brown Envelope Case 51/12/21 114 Christmas Show 51/12/28 115 The Plaid Overcoat Case 52/01/04 116 Merry Go Round Case 52/01/11 117 White Cow Case 52/01/18 118 Simpson Case 52/01/25 119 The Al Brenners Case 52/02/01 120 The Garribaldi Case 52/02/08 121 The Eddie Burke Case 52/03/14 126 The Dixon Case 52/03/21 127 The Hank Burton Case 52/03/28 128 Mr. Walker's Problem 52/04/04 129 The Enigma Of Big Ed 52/05/16 135 The Eddie Garrett Case 53/05/31 142 The William Holland Case 53/06/07 143 The Eight O'Clock Killer(Repeat of 50-11-22) 53/06/21 144 Missing Night Watchman (repeat 50-12-06) 53/06/28 145 Rifle Case (repeat 50-10-25) 53/07/05 146 The Man With The Scar (repeat 51-01-19)(repeat 51-11-09) 53/07/12 147 Pete Rocco Case (repeat 50-10-04)(repeat 51-10-05) 53/07/19 148 Chapel Hill Police Officer Symposium Speech 53/07/26 149 Mona Lisa Murder (repeat 50-11-15) 53/08/02 150 Lt Levinson Kidnapped (repeat 50-10-18) 53/08/09 151 The Ice Pick Murder Case (repeat 50-07-12) 53/08/16 152 The Oklahoma Cowboy Murder Case (repeat 50-09-27) 53/08/23 153 The Hollywood Story (repeat 51-11-16) 53/08/30 154 Big Foot Grafton Case (50-08-30) 53/09/06 155 The George Lexington Murder Case (repeat 50-09-13) 53/09/20 157 The Wolfe Murder Case (repeat 50-08-09) _____________________________________