DICK POWELL BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Dick Powell was born on November 14th, 1904 in Mountain View, Arkansas with the birth name Richard Ewing Powell, born to parents, Ewing and Sallie Rowena Thompson Powell.  He had two brothers, Luther and Howard.  After high school he enrolled in Little Rock College and then decided he had different career interests.
 
Before he became an actor in the film industry he worked as a vocalist with the Charlie Davis Orchestra and recorded a number of songs on his own.  Soon he found work in Pittsburg as a stage actor and it did not take long for him to catch the attention of Hollywood.  Warner Brothers chose to sign him to a contract in 1932.
 
Powell was soon appearing on the big screen in such films as, "Blessed Event", "42nd Street", "Footlight Parade", "Dames", "Gold Diggers of 1933" and "On the Avenue".
 
The majority of films he appeared in were musicals and although he wanted to show his fans he was capable of other roles, his contract did not open the door for him to do so.  In 1944 he was cast in his first real dramatic role, "Murder, My Sweet" which turned out to be a highly successful film and he finally proved to his fans and Hollywood that he was capable of more then just being a talented musical actor.  His role as detective, Philip Marlowe which later was also revised on radio and on television.
 
As his career progressed he was now being cast in films with a variety of roles such as in the film, "Johnny O'Clock" and "Cry Danger" where he showed fans he could portray the "tough guy". 
 
Other film roles he added to his credits throughout his career are roles in, "Pitfall", "The Reformer and the Redhead" and "Susan Slept Here".  Powell also was cast as a regular on the National Broadcasting Company Radio theater production of, "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" from 1949 through 1953.  
 
Along with his successful career as an actor and musician, he also was given the chance to work on the other side of the industry as a director, directing a number of films such as, "Split Second" (1953), "You Can't Run Away from It" (1956), "The Hunters" (1958) and the television movie, "Woman on the Run" (1959).  He was also involved in working on the film, "The Conqueror" (1956) starring John Wayne which was filmed in Utah near a nuclear test site.  Sadly, later on it was found out that many of the cast and crew that worked on this film passed away from cancer due to being exposed to the toxins.
 
He as also one of the founders of the company, Four Star Television and worked on as well as guest starred in a number of the company's programs such as, "Mr. Adams and Eve".  He was also the host of, "Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater" which aired on CBS from 1956 through 1961. 
 
Dick Powell was awarded three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contribution to the film industry, Television as well as radio.      
 
Throughout his lifetime he married a total of three different times.  His first wife was Maude Maund from 1925 through 1927.  He then married Joan Blondell in 1936 and they he adopted her son, before the marriage ended in 1944.  His third wife was June Allyson whom he wed in 1945 and they had two more children together and remained married until he passed away on January 2nd, 1963 in Los Angeles, California after suffering from lymph glands cancer.  He is interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Filmography

1962-1963 Ensign O'Toole
1962 The Dick Powell Theatre
1961 The Law and Mr. Jones 
1957-1961 Zane Grey Theater
1959-1960 The DuPont Show with June Allyson 
1958 Mr. Adams and Eve 
1956 The Best in Mystery
1952-1956 Four Star Playhouse 
1954 The Jack Benny Program
1954 Climax! 
1954 Susan Slept Here 
1954 The Red Skelton Hour
1952 The Bad and the Beautiful
1951 You Never Can Tell 
1951 The Tall Target 
1951 Cry Danger 
1950 Right Cross
1950 The Reformer and the Redhead
1949 Mrs. Mike
1948 Rogues' Regiment
1948 Station West
1948 Pitfall
1948 To the Ends of the Earth
1947 Johnny O'Clock
1945 Cornered
1944 Murder, My Sweet
1944 Meet the People 
1944 It Happened Tomorrow
1943 True to Life 
1943 Riding High
1943 Happy Go Lucky
1942 Star Spangled Rhythm
1941 In the Navy
1941 Model Wife
1940 Christmas in July
1940 I Want a Divorce
1939 Naughty But Nice 
1938 Going Places 
1938 Hard to Get 
1938 Cowboy from Brooklyn
1937 Hollywood Hotel 
1937 Varsity Show 
1937 The Singing Marine
1937 On the Avenue 
1936 Gold Diggers of 1937
1936 Stage Struck 
1936 Hearts Divided 
1936 Colleen
1935 Thanks a Million
1935 Shipmates Forever 
1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream
1935 Page Miss Glory 
1935 Broadway Gondolier
1935 Gold Diggers of 1935 
1934 Flirtation Walk 
1934 Happiness Ahead 
1934 Dames 
1934 Twenty Million Sweethearts
1934 Wonder Bar 
1933 Convention City
1933 College Coach 
1933 Footlight Parade 
1933 Gold Diggers of 1933 
1933 42nd Street 
1933 The King's Vacation 
1933 Just Around the Corner 
1933 The Road Is Open Again 
1932 Too Busy to Work 
1932 Big City Blues 
1932 Blessed Event