Dick Powell

Acting · 1.1 popularity

Age

121

Movies

Born: November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963
From: Mountain View, Arkansas, USA

Biography

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.

Works

91 films

Television: The First Fifty Years

1999

The Bad and the Beautiful

19527.3

Footlight Parade

19336.8

Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored

20135.5

Susan Slept Here

19546.1

42nd Street

19336.9

Hollywood Newsreel

19347.0

A Midsummer Night's Dream

19356.4

That's Dancing!

19856.9

Gold Diggers of 1933

19337.2

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

19756.3

It's Showtime

19767.5

Murder, My Sweet

19447.2

Convention City

19334.2

Cornered

19456.2

Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage

19837.0

Wonder Bar

19346.0

Pitfall

19486.9

FDR

19947.2

Going Places

19386.6

Station West

19486.4

Hard to Get

19386.3

Going Hollywood: The '30s

19849.0

Model Wife

19416.5

It Happened Tomorrow

19446.8

In the Navy

19416.4

The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout

20245.3

Cry Danger

19516.7

Breakdowns of 1938

19385.8

Naughty but Nice

19396.8

The Tall Target

19516.9

Dames

19346.5

Hollywood on Parade No. B-10

1934

The All-Star Christmas Show

19586.0

Breakdowns of 1937

19376.0

The Reformer and the Redhead

19507.6

And She Learned About Dames

19347.0

42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage

20066.0

The Singing Marine

19375.3

The King's Vacation

19335.7

Right Cross

19507.3

Just Around the Corner

19336.0

Johnny O'Clock

19476.3

I Want a Divorce

194010.0

Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)

19366.0

Christmas in July

19407.0

Star Spangled Rhythm

19426.2

Studio Highlights

1934

Hearts Divided

19365.5

Things You Never See on the Screen

19355.3

Happiness Ahead

19346.6

Broadway Gondolier

19356.0

Meet the People

19445.8

Happy Go Lucky

19435.5

A Dream Comes True

19356.3

Gold Diggers of 1935

19356.5

Hollywood Hobbies

19395.6

True to Life

19438.0

College Coach

19334.6

Page Miss Glory

19356.7

Flirtation Walk

19345.8

Rogues' Regiment

19486.8

Gold Diggers of 1937

19366.1

Thanks a Million

19356.5

Ricochet

1961

Shipmates Forever

19356.6

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

20127.2

Riding High

19435.6

Three Cheers for the Girls

19436.6

Mrs. Mike

19496.0

Blow-Ups of 1947

19476.3

Cowboy from Brooklyn

19387.0

Blessed Event

19326.9

To the Ends of the Earth

19485.9

Big City Blues

19325.8

Varsity Show

19376.8

Twenty Million Sweethearts

19346.6

One And One Is One

19365.5

You Never Can Tell

19517.1

Colleen

19365.8

The Road Is Open Again

19337.0

On the Avenue

19377.2

Hollywood Hotel

19385.8

Too Busy to Work

19326.5

Who Killed Julie Greer?

1961

One Must Die

1961

Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 3, Normie"

1936

Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"

1936

Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound

20064.9

Stage Struck

19365.3

Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 5"

1936