Dick Powell
A romantic singing lead in a number of musicals throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Dick Powell traded in his tenor voice and good guy image to take on a more hard-boiled persona following a career-transforming performance as Phillip Marlowe in the classic film noir "Murder, My Sweet" (1944). Prior to that film, Powell was a bankable star in several big screen extravaganzas like "Footlight Parade" (1933), "42nd Street" (1933) and "Dames (1934). Having worked many times with famed choreographer-director Busby Berkeley, the actor cemented his place as a go-to leading man in lighthearted musical comedies, along the way forming notable onscreen pairings with Ruby Keeler and Joan Blondell, the latter of whom he married in 1936. Despite his success in films like "Happiness Ahead" (1934), "Broadway Gondolier" (1935) and "Hollywood Hotel" (1937), Powell craved the opportunity to branch out into other roles. Preston Sturges gave him the lead in the Capra-esque screwball comedy "Christmas in July" (1940), but the actor remained unsatisfied. After unsuccessfully lobbying for the lead in "Double Indemnity" (1944), he landed the Marlowe role in "Murder, My Sweet" and propelled his career in an entirely new direction with bleak noirs like "Cornered" (1945), "Johnny O'Clock" (1947), "Pitfall" (1948) and "Cry Danger" (1951). Powell turned to directing in the mid-1950s, but found greater success as the president of Four Star Television. Though his life ended prematurely, Powell radically transformed his career through a combination of talent and sheer will.
Photos
Dick Powell
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Abbott & Costello: Funniest Routines Volume 1 | Unknown (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Busby Berkeley - The Busby Berkeley Disc | Unknown (Character) | - | 1970 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Hunters | Director | - | 1958 |
86% |
|
The Enemy Below |
Director, Producer |
- | 1957 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Conqueror |
Director, Producer |
- | 1956 |
No Score Yet |
|
You Can't Run Away From It |
Director, Producer |
- | 1956 |
43% |
|
Susan Slept Here | Mark Christopher (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet |
|
Split Second | Director | - | 1953 |
80% |
|
The Bad and the Beautiful | James Lee Bartlow (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet |
|
Cry Danger | Rocky (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet |
|
You Never Can Tell | Rex Shepherd (Character) | - | 1951 |
100% |
|
The Tall Target | John Kennedy (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Reformer and the Redhead | Andrew "Andy" Rockton Hale (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet |
|
Right Cross | Rick Garvey (Character) | - | 1950 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mrs. Mike | Sgt. Mike Flannigan (Character) | - | 1949 |
No Score Yet |
|
Station West | Lt. John Martin Haven (Character) | - | 1948 |
80% |
|
Pitfall | John Forbes (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rogue's Regiment | Whit Corbett (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | To the Ends of the Earth | Commissioner Michael Barrows (Character) | - | 1948 |
33% |
|
Johnny O'Clock | Johnny O'Clock (Character) | - | 1947 |
No Score Yet |
|
Cornered | Laurence Gerard (Character) | - | 1945 |
No Score Yet |
|
Meet the People | William "Swanee" Swanson (Character) | - | 1944 |
71% |
|
It Happened Tomorrow | Lawrence "Larry" Stevens (Character) | - | 1944 |
89% |
|
Murder, My Sweet | Philip Marlowe (Character) | - | 1944 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | True to Life | Link Ferris (Character) | - | 1943 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Happy Go Lucky | Pete Hamilton (Character) | - | 1943 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Three Cheers for the Girls | Unknown (Character) | - | 1943 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Riding High | Steve Baird (Character) | - | 1943 |
No Score Yet |
|
Abbott and Costello in the Navy | Thomas Halstead (Character) | - | 1941 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Model Wife | Fred Chambers (Character) | - | 1941 |
95% |
|
Christmas in July | Jimmy MacDonald (Character) | - | 1940 |
75% | No Score Yet | I Want a Divorce | Alan MacNally (Character) | - | 1940 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Going Places | Peter Mason (Character) | - | 1939 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Naughty, but Nice | Professor Donald "Don" Hardwick (Character) | - | 1939 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Cowboy From Brooklyn | Elly Jordan, aka Wyoming Steve Gibson (Character) | - | 1938 |
No Score Yet |
|
Hard to Get | Bill Davis (Character) | - | 1938 |
No Score Yet |
|
Another Dawn | Pvt. Henderson (Character) | - | 1937 |
No Score Yet |
|
Varsity Show | Charles "Chuck" Daly (Character) | - | 1937 |
No Score Yet |
|
On the Avenue | Gary Blake (Character) | - | 1937 |
95% |
|
Captains Courageous | First Steward (Character) | - | 1937 |
No Score Yet |
|
Hollywood Hotel | Ronnie Bowers (Character) | - | 1937 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Singing Marine |
Pfc. Robert "Bob"/ |
- | 1937 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hearts Divided | Captain Jerome Bonaparte (Character) | - | 1936 |
No Score Yet |
|
Colleen | Donald Ames III (Character) | - | 1936 |
No Score Yet |
|
Gold Diggers of 1937 | Rosmer "Rossi" Peck (Character) | - | 1936 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Stage Struck | George Randall (Character) | - | 1936 |
100% | No Score Yet | Thanks a Million | Eric Land (Character) | - | 1935 |
No Score Yet |
|
Shipmates Forever | Richard John "Dick" Melville III (Character) | - | 1935 |
100% |
|
Gold Diggers of 1935 | Dick Curtis (Character) | - | 1935 |
92% |
|
A Midsummer Night's Dream | Lysander, in Love with Hermia (Character) | - | 1935 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Broadway Gondolier |
Richard "Dick" Purcell/ |
- | 1935 |
No Score Yet |
|
Page Miss Glory | Bingo Nelson (Character) | - | 1935 |
No Score Yet |
|
Happiness Ahead | Bob Lane (Character) | - | 1934 |
100% |
|
Flirtation Walk |
Richard Palmer Grant "Canary"/ |
- | 1934 |
60% |
|
Dames | Jimmy Higgens (Character) | - | 1934 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Twenty Million Sweethearts | Clayton (Character) | - | 1934 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The King's Vacation | John Kent (Character) | - | 1933 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | College Coach |
Philip `'Phil'`/ |
- | 1933 |
100% |
|
Gold Diggers of 1933 | Brad Roberts (Character) | - | 1933 |
100% |
|
Footlight Parade | Scotty Blair (Character) | - | 1933 |
96% |
|
42nd Street | Billy Lawler (Character) | - | 1933 |
86% | No Score Yet | Convention City | Unknown (Character) | - | 1933 |
No Score Yet |
|
Blessed Event | Bunny Harmon (Character) | - | 1932 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Too Busy to Work | Dan (Character) | - | 1932 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Four Star Playhouse | Unknown (Character) | 1952-1956 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | Writer | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | What's My Line? | Guest | 1954 1958 1961-1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dick Powell Theatre | Host | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zane Grey Theatre |
Unknown (Character), Host |
1956-1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Law and Mr. Jones | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Tom Ewell Show | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | I've Got a Secret | Guest | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Jack Benny Program: The Lost Episodes | Unknown (Character) | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Climax! | Unknown (Character) | 1954 |