Cast
Dick Powell
Acting
Cast
Dick Powell
Known for
Acting
Born
1904-11-14
From
Mountain View, Arkansas, USA
Died
1963-01-02
Also known as Richard Ewing Powell, ΠΠΈΠΊ ΠΠ°ΡΡΠ»Π», Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell
Biography
Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 β 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. MacMurrayβs success, however, fueled Powellβs 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.
β
6.8
MOVIE1933
Footlight Parade
as Scotty
β
7.0
MOVIE1934
Hollywood Newsreel
as Himself
β
4.2
MOVIE1933
Convention City
as Jerry Ford
β
7.3
MOVIE1952
The Bad and the Beautiful
as James Lee Bartlow
β
6.0
MOVIE1934
Wonder Bar
as Tommy
β
6.1
MOVIE1954
Susan Slept Here
as Mark Christopher
β
7.2
MOVIE1933
Gold Diggers of 1933
as Brad
MOVIE1934
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
as Self
β
7.2
MOVIE1994
FDR
as Self (archive footage)
β
6.4
MOVIE1935
A Midsummer Night's Dream
as Lysander
MOVIE1934
Studio Highlights
as Self (archive footage)
β
7.3
MOVIE1944
Murder, My Sweet
as Philip Marlowe
β
5.7
MOVIE1933
The King's Vacation
as John Kent
β
6.9
MOVIE1985
That's Dancing!
β
7.0
MOVIE1983
Hollywood Out-takes and Rare Footage
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
β
6.2
MOVIE1942
Star Spangled Rhythm
as Dick Powell
β
7.0
MOVIE1933
The Road Is Open Again
as The Songwriter
β
7.5
MOVIE1976
It's Showtime
as Self (archive footage)
β
6.5
MOVIE1941
Model Wife
as Frederick "Fred" Chambers
β
6.9
MOVIE1948
Pitfall
as John Forbes
β
7.6
MOVIE1950
The Reformer and the Redhead
as Andrew Hale
β
6.9
MOVIE1933
42nd Street
as Billy Lawler
β
6.3
MOVIE1975
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
as Self (archive footage)
β
6.9
MOVIE1951
The Tall Target
as John Kennedy
β
6.0
MOVIE1933
Just Around the Corner
as Jerry
β
6.8
MOVIE1944
It Happened Tomorrow
as Lawrence 'Larry' Stevens
β
6.3
MOVIE1947
Johnny O'Clock
as Johnny O'Clock
β
6.8
MOVIE1939
Naughty but Nice
as Professor Donald Hardwick
MOVIE1999
Television: The First Fifty Years
as Self (archive footage)
β
7.0
MOVIE1940
Christmas in July
as Jimmy McDonald
β
5.3
MOVIE1937
The Singing Marine
as Bob Brent
β
6.4
MOVIE1948
Station West
as Lt. John Martin Haven
β
6.5
MOVIE1934
Dames
as Jimmy Higgens
β
5.8
MOVIE1934
Flirtation Walk
as Dick "Canary" Dorcy
β
5.9
MOVIE1948
To the Ends of the Earth
as Commissioner Michael Barrows
β
7.2
MOVIE2012
Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe
as Self (archive footage)
β
6.5
MOVIE1941
In the Navy
as Thomas Halstead
β
6.2
MOVIE1945
Cornered
as Laurence Gerard
β
5.5
MOVIE1943
Happy Go Lucky
as Pete Hamilton
β
5.8
MOVIE1938
Breakdowns of 1938
as Elly Jordan (archive footage) (uncredited)
β
6.6
MOVIE1934
Happiness Ahead
as Bob Lane
β
6.6
MOVIE1938
Going Places
as Peter Mason
β
6.1
MOVIE1936
Gold Diggers of 1937
as Rosmer Peck
β
6.0
MOVIE1937
Breakdowns of 1937
as Self
β
6.7
MOVIE1951
Cry Danger
as Rocky Mulloy
β
6.6
MOVIE1934
Twenty Million Sweethearts
as Buddy Clayton
β
10.0
MOVIE1940
I Want a Divorce
as Alan MacNally
β
7.1
MOVIE1951
You Never Can Tell
as Rex Shepherd
β
5.5
MOVIE2013
Classic Movie Bloopers: Uncensored
as Self (archive footage)
β
7.2
MOVIE1937
On the Avenue
as Gary Blake
β
9.0
MOVIE1984
Going Hollywood: The '30s
as (archive footage)
β
5.8
MOVIE1944
Meet the People
as William 'Swanee' Swanson
β
8.0
MOVIE1943
True to Life
as Link Ferris
β
5.8
MOVIE1938
Hollywood Hotel
as Ronnie Bowers
β
5.6
MOVIE1939
Hollywood Hobbies
as Self (uncredited)
β
5.3
MOVIE1935
Things You Never See on the Screen
as Self
β
6.0
MOVIE2006
42nd Street: From Book to Screen to Stage
as Self (archive footage)
MOVIE1961
Who Killed Julie Greer?
as Host / Inspector Amos Burke
β
6.5
MOVIE1935
Thanks a Million
as Eric Land
β
7.0
MOVIE1934
And She Learned About Dames
as Himself
MOVIE1936
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 1, From beginning"
β
7.3
MOVIE1950
Right Cross
as Rick Garvey
β
5.8
MOVIE1936
Colleen
as Donald Ames
β
5.5
MOVIE1936
One And One Is One
as Himself
MOVIE1936
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 5"
β
6.6
MOVIE1935
Shipmates Forever
as Richard 'Dick' Melville III
β
6.9
MOVIE1932
Blessed Event
as Bunny Harmon
MOVIE1961
One Must Die
β
6.8
MOVIE1937
Varsity Show
as Charles 'Chuck' Daly
β
5.6
MOVIE1943
Riding High
as Steve Baird
β
6.0
MOVIE1958
The All-Star Christmas Show
as Self
β
6.3
MOVIE1935
A Dream Comes True
as Himself (uncredited)
β
5.5
MOVIE1936
Hearts Divided
as Jerome Bonaparte
β
6.7
MOVIE1935
Page Miss Glory
as Bingo Nelson
β
7.0
MOVIE1938
Cowboy from Brooklyn
as Elly Jordan
β
6.8
MOVIE1948
Rogues' Regiment
as Whit Corbett
β
6.3
MOVIE1947
Blow-Ups of 1947
as Self
β
5.8
MOVIE1932
Big City Blues
as Radio Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
β
6.3
MOVIE1938
Hard to Get
as Bill Davis
β
6.0
MOVIE1935
Broadway Gondolier
as Richard 'Dick' Purcell, aka Ricardo Purcelli
β
4.6
MOVIE1933
College Coach
as Phil "Sarge" Sargeant
β
6.0
MOVIE1936
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
as Self
β
6.0
MOVIE1949
Mrs. Mike
as Sgt. Mike Flannigan
β
6.5
MOVIE1935
Gold Diggers of 1935
as Dick Curtis
β
5.3
MOVIE1936
Stage Struck
as George Randall
MOVIE1936
Dick Powell and Joan Blondell home movies: "No. 3, Normie"
β
5.3
MOVIE2024
The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout
as Self (archive footage)
β
4.9
MOVIE2006
Gold Diggers: FDR'S New Deal... Broadway Bound
as Self (archive footage)
β
6.5
MOVIE1932
Too Busy to Work
as Dan Hardy
MOVIE1961
Ricochet
as Self - Host
β
6.6
MOVIE1943
Three Cheers for the Girls
as Singer (archive footage) (uncredited)