Dick Powell Wikipedia: Richard Ewing Powell was an American actor, singer, producer, director, and studio head who lived from November 14, 1904, to January 2, 1963. Although he rose to fame as a musical comedy actor, he proved adaptable and successfully transitioned into a tough leading man, appearing in more tragic films. Philip Marlowe, a private eye, was first portrayed by him on television. Dick Powell Wikipedia
Who Was Dick Powell?
Powell was born in Mountain View, the county seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas, as the second son of Sally Rowena’s three sons. He had two brothers: Howard and Luther, the oldest (the youngest).
In 1914, the family relocated the boys to Little Rock, where Powell created his band and sang in church choruses and neighborhood orchestras. Before beginning his career in entertainment as a singer with the Royal Peacock Band, which toured the Midwest, Powell attended the former Little Rock College.
Mildred Maund, a model, whom he married during this time, did not enjoy being married to an entertainer. After their final journey together, Mildred relocated to Hemphill, Texas, and they divorced in 1932. Later, Powell joined the Indianapolis-based Charlie Davis Orchestra. In the late 1920s, he cut several records for the Vocalion label, both with Davis and solo.
Stardom
Powell relocated to Pittsburgh, where he quickly achieved popularity working as the emcee at the Stanley and Enright theaters. Dick Powell Wikipedia
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. acquired Brunswick Records, which then controlled Vocalion, in April 1930. Powell’s singing and stage presence pleased Warner Bros. enough to offer him a contract for a movie in 1932. In Blessed Event, he made his acting debut as the bandleader singing.
To assist Will Rogers in Too Busy to Work, he was lent to Fox Film (1932). For the following several years, he concentrated on the character of a boyish crooner. Back at Warner Bros., he played the love interest for Ruby Keeler in 42nd Street and supported George Arliss in The King’s Vacation (both 1933). The movie was a huge success.
Warner Bros. (WB) persuaded him to essentially reprise the part in 1933’s Gold Diggers, another blockbuster. Keeler and James Cagney starred in Footlight Parade, also released in 1933. Dick Powell Wikipedia
For College Coach (1933), Powell was given a more significant role before returning to more ensemble roles in 42nd Street, Convention City (all 1933), Wonder Bar, Twenty Million Sweethearts, and Dames (all 1934).
Both Flirtation Walk and Happiness Ahead were more of a star vehicle for Powell (both 1934). He had the lead role in the 1935 films Broadway Gondolier and Gold Diggers, starring Joan Blondell. Dick Powell Wikipedia
He acted alongside Marion Davies in Page Miss Glory (1935), which Cosmopolitan Pictures produced, was funded by Davies’ lover William Randolph Hearst and distributed by WB. When he was chosen to play Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, WB provided him with a change of pace (1935).
Paramount
He and Blondell were placed together one more at Paramount for the drama I Want a Divorce (1940). Powell next had the opportunity to make an appearance in Christmas in July (1940), a screwball comedy that served as Preston Sturges’ second feature film.
Universal took him on to assist Abbott and Costello in 1941’s In the Navy, one of the year’s most well-liked movies. He appeared in Star Spangled Rhythm at Paramount and co-starred in Happy Go Lucky with Mary Martin (both 1943). In Riding High, he backed Dorothy Lamour (1943).
“Tough guy”
Powell pushed to take the lead role in Double Indemnity because he believed he was getting too old to play romantic leading men by 1944. Fred MacMurray, another charming guy from Hollywood, defeated him. However, Powell became more determined to work on more varied projects due to MacMurray’s success.
Powell’s career underwent a significant transformation when he was chosen to play private eye Philip Marlowe in Murder, My Sweet (1944), directed by Edward Dmytryk at RKO, the first in a series of noir movies. Thanks to the movie’s box office success, Powell had successfully reimagined himself as a serious actor.
He was the first actor to portray Marlowe precisely in a film. (Some Marlowe novels had previously been adapted by Hollywood, although with a different main character.) Dick Powell Wikipedia
When Marlowe initially appeared on radio in 1944 and 1945 and on television in a 1954 episode of Climax, Powell was the first actor to play him! Powell also portrayed Richard Rogue, a little less ruthless detective, in the radio drama Rogue’s Gallery, which debuted in 1945.
What Is Happening In Dick Powell’s Personal Life?
Powell was the son of Sallie Rowena Thompson and Ewing Powell. Dick Powell Wikipedia
He had three marriages:
Evelyn Mildred Maund (b. 1906, d. 1967). The couple was included on a 1931 passenger list for the SS Oriente, returning from Havana, Cuba, and on the 1930 census in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when Powell was working in a theater. They were married in 1925. Mildred kept her married name after their divorce in 1932.
Judith Blondell (married September 19, 1936, divorced 1944). The couple also had a child together, Ellen Powell, and he adopted her son from a previous relationship, Norman Powell, who became a television producer.
Richard Powell Sr. and Pamela (who was adopted) were his two children with June Allyson, with whom he was married from August 19, 1945, until his death on January 2, 1963. Dick Powell Wikipedia
On the ABC TV show Hart to Hart, outdoor scenes were filmed at Powell’s ranch-style home. The Hart to Hart actors Robert Wagner and Aaron Spelling was friends with Powell. The 48-acre Amber Hills estate is located in the Mandeville Canyon neighborhood of Brentwood, Los Angeles. Powell was a private pilot who cherished general aviation.
What Was The Cause of Dick Powell’s Death?
Powell confirmed suspicions that he was receiving cancer treatment on September 27, 1962. While traveling to the east to promote his program, Powell noticed signs of the illness, which doctors initially misdiagnosed as an allergy. Powell’s private doctor performed tests after he departed from California and discovered cancerous lesions on his neck and chest.
Dick Powell’s death year is given as 1962 on the marker on his niche in Glendale, California’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park. Powell passed away on January 2, 1963, at 58. [Reference needed] His bones were buried in the Columbarium of Honor at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California after his corpse was cremated.
Powell’s involvement in the movie The Conqueror, filmed in St. George, Utah, close to a location utilized by the US military for nuclear testing, is thought to have contributed to his cancer development. A third of the performers who appeared in the movie, including John Wayne, Susan Hayward, Agnes Moorehead, and director Powell, contracted cancer.
Powell’s widow June Allyson, however, claimed that the cause of death was lung cancer brought on by his heavy smoking in a 2001 interview with Larry King. Dick Powell received a posthumous Television Academy Trustee Award from the Television Academy for his contributions to the industry on May 26, 1963, during the 15th Primetime Emmy Awards.
Charles Boyer and David Niven, two of his former Four Star Television business partners, accepted the medal on his behalf. Dick Powell is honored with a star at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Follow Newswatchlist.com for more information. You can also leave your thoughts in the comment section, and don’t forget to bookmark our website.
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