Detective Show (1948-1962)
Bob Bailey
Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar was one of the longest running radio detective shows, with 14 years of intrigue and adventure. It was well received and became the last drama on the air when radio interests waned in the 1960s. Johnny Dollar was "the freelance investigator with the action-packed expense account." He worked for the Universal Adjustment Bureau, flying from Mexico to swamps to California ghost towns. He would recover furs and diamonds for a cut of the goods, body guard wealthy men, and climb into the deathly Skull Canyon. All stories included mystery and murder, slipping listeners to the edge of their seats with teeth a clicking on the fingernails.
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Johnny went through several changes during its time on the air, including five different actors in the lead. For a little over a year, it was aired as a fifteen minute serial, broadcast five times a week. At another time, when Bob Bailey played Johnny Dollar, shows aired for 75 minutes, with great character development and exceptionally entertaining stories. It later returned to half hour shows. Johnny himself also changed throughout the shows, at one time tipping bellhops and waiters tip-top, tossing them silver dollars. But he was always gruff and tough.
| YEARS |
PERFORMER AS 'JOHNNY DOLLAR' |
DISK NO. |
| 1948 |
Dick Powell (audition episode only) |
|
| 1949-1950 |
Charles Russell |
|
| 1950-1952 |
Edmond O'Brien |
|
| 1952-1954 |
John Lund |
|
| 1955-1960 |
Bob Bailey |
|
| 1960-1961 |
Bob Readick |
|
| 1961-1962 |
Mandel Kramer |
|
Johnny narrated the shows as if they were expense accounts sent to his employer. A clever way of narration, it always began, "expense account, item one," with him telling about cab fare, then went on through the air fare, his trip across the country, and so on through the adventure. At the end of the show, he would finish his expense report and sign it, "Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar."
For more top investigators, see also Barrie Craig
Confidential Investigator, Broadway
is My Beat, Dragnet,
Fat Man, Nero
Wolfe, and Pat Novak
for Hire. See also: Hardboiled Detectives Collection.
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