Richard Diamond, Private Detective

Did You Know?

• In 1968, Four Star president David Charnay announced a feature film revival starring David Janssen, but it was not produced.
• A pair of unauthorized Richard Diamond short stories set in 1948 were published in book form in 2016.

Radio

Dick Powell portrayed Richard Diamond, a former police officer turned private detective, in the radio series. Diamond frequently received a blow to the head during his investigations. Most episodes concluded with Diamond at the piano, singing a standard song or show tune to his girlfriend Helen Asher at her penthouse. Levinson was played by various actors including Ed Begley and Arthur Q. Bryan, while Helen was voiced by Virginia Gregg and others. Many episodes were written or directed by Blake Edwards. The theme, "Leave It to Love," was whistled by Powell at the start of each episode. The series began on NBC Radio on April 24, 1949, and moved among networks with sponsors Rexall and Camel cigarettes, ending on CBS on September 20, 1953.

Television series

General Foods purchased the television rights from Dick Powell as a summer replacement for December Bride in 1957. The character first appeared on television on November 22, 1956, when Don Taylor played Diamond in the "Double Cross" episode of Chevron Hall of Stars. Powell's company, Four Star Television, produced the television version, which premiered on CBS in summer 1957. It returned for a second season in January 1958 and a third in February 1959, both on CBS, and the fourth and final season aired on NBC in fall 1959. David Janssen starred as Diamond, a former New York police officer and hard-boiled private detective. The first two television seasons closely followed the radio characterization, with several episodes adapted from the radio series. Diamond was known for his charm and wisecracks, though Janssen never sang at a piano as Powell had. The noirish opening sequence showed Diamond walking down a dimly lit street and lighting a cigarette. After the first season, sponsored by Maxwell House, the show was sponsored by Kent cigarettes. Frank DeVol's theme music was used, and in syndicated rebroadcasts the title was changed to Call Mr. D., with Pete Rugolo's theme replacing DeVol's music from Season 3 onward.