Dick Powell

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BIRTHDAY

November 14, 1904

Mountain View, Arkansas, USA

DIED

January 03, 1963

RECENT CREDITS

Hollywood Ending (FILM) May. 3, 2002

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (FILM) Jun. 29, 2001

The Wedding Planner (FILM) Jan. 26, 2001

Star Spangled Rhythm (FILM) Jan. 1, 2001

The Hunters (FILM) Sep. 1, 1958

View all Dick Powell Credits

BIOGRAPHY

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Romantic singing lead of Warner Bros. musicals of the 1930s who brought his ringing tenor and his cherubic, boyish looks to such Busby Berkeley-choreographed extravaganzas as "42nd Street", "Footlight Parade" (both 1933) and "Dames" (1934), forming a popular romantic team opposite Ruby Keeler. Powell later moved into straight comedies such as Preston Sturges' witty and charming "Christmas in July" (1940) and had a few lean career years before becoming a key interpreter of tough-guy film noir roles in the mid-40s. Powell's definitive "hard-boiled" role was as Raymond Chandler's private eye Philip Marlowe, in Edward Dmytryk's excellent "Murder, My Sweet" (1944). His voice a bit rougher and his callow juvenile charm intriguingly hardened, Powell proved his was more than a lightweight talent in such fine, bleak noirs as "Cornered" (1945) and "Pitfall" (1948).

Powell later directed and produced several largely unexceptional films in the 1950s (the best was his first, the exciting "Split Second" 1953). As his feature career began winding down, he also ventured successfully into TV, becoming a notable TV executive through the production company Four Star TV before his death from cancer. Powell was portrayed by his son, Dick Powell, Jr., in "Day of the Locust" (1975). Married to Joan Blondell from 1936 to 1945 and June Allyson until his death in 1963.

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