Richard Diamond, Private Detective

Richard Diamond, Private Detective is an American detective drama which aired on radio from 1949 to 1953, and on television from 1957 to 1960.

Radio

Dick Powell starred in the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series as a light-hearted detective who often ended the episodes singing to his girlfriend, Helen (Virginia Gregg). It began airing on NBC on April 24, 1949, picked up Rexall as a sponsor on April 5, 1950, and continued until December 6, 1950. The shows were written by Blake Edwards. Its theme, "Leave It to Love", was whistled by Powell at the beginning of each episode.

With Camel cigarettes as a sponsor, it moved to ABC from January 5, 1951, to June 29, 1951, with Rexall returning for a run from October 5, 1951, until June 27, 1952.

Substituting for Amos 'n' Andy, it aired Sunday evenings on CBS from May 31, 1953 until September 20, 1953.

Legacy

The character of Richard Diamond (himself a singing detective) likely served as inspiration for the character of Philip E. Marlow (Michael Gambon) in Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective (1986). In at least one episode of Richard Diamond (1952's The Bowery Case), Diamond's girlfriend refers to the sleuth as "The Singing Detective."

Television

Richard Diamond, Private Detective
Format	Drama
Starring	David Janssen Regis Toomey Barbara Bain Russ Conway
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	77
Production
Producer(s)	Four Star Television
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Distributor	CBS Television (1957-1959) NBC (1959-1960)
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS (1957-1959) NBC (1959-1960)
Original run	July 1, 1957 – September 6, 1960

Powell's company, Four Star Television, produced the TV series, which premiered on CBS but was later telecast for its last year on NBC. David Janssen starred as Diamond, a hard-boiled private detective in the film noir tradition. His secretary, Sam, was shown only from the waist down to display her beautiful legs. Initially, these were the legs of Mary Tyler Moore, but later, the legs of other actresses were seen. Russ Conway appeared occasionally as Lieutenant Pete Kile during the final season. At one point during the three-year run, the show's setting was moved from New York City to Los Angeles.

Original music by Frank De Vol included the theme for the first and second seasons. The third season featured a jazz score by Pete Rugolo, including a new theme. The final theme was by Richard Shores.

Guest stars included Chris Alcaide, Phyllis Avery (three times), Francis De Sales, Don Keefer, and Joyce Meadows.

In the last part of the final season, the series was aired opposite Kate Smith's attempted return to network television, The Kate Smith Show on CBS.

Syndicated rebroadcasts of the series were retitled Call Mr. D.

External links

• Richard Diamond, Private Detective in The Internet Archive's Old-Time Radio Collection
• Richard Diamond, Private Eye TV episode guide
• Richard Diamond, Private Detective at the Internet Movie Database
• Richard Diamond, Private Detective at TV.com