''The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe'' is a 1950–51 American

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

series starring

Sydney Greenstreet Sydney Hughes Greenstreet (December 27, 1879 – January 18, 1954) was a British-American actor. While he did not begin his career in films until the age of 61, he had a run of significant motion pictures in a Hollywood career lasting throu ...

Rex Stout Rex Todhunter Stout (; December 1, 1886 – October 27, 1975) was an American writer noted for his detective fiction. His best-known characters are the detective Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, who were featured in 33 novels and ...

's fictional

armchair detective An armchair detective is a fictional investigator who does not personally visit a crime scene or interview witnesses; instead, the detective either reads the story of the crime in a newspaper or has it recounted by another person. As the armcha ...

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a luxurious brownstone on West ...

. Based on Stout's principal characters but not his stories, the series aired October 20, 1950 – April 27, 1951, on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

. It is regarded as the series that is most responsible for popularizing Nero Wolfe on radio.

Production

''The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe'' stars

's fictional detective genius

. Produced by Edwin Fadiman and directed by J. Donald Wilson, the series aired on

from October 20, 1950 to April 27, 1951. Don Stanley was the announcer. The episodes were written by

Alfred Bester Alfred Bester (December 18, 1913 – September 30, 1987) was an American science fiction author, TV and radio scriptwriter, magazine editor and scripter for comic strips and comic books. He is best remembered for his science fiction, incl ...

and others. Wolfe's legman Archie Goodwin was played by a succession of actors including

Gerald Mohr Gerald Mohr (June 11, 1914 – November 9, 1968) was an American radio, film, and television character actor and frequent leading man, who appeared in more than 500 radio plays, 73 films, and over 100 television shows. Early years Mohr wa ...

, Herb Ellis,

Lawrence Dobkin Lawrence Dobkin (September 16, 1919 – October 28, 2002) was an American television director, character actor and screenwriter whose career spanned seven decades. Dobkin was a prolific performer during the Golden Age of Radio. He narrate ...

Harry Bartell Harry Alfred Bartell (November 29, 1913 – February 26, 2004)Aaker, Everett (2006). ''Encyclopedia of Early Television Crime Fighters''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . p. 34. was an American actor and announcer in radio, television and film. Wit ...

Lamont Johnson Ernest Lamont Johnson Jr. (September 30, 1922 – October 24, 2010) was an American actor and film director who has appeared in and directed many television shows and movies. He won two Emmy Awards. Early years Johnson was born in Stockto ...

and

Wally Maher Wally Maher (August 4, 1908 – December 26, 1951) was an American actor, primarily on old-time radio; he was also known as the original voice of Tex Avery's cartoon character Screwy Squirrel. Early years Maher was born in Cincinnati on August 4, ...

. Biographer John McAleer reported that Stout enjoyed Greenstreet's portrayal. ''The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe'' was the first radio series that, like the Nero Wolfe stories themselves, stressed characterization over plot. It is regarded as the series that is most responsible for popularizing Nero Wolfe on radio. All but one episode ("The Case of the Headless Hunter") has survived in radio collections. Greenstreet suffered from both diabetes and

Bright's Disease Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied ...

, and his health fluctuated during the run of the radio program.

Episodes

References

External links

''The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe''
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Adventures of Nero Wolfe, The American radio dramas Detective radio shows 1950s American radio programs 1950 radio programme debuts 1951 radio programme endings Radio programmes based on novels Nero Wolfe NBC radio programs

Production

Episodes

See also

References

External links