''Dick Tracy'' was an American detective radio drama series based on the popularity of the newspaper comic strip ''

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''Detroit Mirror'', and it ...

'' by

Chester Gould Chester Gould (; November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the ''Dick Tracy'' comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. Ear ...

History

The show first aired in 1934 for the

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the NBC Blue Network it was one of the first t ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

region.

Himan Brown Himan Brown (July 21, 1910 – June 4, 2010Himan Brown obituary.< ...

, then still at college, arranged the radio rights for the comic strip. On February 4, 1935, it was picked up by

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

, airing in 15 minute episodes four times a week. Returning next season it aired on

Mutual Broadcasting System The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...

from September 30, 1935 to March 24, 1937. From April 29, 1939, "Dick Tracy" became a half-hour-long prime time radio serial, airing at 5:00 pm. When the USA got involved in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the show was temporarily cancelled. ABC Blue Network picked it up again from March 15, 1943 to July 16, 1948 and broadcast it on Saturdays. Around this time it was sponsored by

Tootsie Rolls Tootsie Roll is a chocolate-flavored taffy that has been manufactured in the United States since 1907. The candy has qualities similar to both caramels and taffy without being exactly either confection. The manufacturer, Tootsie Roll Ind ...

, so the music theme was changed to " Toot, Toot Tootsie". The musical arrangements were composed by Ray Carter.

Cast

The show was directed by Mitchell Grayson, Charles Powers and Bob White. At Mutual, Bill McClintock did the sound effects. At NBC, Keene Crockett did this job. During its run on ABC, Walt McDonough and Al Finelli were hired for this task. *

– Bob Burlen, Barry Thompson, Ned Wever,

Matt Crowley Matt Crowley (June 20, 1905 – March 7, 1983) was an American film, television and radio actor. Life and career Matt Crowley was born in New Haven, Connecticut. He was a student of George Pierce Baker at Yale University. As an actor, Crowl ...

* Pat Patton – Walter Kinsella *

Tess Trueheart ''Tess Trueheart'' is the love interest character in the American comic strip '' Dick Tracy'', which was created by Chester Gould in 1931. The character eventually became the wife of Dick Tracy in the original comic strip. In the 1934-1948 radi ...

– Helen Lewis * Junior Tracy –

Andy Donnelly Andy Donnelly (born 1 May 1943) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Born in Lanark, Donnelly played for Coltness United, Clyde, Millwall, Weymouth, Torquay United and Cape Town City A cape is a ...

Jackie Kelk John Daly "Jackie" Kelk (August 6, 1923 – September 5, 2002) was an American stage, radio, film, and television actor and stand-up comedian. He is best known for portraying the role of Homer Brown on the radio series ''The Aldrich Family'' a ...

* Police Chief Brandon – Howard Smith * Tania – Beatrice Pons

Popularity

Like many children's radio shows at the time, ''Dick Tracy'' had its own fan club, which offered premiums.

Significant events

The beginning of the May 1, 1945 episode ("The Case of the Empty Safe") was interrupted on the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

for a special news flash relating that

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

had "died of a stroke." Copies of this episode, complete with the mistaken news flash—Hitler had committed suicide the day before, not died of a stroke—still exist today. (See:

Death of Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler, chancellor and dictator of Germany from 1933 to 1945, died by suicide via gunshot on 30 April 1945 in the in Berlin after it became clear that Germany would lose the Battle of Berlin, which led to the end of World War II in Eur ...

.) On July 8, 1945, during a New York newspaper deliverers' strike, New York mayor

Fiorello H. La Guardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...

read a complete ''Dick Tracy'' strip over the radio.

Parodies

On Feb.15, 1945, '' Command Performance'' broadcast the musical comedy Dick Tracy in B-Flat with

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

as Tracy,

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...

as Flattop, and

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

as Tess Trueheart. Dick Tracy's wedding was repeatedly interrupted as Tracy chased one villain after another. In the strip, his marriage wasn't until 1950, and his honeymoon was disrupted by his going after Wormy.

Sources

{{Dick Tracy Dick Tracy American radio dramas American children's radio programs Detective radio shows 1934 radio programme debuts 1948 radio programme endings Radio programs based on comic strips CBS Radio programs NBC radio programs ABC radio programs Mutual Broadcasting System programs 1930s American radio programs 1940s American radio programs