WILLIAM CONRAD COLLECTION OLD TIME RADIO - 8 CD - 398 mp3 - Total Playtime: 200:22:15 William Conrad (born John William Cann Jr.; September 27, 1920 – February 11, 1994) was an American actor, producer and director whose career spanned five decades in radio, film and television. A radio writer and actor, he moved to Hollywood, California, after his World War II service and played a series of character roles in films beginning with the quintessential film noir, The Killers (1946). He created the role of Marshall Matt Dillon for the popular radio series Gunsmoke (1952–1961), and narrated the television adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (1959–1964) and The Fugitive (1963–1967). Finding fewer on-screen roles in the 1950s, he changed from actor to producer-director with television work and a series of Warner Bros. films in the 1960s. Conrad found stardom as a detective in the TV series Cannon (1971–1976) and Nero Wolfe (1981), and as a district attorney in the legal drama Jake and the Fatman (1987–1992). William Conrad estimated that he played more than 7,500 roles during his radio career. At KMPC, the 22-year-old Conrad produced and acted in The Hermit's Cave (circa 1940–44), the Los Angeles incarnation of a popular syndicated horror anthology series created at WJR Detroit. He was among the supporting cast for the espionage drama The Man Called X (1944–48); the syndicated dramatic anthology Favorite Story (1946–49); the adventure dramas The Count of Monte Cristo (Mutual 1947–48), The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen (Mutual 1947–48), The Green Lama (CBS 1949) and Nightbeat (NBC 1950–52); Romance (1950) and Hollywood Star Playhouse (1950–53); Errol Flynn's The Modern Adventures of Casanova (Mutual 1952); and Cathy and Elliott Lewis's On Stage (CBS 1953–54). Conrad was the voice of Escape (1947–1954), regarded as radio's greatest high-adventure series. He played Warchek, a menacing policeman, in Johnny Modero: Pier 23 (Mutual 1947), a detective series starring Jack Webb, and was in the cast of Webb's crime drama Pete Kelly's Blues (NBC 1951). He played newspaper editor Walter Burns opposite Dick Powell's reporter Hildy Johnson in the ABC radio drama The Front Page (1948). He was Dave the Dude in the syndicated drama anthology series, The Damon Runyon Theater (1948); Lt. Dundy in the NBC radio series, The Adventures of Sam Spade (1949–1950); boss to government special agent Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in The Silent Men (NBC 1951); and a New Orleans bartender in the NBC adventure drama, Jason and the Golden Fleece (1952–53). Most prominently, Conrad's deep, resonant voice was heard in the role of Marshal Matt Dillon on CBS Radio's gritty Western series, Gunsmoke (April 26, 1952–June 18, 1961). The producers originally rejected him for the part due to his ubiquitous presence on so many radio dramas and the familiarity of his voice. But his impressive audition could not be dismissed, and he became the obvious choice for the role. Conrad voiced Dillon for the show's nine-year run. In addition, he wrote the June 1953 episode "Sundown." When Gunsmoke was adapted for television in 1955, executives at CBS did not cast Conrad or his radio costars, despite a campaign to get them to change their minds. His other credits include Suspense, Lux Radio Theater and Fibber McGee and Molly. In “The Wax Works”, a 1956 episode of Suspense, Conrad performed every part. Because of his CBS Radio contract, he sometimes appeared on shows on other networks under the pseudonym "Julius Krelboyne". In January 1956 Conrad was announcer on the debut broadcast of The CBS Radio Workshop, a two-part adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World which Huxley himself narrated. "On the air, The CBS Radio Workshop was a lightning rod for ideas," wrote radio historian John Dunning, who cites Conrad's "tour de force" performances in the subsequent broadcasts '"The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes" (March 23, 1956) and "A Matter of Logic" (June 1, 1956). Conrad directed and narrated the 1957 episode "Epitaphs", an adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters's poetry volume Spoon River Anthology. "And '1489 Words' (Feb. 10, 1957) remains a favorite of many, a powerful Conrad performance proving that one picture is not necessarily worth a thousand words," Dunning concluded. "A lovely way to end a day, a decade, or an era." EPISODES LIST DISC 1 Adventures of Philip Marlowe 47-06-17 001 Red Wind Adventures of Philip Marlowe 50-04-11 079 The Anniversary Gift Box 13 - 490612 The Dead Man Walks Broadway is my Beat 50-08-07 (046) The Jack Jorno Murder Case Broadway is my Beat 51-12-15 (091) The Lucille Baker Murder Case Broadway is my Beat 52-01-19 (096) The Lynn Halstead Murder Case Cavalcade of America 46-08-26 Passport To Freedom CBS Radio Workshop 560127 - 01 Brave New World Part 1 CBS Radio Workshop 560203 - 02 Brave New World Part 2 CBS Radio Workshop 560413 - 12 Jacob's Hands CBS Radio Workshop 560511 - 16 The Enormous Radio CBS Radio Workshop 560601 - 19 A Matter of Logic CBS Radio Workshop 560622 - 22 Another Point of View - Hamlet Revisited CBS Radio Workshop 561026 - 39 When the Mountain Fell CBS Radio Workshop 570120 - 51 Fire at Malibu CBS Radio Workshop 570303 - 57 Ballad of the Iron Horse CBS Radio Workshop 570407 - 62 No Plays of Japan CBS Radio Workshop 570602 - 70 Epitaphs (Spoon River Anthology) Command Performance 48-12-25 Christmas 1948 - Hy Averback Announcer Count of Monte Cristo - Yankee Clipper Damon Runyon Theater 49-01-16-Romance in the Roaring Forties Dangerous Assignment 49-07-09 (001) Relief Supplies Dangerous Assignment 50-08-09 (027) Death Drums Dangerous Assignment 51-01-13 (044) Missing Scientist Dangerous Assignment 51-03-03 (051) London - The Secret Code Dr Kildare 50-05-31 18 DickBrennanSteals 5000 Or 50000 Dr Kildare 50-06-01 19 Colonel Boregards Paralysis Dragnet 50-01-12 ep033 The Big Man Part 1 epNarcotics Dragnet 50-01-19 ep034 The Big Man Part 2 epNarcotics Fibber McGee And Molly 53-11-03 (0762) Phantom Burglar Nabbed Fibber McGee And Molly 53-11-23 (0776) Phoney Ring Investment First Nighter 48-01-08 (0686) Help Wanted, Female Green Lama 49-07-03 The Last Dinosaur Gunsmoke 52-12-27 (036) The Cabin Gunsmoke 53-02-21 (044) Meshougah Gunsmoke 55-04-02 (155) Bloody Hands (Alafraganza) Gunsmoke 55-04-30 (159) Reward for Matt Hallmark Playhouse 48-08-19 (011) Drums Along the Mohawk Hallmark Playhouse 49-11-24 (064) The Courtship of Miles Standish Hallmark Playhouse 51-04-26 (125) Two Years Before the Mast Hollywood Star Playhouse 52-04-13 (099) The Six Shooter Jeff Regan, Investigator 48-08-07 (05) The Man Who Liked the Mountains Jeff Regan, Investigator 48-08-28 (08) The Man in the Door Johnny Madero, Pier 23 47-06-26 (10) Fatal product Man Called X 51-02-17 (19) North of Thirty Eight Man Called X 52-01-22 (68) Casablanca Meet Miss Sherlock 46 09 12 - Wilmer & The Widow with Sondra Gair and William Conrad Our Miss Brooks 49-03-13 (032) Cafeteria Boycott Pat Novak for Hire 49-02-27 (03) Don't Tell Hilda (aka-Marcia Halpern) Shorty Bell 48-06-20 (13) Movie Script DISC 2 Escape 470707 001 The Man Who Would Be King Escape 471029 012 Pollack and the Porroh Man Escape 471112 014 The Young Man with the Cream Tarts Escape 471126 016 The Country of the Blind Escape 471210 018 An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Escape 471217 019 Wild Oranges Escape 471231 021 Confession Escape 480114 023 Leiningen vs the Ants national broadcast Escape 480117 023 Leiningen vs the Ants national broadcast different production Escape 480208 027 Snake Doctor national broadcast Escape 480214 027 Snake Doctor national broadcast different production Escape 480215 028 Ancient Sorceries national broadcast Escape 480221 028 Ancient Sorceries national broadcast different production Escape 480306 030 The Grove Of Ashtaroth national broadcast different production Escape 480321 033 Misfortunes Isle national broadcast Escape 480822 050 SS San Pedro Escape 480912 053 Evening Primrose William Conrad Escape 490219 056 Orient Express Escape 490312 059 He Who Rides the Tiger Escape 490416 067 The General Died at Dawn Escape 490818 075 Snake Doctor Ira Grossel Escape 491015 080 The Sure Thing William Conrad Escape 491022 081 Night in Havana Escape 491115 085 Three Skeleton Key William Conrad Escape 491122 086 Maracas Escape 491213 089 Border Town Escape 491227 091 Seeds of Greed Escape 500221 099 The Red Mark Escape 500310 101 Port Royal Escape 500331 104 Green Splotches Escape 500407 105 The Ambassador of Poker Escape 500421 107 The Shanghai Document Escape 500428 108 Something for Nothing Escape 500714 119 Shark Bait Escape 500721 120 Yellow Wake Escape 500728 121 Poison Escape 500811 123 The Red Forest Ben Wright Escape 500818 124 The Footprint Escape 500825 125 Crossing Paris Escape 501203 135 This Side of Nowhere Escape 510107 140 Conquest Escape 510218 143 The Follower Escape 510711 144 The Island Harry Bartell Escape 510801 147 The Gladiator Escape 521012 152 Gringo Escape 521102 155 The Running Man Escape 521109 156 The Return Escape 521116 157 The LoupGarou Escape 521207 160 Incident in Quito Escape 521214 161 Four Went Home Escape 530125 167 Diary of a Madman DISC 3 Escape 530201 168 A Study in Wax Escape 530322 175 Pressure Escape 530412 178 Classified Secret Escape 530517 183 North of Polaris Escape 530614 187 Clear for Action Escape 530712 191 The Out Station Escape 530719 192 The Open Boat Escape 530726 193 The Notebook Escape 530802 194 The Red Forest Tom Tull