Richard Ewing "Dick" Powell (November 14, 1904 — January 2, 1963) was an American singer, actor, film producer, and film director.
His career can be neatly divided into two halves. He started off as a singer and dancer who starred in many comedies and musicals, including several Busby Berkeley films. However, with Murder My Sweet in 1944 he transitioned into a hardboiled, rugged "tough guy" leading man in projects of more dramatic nature. Murder My Sweet was also the first time anyone played private detective Philip Marlowe on screen. He also found success with the radio series Richard Diamond Private Detective, which ran from 1949-1953.
Later in his career, he took an interest in directing and formed his own television production company with the help of David Niven, Charles Boyer, Joel McCrea and Ida Lupino. It was named Four Star Television and made the most successful television shows in 1950s' America, such as The Big Valley and Burke's Law, launching careers for Steve McQueen, Mary Tyler Moore, Gene Roddenberry and Aaron Spelling. Unfortunately, the greatness wasn't meant to last when Powell died from stomach cancer in 1963.
He was married to Joan Blondell and June Allyson and he had four children, two with Blondell and two with Allyson.
Dick Powell films with pages on TV Tropes:
- 42nd Street (1933)
- Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933)
- Footlight Parade (1933)
- Dames (1934)
- Flirtation Walk (1934)
- Broadway Gondolier (1935)
- Gold Diggers of 1935 (1935)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
- Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
- Stage Struck (1936)
- Hard to Get (1938)
- Christmas in July (1940)
- Murder, My Sweet (1944)
- The Bad and the Beautiful (1952)
- The Conqueror (1956, director only)
- The Enemy Below (1957, director only)
Tropes in Powell's career:
- Tom Hanks Syndrome: Powell spent the 1930s and early 1940s appearing in a lot of comedies and musicals where he usually sang. Starting with Murder My Sweet, he adopted a whole new persona, of the tough guy hero in detective fiction and Film Noir.
