Statues for the Sleuths: Edmond O'Brien (Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar)
3/22/20262 hr 9 min
Our series of Oscar-winning radio detective stars continues with Edmond O'Brien, who took home the Best Supporting Actor prize for The Barefoot Contessa and who picked up another well-deserved nomination for Seven Days in May. O'Brien was the second actor to star as Johnny Dollar - "the man with the action-packed expense account" - and we'll hear him in four of Dollar's radio adventures: "The Richard Splain Matter" (originally aired on CBS on October 7, 1950; "The Byron Hayes Matter" (originally aired on CBS on March 24, 1951); "The Hatchet House Theft" (originally aired on CBS on June 27, 1951); and "The Horace Lockhart Matter"...
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 1· Soundbite0:00
Get this and get it straight. Crime is a sucker's road, and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison, or the grave.
Speaker 2· Soundbite0:06
[dramatic music] The story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
Speaker 30:18
The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective.
Speaker 40:21
The Adventures of the Saint, starring Vincent Price.
Speaker 5· Soundbite0:24
Bob Bailey, in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account. America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.
Speaker 60:33
Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.
Speaker 7· Host0:35
[upbeat music] Hello, and welcome to Down These Mean Streets, and more old-time radio detectives and crime solvers. All this month, in honor of the Academy Awards, we're saluting old-time radio detective stars who took home Oscars for their big screen performances. This week's winner is Edmond O'Brien, who won the award for Best Supporting Actor for his turn in The Barefoot Contessa, and who picked up a second nomination a few years later, and in my opinion should have walked away with a second Oscar for his work in