Original Airdate: January 21, 1946
The Fat Man: The 19th Pearl
Starring: J Scott Smart, all 247 lbs. of detective genius (a ten lb. gain from last week!)
Broadcaster: ABC (America)
Director: Robert Sloan
Music: Bernard Green
The Fat Man begins this tale lamenting his portly circumstances and after this fine adventure, concludes - “nobody loves a fat man.”
Brad Runyon is seeing his mother off at Grand Central Station when a beautiful woman crosses his path and has him hug and kiss her to thwart some mysterious man following her. Runyon doesn’t mind the affection even if it’s staged and short-lived, but this ruse leads the detective to pearls and murder!
The Fat Man, a popular radio show during the 1940s and early 1950s was a detective drama created by (or at least credited to) Dashiell Hammett, author of The Thin Man. The Fat Man is a detective who started out anonymous but rapidly acquired the name 'Brad Runyon'. Broadcast from the studios of WJZ in Newark, New Jersey, the series premiered on the ABC Radio Network on Monday, January 21, 1946. The program was directed by Clark Andrews, creator of Big Town, and Charles Powers. The main writer was Richard Ellington, with other scripts by Robert Sloane and Lawrence Klee.
The veteran character actor Ed Begley co-starred as Sgt. O'Hara, and the supporting cast included Betty Garde, Paul Stewart, Linda Watkins, Mary Patton as Lila North and Vicki Vola, who was also the female lead in Mr. District Attorney. Amzie Strickland played Runyon's girlfriend Cathy Evans, and Nell Harrison was Runyon's mother during the early episodes. The cast also included Dan Ocko, Rolly Bester (wife of science fiction writer Alfred Bester) and Robert Dryden. An 11-piece orchestra was directed by Bernard Green, who also wrote the program's theme. The sound effects were by Ed Blaney, and the announcers were Charles Irving and sportscaster Gene Kirby.