Famous TV Detectives from the 1940s to 1960s.
(1959-1960) 21 Beacon Street was an American detective television series. It was originally aired on NBC from July 2nd to Sept. 10th, 1959. The 13 thirty minute episodes were a Filmways Production produced by Al Simon. The private detective...
77 Sunset Strip was created by Roy Huggins and was a one hour-length American television series. The series was about two private detectives who had their office at 77 Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. The detectives Stuart Bailey, played by...
(1959-1960) Bourbon Street Beat is a private detective Series which aired on the ABC network from 1959-1960 and featured Andrew Duggan as Cal Calhoun, Richard Long as Rex Randolph. They were supported by the young assistant, Van Willliams as...
Flashgun Casey was produced as a media franchise. There were films, novels, comic books, radio shows and last but not least a TV Series. Flashgun Casey was the Morning Express photographer and investigated on many crime scenes. There were 40...
Charlie Wild, Private Detective was originally created as radio show. Later it made it to the television. The show was sponsored by Wildroot Hair Oil’s – that’s the reason why the private detective is called Charlie Wild. The crime show was set...
(1960 - 1962) Checkmate was an American detective series which was created by Eric Ambler, the well known crime and espionage author. The 70 sixty-minute episodes ran from 1960 – 1962 on CBS. Don Corey played by Anthony George and his younger...
China Smith, played by Dan Duryea, was first introduced in 1952. China Smith was a Singapore – based private detective who ran his office in a bar. He always used to wear a white suite but was a rough-and-tumble kind of guy who doesn’t hesitate...
Cool and Lam is a fictional American private detective firm, that is the centre of a series of detective novels written by Erle Stanley Gardner, using the pen name of A.A. Fair. It is suppose to be one of the all - time great mismatched team –...
(1959-1960) Coronado 9 was created by Lawrence Kimble, directed by William Witney, Richard Irving, Frank Arrigo and the Producer was Richard Irving. Rod Cameron starred in this syndicated series as former Naval intelligence officer Dan Adams who...
Detectives Wife was a TV show about Private Investigator Adam Conway who runs his one man private detective bureau assisted by his wife Connie Conway who sometimes solved cases for Adam. The series starred Donald Curties as Adam Conway and Lynn...
(1959-1960) Dick and Duchess was filmed and set in London, GB. Dick and Duchess were a married couple. Dick Starrett, played by Patrick O’Neal, was an American insurance claims investigator, who was married to Jane, an attractive English woman,...
Have Gun Will Travel made its debut on CBS and soon became one of the popular programs of the fifties. Paladin (Richard Boone) is a West Point educated gentleman with a taste for fine wines and food. Based at the Hotel Carlton in San Francisco,...
(1959-1963) The location for the series “Hawaiian Eye” was the beautiful tropical landscape of Honolulu. The story was about the cases of Hawaiian Eye Private Investigations and the two fanciable, clever, tough-guy detectives who ran the firm....
Steve Randall a.k.a. Hollywood Offbeat was a disgraced former attorney who worked as a private investigator in Hollywood. His one-man-detective-agency was based at 6103 Gentry Avenue in Hollywood. He charged $ 25 a day for his services, plus...
(1960) Johnny Midnight is an American crime drama that 39 thirty minute episodes were aired for one season from January – December 1960. Produced was the program by Jack Chertok. The series stars Edmond O’Brien as the title character – Johnny...
(1959-1960) Johnny Staccato was an American private detective series, which ran for 27 thirty minute episodes on NBC from September 10th, 1959 through March 24th, 1960. Created was the series by Dick Berg and the producer was Everett Chambers....
(1958 – 1960) Man with a Camera is a 1950s TV crime drama starring Charles Bronson as Mike Kovac. In the series Bronson represented Kovac, who was a former combat photographer in the World War II, freelancing in New York. He always tried to get...
(1959-1960) Roy Markham, played by Ray Milland, was a former successful New York attorney before he became a private detective. In order to crack his cases he went all over the world. Markham didn’t have an office, the only thing he had was an...
Martin Kane was probably the first private investigator featured in a TV series. U.S. Tobacco sponsored the stories both on TV and radio. The actor William Gargan was best known for his starring role as New York – based private detective Martin...
Meet McGraw was a US Detective Series starring Frank Lovejoy as McGraw. He was a tough realistic character who never carried a gun but accepted dangerous assignment for pay. McGraw is known as the man with no first name. Furthermore he is a...
(1960 - 1961) Michael Shayne was one of the most popular fictional famous private detectives. The Miami P.I. with the red hair has had a long, successful, multi-media career. Created was Shayne by Davis Dresser, published under the pseudonym...
Man Against Crime (also known as Follow That Man). The famous actor Ralph Bellamy starred as the New York – based private investigator Mike Barnett. The series was sponsored by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company as counterpart to the US Tobacco...
Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer is the first syndicated television series based on Mike Hammer, the hard-boiled private Detective. There were films, novels, comic books, radio shows and TV-series. In 1954 a television pilot was developed starring...
(1957-1959) Shadow Squad is the name of the private detective agency which Detective Vic Steel (starred by Rex Garner) established after he turned his back on Scotland Yard and the Flying Squad. Steel was assisted by his reliable Cockney mate...
(1959-1961) Shotgun Slade, played by Scott Brady, was an American western television series that was aired from Oct. 24, 1959 until 1961. The series was created and produced by Frank Gruber and it was a Shotgun/Revue Production for MCA. Shotgun...
(1959-1962) Snooper and Blabber were a pair of private detectives. The two of them were very different, because Snooper was a cat and Blabber was a mouse. Daws Butler gave both characters his voice, although in some of the earlier episodes Jerry...
Originally a radio show The Amazing Mr. Malone had also a television run in the early 50s starring Lee Tracy as John Joseph Malone. Lee Tracy was a bouncy, stucky, light haired man who was possibly the screen’s fastest talker. Malone was a...
(1960) The Brothers Brannagan was a TV show in the early sixties, pertaining to the cases of Mike and Bob Brannagan. Mike Brannagan was played by Steve Dunne and Bob Brannagan by Mark Roberts. The two were brothers and worked in Phoenix, Arizona...
The show stars Don Haggerty as New York – based private investigator Eddie Drake. In a few episodes he is assisted by Karen (Patricia Morison) and in the last four episodes by Lynne Robers. Most episodes were filmed around 1949 but the show...
The The D.A.s Man is based on a book by James B. Horan and Harold Danforth. It was a forgotten Jack Webb television production from back in the late fifties/early sixties, respecting the adventures of Shannon played by John Compton, a rugged...
The Files of Jeffrey Jones was a series about the cases of New York private detective Jeffrey Jones, who worked his way through law school by his extra-curricular activities as a part-time private investigator. Jeffrey Jones was played by Don...
The Inch Man was a BBC series about hotel's house detective Stephen Inch. Inch was Security Staff of the Imperial Crescent Hotel in London and investigated in difficult cases and crimes. The show ran on BBC in 1951 - 1952. Stephen Inch was...
Lone Wolf was the nick of Michael Lanyard, created by Louis Joseph Vance. Lanyard was a jewel thief who turned private investigator. The TV series was also known as Streets of Danger and starred Louis Hayward as The Lone Wolf. There were 39...
(1959-1960) The Man from Blackhawk is a Western television series starring Robert Rockwell as Sam Logan that aired on the ABC television network. The Blackhawk in the title was the Blackhawk Insurance Company of Chicago and the man was its star...
The Mask was the first one hour series in which two brothers called Walter and Peter Guilfoyle were lawyers and did their own investigations. Walter and Peter Guilfoyle were played by Gary Merrill and William Prince. The series had a continuing...
The Vise is a UK crime series about the one-armed detective Mark Sarber, which aired Friday nights on ABC from December 1955 – June 1957. There were 52 thirty minutes episodes and starred Donald Gray as Mark Sarber. He actually lost his arm in...
