Jack Webb
Date of birth: 1920-04-02
Place of birth: Santa Monica, California, USA
Known for: Acting
Also known as: John Randolph Webb, John Randolph
Biography
John Randolph 'Jack' Webb (also known by the pen name John Randolph; April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet. He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited. Born in Santa Monica, California, Webb grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles as the child of a single mother after his father left home before he was born. During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces, but he "washed out" of flight training and was granted a hardship discharge to care for his family. Following his discharge, he moved to San Francisco, where a wartime shortage of announcers led to a temporary appointment to his own half-hour comedy radio show on ABC's KGO Radio in 1946. By 1949 he had abandoned comedy for drama, and starred in numerous radio shows until finding success in film and television in the late 1950s. Webb had a featured role as a crime lab technician in the 1948 film He Walked by Night, a thinly-fictionalized recounting of the 1946 Walker crime spree. This experience gave Webb the idea for Dragnet: a recurring series based on real cases from LAPD police files, featuring authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language. Following the success of Dragnet, Webb appeared in numerous television shows and specials, including the well-known 1972 series Emergency! During his work on a revival of Dragnet in 1982, Webb suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 62. His funeral was given full police honors, and then LAPD Chief Daryl Gates retired the badge number 714 used by Webb's Joe Friday of Dragnet fame.
Movie Credits
Sunset Boulevard
1950-08-10
A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood o
The Men
1950-08-25
Ken, a WWII GI, returns home after he's paralyzed in battle. Residing in the paraplegic ward of a ve
Greyhounds of the Sea
1967-12-31
He Walked by Night
1949-02-06
Roy Martin aka Roy Morgan is a burglar and former war-time Radio & Electronics Engineer who listens
The D.I.
1957-05-30
Gunnery Sergeant Jim Moore is one of the toughest Drill Instructors on Parris Island. But he's got a
Appointment with Danger
1950-04-07
Al Goddard, a detective who works for the United States Postal Inspection Service, is assigned to ar
A Day in Vietnam
1967-01-01
Follows U. S. Marines and sailors on a "typical" day in Vietnam
-30-
1959-11-11
A newspaper editor deals with a particularly stressful day in the newsroom.
Dark City
1950-10-17
Gamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in
Three on a Match
1932-10-29
Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throw
Pete Kelly's Blues
1955-07-31
In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy unt
Dragnet
1954-09-04
Two homicide detectives try to find just the facts behind a mobster's brutal murder.
Halls of Montezuma
1951-01-04
Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner,
Los Angeles Plays Itself
2004-07-28
From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to
The Last Time I Saw Archie
1961-05-27
Two Air Force friends have fun during their enlistment.
A Force in Readiness
1961-05-25
Awarded an honorary Oscar to William L. Hendricks "for his outstanding patriotic service in the conc
The John Glenn Story
1962-01-01
John Glenn's first flight ushered in the modern era of space exploration for America. His landmark r
You're in the Navy Now
1951-02-23
When Lt. John Harkness is assigned as the new skipper of a submarine chaser equipped with an experim
O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra
1971-04-02
Suddenly widowed by an accident, a deputy sheriff from the Midwest becomes a customs agent and crack
Red Nightmare
1962-02-11
A man takes his American freedoms for granted, until he wakes up one morning to find out that the Un
Greenboy: Prescription for Death
2013-04-20
Proof-of-Concept for the original series Electric Television.
Dragnet
1969-01-27
Also known as "Dragnet 1966," this TV movie was originally the pilot for the 1967 relaunch of the or
24 Hour Alert
1955-12-22
This short film looks at the purpose and methods of the U.S. Air Force, and the difficulties of gett
The Selling of the Pentagon
1971-02-23
The Selling of the Pentagon, was an important documentary aired in primetime on CBS on 23 February 1
Star Spangled Salesman
1968-02-09
A collection of television celebrities pitch United States Savings bonds.
Hollow Triumph
1948-08-18
Pursued by the big-time gambler he robbed, John Muller assumes a new identity—with unfortunate resul