"DRAGNET" Defendant Actual Names

[sdwulfdawg]

I've thought about this ever so often:

Has anyone researched the actual names of the defendants on the original "Dragnet" whose "names were changed to protect the innocent."

Did they actually end up serving time in the prison facility they say at the end of the show?

It would be interesting to see how close the TV story reflects the "actual" crime perpetrated.

 

[Cincinnati Kid]

I've always assumed the names that were changed basically applied to family members of the convicted persons, other relatives, co-workers, etc. Of course, changing the name of someone who was convicted of a crime also eliminates listeners from knowing the possible family members as well.

 

[FredLeonard]

C'mon people. It said "only the names have been changed" but we've learned a lot about the LAPD in subsequent decades. It was a corrupt and brutal organization. The writer of the radio show, James Moser (TV scripts almost all came from radio scripts) may have started with an actual "ripped from the headlines" case but that's about it. The LAPD cooperated because it was good PR and they trusted Webb to give them a favorable spin. The realism came from a lot of technical detail and from the show's emphasis on the drudgery of police investigations (generous use of shoe leather - on the radio show each week Joe Friday's footsteps actually recorded in the corridors of police offices then in LA's city hall segued into the drumbeat of the show's theme). But the real world was more Vic Mackey than Joe Friday.

 

[LKellerIII]

C'mon people. It said "only the names have been changed" but we've learned a lot about the LAPD in subsequent decades. It was a corrupt and brutal organization. The writer of the radio show, James Moser (TV scripts almost all came from radio scripts) may have started with an actual "ripped from the headlines" case but that's about it. The LAPD cooperated because it was good PR and they trusted Webb to give them a favorable spin. The realism came from a lot of technical detail and from the show's emphasis on the drudgery of police investigations (generous use of shoe leather - on the radio show each week Joe Friday's footsteps actually recorded in the corridors of police offices then in LA's city hall segued into the drumbeat of the show's theme). But the real world was more Vic Mackey than Joe Friday.

Well...to be fair, the world of Vic Mackey (The Shield) was heavily sensationalized, but I grew up in LA, and can tell you that the LAPD often served more as a fascist occupying force than protected and served. The revered Chief William Parker (Parker Center is named after him) was given more credit that he deserved for cleaning up corrupion in the 1950s - but he was also an advocate of strong arm tactics, and arguably a racist.

The Shield was originally going to be titled Rampart after the corrupt division, and the police force was going to be identified as LAPD in the show - but the producers concluded that they would get no cooperation from the LAPD if they didn't change the title and keep the identity of their dramatized police department unnamed.

Keep in mind that Jack Webb was politically conservative, and most conservatives liked the LAPD's tactics and the inflamatory rhetoric employed by Chiefs like Parker, and his two immdediate successors.

 

[Mark Giardina]

Keep in mind that Jack Webb was politically conservative, and most conservatives liked the LAPD's tactics and the inflamatory rhetoric employed by Chiefs like Parker, and his two immdediate successors.

When Jack Webb produced and directed the movie “The DI” he also had cooperation from the U.S. Marine Corps because he portrayed the Corps in a good light.

This movie came out around the same time the Corps was undergoing some bad publicity because an overzealous drill instructor had marched a group of boots into a swap and some of the men drown.

The LAPD was the same way. It gave Webb carte blanche’ when it came to cooperation because the agency knew that Webb would give the police department a positive spin following numerous stories of police brutality and corruption.

While I’m sure there are plenty of Dragnet fans out there, I never thought that Webb’s stiff portrayal of Sgt. Joe Friday was anything but one-dimensional acting. From what I’ve read however Webb was a very generous man who not only provided work to a number of struggling actors, but also expensive vehicles as gifts.

Webb also created the series Adam-12 which I thought was a more exiting cop program than Dragnet.

It’s ironic that Webb was working on a third revision of Dragnet to debut in the 1980s with Adam-12 actor Kent McCord as his partner, but that idea was scrapped when Webb died from a heart attack.

 

[FredLeonard]

Joe Friday was the way people wish cops were. Apparently the real cops had no problem perpetuating the illusion.

Whatever Webb's politics, the guy had a sense of humor. He made the show's musical bridges available to Stan Freburg for his two parodies of Dragnet and did the Klapper Kaper skit with Johnny Carson.

I read he did not want to play Joe Friday on TV when the show moved from radio in order to concentrate on producing and directing. Reportedly, he wanted Lloyd Nolan to play Friday but NBC insisted Webb continue in the role. Probably just as well: Webb was a terrible director.

 

[RicoGregg]

I would have loved to have seen what Jack Webb would have done with Rodney King and the LAPD's actions (or lack thereof) on April 28, 1992.

 

[LKellerIII]

Joe Friday was the way people wish cops were. Apparently the real cops had no problem perpetuating the illusion.

Whatever Webb's politics, the guy had a sense of humor. He made the show's musical bridges available to Stan Freburg for his two parodies of Dragnet and did the Klapper Kaper skit with Johnny Carson.

I read he did not want to play Joe Friday on TV when the show moved from radio in order to concentrate on producing and directing. Reportedly, he wanted Lloyd Nolan to play Friday but NBC insisted Webb continue in the role. Probably just as well: Webb was a terrible director.

I've mentioned this before. One of my father's friends was character actress Virginia Gregg who worked a lot on Webbs's shows and really liked and respected him. She was probably in her 50s in the late 1960s, and was old enough to play mean old spinsters or cranky old crackpots. Working for Jack Webb was always easy - read your lines off the cue cards for one or two takes tops, and you were done for the day.

Other Webb stalwarts were Howard Culver, a local LA radio news anchor, and Olan Soule, the bespectacled skinny guy who tended to play scientists and doctors on many shows - usually playing the Medical Examiner on Webb shows.

 

[FredLeonard]

Joe Friday was the way people wish cops were. Apparently the real cops had no problem perpetuating the illusion.

Whatever Webb's politics, the guy had a sense of humor. He made the show's musical bridges available to Stan Freburg for his two parodies of Dragnet and did the Klapper Kaper skit with Johnny Carson.

I read he did not want to play Joe Friday on TV when the show moved from radio in order to concentrate on producing and directing. Reportedly, he wanted Lloyd Nolan to play Friday but NBC insisted Webb continue in the role. Probably just as well: Webb was a terrible director.

Virginia Gregg was very versatile actress. On the original show, she also played a range of characters including fem fatales.

I've mentioned this before. One of my father's friends was character actress Virginia Gregg who worked a lot on Webbs's shows and really liked and respected him. She was probably in her 50s in the late 1960s, and was old enough to play mean old spinsters or cranky old crackpots. Working for Jack Webb was always easy - read your lines off the cue cards for one or two takes tops, and you were done for the day.

Other Webb stalwarts were Howard Culver, a local LA radio news anchor, and Olan Soule, the bespectacled skinny guy who tended to play scientists and doctors on many shows - usually playing the Medical Examiner on Webb shows.

 

[rnigma1]

Cool... I enjoy hearing Virginia Gregg's radio work and her versatility - not just on "Dragnet," also on "Gunsmoke," and her performances as Helen Asher on "Richard Diamond."
Howard Culver was the second actor to audition for the role of Marshal Mark (not yet Matt) Dillon on "Gunsmoke" (Rye Billsbury aka Michael Rye was the first) before William Conrad won the role.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

I'd be disappointed if "Mister Daniel Loomis" wasn't the guy's real name.

 

[RadioMan203]

Other Webb stalwarts were Howard Culver, a local LA radio news anchor, and Olan Soule, the bespectacled skinny guy who tended to play scientists and doctors on many shows - usually playing the Medical Examiner on Webb shows.

Another one who seemed to turn up often in Webb's productions was Burt Mustin.

 

[FredLeonard]

Webb has sort of a stock company of actors, mostly radio actors with whom Webb had worked on the radio Dragnet, Pat Novak for Hire and other radio shows. He was noted for his loyalty to cast members and to his production people, who stayed with him on the original TV version and the late 60s version.

Notable stock company members included....

Vic Perrin
Harry Bartell
Ralph Moody
Stacy Harris
Louise Lorimer
Peggy Webber

Original regulars with Webb, who found other work early on were Dennis Weaver (Chester), Richard Boone (Paladin) and Harry Morgan, who came back later. Webb even hired his ex-wife and her husband.

 

[bpatrick]

Lloyd Nolan did play a detective in the '50s, as one of several
actors to play "Martin Kane, Private Eye." Most of you probably
remember him best as Diahann Carroll's boss Dr. Chegley on "Julia"
(1968-71).

Virginia Gregg worked on two shows in later years, as one of the
female voices on the animated "Calvin And The Colonel" (1961-62),
and on "Little Women" in 1979. IIRC, she went to England for a number
of years, attracted by the fact that the BBC has never let '40s-style
radio die. "The British know a good medium when they hear it," she
once said.