John (Jack) Randolph Webb was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 2, 1920. His father left home before he was born; Webb would never know him. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother in dire poverty that preceded the Depression. Making things worse, Webb suffered from acute asthma from age six until adulthood, somewhat surprising for a man whose cigarette intake reached three packs a day at its peak. Webb's great love was movies and his dream was to direct them. He began in radio, first as a disc jockey then as host of a comedy show (believe it or not!), finally as "
Pat Novak, Private Eye, " his first true success. A small role in the film noir classic
He Walked by Night (1948) led to the creation of "
Dragnet". It first aired over NBC radio on June 3, 1949, and came to TV on December 16, 1951, where it ran until September 1959. By then, Webb had become a film director, and would helm (and star in) five features:
Dragnet (1954), Pete Kelly's
Blues (1955),
The D.I. (1957),
-30- (1959) and
The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961) . The last two were box office flops and Webb returned to TV in 1962. In February 1963 he became Head of Production for Warner Bros. Television, a job he was fired from that December when his revision of "
77 Sunset Strip" (1958/I) sent its ratings into a death spiral. After two years of unemployment, a new opportunity arose the made-for-TV film, of which Universal was then sole supplier. Coincidentally, they owned the rights to "
Dragnet" and invited Webb to do a new "
Dragnet" as a TV movie. It turned out so well that NBC and Universal persuaded him to do a new "
Dragnet 1967" (1967) TV series, which lasted three-and-a-half seasons and went on to smash success in syndicated reruns. By then Webb had parlayed "
Dragnet's" renewed popularity into a second hit series, "
Adam-12" (1968), and managed to keep his company solvent until his untimely death from a massive heart attack on December 23, 1982. Webb was married four times to Julie London (1947-54), Dorothy Towne (1955-1957), Jackie Loughery (1958-64) and to Opal Wright (1980-death). He had two daughters by London: Stacey (1950-96) and Alisa (1952-his death).
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John (Jack) Randolph Webb was born in Santa Monica, California, on April 2, 1920. His father left home before he was born; Webb would never know him. He was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother in dire poverty that preceded the Depression. Making things worse, Webb suffered from acute asthma from age six until adulthood, somewhat surprising for a man whose cigarette intake reached three packs a day at its peak. Webb's great love was movies and his dream was to direct them. He began in radio, first as a disc jockey then as host of a comedy show (believe it or not!), finally as "
Pat Novak, Private Eye, " his first true success. A small role in the film noir classic
He Walked by Night (1948) led to the creation of "
Dragnet". It first aired over NBC radio on June 3, 1949, and came to TV on December 16, 1951, where it ran until September 1959. By then, Webb had become a film director, and would helm (and star in) five features:
Dragnet (1954), Pete Kelly's
Blues (1955),
The D.I. (1957),
-30- (1959) and
The Last Time I).
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