William Conrad

 ( 1920 Births ) 

Conrad served as a fighter pilot in World War II. On the day he was commissioned in 1943 at Luke Field, he married June Nelson (1920–1977) of Los Angeles. Cedar Rapids Tribune, January 13, 1955 He left the United States Army Air Forces with the rank of captain and as a producer-director of the Armed Forces Radio Service.

He was among the supporting cast for the espionage drama The Man Called X (1944–48);Dunning, op. cit., "The Man Called X" pp. 431-432 the syndicated dramatic anthology Favorite Story (1946–49);Dunning, op. cit., "Favorite Story" p. 244 the adventure dramas The Count of Monte Cristo (Mutual 1947–48),Dunning, op. cit., "The Count of Monte Cristo" p. 181 The Voyage of the Scarlet Queen (Mutual 1947–48),Dunning, op. cit., "Voyage of the Scarlet Queen" pp. 706-707 The Green Lama (CBS 1949),Dunning, op. cit., "The Green Lama" p. 299 and Night Beat (NBC 1950–52);Dunning, op. cit., "Night Beat" pp. 507-508 Romance (1950);Dunning, op. cit., "Romance" p. 583–584 Hollywood Star Playhouse (1950–53);Dunning, op. cit., "Hollywood Star Playhouse" p. 326 Errol Flynn's The Modern Adventures of Casanova (Mutual 1952);Dunning, op. cit., "The Modern Adventures of Casanova" pp. 466-467 and Cathy and Elliott Lewis's On Stage (CBS 1953–54).Dunning, op. cit., "On Stage" pp. 512-514

Conrad was the voice of Escape (1947–54), a high-adventure radio series.Dunning, op. cit., "Escape" pp. 232-234 He played Warchek, a menacing policeman, in (Mutual 1947),Dunning, op. cit., "Johnny Modero, Pier 23" p. 374 a detective series starring Jack Webb, and was in the cast of Webb's crime drama Pete Kelly's Blues (NBC 1951).Dunning, op. cit., "Pete Kelly's Blues" p. 541 He played newspaper editor Walter Burns opposite Dick Powell's reporter Hildy Johnson in the ABC radio drama The Front Page (1948).Dunning, op. cit., "The Front Page" p. 273 He was Dave the Dude in the syndicated drama anthology series The Damon Runyon Theater (1948);Dunning, op. cit., "The Damon Runyon Theater" p. 189 Lt. Dundy in the NBC radio series The Adventures of Sam Spade (1949–50);Dunning, op. cit., "The Adventures of Sam Spade" pp. 12-14 boss to government special agent Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in The Silent Men (NBC 1951);Dunning, op. cit., "The Silent Men" p. 615 and a New Orleans bartender in the NBC adventure drama Jason and the Golden Fleece (1952–53).Dunning, op. cit., "Jason and the Golden Fleece" p. 368

Most prominently, Conrad's deep, resonant voice was heard in the role of Marshal Matt Dillon on CBS Radio's gritty Western series Gunsmoke (1952–1961). The producers originally rejected him for the part because of his ubiquitous presence on so many radio dramas and the familiarity of his voice, but his impressive audition could not be dismissed, and he became the obvious choice for the role. Conrad voiced Dillon for the show's nine-year run, and he wrote the June 1953 episode "Sundown". When Gunsmoke was adapted for television in 1955, executives at CBS did not cast Conrad or his radio costars despite a campaign to get them to change their minds.

His other credits include Suspense, Lux Radio Theatre, and Fibber McGee and Molly. In "The Wax Works", a 1956 episode of Suspense, Conrad performed every part. Because of his CBS Radio contract, he sometimes appeared on shows on other networks under the pseudonym "Julius Krelboyne".

In January 1956, Conrad was the announcer on the debut broadcast of The CBS Radio Workshop, a two-part adaptation of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, which Huxley himself narrated. "On the air, The CBS Radio Workshop was a lightning rod for ideas," wrote radio historian John Dunning, who cites Conrad's tour de force performances in the subsequent broadcasts "The Legend of Jimmy Blue Eyes" (March 23, 1956) and "A Matter of Logic" (June 1, 1956).Dunning, op. cit., "The CBS Radio Workshop" pp. 143-145 Conrad directed and narrated the 1957 episode "Epitaphs", an adaptation of Edgar Lee Masters's poetry volume Spoon River Anthology. The CBS Radio Workshop. J. David Goldin, radioGOLDINdex database. Retrieved May 27, 2013.

"And '1489 Words' (Feb. 10, 1957) remains a favorite of many, a powerful Conrad performance proving that one picture is not necessarily worth a thousand words," Dunning concluded. "A lovely way to end a day, a decade, or an era."Dunning, op. cit., "The CBS Radio Workshop" (quote) p. 145

In 1961, Conrad moved to the production side of the film business, producing and directing for Warner Bros. film studio."Warner Brothers Names Conrad to Head Feature Unit." The New York Times, December 14. 1965. "Mr. Conrad … has been under contract to the studio as a producer-director for the last four years." In 1965 he produced and directed Two on a Guillotine, My Blood Runs Cold and Brainstorm as well as narrating the opening of Battle of the Bulge. Brainstorm was a latter-day film noir that has come to be regarded as "a minor masterpiece of the 1960s"Alain Silver, and Elizabeth Ward , eds., Film Noir: An Encyclopedic Reference to the American Style, Woodstock, New York: The Overlook Press, 1979, p. 41. and "the final, essential entry in that long line of films noir that begins at the end of the Second World War."Christopher, Nicholas, Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997 (revised ed., Emeryville, California: Shoemaker & Hoard, 2006, p. 231).

Conrad was the executive producer of Countdown (1968), a science-fiction thriller starring James Caan and Robert Duvall that was the major studio feature début of director Robert Altman.

Conrad narrated the documentary Design for Disaster, produced by the Los Angeles City Fire Department, about the November 1961 Bel Air wildfire that gutted several neighborhoods, at the time the worst conflagration in Los Angeles history. Alt URL

As a token of appreciation from Jack L. Warner, head of Warner Bros., Conrad received one of the two original lead-metal falcon statues used in the classic film The Maltese Falcon (1941). The falcon sat on a bookshelf in Conrad's house from the 1960s. Standing 11.5 in (29.2 cm) high and weighing 45 lb (20.4 kg), the figurine had been slashed during the making of the film by Sydney Greenstreet's character Kasper Gutman, leaving deep cuts in its bronze patina. After Conrad's death, the statue was consigned by his widow Tippy Conrad to Christie's, which estimated it would bring $30,000 to $50,000 at auction. In December 1994, Christie's sold the falcon for $398,500. The purchaser was Ronald Winston, president of Harry Winston, Inc. jewelers.Berry, Heidi L., "Lights, Camera, Auction! Movie Memorabilia Is This Month's Star, From Mae West's Bed to a Maltese Falcon," The Washington Post, December 1, 1994. "Maltese Falcon, Other Movie Memorabilia, Sold at Auction," Associated Press, December 6, 1994. The purchaser was Ronald Winston, president of Harry Winston, Inc. jewelers. In 1996, Winston resold the prop to an unknown European collector "at an enormous profit"for as much as $1 million.LeDuff, Charles, "Bird Made Him a Sleuth". The New York Times, June 29, 1997

Late in life, Conrad narrated the opening and closing scenes of the 1991 Bruce Willis feature film Hudson Hawk.

Conrad intoned a rhyming narration heard over the credits of the 1970 John Wayne film Western Chisum. His voice is heard in the Clio Awards-winning 1971 public-service announcement about pollution featuring Iron Eyes Cody, created for Earth Day by Keep America Beautiful and the Ad Council. "Pollution: Keep America Beautiful – Iron Eyes Cody". Ad Council, The Classics. Retrieved May 23, 2013. From 1973 to 1978, Conrad narrated the TV nature program, Wild, Wild World of Animals. Also during the 1970s, he appeared in and narrated a number of episodes for ABC's American Sportsman, and in the CBS documentary The Lost Treasure of the Concepcion. He later narrated The Making of Star Wars (1977), the disaster documentary Catastrophe! (1977), the 1978 World Series U.S.-baseball highlight film, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), and The Rebels (1979). He performed the role of Denethor in the 1980 animated TV version of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Return of the King. His other voice work included narration for The Highwayman and the High Flight sign-off featuring an F-15.

From 1971 to 1976, he starred in the television detective series Cannon, which was broadcast on CBS. While starring in the show, he weighed , and ballooned to or more.

"I heard that WW International had banned its members from watching the show, but it turned out to be a gag," Conrad said in 1973. "The publicist for Weight Watchers did call and suggest that I have lunch with their president. I said sure – if I could pick the restaurant." "Question: I tried to think of…" TV Guide, August 10, 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2013.

From the early 1980s to the early 1990s, he starred in two other TV series, Nero Wolfe (1981) and Jake and the Fatman (1987–92) with Joe Penny.

• William Conrad at the National Radio Hall of Fame