BW - EP126—004: April 1954—Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

By April 1954, Himan Brown had been involved in radio for more than two decades. He’d directed, produced, or created shows like Inner Sanctum Mysteries, The Adventures of the Thin Man, Grand Central Station, Bulldog Drummond, Dick Tracy, Flash Gordon, and Barrie Craig, Confidential Investigator. William Gargan was born in Brooklyn, New York on July 17th, 1905. His father was a detective, and his mother a teacher. Gargan became a bootleg whiskey salesman, and later a private eye. His brother Edward was an actor. One day while visiting him at rehearsal, Gargan was offered a stage job. He began his career in Aloma of the South Seas. Gargan's first film was Rain. Later, he played in Misleading Lady and starred in three Ellery Queens. In 1940, he was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Joe in They Knew What They Wanted. And in 1945, he starred with Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman in The Bells of St. Mary's. He was perhaps most famous for his role as Martin Kane, Private Eye. It was conceived as one of TV’s earliest detective shows, and ran concurrently on radio. Gargan played the lead on both mediums, until the TV show became—as he alleged in his autobiography, “a vehicle for the flesh parade.” He balked when actresses were hired more for cleavage than ability. Gargan’s last performance as Kane occured in June of 1951. That October 3rd, he began playing Barrie Craig in a similar sounding series. Craig worked alone from a Madison Avenue office, and had good relationships with the cops. NBC produced the show in New York until the Summer of 1954. Himan Brown directed. Production of Barrie Craig moved to Hollywood in the summer. It ran until June 30th, 1955. Gargan's acting career came to an end in 1958 when he developed throat cancer. Doctors were forced to remove his larynx. Speaking through an artificial voice box, he became an activist and spokesman for the American Cancer Society. No longer able to act, he formed William Gargan Productions, making film and tv shows in Hollywood.