The Yours truly Johnny Dollar premiered in 1949 and it introduced America to the titular

hero, a freelance insurance investigator who traveled the country to investigate

suspicious cases of accidents, arson, and murder. Today it's regarded as one of the

best detective shows of the Golden Age of radio.

But if it hadn't been for some fortuitous casting and a dramatic change in presentation,

Johnny Dollar might have fallen through the cracks of radio history.

As things turned out, it became one of the era's most fondly remembered programs,

and it featured a signature performance from an incredibly talented actor.

In his first five years on the air, three different actors played Johnny Dollar.

The first was Charles Russell.

His dollar delighted in padding his expense account before he submitted it to his insurance company

bosses, and he loved to tip Dormann and cab drivers with signature silver dollars.

He was replaced after a year by Edmund O'Brien, a future Oscar winner who mold a dollar into more of a

film noir tough guy detective.

In 1952, John Lund assumed the role, and he stayed close to O'Brien's interpretation of a two-fisted gumshoe.

During this run, the show was good, but never really great, and it disappeared from the CBS

Airwaves in 1954. That might have marked the end of Johnny Dollar's radio career

if it hadn't been for producer and director Jack Johnstone. Johnstone made a name

for himself in radio as the behind the scenes talent for

serials like Buck Rogers and Superman, but he'd also helmed the Six Shooter, an outstanding

Western drama that brought Jimmy Stewart to radio in a weekly series.

CBS looked to John Stone in his background in cereals when they planned a Johnny Dollar Revival, a new series that would air in 15 minute

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