The And the Insurance investigator Johnny Dollar may be the James Bond of Old Time Radio.

Granted the man with the action-packed expense account wasn't a government agent with a license

to kill, but over the course of his long radio run, he was portrayed by several actors, each with his own style and approach to the character.

And just as each of the cinematic James Bond's has his own admirers, each of the Radio Johnny

dollars has fans who prefer their take on the detective.

For many radio listeners, however, the definitive Johnny Dollar, the best of the best best is Bob Bailey. Born June 13th, 1913, Bailey had the role for five years and his run is simply one of the greatest of any radio detective of the era.

Before he took over the role of Johnny Dollar, Bob Bailey made a name for himself on radio

in Let George do it. From 1946 to 1954 he starred as private detective George

Valentine in the light-hearted comedic mystery. An okay series elevated by Bailey's dynamic performance. On radio, using only his voice, Bob Bailey was a tall strapping man of action. In real life, he was 5-9 and weighed 150 pounds

That incongruity between voice and frame made Bailey an ideal radio

leading man but not the first choice to play a two-fisted detective on screen.

In 1955, he won his most memorable role in a revived yours truly Johnny Dollar series. The show had originally aired on CBS from 1949 to 1954 with three actors,

Charles Russell, Edmund O'Brien, and John Lund rotating through the role before the show ultimately

left the air.

Under the stewardship of Director Jack Johnstone, Johnny Dollar was set to return to radio as a five night a week serial in the fall of

1955 and Bailey was tapped for the part. That run of 15 minute episodes airing between October 1955 and November 1956 reflect the high watermark of radio detective drama.

The scripts, written for the most part by Jack Johnson. Radio Detective

Drama. The scripts, written for the most part by Jack Johnstone himself,

were complex richly plotted mysteries.

75 minutes of airtime, the equivalent of two and a half regular radio episodes, allowed

for stronger characterization.

Listen to any Bob Bailey, Johnny Dollar cereal and you'll hear an actor firing on all cylinders. He's funny, he's tough, and he can play heavy emotional beats, from grieving over the death of a friend to ruefully watching as the woman he loved turned out to be rotten.

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