Episode 317 - Their Girl Friday: Virginia Gregg (Richard Diamond, Let George Do It, & Frontier Gentleman)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Jack Mooney
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2019
⏱️ 94 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
No matter what old time radio genre you prefer, you've probably heard Virginia Gregg's voice. You've almost certainly heard her as Mrs. Bates in the Psycho films or seen her in one of her many on-screen performances. She was one of radio's most versatile and talented actresses, and in honor of her birthday we'll hear Virginia Gregg in three old time radio shows. First, she plays Helen Asher opposite Dick Powell's Richard Diamond, Private Detective in an episode originally aired on NBC on July 9, 1949. Then, she's Claire Brooks, loyal assistant to George Valentine in "Seed of Destruction" from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on August 18, 1952. Finally, she plays a Chinese immigrant won in a poker game in "Gentle Virtue," an episode of Frontier Gentleman from March 30, 1958.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Get this and get it straight. Crime is a suckers road and those who travel it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave. |
| 0:07.0 | The story you are about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. |
| 0:18.0 | The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective. |
| 0:22.0 | The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Prize. |
| 0:25.0 | Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account. |
| 0:30.0 | America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator. |
| 0:33.0 | Yours truly, Johnny Deller. the Welcome to Down These Mean Streets. Today we're saluting another fantastic radio |
| 1:01.2 | actress whose performances elevated any show she visited during the golden age of radio. |
| 1:07.0 | No matter what type of old-time radio shows you enjoy, you've likely heard the voice of Virginia Greg. |
| 1:15.0 | One of the medium's most talented actresses, Greg appeared all over the dial on comedies, soap operas, Westerns, and of particular interest to us, detective shows. |
| 1:28.4 | On Richard Diamond Private Detective, she played Helen Asher, the Park Avenue girlfriend of Dick Powell's singing |
| 1:35.1 | gumshoe, and she was Claire Brooks, loyal assistant to Bob Bailey and let George do it. |
| 1:42.0 | You've certainly seen her face if you're a |
| 1:44.8 | classic TV fan. She popped up on almost everything in the 60s and 70s. Twilight |
| 1:50.6 | Zone, Perry Mason, Dragnet, and the Rockford Files, just to name a few. |
| 1:55.0 | And she voiced one of Cinema's most infamous mothers in Alfred Hitchcock's psycho and its first two sequels. |
| 2:04.0 | It's sad when a mother has to speak the words that condemn her own son, |
| 2:10.0 | but I couldn't allow them to believe that I would commit murder. |
| 2:14.0 | They'll put him away now as I should have years ago. |
| 2:18.0 | He was always bad and in the end he intended to tell them I killed those girls and that man as if I could do anything |
| 2:27.9 | except just sit and stare like one of his stuffed birds. |
| 2:33.0 | They know I can't even move a finger, and I won't. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jack Mooney, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jack Mooney and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.