Episode 326 - Their Girl Friday: Frances Robinson (Let George Do It, Richard Diamond, & The Whistler)
Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)
Jack Mooney
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 28 April 2019
⏱️ 99 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What do Philo Vance, George Valentine, Richard Diamond, and John J. Malone have in common? They all romanced – and were frequently assisted by – Frances Robinson. The busy and talented actress was a mainstay on radio crime dramas, and her performances gave us some of the genre's all-time great partners in crime. We'll hear her in "The Elusive Hundred Grand" from Let George Do It (originally aired on Mutual on April 18, 1949); "The Pop Skoals Case aka The Blind Man and the Cop Killer" from Richard Diamond, Private Detective (originally aired on NBC on February 26, 1950), and in "Murder in Mind" from The Whistler (originally aired on CBS on April 16, 1950).
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 Hello and welcome to down these mean streets and more old-time radio gumshoes. |
| 1:01.0 | Today we have another entry in our series of episodes saluting the supporting actresses of the radio era, |
| 1:07.0 | the women behind the super sleuths whose exploits we enjoy so much. |
| 1:12.0 | This week our spotlight shines on Francis Robinson. |
| 1:16.9 | Born April 26th, 1916, Robinson may be best known to radio fans as Claire Brooks, secretary and loyal assistant to George Valentine and let George do it. |
| 1:29.0 | But she was a busy radio actress and she could also be heard on Richard Diamond, Philip Marlow, |
| 1:35.2 | the Lux Radio Theater, The Great Gildersleeve, and the Whistler. |
| 1:39.9 | Though she worked on the big screen in B Westerns and cereals in the late 1930s, |
| 1:45.3 | Francis Robinson concentrated on radio through the 40s and early 50s. |
| 1:50.1 | She co-starred with Jose Ferrer and his run as Philo Vance, and she supported Frank Lovejoy in Murder and Mr Malone. |
| 1:58.0 | But she got her best-known role in 1946. |
| 2:01.0 | That was when she went on the air as Claire Brooks, also known as Brooksy, alongside Bob Bailey's George |
| 2:07.7 | Valentine, the detective who solicited clients through the personal ads. |
| 2:13.0 | Robinson's Brooksy was no scatterbrain secretary or damsel in distress. |
| 2:18.0 | She was smart, capable, and always ready for adventure alongside her boss. |
| 2:24.0 | Hers was a unique character in the world of Girls Friday, |
... |
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.