Get this and get it straight. Crime is a suckers road and those who travel it'd wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.

The story you were about to hear is true, only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

The Adventures of Sam Spade Detective.

The Adventures of the Saints starring Vincent Prize

Bob Bailey in the exciting adventures of the man with the action-packed expense account

America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator.

Yours truly, Johnny Deller. the Hello and welcome to down these mean streets and more old-time radio

detectives and crime fighters.

This week were saluting actor Frank Lovejoy.

Born March 28, 1912, Lovejoy is well known to film noir fans for his performances opposite Humphrey Bogart and In A Lonely Place,

and alongside William Tallman and Edmund O'Brien in the Hitchhiker.

But to old-time radio fans, he's best known as Randy Stone, a Chicago

reporter and occasionally an amateur sleuth in Nightbeat, one of the era's best dramatic programs.

Randy Stone was a character perfectly tuned to Lovejoy's strengths as an actor.

He could be tough and glib, but the audience could see that it was often

affront he put on to hide his heroic heart. No matter what Randy Stone encountered on the

streets of the windy City night after night, he never lost

his faith in humanity or his compulsion to come to the aid of someone in trouble.

Nightbeat was arguably his best radio work, but Lovejoy had worked extensively on radio

before that show launched in February 1950,

turning in several memorable performances along the way.

He could be heard in supporting roles on the Shadow, Gangbusters, and Superman, and he had a stint

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