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.

The story you are 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. And the Hello and welcome to down these means streets and more crime solvers from the

golden age of radio.

This week we're saluting one of the best actors of the radio era,

one whose performance stands at the top of the ranks of radio gumshoes. He's Bob Bailey, the man who took

the character of insurance investigator Johnny Dollar and made the role his own during a five-year stint on the air.

But before he was Dollar, Bob Bailey had another long run as a radio private eye and let George do it, where he starred as ex-G-I- turned

Detective George Valentine, who was always ready to take on a job that was too dangerous for one of his clients.

So why is Bob Bailey such a favorite among radio fans?

Some people point to the quality of his material, specifically his year spent as Johnny Dollar when the show was presented as a five night a week serial.

That meant longer scripts that allowed for more complex plots and

characterization. But I think that's only part of the story. After all, good writing only gets you so far. You need a strong

presence at the microphone, and Bob Bailey, like Gerald Moore and Howard Duff, could create a character who seemed to exist beyond the 15 or 30 minutes of radio drama that you heard.

Bailey could play tongue-in-cheek comedy, romance, and action, sometimes all in the same show,

and he would never feel out of place in any element of the story.

He's also a classic example of the power of voice acting. If you've never seen a picture of Bob Bailey, take a look at one, and then imagine how this short skinny guy can convince

you solely with his voice that he's a two-fisted tough hero.

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