Episode 647 - A Gaggle of Goodwins (New Adventures of Nero Wolfe)

Down These Mean Streets (Old Time Radio Detectives)

Jack Mooney

Arts, Performing Arts, Mystery, Detectives, Old, Radio, Time, Tv & Film, Oldtimeradio

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 7 December 2025

⏱️ 102 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We kick off a two-part series spotlighting The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe in celebration of two December birthdays - Rex Stout, the creator of the gargantuan gourmet, and Sydney Greenstreet, the Oscar-nominated actor who brought the sleuth to radio life. The show ran for just one season but six different actors played Wolfe's loyal assistant Archie Goodwin in those 26 episodes. The series and its star could never settle on a supporting actor, but the unusual revolving door allowed some of radio's best performers to take a stab at the character. We'll hear the first three Messrs Goodwin - Wally Maher in "Stamped for Murder" (originally aired on NBC on October 20, 1950); Lamont Johnson in "The Case of the Careworn Cuff" (originally aired on NBC on October 27, 1950); and Herb Ellis in "The Case of the Dear Dead Lady" (originally aired on NBC on November 3, 1950).

Transcript

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0:00.0	Get this and get it straight.
0:02.1	Crime is a sucker's road.
0:03.9	And those who travel
0:04.6	it wind up in the gut of the prison of the grave.
0:12.3	The story you were about to hear is true.
0:15.2	Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.
0:18.6	The Adventures of Sam Spade, Detective.
0:21.7	The Adventures of the Saints,
0:23.5	starring Vincent Price.
0:25.5	Bob Bailey, in the exciting adventures
0:27.7	of the man with the action-packed expense account.
0:30.6	America's fabulous freelance insurance investigator...
0:33.4	Yours truly, Johnny Dollar.
1:04.3	... Yours truly, Johnny Dollar. Hello, and Hello and welcome to Down These Mean Streets with more old-time radio detectives and crime fighters.
1:13.2	Today we're starting a two-part spotlight series on the new adventures of Nero Wolf were doing it in honor of a pair of December birthdays. Rex Stout, the mystery writer who created Nero Wolf, was born December 1st,
1:20.9	1886. And Sidney Green Street, the Oscar-nominated actor who brought the detective to Radio Life, was
1:29.5	born December 27, 1879.
1:34.2	Nero Wolf had the mind of Sherlock Holmes, but the build and disposition of Holmes' older
1:40.6	brother, Mycroft.
1:43.3	Wolf was loathed to take on cases. He preferred to stay in his well-furnished brownstone house, enjoying beer and tending to his orchids.
1:52.0	When it came time to handle the physical elements of crime-solving, Wolf would send out his loyal legman Archie Goodwin.
2:00.0	Several actors played Neuro Wolf in multiple series on radio,
	...

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