Title: The Fat Man

Type: Detective drama

Length: 30 minutes

Broadcast history:  January 21, 1946 - September 26, 1951 (ABC)

     January 21, 1946 to January 1947 - Mondays at 8:30 PM.

     January 1947 to January 1951 - Fridays at 8 PM. Sponsored by Pepto Bismol (1947-1950)

     January to September 26, 1951 - Wednesdays at 8:30 PM. Sponsored by Chicle in 1951.

Cast:

J. Scott (Jack) Smart as Brad Runyon

Ed Begley as Sgt. O'Hara

Mary Patton as Lila North

Amzie Strickland as Cathy Evans

Betty Garde

Linda Watkins

Paul Stewart

Alice Frost

Vicki Vola

Robert Dryden

Jimmy McCallion

Sarah Burton

Announcer:

Charles Irving (for most of the series); Don Lowe; Gene Kirby

A detective series based on a character created by Dashiell Hammett in the novel "The Maltese Falcon." The witty, charming, lady pleasing character of the radio series had little in common with the brooding

"Fat Man" character of the novel. Dashiell Hammett was a popular author of the period and the shows producers took advantage of his name. A typical show of the times, it relied heavily on action and adventure with logic running a distant third. The "Fat Man" vanished from the air when Hammett was associated with the "red scare" of the McCarthy era.

Source:

On the Air - John Dunning