Photo: Studio / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Dick Powell fascinates me as a case study in reinvention. He started out as a fresh-faced musical comedy crooner, the kind of role that can typecast you forever, and then willed himself into a hardboiled leading man. Being the first actor to play Philip Marlowe on screen is no small footnote; he helped define how that detective looked to audiences. What I admire most is that he didn't stop at acting, moving into directing, producing, and running a studio. That restlessness, the refusal to be one thing, is exactly the trait I find most compelling in performers of his era.
Overview
Richard Ewing Powell (November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963) was an American actor, singer, musician, producer, director, and studio head. Though he came to stardom as a musical comedy performer, he showed versatility and successfully transformed into a hardboiled leading man, starring in projects of a more dramatic nature. He was the first actor to portray private detective Philip Marlowe on screen.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Dick Powell
- Name (Japanese)
- ディック・パウエル
- Reading
- でぃっく・ぱうえる
- Born
- November 14, 1904 – January 2, 1963
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Dragon
- Origin
- Mountain View, Arkansas, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / singer / film director / film producer / jazz musician
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Awards & achievements
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
- 1996 Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame
- 1963 Trustees Award
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Actor — see all → · Singer — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.