December 5: Happy Birthday, William Spier

A happy birthday this time, not to an actor or a commander of the microphone, but to a writer and producer, William Spier. Lovers of Adventures of Sam Spade and Suspense have enjoyed the good work of Spier.

Born today in 1906, Spier started his writing career as a critic for the magazine Musical America. After foraying into radio in 1929, he decided he'd like to stay in the medium a bit longer. He got a job as a director of the news show The March of Time. It began as a WLW (Cincinnati) program that gave voice to material from Time magazine. It eventually evolved into The March of Time, on which talented actors dramatized the day's big news stories. Spiers got a chance to work with huge stars such as Everett Sloane, Orson Welles, Lionel Barrymore, Nancy Kelly, and Joseph Cotten.

From there, it was a stint as the chief of the writing department at CBS, a gig that led to his producership of Suspense and then The Adventures of Sam Spade.

So let's salute this talented behind-the-scenes man.

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1946 Great Crepitation Fart Contest

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Jack Webb was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, best known for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the 1950s TV series "Dragnet." Here's twelve FUN FACTS for you to know: Jack Webb was born on April 2, 1920 in Santa Monica, California. He served in the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, where he was a bomber pilot. In 1949, Webb created and starred in the radio series " Pat Novak for Hire ," which was the basis for the later " Dragnet " TV series. " Dragnet " was one of the first police procedural dramas on television, and it ran for eight seasons from 1951 to 1959. In addition to his work on " Dragnet ," Jack Webb also directed and produced several other TV shows, including "Adam-12," "Emergency!" and "Mark VII Limited." He was known for his distinctive style as a director, which involved using close-ups and quick cuts to convey a sense of immediacy. J...

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