
Acting
Joe Downing
Born — Died
1903-06-26 — 1975-10-16
Place of birth
New York City, New York, USA
Known for
Acting
Credits
50 titles
Known for
6.6The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
6.8Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.
Four Star Playhouse
1952
6.5Revolves around typical family problems, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a retirement bash for a colleague, and finding quality time away from the children.
The Donna Reed Show
1958
7.8A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
5.1An anthology series adapted from the radio program of the same name. Like the radio program, many scripts were adaptations of literary classics by well-known authors. Classic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, and Charles Dickens all had stories adapted for the series, while contemporary authors such as Roald Dahl and Gore Vidal also contributed.
Suspense
1949
5.8An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they never know him, with one exception.
The Millionaire
1955
Film credits
1970s · 1 titles
1950s · 2 titles
5.8A rookie assistant DA is assigned to investigate the murder of a longshoreman, killed for exposing gangster involvement on the piers, and meets up with a "code of silence" amongst all potential witnesses.
Slaughter on 10th Avenue
1957
6.8An overambitious shutterbug almost gets his lights put out permanently when he decides to snap a picture of a mob boss.
Fighting Trouble
1956
1940s · 12 titles
5.9After her family's mansion is burned down by Yankee soldiers for hiding the rebel leader Captain Sam Starr Belle Shirley vows to take revenge. Breaking Starr out of prison, she joins his small guerrilla group for a series of raids on banks and railroads, carpetbaggers and enemy troops. Belle's bravado during the attacks earns her a reputation among the locals as well as the love of Starr himself. The pair get married, but their relationship starts to break down when Sam Starr lets a couple of psychotic rebels into the gang, leaving Belle to wonder if he really cares about the Southern cause.
Belle Starr
1941
7.4Lucky Jordan is a gangster living in New York City and when he's drafted into the army, he tries to escape duty by using an old con woman named Annie to convince the draft board he's needed at home. When that fails, Jordan is sent to boot camp, but he doesn't stay there long. He takes a beautiful USO worker hostage and flees back to New York. There, he learns that a rival gangster is plotting against America.
Lucky Jordan
1942
6.2A charming racketeer seduces the DA's stepdaughter for revenge, then falls in love.
Johnny Eager
1941
7.0A hardened crook behind bars comes up against a reform-minded warden.
Castle on the Hudson
1940
6.2Duke Berne, former big shot but now a three-time loser, fears returning to crime because a fourth conviction will mean a life sentence. Finally, haunted by his past and goaded by his cohorts, he joins in planning an armoured car robbery.
The Big Shot
1942
7.1Three ex-cons buy a luggage shop to tunnel into the bank vault next door. But despite all they can do, the shop prospers...
Larceny, Inc.
1942
6.0A demoted reporter (George Brent) and his girlfriend (Brenda Marshall) seek to expose a crime kingpin.
You Can't Escape Forever
1942
7.2An undercover cop finds himself on the wrong side of the law when the mob discovers his true identity.
Strange Alibi
1941
10.0Scientists assembled to prove their methods are effective in criminal investigation try to solve a series of murders.
The Secret Seven
1940
7.3Longshoreman Johnny Barnes is in love with Kitty Tracy, barmaid at her father's waterfront saloon, and he beats up Cassidy, a crooked politician who has been annoying her. Cassidy is murdered that night and Johnny is jailed for the crime. Kitty, her father Andy Tracy, and waterfront-priest Father Cameron believe Johnny is innocent but all evidence points to his guilt.
San Francisco Docks
1940
7.6A crusading newsman starts up a tabloid with a gangster as his 50-50 partner.
Unholy Partners
1941
In this musical comedy, a traveling salesman gets mixed up with a bratty heiress after she gets in a car wreck as she heads for her elopement. The two begin traveling together and get further mixed up with a fleeing bank robber, a crazy tourist camp, and other troubles. Songs include: "Oh Johnny, How You Can Love," "Maybe I Like What You Like," "Swing Chariot Swing," and "Make Up Your Mind."
Oh, Johnny, How You Can Love!
1940
1930s · 20 titles
6.2A gangster is unable to go straight after returning home from prison.
Invisible Stripes
1939
7.5Childhood chums Rocky Sullivan and Jerry Connelly grow up on opposite sides of the fence: Rocky matures into a prominent gangster, while Jerry becomes a priest, tending to the needs of his old tenement neighborhood.
Angels with Dirty Faces
1938
6.9A corrupt D.A. with governatorial ambitions is annoyed by an investigative reporter's criticism of his criminal activities and decides to frame the reporter for manslaughter in order to silence him.
Each Dawn I Die
1939
7.1Nick and Nora Charles are back - and this time, they have a baby, a wealthy new client, and another murder to solve! Retired detective Nick is enjoying family life with Nora and their young son, Nick Jr., when eccentric industrialist Colonel MacFay asks for protection after receiving threatening messages. When MacFay is found dead at his isolated estate, Nick and Nora spring into action, questioning a houseful of suspicious guests and uncovering greed, blackmail, family secrets, and a dangerous inheritance plot. With their trademark wit and sophistication, the glamorous couple balances parenthood, parties, and peril as they race to expose the killer.
Another Thin Man
1939
6.0A con man who stages phony "lucky legs" beauty contests and leaves town with the money is found with a surgical knife in his heart by Mason.
The Case of the Lucky Legs
1935
6.4Former bootlegger Remy Marco has a slight problem with foreclosing bankers, a prospective son-in-law, and four hard-to-explain corpses.
A Slight Case of Murder
1938
5.8T-Man Brass Bancroft goes undercover in a prison which has a secret counterfeit operation set up in the print shop.
Smashing the Money Ring
1939
5.8Johnnie learns crime from petty thug Frank Wilson. When Wilson kills a pawnbroker with a gun stolen from Johnnie's sister Madge's fiance Fred Burke, Fred goes to Sing Sing's death house. Wilson uses all the pressure can to keep Johnnie silent, even after he and Johnnie themselves wind up in the big house.
You Can't Get Away with Murder
1939
7.0A beautiful woman is forced to help gangsters in a robbery, and is arrested as an accessory.
The Forgotten Woman
1939
6.4Trouble begins when a hated cad of a sponsor is found murdered during the climax of a live radio show. A radio engineer then tries to solve the murder.
Danger on the Air
1938
5.9Torchy conducts a one woman campaign against a corrupt mayor and crime boss, and when the reform candidate is murdered, she takes up the banner.
Torchy Runs for Mayor
1939
8.0In this newspaper drama, a female reporter and a newsreel cameraman are both assigned to cover the Sino-Japanese war. They meet on the boat ride over and decide to team up. They are further assisted by a Chinese cameraman. The three of them manage to expose of spy ring operating out of the Shanghai office of the woman's newspaper.
North of Shanghai
1939
5.6A trucker with a pregnant wife fights a New York mobster's protection racket.
Racket Busters
1938
7.0A detective investigates the disappearance of a girl's body from the city morgue.
The Lady in the Morgue
1938
9.0A small town soda jerk discovers a gang of criminals staying at a local hotel. Comedy.
Wide Open Faces
1938
6.6Dr. Socrates gives up his brilliant surgical career at a prominent hospital following the death of his betrothed under his knife. He is now a struggling doctor in a small town that has a gangster's hideout.
Dr. Socrates
1935
5.4Adults who grew up as slum kids meet later in life, but murder disrupts their reunion.
The Devil's Party
1938
10.0Gangster Charlie McCormick despairs as his young brother Bobby lays near death and vows to break the quarantine of the ocean liner Pacific Queen in order to retrieve the iron lung Bobby needs. Meanwhile, newspaper editor Lonigan searches for reporter Slim Torrence, because Slim is friends with Tom Niles, the customs officer on the verge of cracking a whiskey smuggling case. Lonigan is about to send another reporter to cover the story when Della Parrish, the publisher's daughter, assures him that she can locate Slim. With the help of Slim's young photographer, Willie Sing, Della finds Slim in a waterfront dive, and Willie and Slim sneak aboard the Pacific Queen to find Niles. Niles hints that McCormick is the head of the smuggling ring and promises Slim an exclusive when he breaks the story the next day.
The Night Hawk
1938
7.0The Jones family drugstore is robbed and it looks like the culprit is a boy the family has taken a liking to.
Borrowing Trouble
1937
6.5G-Man Bill Collins swings into action when a crooked sweepstakes racket begins insinuating itself upon the honest citizenry of the US. The crooks have flooded the market with counterfeit lottery tickets, reducing many an unwary speculator to poverty.
Missing Evidence
1939
Series credits
6.6The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
6.8Four Star Playhouse is an American television anthology series that ran from 1952 to 1956, sponsored in its first bi-weekly season by The Singer Company; Bristol-Myers became an alternate sponsor when it became a weekly series in the fall of 1953. The original premise was that Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino, David Niven, and Dick Powell would take turns starring in episodes. However, several other performers took the lead from time to time, including Ronald Colman and Joan Fontaine. Blake Edwards was among the writers and directors who contributed to the series. Edwards created the recurring character of illegal gambling house operator Willie Dante for Dick Powell to play on this series. The character was later revamped and spun off in his own series starring Howard Duff, then-husband of Lupino. The pilot for Meet McGraw, starring Frank Lovejoy, aired here, as did another episode in which Lovejoy recreated his role of Chicago newspaper reporter Randy Stone, from the radio drama Nightbeat.
Four Star Playhouse
1952
6.5Revolves around typical family problems, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a retirement bash for a colleague, and finding quality time away from the children.
The Donna Reed Show
1958
7.8A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
7.8A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
7.8A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
5.1An anthology series adapted from the radio program of the same name. Like the radio program, many scripts were adaptations of literary classics by well-known authors. Classic authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Agatha Christie, and Charles Dickens all had stories adapted for the series, while contemporary authors such as Roald Dahl and Gore Vidal also contributed.
Suspense
1949
5.8An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they never know him, with one exception.
The Millionaire
1955
5.8An anthology series that explored the ways sudden and unexpected wealth changed life for better or for worse. It told the stories of people who were given one million dollars from a benefactor who insisted they never know him, with one exception.
The Millionaire
1955
5.2Navy Log is an American drama anthology series that initially aired for one season on CBS. It relates the greatest survival war stories in the history of the United States Navy. This series premiered on September 20, 1955, but the following year, it was moved to ABC, where it aired until September 25, 1958. The program aired for a total of three seasons and 102 episodes.
Navy Log
1955
7.887th Precinct is an American crime drama starring Robert Lansing, Gena Rowlands, and Ron Harper, which aired on NBC on Monday evenings during the 1961–1962 television season.
87th Precinct
1961
6.8Sergeant Preston of the Yukon is an American action adventure northwestern television series based on the radio drama Challenge of the Yukon. It was initially broadcast in color on CBS across three seasons from September 29, 1955 to September 25, 1958. Richard Simmons stars as Sergeant William Preston, who patrols the Yukon Territory in search of renegades and outlaws, during the time of the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s.
Sergeant Preston of the Yukon
1955
5.8Going My Way is an American comedy-drama series
Going My Way
1962
10.0Glynis is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from September 25 to December 18, 1963.
Glynis
1963
6.8General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
General Electric Theater
1953

