Jack Webb

Acting

Jack Webb

Born 1920-04-02 · Santa Monica, California, USA

John Randolph 'Jack' Webb (also known by the pen name John Randolph; April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982) was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sergeant Joe Friday in the radio and television series Dragnet. He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited. Born in Santa Monica, California, Webb grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles as the child of a single mother after his father left home before he was born. During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces, but he "washed out" of flight training and was granted a hardship discharge to care for his family. Following his discharge, he moved to San Francisco, where a wartime shortage of announcers led to a temporary appointment to his own half-hour comedy radio show on ABC's KGO Radio in 1946. By 1949 he had abandoned comedy for drama, and starred in numerous radio shows until finding success in film and television in the late 1950s. Webb had a featured role as a crime lab technician in the 1948 film He Walked by Night, a thinly-fictionalized recounting of the 1946 Walker crime spree. This experience gave Webb the idea for Dragnet: a recurring series based on real cases from LAPD police files, featuring authentic depictions of the modern police detective, including methods, mannerisms, and technical language. Following the success of Dragnet, Webb appeared in numerous television shows and specials, including the well-known 1972 series Emergency! During his work on a revival of Dragnet in 1982, Webb suffered a heart attack and died at the age of 62. His funeral was given full police honors, and then LAPD Chief Daryl Gates retired the badge number 714 used by Webb's Joe Friday of Dragnet fame.  

Acting credits

Sunset Boulevard poster
8.3

A hack screenwriter writes a screenplay for a former silent film star who has faded into Hollywood obscurity.

Sunset Boulevard

1950

Hollow Triumph poster
6.6

Pursued by the big-time gambler he robbed, John Muller assumes a new identity—with unfortunate results.

Hollow Triumph

1948

Halls of Montezuma poster
5.9

Richard Widmark leads an all star cast of marine leathernecks including Jack Palance, Robert Wagner, Karl Malden, Richard Boone and Jack Webb into battle on a heavily fortified island. This action-packed story follows the squad as they pick their way through enemy-infested jungles on a time sensitive mission to find the source of the enemy rockets. As the mission progresses, the squad and leader overcome many challenges as they are transformed into an effective and efficient fighting unit.

Halls of Montezuma

1951

He Walked by Night poster
6.7

Roy Martin aka Roy Morgan is a burglar and former war-time Radio & Electronics Engineer who listens in to radio police calls, allowing him to stay one step ahead of the cops.

He Walked by Night

1949

Dark City poster
6.5

Gamblers who "took" an out-of-town sucker in a crooked poker game feel shadowy vengeance closing in on them.

Dark City

1950

The Men poster
7.0

Ken, a WWII GI, returns home after he's paralyzed in battle. Residing in the paraplegic ward of a veteran's hospital and embittered by his condition, he refuses to see his fiancée and sinks into a solitary world of hatred and hostility. Head physician, Dr. Brock cajoles the withdrawn Ken into the life of the ward, where fellow patients Norm, Leo and Angel begin to pull him out of his spiritual dilemma.

The Men

1950

24 Hour Alert poster
7.7

This short film looks at the purpose and methods of the U.S. Air Force, and the difficulties of getting along with civilian neighbors. The story involves members of an Air Force base proving their worth to the mayor of a nearby town who would like to see them gone due to noise pollution.

24 Hour Alert

1955

Pete Kelly's Blues poster
6.3

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

Pete Kelly's Blues

1955

Three on a Match poster
6.3

Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.

Three on a Match

1932

Appointment with Danger poster
5.7

Al Goddard, a detective who works for the United States Postal Inspection Service, is assigned to arrest two criminals who've allegedly murdered a U.S. postal detective.

Appointment with Danger

1950

The D.I. poster
7.1

Gunnery Sergeant Jim Moore is one of the toughest Drill Instructors on Parris Island. But he's got a thorn in his side: Pvt. Owens, who always seems to foul up when the pressure's on. Convinced that "there's a man underneath that baby powder," Sgt. Moore drives Owens to the point of desertion. Making things worse, Capt. Anderson has given Moore three days to make the scared private into Marine material, "or I'll personally cut the lace off his panties and ship him out!" Adding to the pressure, Moore also juggles a budding romance with a shop girl.

The D.I.

1957

You're in the Navy Now poster
5.5

When Lt. John Harkness is assigned as the new skipper of a submarine chaser equipped with an experimental steam engine, he hopes that the U.S.S. Teakettle's veterans will afford him enough help to accomplish the ship's goals. Unfortunately, he finds the crew and its officers share his novice status or only have experience in diesel engines.

You're in the Navy Now

1951

The Last Time I Saw Archie poster
6.0

Two Air Force friends have fun during their enlistment.

The Last Time I Saw Archie

1961

Dragnet poster
6.1

Two homicide detectives try to find just the facts behind a mobster's brutal murder.

Dragnet

1954

Star Spangled Salesman poster
8.0

A collection of television celebrities pitch United States Savings bonds.

Star Spangled Salesman

1968

-30- poster
6.0

A newspaper editor deals with a particularly stressful day in the newsroom.

-30-

1959

Red Nightmare poster
5.9

A man takes his American freedoms for granted, until he wakes up one morning to find out that the United States Government has been replaced with a Communist system. The basis for this short film, narrated by Jack Webb, is the alleged Soviet re-creation of US communities for the purpose of training infiltrators, spies, and moles.

Red Nightmare

1962

O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra poster
9.0

Suddenly widowed by an accident, a deputy sheriff from the Midwest becomes a customs agent and cracks a narcotics ring. Pilot movie for the series "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury."

O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra

1971

Greenboy: Prescription for Death poster
NR

Proof-of-Concept for the original series Electric Television.

Greenboy: Prescription for Death

2013

Greyhounds of the Sea poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Greyhounds of the Sea

1967

No artwork available
6.0

Also known as "Dragnet 1966," this TV movie was originally the pilot for the 1967 relaunch of the original 1950s "Dragnet" radio show and TV show (which also had its own movie in 1954, from the same creative team). However, the pilot wasn't actually aired until 1969. In this feature-length entry, Sgt. Joe Friday is called back from vacation to work with his partner, Officer Bill Gannon, on a missing persons case. Two amateur female models and a young war widow have vanished, having been last seen with one J. Johnson. In the course of tracking down Johnson and the young ladies, the detectives wind up with two different descriptions of the suspect, one of which closely resembles a dead body found in a vacant lot. But the dead man, later identified as Charles LeBorg of France, proves not to be J. Johnson, when a third young model disappears.

Dragnet

1969

The Selling of the Pentagon poster
8.0

"The Selling of the Pentagon" was an important documentary aired in primetime on CBS on 23 February 1971. The aim of this film, produced by Peter Davis, was to examine the increasing utilization and cost to the taxpayers of public relations activities by the military-industrial complex in order to shape public opinion in favor of the military.

The Selling of the Pentagon

1971

A Day in Vietnam poster
NR

Follows U. S. Marines and sailors on a "typical" day in Vietnam

A Day in Vietnam

1967

No artwork available
NR

Listed as AFIF 181 / Department of Defense

Your Tour In Vietnam

1970

Behind the camera

Chase poster
7.0

A special police unit goes after a cop-killer in this pilot film to the short-lived series.

Chase

1973

Chase poster
7.0

A special police unit goes after a cop-killer in this pilot film to the short-lived series.

Chase

1973

Pete Kelly's Blues poster
6.3

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

Pete Kelly's Blues

1955

Pete Kelly's Blues poster
6.3

In 1927, a Kansas City, Missouri cornet player and his band perform nightly at a seedy speakeasy until a racketeer tries to extort them in exchange for protection.

Pete Kelly's Blues

1955

The D.I. poster
7.1

Gunnery Sergeant Jim Moore is one of the toughest Drill Instructors on Parris Island. But he's got a thorn in his side: Pvt. Owens, who always seems to foul up when the pressure's on. Convinced that "there's a man underneath that baby powder," Sgt. Moore drives Owens to the point of desertion. Making things worse, Capt. Anderson has given Moore three days to make the scared private into Marine material, "or I'll personally cut the lace off his panties and ship him out!" Adding to the pressure, Moore also juggles a budding romance with a shop girl.

The D.I.

1957

The Last Time I Saw Archie poster
6.0

Two Air Force friends have fun during their enlistment.

The Last Time I Saw Archie

1961

Dragnet poster
6.1

Two homicide detectives try to find just the facts behind a mobster's brutal murder.

Dragnet

1954

-30- poster
6.0

A newspaper editor deals with a particularly stressful day in the newsroom.

-30-

1959

-30- poster
6.0

A newspaper editor deals with a particularly stressful day in the newsroom.

-30-

1959

O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra poster
9.0

Suddenly widowed by an accident, a deputy sheriff from the Midwest becomes a customs agent and cracks a narcotics ring. Pilot movie for the series "O'Hara, U.S. Treasury."

O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra

1971

Emergency! poster
8.3

The pilot movie to the hit series about Los Angeles paramedics and their interaction with the fire department and hospital system.

Emergency!

1972

No artwork available
6.0

Also known as "Dragnet 1966," this TV movie was originally the pilot for the 1967 relaunch of the original 1950s "Dragnet" radio show and TV show (which also had its own movie in 1954, from the same creative team). However, the pilot wasn't actually aired until 1969. In this feature-length entry, Sgt. Joe Friday is called back from vacation to work with his partner, Officer Bill Gannon, on a missing persons case. Two amateur female models and a young war widow have vanished, having been last seen with one J. Johnson. In the course of tracking down Johnson and the young ladies, the detectives wind up with two different descriptions of the suspect, one of which closely resembles a dead body found in a vacant lot. But the dead man, later identified as Charles LeBorg of France, proves not to be J. Johnson, when a third young model disappears.

Dragnet

1969

No artwork available
6.0

Also known as "Dragnet 1966," this TV movie was originally the pilot for the 1967 relaunch of the original 1950s "Dragnet" radio show and TV show (which also had its own movie in 1954, from the same creative team). However, the pilot wasn't actually aired until 1969. In this feature-length entry, Sgt. Joe Friday is called back from vacation to work with his partner, Officer Bill Gannon, on a missing persons case. Two amateur female models and a young war widow have vanished, having been last seen with one J. Johnson. In the course of tracking down Johnson and the young ladies, the detectives wind up with two different descriptions of the suspect, one of which closely resembles a dead body found in a vacant lot. But the dead man, later identified as Charles LeBorg of France, proves not to be J. Johnson, when a third young model disappears.

Dragnet

1969