ESCAPE

WILLIAM CONRAD
ELLIOTT LEWIS
JACK MCCOY

"Escape" was a 30 minute live dramatic anthology television series produced and directed for CBS by Wyllis Cooper. Narrated by William Conrad, the series was the television counterpart to a successful CBS Radio series of the same name (1947-1954). Thirteen episodes aired on CBS from 5 January 1950, to 30 March 1950. The show's stories depicted people attempting to deal with danger, the supernatural, or some fantasized situation. The announcers for the series were Jack McCoy and Elliott Lewis. WILLIAM CONRAD From IMDB: William Conrad was born on 27 September 1920 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA and passed away on 11 February 1994 in North Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA. Conrad was one of the actors who played "The Hermit" on the hosted horror radio anthology "The Hermit's Cave"; as one of the hosts of the horror radio anthology "Escape!"; and as the narrator for the horror television anthology series "Escape". Conrad became a television star relatively late in his career. In fact, the former Army Air Corps World War II fighter pilot began his screen career playing heavies. He was Max, one of The Killers (1946) hired to finish off Burt Lancaster in his dingy lodgings. He was the corrupt state inspector Turck working for the syndicate in The Racket (1951). He was a mobster in Sorry, Wrong Number (1948), the murderous gunslinger Tallman in Johnny Concho (1956) and sleazy nightclub owner Louie Castro who claimed to be 60% legitimate in Cry Danger (1951). When not essaying outright villainy, Bill played characters like the tough fight promoter Quinn in Body and Soul (1947) or the doom-laden province commissioner in The Naked Jungle (1954). The portly, balding, crumple-faced, self-confessed gourmand had an ever-present weight problem (at one time 260 lbs.) which proved to be a natural obstacle to progressing to more substantial leading film roles. That, however, didn't hinder a very successful career in radio. In fact, Bill himself estimated that he had played in excess of 7,000 radio parts. Even if that was an exaggeration, his gravelly, resonant voice was certainly heard on countless broadcasts from "Buck Rogers" to "The Bullwinkle Show", from portraying Marshall Matt Dillon in "Gunsmoke" on the radio (before James Arness got the part on screen) to narrating the adventures of Richard Kimball in the television program The Fugitive (1963). In "The Wax Works", an episode of the anthology series "Suspense" (1949) in 1956, he voiced each and every part. Since his corpulence effectively precluded playing strapping characters like Matt Dillon, Bill began to concentrate on directing and producing by the early 1960's. This, ironically, included episodes of Gunsmoke (1955). In 1963, he contributed to saving 77 Sunset Strip (1958) for yet another season. Later in the decade, he produced and directed several films for Warner Brothers, including the thriller Brainstorm (1965) with Jeffrey Hunter and Anne Francis. He returned to acting in 1971 to become the unlikely star of the Quinn Martin production Cannon (1971), for which he is chiefly remembered. Bill imbued the tough-talking, no-nonsense character of Frank Cannon with enough humanity and wit to make the series compelling but, despite the show's popularity, he made his views clear in a 1976 Times interview that he found himself poorly served by the scripts he had been given. A planned sequel, The Return of Frank Cannon (1980) failed to get beyond the movie-length pilot, but the actor's popularity resulted in anothe starring role in Jake and the Fatman (1987) as District Attorney McCabe, co-starring with Joe Penny) and a brief run as eccentric detective Nero Wolfe (1981). A self-effacing man with a good sense of humor and never afraid to speak his mind, Bill Conrad died of heart failure in February 1994. He was elected to the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame and (posthumously) to the Radio Hall of Fame in 1997. ELLIOTT LEWIS From IMDB: Elliott Bruce Lewis was born on 28 November 1917 in New York City, New York, USA and passed away on 23 May 1990 in Gleneden Beach, Oregon, USA. Lewis first made his mark as an actor, writer, producer and director on radio in the late 1930's. His voice was also heard on Gordon Jenkins' classic recording of "Manhattan Tower" on Decca Records in 1945. In contrast to his prodigious radio career, in which he worked either alone or in tandem with his first wife, Cathy Lewis, his movie career, like those of most radio actors of the period, was not nearly as prolific, with only three films to his credit. As the 1950s wore on, he drifted away from acting to concentrate on the writing, producing and directing end of the business. After the "Golden Age of Radio" ended, Lewis moved to television as a producer of such shows as "The Lucy Show" (1962) and "The Mothers-In-Law" (1967), and director of all but one episode of the final season of "Petticoat Junction" (1963); however, radio remained his first love, and he continued to direct the occasional radio play well into the 1970s.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "William Conrad"	Wikipedia "Escape"	Internet Movie Data Base "Escape"
CTVA "Escape"	Wikipedia "William Conrad"	Wikipedia "Elliott Lewis"
Internet Movie Data Base "Jack McCoy"		Internet Movie Data Base "Elliott Lewis"

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