Jack Webb

Known for ActingBorn 1920-04-02Died 1982-12-23Santa 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. Read more

Movies & web series

The Log of the Black Pearl

O'Hara, United States Treasury: Operation Cobra

O.J.: Made in America

Emergency!

The New Adam-12

Sunset Boulevard

The Selling of the Pentagon

The D.A.: Conspiracy to Kill

The D.A.: Murder One

Emergency!

Star Spangled Salesman

Los Angeles Plays Itself

Pete Kelly's Blues

24 Hour Alert

The Jack Benny Program

The Ford Television Theatre

L.A. Dragnet

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Little Mo

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

Hec Ramsey

The New Dragnet

Adam-12

Project U.F.O.

Sam

Mobile Two

Sierra

Chase

Chase

Dragnet

The D.A.

77 Sunset Strip

The D.I.

The Oscars

The Men

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Ed Sullivan Show

Red Nightmare

He Walked by Night

The Partners

A Force in Readiness

Hollow Triumph

Dragnet

This Is Your Life

Dark City

The Last Time I Saw Archie

The John Glenn Story

Pete Kelly's Blues