
Jack Webb
Acting
🎂 1920-04-02
John Randolph 'Jack' Webb, also known by the pen name John Randolph, 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. Â
Cast credits(38)

Self
1962

Self
1948

Jack Webb
1950

Self
1952

Joe Friday
1951

Self
1950
Self
1957

Sergeant Joe Friday
1967

Self
1953
1962
1971

Sgt. Joe Friday (archive footage)
2016

Artie Green
1950

Lee Whitey
1949

Bullseye (uncredited)
1948

Sergeant Joe Friday in Dragnet (archive footage)
2004

Correspondent Dickerman
1951

Ens. Anthony 'Tony' Barbo
1951

Norm
1950

Augie
1950

Sergeant Joe Friday
1954

Joe Friday
1969

Narrator
1971
Self (archive footage)
1971

Gunnery Sgt. Jim Moore
1957

Joe Regas
1950

Boy in Schoolyard (uncredited)
1932

On-Camera Narrator
1962

Security Man
1968

Pete Kelly
1955

Sam Gatlin
1959

Himself
1955

Narrator
1962

Joe Friday (archive footage)
2013

William 'Bill' Bowers
1961

Narrator
1967
1961

Narrator
1967
Directing (14)
Production (29)

Producer
1951

Producer
1972

Producer
1958
Producer
1962

Producer
1968

Executive Producer
1968
Producer
1971

Producer
1978
Producer
1973
Producer
1971

Producer
1974
Producer
1959

Producer
1972
Producer
1973
Producer
1959
Producer
1975

Producer
1978

Producer
1969

Executive Producer
1963

Executive Producer
1971

Executive Producer
1978

Producer
1955

Producer
1959

Executive Producer
1969

Producer
1973

Executive Producer
1972

Executive Producer
1975

Executive Producer
1972

Executive Producer
1975