George valentine actor biography

By Elizabeth McLeod

When you think of the typical “1940’s noir private eye,” certain images come to mind — the rain-shrouded streets; the shabby trenchcoat; the baggy suit with the shoulder holster strapped under the vest; the fedora pulled low over the eyes; the cigarette clenched tightly in a rock-like jaw; the snappy, cynical wisecracks; and the astounding ability to absorb physical punishment.

Radio in the latter half of the forties took full advantage of that stock figure, with an explosion of crime and mystery programs presenting every possible variation on the theme. But even with those variations, the assembly-line nature of the broadcast medium meant a certain sameness in the basic outline was unavoidable.

Listeners expected a private eye to sound like a private eye, to act like a private eye, and in their mental image to look like a private eye – so, most of them, in fact, did.

George Valentine