The Adventures of Ellery Queen is the title of two separate television series made in the 1950s. They are based on the fictional detective Ellery Queen and the cases he solves with his father Inspector Richard Queen.
Nicholas Solovioff painted this cover for a 1955 issue of Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine. The popularity of the Ellery Queen novel series and the magazine led to the radio and TV series.
The first series was telecast on DuMont Television Network from October 19, 1950 to December 6, 1951 (50 episodes) and ABC from December 16, 1951, to November 26, 1952 (43 episodes). It initially starred Richard Hart as Ellery Queen but he suddenly died of a heart attack in January 1951 and was replaced by Lee Bowman. Florenz Ames played Inspector Richard Queen. This was the first production by Irving and Norman Pincus. Donald Richardson was the director. Guest stars included Anne Bancroft, John Carradine, and Eva Gabor. Some of the scripts were written by Helene Hanff, who would go on to write the famous 1970 book 84, Charing Cross Road.[1] Bancroft would go on to play Hanff in the film adaptation of 84, Charing Cross Road in 1987.[2]
The ABC version was sponsored by Bayuk cigars, but that sponsorship ended with the last broadcast.[3]
The second series was telecast on NBC from September 26, 1958 to June 5, 1959 (33 episodes). It featured George Nader as Ellery Queen for the first twenty episodes and Lee Philips for the remaining thirteen. Les Tremayne took the role of Inspector Richard Queen. It was produced by Albert McCleery.[4] Film star and Oscar-nominee Nancy Carroll made a guest appearance.
