Jack Webb

 

The story you about to read is true.

John Randolph "Jack" Webb was born in Santa Monica, California on April 2, 1920.  He never knew his father, who left the family before Webb was born.  He grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles, an area ripe with poverty.

Webb attended St. John's University in Minnesota, but he never received his diploma.  Like many of his generation, he put his studies on hold as America entered World War 2.  He enlisted with the Army Air Corps, where he served on the crew of a B-26 Marauder.  Webb was ultimately issued a hardship discharge however, as he was the sole provider for his mother and grandmother.

After the war, Webb got his start in radio, working for station KGO in San Francisco.  The Jack Webb Show, his first weekly series, was actually a comedy, running contrary to the serious persona for which he'd become known.  In 1949, he introduced Dragnet and his Joe Friday character on NBC Radio in Los Angeles, where it ran for the next eight years. 

Three years into its run, the first television version, also starring Webb, began airing on NBC.  It ran until 1959.  Webb brought it back to television as a mid-season replacement in 1967, where it ran for the next three years.  If you've ever stumbled across a Dragnet rerun in syndication, its from this three-year time period.

On December 23, 1982, Jack Webb died of a sudden heart attack.  He was just 62 years old.  He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills with full honors befitting an LAPD detective, including a 17-gun salute.

Location: Sheltering Hills Section, Map #C07, Lot #1999

Rest in peace.

Just the Facts

• If you want to learn more about Jack Webb, take a voyage to your public library or Amazon.  Its all in books.
  
  
• While there is no Jack Webb Museum per se, there is a rather unique exhibit on display at the Valley Relics Museum in Lake Balboa, California.  It includes a wall of televisions sets from Webb's former living room, from which he would simultaneously watch his own shows as well as those of his competitors.
  
  
• Joe Friday's badge number was 714.  This was an homage to Babe Ruth and the number of home runs he scored during his baseball career.  Webb was his biggest fan. 
  
  
• Upon Webb's passing, the LAPD retired his badge number and christened a police academy auditorium in his honor.
  
  
• Back when late-night television was actually funny, Webb appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in a spoof of his Joe Friday character.  If you've never seen it, I highly recommend it.  Check it out on YouTube.