30 minute adventure/mystery show
Rocky Fortune was the title of an American radio drama that aired weekly on NBC Radio beginning in October 1953. The series ended its run in March 1954 after 25 episodes. The program was created by George Lefferts. Frank Sinatra voiced the title role of Rocky Fortune for the entire series. It was a sustaining series, meaning that NBC presented the program without corporate sponsorship.
Frank Sinatra portrayed Rocco Fortunato, also known as Rocky Fortune, a young man of several talents constantly in need of employment and who accepts odd jobs from the fictitious Gridley Employment Agency, often referred to simply as "the Agency." During the course of the series, he would work as a process server, museum tour guide, cabbie, bodyguard, chauffeur, truck driver, social director for a Catskills resort and a carny, in addition to various musical jobs. These assignments typically led Rocky into situations where he would track down criminals, often rescuing people (especially women) in need of help, and ultimately needing to find yet more work. Rocky made many wise remarks, using "hep" slang of the times, and seemed to attract trouble wherever he went.
Sinatra infused the role of Rocky with a witty, tongue-in-cheek quality that acknowledged Sinatra's own career. For example, in the episode "Football Fix", Rocky begins to sing "I've Got the World on a String" while walking down the street, a song Sinatra had performed prior to playing the role of Rocky.
Aside from Sinatra, the only other recurring role on the series was that of Hamilton J. Finger, a not terribly smart but solid and dependable police sergeant played by Bill Zuckert and Barney Phillips. Other guest roles on Rocky Fortune were voiced by actors such as Raymond Burr, Ed Begley and Jack Kruschen.
Creator of the show George Lefferts was also one of the primary scriptwriters, along with Ernest Kinoy. The two had previously collaborated on other radio programs such as X Minus One and Dimension X: in the episode "Rocket Racket", Fortune's job is apparently to fly a prototype spaceship. An eccentric oil millionaire tells of his fascination with science fiction and space travel, to which Rocky knowingly acknowledges, "Dimension X." Lefferts and Kinoy would go on to become award-winning writers and producers in the years that followed.
Edward "Eddie" King was the show's narrator, who began each episode by stating, "NBC presents Frank Sinatra, starring as that footloose and fancy-free young gentleman, Rocky Fortune!"
The final episode, "Boarding House Doublecross", aired on March 30, 1954, less than a week after Sinatra won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Private Angelo Maggio in the 1953 film, From Here to Eternity. As a running gag towards the end of the show's run, Sinatra would work the phrase "from here to eternity" into the script as a reference to his film role in almost every episode.
Text from Wikipedia
Purchase as a download, purchase as CD(s), or listen for free
Purchase as CD $4.50
All of our Old Time Radio Programs are in MP3 format. You can play them on your computer, you can transfer them to MP3 players (like the IPod), but, by and large, you cannot play them on stereos, walkmen, or car radios.
The sound quality of Old Time Radio Programs can vary greatly. Some episodes are excellent, others you have to turn up the volume a little and ignore the static. All of the episodes can be listened to and enjoyed. You can listen to our free samples to get a feel for how the programs sound.
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Episode List
RF531013_02_insurance fraud.mp3
RF531020_03_shipboard jewel robbery.mp3
RF531027_04_pintsize payroll bandit.mp3
RF531110_05_messenger for murder.mp3
RF531117_06_a hepcat kills the canary.mp3
RF531124_07_murder on the aisle.mp3
RF531201_08_murder among the statues.mp3
RF531208_09_carnical one way.mp3
RF531215_10_companion to a chimp.mp3
RF531222_11_the plot to murder santa claus.mp3
RF531229_12_prize fight setup.mp3
RF540105_13_on the trail of a killer.mp3
RF540112_14_rodeo murder.mp3
RF540119_15_the museum murder.mp3
RF540126_16_hauling nitro.mp3
RF540202_17_football fix.mp3
RF540209_18_catskills cover-up.mp3
RF540216_19_too many husbands.mp3
RF540223_20_decoy for death.mp3
RF540302_21_the doctor's dilemma.mp3
RF540309_22_incident in a bar.mp3
RF540316_23 - Psychological Murder.mp3
RF540323_24 - Rocket Racket.mp3
RF540330_25_boarding house doublecross.mp3
