By way of CrimeReads, “The Three Lives of William Conrad: More Than Just the ‘Heavy’” by Keith Roysdon.
I think most people, if they think of William Conrad at all, think of “Cannon” or “Jake and the Fatman”. More sophisticated folks might be aware that he had a substantial radio career, including Matt Dillon in the radio version of “Gunsmoke”.
While his voice was perfect for narrating the noir TV drama “The Fugitive” from 1963 to 1967, there’s little in Conrad’s career to tip us to the lunacy of his narration of creator/producer Jay Ward’s “Rocky and Bullwinkle” cartoons and sister show “Dudley Do-Right.” Conrad’s narration is breathless and urgent and loose in the shows, which began in 1959. At times, Conrad – credited as “Bill Conrad” – is downright goofy.
I didn’t know that he also had a short but apparently successful career as a film director. (Lawrence, I ordered “Two on a Guillotine” for Halloween viewing.)
This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 at 12:20 pm and is filed under Movies, Radio, TV. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Big fan of OTR (old time radio)
William Conrad was awesome.
And as a kid, loved him as Cannon.
Hope he had a great life. His shows were a great break from reality.
Like the entertainment industry used to understand.
And he was proof that Hollywood was not just for pretty people.
We liked real.
Bill or William Conrad was real, as a marshal or a fat PI.
RIP, thank you for all you have left behind.