Jack Webb
| Jack Webb | |
|---|---|
Jack Webb as Joe Friday on Dragnet
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| Born |
John Randolph Webb April 2, 1920 Santa Monica, California, United States |
| Died | December 23, 1982 (aged 62) West Hollywood, California, United States |
| Resting place |
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California 34°08′54″N 118°19′38″W / 34.14840°N 118.32718°W |
| Other names | John Randolph |
| Occupation | Actor, producer, director, screenwriter |
| Years active | 1932–1982 |
| Spouse(s) |
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John Randolph "Jack" Webb (April 2, 1920 – December 23, 1982), also known by the pen name John Randolph, was an American actor, television producer, director, and screenwriter, who is most famous for his role as Sgt. Joe Friday in the Dragnet franchise (which he also created). He was also the founder of his own production company, Mark VII Limited.
Webb was born in Santa Monica, California on Good Friday 1920, son of Samuel Chester Webb and Margaret Smith. He grew up in the Bunker Hill section of Los Angeles. His father left home before Webb was born, and Webb never knew him. He was raised a Roman Catholic by his Irish and Native American mother. One of the tenants in his mother's boarding house was an ex-jazzman and began Webb's lifelong interest in jazz by giving him a recording of Bix Beiderbecke's "At the Jazz Band Ball."
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Webb lived in the parish of Our Lady of Loretto Church and attended Our Lady of Loretto Elementary School in Echo Park, where he served as an altar boy. He then attended Belmont High School, near downtown Los Angeles and later, St. John's University, Minnesota, where he studied art. In Belmont High, Webb was a student body president. He wrote to the student body in the 1938 edition of its yearbook, Campanile, "You who showed me the magnificent warmth of friendship which I know, and you know, I will carry with me forever." During World War II, Webb enlisted in the United States Army Air Force, but he "washed out" of flight training. He later received a hardship discharge, since he was the primary financial support for both his mother and grandmother.
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