The Adventures Of Nero Wolfe

The Adventures of Nero Wolfe was a 1943–44 American radio drama series produced by Himan Brown and featuring Rex Stout’s fictional detective Nero Wolfe. The series was a detective mystery show that aired on the regional New England Network and later on the Blue Network, which soon became ABC.

The show was based on Stout’s principal characters of Nero Wolfe and his assistant Archie Goodwin, but did not adapt any of the author’s original stories. Instead, the scripts were written by Louis Vittes, who created new mysteries for the armchair detective and his leg man to solve.

Nero Wolfe was an immensely overweight man whose only interests in life were to eat and tend to his orchids. However, he was a detective genius solving the most baffling murders. He never left the comfort of his own home to visit the crime scene and all the legwork was done by his assistant, Archie Goodwin, who would travel around interviewing witnesses and gathering clues for Nero to study at a later date.

The Stars

The three actors who portrayed Nero Wolfe over the course of the series were J.B. Williams, Santos Ortega, and Luis Van Rooten. J.B. Williams starred as Wolfe in the show’s initial run on the New England Network from April to June 1943.

When the series moved to the Blue Network (soon to become ABC) in July 1943, Santos Ortega took over the role of Wolfe and continued in it until sometime in 1944, when he was succeeded by Luis Van Rooten.

Archie Goodwin, Wolfe’s assistant and legman, was played by Joseph Julian throughout the show’s run.

Key Dates

• The Adventures of Nero Wolfe debuted on the regional New England Network on April 10, 1943.
• It and ran for 12 episodes until June 26, 1943.
• The series then moved to the Blue Network (soon to become ABC) on July 5, 1943, where it continued until July 14, 1944, for a total of 51 episodes.
• After a four-month hiatus, the show resumed on January 21, 1944 with Ortega and Julian continuing in their roles.
• The series ended with the broadcast on July 14, 1944.

Other Information

Producer Himan Brown persuaded Rex Stout to allow a Nero Wolfe radio series, for which the author received a weekly royalty. While the show was a success, disagreements between Brown and Stout’s representative, Edwin Fadiman, led to the series ending after the July 14, 1944 broadcast.

There are possibly 29 episodes extant and one episode from the Blue Network/ABC run, “The Last Laugh Murder Case,” was chosen for rebroadcast by the Armed Forces Radio Service’s Mystery Playhouse series.