| Nero Wolfe came from a series of novels by Rex Stout. Nero Wolfe was known as "the gargantuan gourmet, the fat genius whose eye for detail has solved many a perfect murder" and "the detective genius who rates the knife and fork the greatest invention ever invented by man". Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's male secretary, prodded him into taking cases whenever the bank balance got a little low. Nero Wolfe first appeared on radio on July 5, 1943 on the NBC Blue Network in The Adventures Of Nero Wolfe. This series didn’t last long staring Santos Ortega as Wolfe and Luis Van Rooten as Archie. The second series was during 1945 on the Mutual network in The Amazing Nero Wolfe. This lasted only until December 15, 1946 and starred Francis X. Bushman and Elliot Lewis as Archie. The third series was known as The New Adventures Of Nero Wolfe. Starting on October 20, 1950 it lasted only until April 27, 1951. It starred Sidney Greenstreet as Nero Wolfe. The part of Archie was played by Lawrence Dobkin for the first twelve shows. Gerald Mohr took over for the next four shows after making a guest appearance in the twelfth show. Harry Bartell was Archie for the remainder of the series. |
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| Luis Van Rooten |
| Sidney Greenstreet |
| The New Adventures
Of Nero Wolfe |
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| Harry Bartell |
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| Lawrence Dobkin |
| The author Rex Stout was born in Noblesville, Indiana, on December 1, 1886, and died October 27, 1975. He established himself as one of the premier mystery writers of all time. A total of 73 novels about the eccentric sleuth Nero Wolfe.
Rex Stout’s family moved to Kansas, where he was soon recognized as a child prodigy. His college career at The University of Kansas was cut short by a stint in the Navy. After leaving the service, he divided his time between banking and freelance writing, and eventually moved to New York. Stout’s first novel was Fer-de-Lance, published in 1934. Outside of his writing, Stout was active in many patriotic organizations and a founder of the Vanguard Press. His final Nero Wolfe mystery was published only one month before his death in 1975. A decade later, a seventy-third Nero Wolfe book was discovered and published, entitled Death Times Three. |
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| Francis X. Bushman |
| Rex Stout in 1916, aged 30, shortly after his literary career began. |
| Rex and Pola Stout photographed in 1944 |
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| We own and love the A&E Nero Wolfe DVDs. |
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