- I Led Three Lives
infobox television
show_name = I Led Three Lives
caption =
format =Drama
runtime = 25 minutes per episode
creator =
starring = Richard Carlson
country =United States
network =
first_aired =October 1 1953
last_aired =May 1 1957
num_seasons = 3
num_episodes = 117
list_episodes =
imdb_id = 0045397
tv_com_id = 5873"I Led Three Lives" was an American television show which was syndicated by
Ziv Television Programs from 1953 to 1956. It was loosely based on the life ofHerbert Philbrick , a Boston advertising executive who infiltrated the U.S. Communist Party on behalf of theFBI in the 1940s and wrote a bestselling book on the topic, "I Led Three Lives: Citizen, 'Communist', Counterspy" (1952). The part of Philbrick was played by Richard Carlson.History
"I Led Three Lives" lasted 117 episodes. Philbrick narrated each episode and served as a technical consultant — and all scripts were approved by
J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI. Nonetheless, the episodes often had very little to do with the actual events of Philbrick's life, with plotlines taking Philbrick on journeys to Europe and South America. They gradually became more and more outlandish, featuring such supposed "Communist plots" as an attempt to convertvacuum cleaner s into bomb launchers.Interestingly, the show was a favorite of accused presidential assassin
Lee Harvey Oswald when he was a teenager. [ [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/oswald/interviews/oswald.html frontline: who was lee harvey oswald?: interview: robert oswald | PBS ] ]The show was a companion piece of sorts to the radio drama "
I Was a Communist for the FBI ", which dealt with a similar subject and was also syndicated by Ziv from 1952 to 1954.Main Cast
* Richard Carlson - Herbert Philbrick
*Virginia Stefan - Eva Philbrick
*Patricia Morrow - Constance Philbrick
*Charles Maxwell - Special Agent Joe Carney
* William Hudson - Special Agent Mike Andrews
*John Beradino - Special Agent Steve Daniels
*John Zaremba - Special Agent Jerry Dressler
*Ed Hinton - Special Agent HendersonReferences
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.