Nero Wolfe - 82/02/20 Cordially Invited to Death

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 and starred 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. Nero Wolfe, also known as the galloping gourmet, was an armchair detective. He rarely left the house; instead, his assistant, Archie Goodwin, would collect the facts and report back.

Nero Wolfe would probably not have taken on many cases had he not needed the clients' money to pay for his two true passions: fine food and the collecting of orchids. Archie Goodwin, Wolfe's male secretary, prodded him into taking cases whenever the bank balance got a little low. Wolfe, as a character, is difficult to like. He's a self-assured type that does nothing unless he wants to, making his assistant, Archie Goodwin, deal with the outside world.

The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe is based on a series of books begun in 1934 by Rex Stout. There were two previous incarnations of the radio series: The Adventures of Nero Wolfe which ran in 1943 and 1944 and The New Adventures of (aka The Amazing) Nero Wolfe which ran in 1945 to 1946. Very few episodes from these earlier series are in circulation today.

There was also one later series created by the Canadian Broadcasting Company in 1982.