Jack Webb Net Worth

Jack Webb's Quotes

• [on Julie London] Julie was a hell of an actress--people forget--before she became a singer.

Interesting Facts about Jack Webb

1. Performed charity work related to widows and children of police officers killed in the line of duty.
2. Upon his death, the badge number 714, used by his character Joe Friday in the "Dragnet" TV shows, was officially retired by the Los Angeles Police Department. The badge belonged to Lt. Dan Cooke, his close friend.
3. Was buried with full honors befitting an LAPD detective, including a 17-gun salute.
4. Not only did the Los Angeles Police Department use Dragnet (1951) episodes as training films for a time, it also named a police academy auditorium after Webb.
5. Contrary to popular belief, his character, Joe Friday, never said, "Just the facts, ma'am" in any episode of "Dragnet". The actual line was "All we want are the facts, ma'am.".
6. Had just over 6,000 jazz albums in his private collection.
7. He turned down the role of Dean Wormer in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978) because he felt it would be poking fun at his straight-laced, law-and-order image. He was closely identified with law and order, in particular police officers, and he felt that the film would be making fun of that, even though he claimed he was willing to poke fun at himself -- and, in fact, did just that in a famous skit on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962).
8. Was a close friend of Star Trek (1966) creator Gene Roddenberry.
9. Was the basis for the Brett Chase character in L.A. Confidential (1997).
10. At the height of Dragnet (1951)'s popularity, people would actually call the LAPD wanting to speak to Webb's character, Sgt. Joe Friday. The Department eventually came up with a stock answer to the large volume of calls: "Sorry, it's Joe's day off".
11. Was part of the investigation of the infamous "Black Dahlia" murder case in Los Angeles in the 1940s -- in which an aspiring actress was murdered, dismembered, and left in an open field -- which helped to inspire him to create Dragnet (1951).
12. Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume One, 1981-1985, pages 851-853. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1998.
13. Was a huge baseball fan and chose badge #714 for Sgt. Friday because it was the number of home runs Babe Ruth hit.
14. Featured in the book "Bad Boys: The Actors of Film Noir" by Karen Burroughs Hannsberry (McFarland, 2003).
15. He was awarded two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Radio at 7040 Hollywood Blvd. and for Television at 6728 Hollywood Blvd.
16. Appears as Sgt. Joe Friday on a 44¢ US commemorative postage stamp issued 11 August 2009, in the "Early TV Memories" series of stamps honoring Dragnet (1951).
17. Father, with Julie London, of daughters Stacy Webb and Lisa Webb. Stacy died in a car accident in 1996.
18. Despite being unhappy with an article Jack Jones had written about "Dragnet", Webb insisted on paying for Barbara Stewart's wedding to Jones after she told Webb that she had just returned from performing for the military in Europe.
19. Was best friends with ex-wife Julie London, as well as Bobby Troup, Harry Morgan, Robert A. Cinader, Robert Conrad, John Smith, Randolph Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, Tim Donnelly, Marco Lopez, Ron Pinkard, Virginia Gregg, Clark Howat, John Nolan, Martin Milner, and Kent McCord.
20. When he approached veteran western actor Robert Fuller to play the male lead role of Dr. Kelly Brackett in Emergency! (1972), Fuller politely turned down the role. Webb wouldn't take no for an answer and told Fuller to "shut up and sit down!".