Rocky Fortune
Created by George Lefferts

In the days prior to From Here To Eternity, Frank Sinatra's popularity was waning and this private eye show was an attempt to remedy that. In it, Frank played ROCKY FORTUNE, a "footloose and fancy-free young man," frequently unemployed, who took numerous, adventurous odd jobs. It was a relatively undistinguished series; definitely a "B grade" radio series, saved by Sinatra's charm and a tongue-in-cheek approach.

Employed or not, Rocky possesed a variety of skills. During the course of the series, he worked as a process server, museum tour guide, cabbie, bodyguard, chauffeur, truck driver, social director for a Catskills resort and a carny. He could also fake enough bass to play at weddings and bar-mitzvahs. For most of the series, Rocky received his job assignments from the Gridley Employment Agency, usually referred to as just "the agency".

The only recurring character, throughout the series, besides Rocky himself, is the long-suffering Sergeant Hamilton J. Finger - a solid, although not-too-bright cop who works out of what is frequently referred to as "the Irish clubhouse," who seemed to be constantly running into Rocky, whether he wanted to or not.

At about the same time, November 10, 1953 to July 9, 1954, Sinatra also starred in a musical show on NBC called To Be Perfectly Frank. And, no matter how you look at it, Rocky Fortune was really just another chance for the ever-ambitious Sinatra to be himself, and to promote his career. "From Here To Eternity" had opened that August, and Sinatra used the series to promote the film (and his Oscar nomination). As the series wound to a close and the date of the Academy Awards presentation drew near, it became a running gag that Rocky seemed to work the phrase "from here to eternity" into almost every show.

Fortunately for his career, his Oscar for his role in Eternity came and rescued him from all this.

RADIO

• ROCKY FORTUNE
  (1953-54, NBC)
  26 weeks, 25 episodes
  First broadcast: October 6, 1953
  Last broadcast: March 30, 1954
  Writers: George Lefferts, Norm Sickel, Robert Senadella (story), Ernest Kinoy, Doc Sanford
  Directors: Andrew C. Love, Fred Weihe, Howard Wiley
  Announcer: Eddie King
  Starring Frank Sinatra as ROCKY FORTUNE
  and Barney Phillips as Hamilton J. Finger
  Guest stars: Lynn Allen, Parley Baer, Tony Barrett, Richard Beales, Raymond Burr , Ed Begley, Howard Culver, Don Diamond, Georgia Ellis, Herb Ellis, Frances Eurey, Stanley Frasier, Frank Gerstel, Maurice Hart, Mandell Kramer, Jack Kruschen, Lou Mal, Marvin Miller, Shep Mencken, Jack Nestel, William Oiler, Jack Maither, Steven Chase, Vivi Janis, Eddie Fields, Barney Phillips, Frank Richards, Marion Richman, Bill Justine, Ted Von Eltz, Jean Tatum, Tim Holland, Elaine Ross, Leslie Wood, Stotts Cottsworth, Bill Zuckert, Arnold Moss, Roger DeKoven, James Muntz, Jan Miner, Ted Osborne, Leon Janney, Joseph Julian, Bryna Raeburn, David Seffer, Mary McGovern, Kay Stewart, Norma Varden, Betty Lou Gerson, John Stevenson.

• "Oyster Shucker" (October 6, 1953 ; AKA Pearl Smugglers)
• "Steven In A Rest Home" (October 13, 1953; AKA Insurance Fraud; Steven Crandall; Double Indemnity)
• "Ship's Steward" (October 20, 1953; AKA Shipboard Jewel Robbery)
• "Pint-Sized Payroll Bandit" (October 27, 1953; AKA Short Order Cook)
• "$100 An Hour Messenger" (November 10, 1953 ; AKA Messenger Boy; Messenger for Murder)
• "A Little Jazz Goes A Long Way To Murder" (November 17, 1953; AKA A Hepcat Kills the Canary)
• "Drama Critic's Bodyguard" (November 24, 1953; AKA Nursemaid To a Drama Critic; Murder on the Aisle)
• "Art Store Handyman" (December 1, 1953; AKA Parlormaid To a Statue; Murder Among the Statues)
• "The Kid And The Carnival" (December 8, 1953; AKA Carnival One Way)
• "Paid Companion" (December 15, 1953; AKA Companion To A Chimp)
• "Department Store Santa" (DEcember 22, 1953; AKA The Plot To Murder Santa Claus)
• "Prize Fighter" (December 29, 1953; AKA Prize Fighter Setup )
• "On the Trail of a Killer" (January 5, 1954; AKA Love And Death; On The Trail Of A Killer; Sister Ellie's Dead)
• "Ride 'em Cowboy" (January 12, 1954; AKA Rodeo Murder )
• "Murder In The Museum" (January 19, 1954; AKA The Museum Murder; Museum of Ancient History)
• "Hollywood Or Boom" (January 26, 1954; AKA Hauling Nitro)
• "Football Fix" (February 2, 1954)
• "Social Director" (February 9, 1954; AKA Catskills Cover-up)
• "Too Many Husbands" (February 16, 1954; AKA The Too Much Married Blonde)
• "Hit List" (February 26, 1954; AKA Decoy For Death; The Grinder)
• "Drug Addict" (March 2, 1954; AKA The Doctor's Dilemma)
• "Let's Find A Murderer" (March 9, 1954; AKA Incident In A Bar;Fresh Corpse)
• "The Little Voice Of Murder" (March 16, 1954; AKA Psychological Murder; Witness To A Will/Witness To A Kill)
• "Rocket To The Morgue" March 23, 1954; AKA Rocket Racket; Zenith Foundation)
• "Boarding House Doublecross" (March 30, 1954)

Contributed by Stewart Wright, who set me straight on this one.
Also, thanks to Joe Berg's Rocky Fortune Log, part of the extensive Sinatra List Home Page, and a special thanks to Lois Culver, wife of Howard Culver, who actually appeared on Rocky Fortune.