Willie Dante
Created by Blake Edwards

In the fifties, too long in the tooth to reprise his role as Richard Diamond when it went to television, Dick Powell turned to directing and producing. In 1952, along with David Niven, Charles Boyer and Ida Lupino, Powell created create Four Star Television (later Four Star Films), which produced "Four Star Playhouse," an anthology series, as well as several other series.

But it turned out Powell wasn't quite done with acting, or the tough guy persona he'd created in film and radio. Powell decided he wanted another crack at a Diamond-like character, and so he teamed up with Blake Edwards to create Dante's Inferno, which appeared sporatically on "Four Star Playhouse."

WILLIE DANTE was essentially an older, kinder take on Richard Diamond, a successful restaurant owner and man-about-town who had a not-so-secret casino tucked in the back. Regis Toomey co-starred as Lt. Manny Waldo, the by-the-book cop yearning to shut down Dante, despite the fact he had a begrudging respect for Dante.

d been, only he had mellowed a whole lot. Vowing never to touch the stuff again, he drank only coffee provided to him by a faithful bartender. Missing from this new mixture was a regular girlfriend to keep Dante warm. Helen Asher or her counterpart was sadly needed. The satire and magic of "Diamond" just couldn't be recaptured on the medium of television and only a eight episodes of "Dante's Inferno" were produced.

TELEVISION

• DANTE'S INFERNO
  (1952-56, CBS)
  Four Star Playhouse was a CBS anthology series with alternating stars, there were eight episodes of Dante's Inferno.
  Starring Dick Powell as WILLIE DANTE
  and Regis Toomey as Lt. Manny Waldo

• "Dante's Inferno" (October 9, 1952)
• "The Squeeze" (October 1, 1953)
• "The Hard Way" (November 19, 1953)
• "The House Always Wins" (April 28, 1955)
• "High Stakes" (January 26, 1956)
• "No Limit" (February 16, 1956)
• "A Long Way from Texas" (May 3, 1956)
• "The Stacked Deck" (June 28, 1956)