# Defense Attorney

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{{Short description|American radio program}}
{{about|a radio show|a profession|Defense attorney}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox radio show
| show_name     = ''Defense Attorney''
| image         = Studio publicity Mercedes McCambridge.JPG
| imagesize     = 250px
| caption       = Mercedes McCambridge
| other_names   = ''The Defense Rests''
| format        = Crime drama
| runtime       = 30 minutes
| country       = United States
| language      = English
| home_station  = 
| syndicates    = [ABC](/source/American_Broadcasting_Company) 
| television    = 
| presenter     = 
| starring      = [Mercedes McCambridge](/source/Mercedes_McCambridge)<br>[Howard Culver](/source/Howard_Culver)
| announcer     = Orville Anderson
| creator       = Cameron Blake
| writer        = Cameron Blake<br>Bill Johnston<br>Joel Murcott
| director      = [Dwight Hauser](/source/Dwight_Hauser)
| senior_editor = 
| editor        = 
| producer      = Warren Lewis
| exec_producer = 
| narrated      = 
| rec_location  = 
| rem_location  = 
| oth_location  = 
| first_aired   = {{Start date|1951|07|06}}
| last_aired    = {{End date|1952|12|30}}
| num_series    = 
| num_episodes  = 
| audio_format  = 
| opentheme     = 
| othertheme    = 
| endtheme      = 
| sponsor       = 
| website       = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
| podcast       = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
}}
'''''Defense Attorney''''' is an American [old-time radio](/source/old-time_radio) crime drama. It was broadcast on [ABC](/source/American_Broadcasting_Company) from July 6, 1951,<ref name="dd">{{cite web|title="Defense Attorney"|url=http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Defense-Attorney.html|website=The Digital Deli Too|accessdate=29 July 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729160002/http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Defense-Attorney.html|archivedate=29 July 2017}}</ref><ref group=note>Although two old-time radio reference books (''On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio'' and ''Radio Crime Fighters: Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age'') give the starting date as August 31, 1951, The Digital Deli Too gives July 6, 1951, as the starting date. Radio listings in contemporary newspapers also show that the program was first aired on July 6, 1951.</ref><ref name=wrh/><ref>{{cite news|title=Today's Radio|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12714439/defense_attorney/|work=Tucson Daily Citizen|date=July 6, 1951|location=Tucson, Arizona|page=14|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)|accessdate = July 29, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Radio Highlights|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12714482/defense_attorney/|work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle|date=July 6, 1951|location=Brooklyn, New York|page=13|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)|accessdate = July 29, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=On The Networks|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12714530/defense_attorney/|work=The Progress|date=July 6, 1951|location=Clearfield, Pennsylvania |page=2|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)|accessdate = July 29, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> to December 30, 1952.<ref name="dunningota">{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Fi5wPDBiGfMC&dq=%22Defense+Attorney,+crime+drama%22&pg=PA196 |last=Dunning |first=John |author-link=John Dunning (detective fiction author) |title=On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio |date=1998 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=978-0-19-507678-3 |page=196 |edition=Revised |access-date=2019-09-15}}</ref><ref name=rcf/> It was also known as ''The Defense Rests''.<ref name="rcf">{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=Jim|title=Radio Crime Fighters: Over 300 Programs from the Golden Age.|date=2002|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-4324-6|page=97}}</ref>

==Characters==
The title character was Martha Ellis "Marty" Bryant, "a respected attorney who has a reputation for integrity"<ref name="rp">{{cite book|last1=Terrace|first1=Vincent|title=Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows|date=1999|publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc.|isbn=978-0-7864-4513-4|pages=97–98}}</ref> and "who champions causes of the underdog and unjustly accused".<ref>{{cite news|title=Dial Chatter|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12714696/defense_attorney/|work=The La Crosse Tribune|date=October 4, 1951|location=La Crosse, Wisconsin|page=16|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)|accessdate = July 29, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref> Jud Barnes, a newspaper reporter, was Bryant's boyfriend.<ref name=rp/> Ron Lackmann wrote in his book ''Mercedes McCambridge: A Biography and Career Record'' that Bryant "spent more time solving crimes with her boyfriend ... than she did in the courtroom".<ref name="mm">{{cite book|last1=Lackmann|first1=Ron|title=Mercedes McCambridge: A Biography and Career Record|date=2005|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786419791|page=82|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OvsJBgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Defense+Attorney%22+radio&pg=PA82|accessdate=28 July 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Personnel==
[Mercedes McCambridge](/source/Mercedes_McCambridge) had the title role, and [Howard Culver](/source/Howard_Culver) played Judson Barnes. Tony Barrett portrayed Detective Lieutenant Ed Ledis.<ref name=rp/> Supporting actors in the program included Paul Fries, Bill Johnston, Kay Wiley,<ref name=rcf/> [Harry Bartell](/source/Harry_Bartell), [Dallas McKennon](/source/Dallas_McKennon), [Irene Tedrow](/source/Irene_Tedrow), and [Parley Baer](/source/Parley_Baer).<ref name=mm/> Orville Anderson was the announcer.<ref name=dd/>

Warren Lewis was the producer, and [Dwight Hauser](/source/Dwight_Hauser) was the director. Cameron Blake (the program's creator),<ref>{{cite web|last1=McLeod|first1=Elizabeth|title=Mercedes McCambridge for the Defense|url=http://www.radioclassics.com/mercedes-mccambridge-for-the-defense/|website=Radio Classics|accessdate=29 July 2017|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729153053/http://www.radioclassics.com/mercedes-mccambridge-for-the-defense/|archivedate=29 July 2017}}</ref> Bill Johnston, and Joel Murcott were writers. Music was by Rex Khoury<ref name=rcf/> and Basil Adlam.<ref name=wrh>{{cite news|title=New Radio Show Starts Tonight|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12713957/the_winona_republicanherald/|work=The Winona Republican-Herald|date=July 6, 1951|location=Winona, Minnesota|page=9|via = [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)|accessdate = July 29, 2017}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==Background==
''Defense Attorney'' originated with an audition record, ''The Defense Rests'', which was made for a proposed [NBC](/source/NBC) series in April 1951.<ref name=mm/><ref name=dd/>

==TV pilot==
In 1953, the trade publication ''[Billboard](/source/Billboard_(magazine))'' reported on work on a television version of ''Defense Attorney''. An article in the magazine's March 28, 1953, issue said that Don Sharpe was in New York "to begin sales efforts on his newest film show, ''Defense Attorney'', starring Mercedes McCambridge, and based on his former radio series of the same name."<ref name=bb032853>{{cite magazine|title=Sharpe to Boost 'Defense Attorney'|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwsEAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22Defense+Attorney%22+McCambridge&pg=PA14|accessdate=28 July 2017|magazine=Billboard|date=March 28, 1953|page=10}}</ref> Fletcher Markle wrote and directed the pilot episode,<ref name=bb032853/> which was filmed by [Desilu Productions](/source/Desilu_Productions).<ref>{{cite news |title=Desilu completes pilot on Defense Attorney |url=https://archive.org/details/rossreportstele25ross/page/n34/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=February 14, 2022 |work=Ross Reports |date=October 12, 1952 |page=4}}</ref>

==Recognition==
McCambridge's work on ''Defense Attorney'' led to her receiving honorary membership in the Los Angeles Women's Bar Association and the Favorite Dramatic Actress Award from ''[Radio-TV Mirror](/source/Macfadden_Communications_Group)'' magazine.<ref name=mm/>

==Notes== 
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
===Logs===
*[http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Defense-Attorney.html Log of episodes of ''Defense Attorney'' from The Digital Deli Too] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170729160002/http://www.digitaldeliftp.com/DigitalDeliToo/dd2jb-Defense-Attorney.html |date=July 29, 2017 }}
*[http://www.otrsite.com/logs/logd1071.htm Log of episodes of ''Defense Attorney'' from Jerry Haendiges Vintage Radio Logs]
*[http://www.otrr.org/FILES/Logs_txt/Defense%20Attorney.txt Log of episodes of ''Defense Attorney'' from Old Time Radio Researchers Group]
*[https://radiogoldin.library.umkc.edu/Home/RadioGoldin_Records?searchString=Defense%20Attorney&type=Programs&count=11 Log of episodes of ''Defense Attorney'' from radioGOLDINdex]

===Streaming===
*[https://archive.org/details/DefenseAttorney Streaming episodes of ''Defense Attorney'' from the Internet Archive]
*[http://otrrlibrary.org/OTRRLib/Library%20Files/D%20Series/Defense%20Attorney/ Streaming episodes of ''Defense Attorney'' from Old Time Radio Researchers Group Library]

<!--- Categories --->
Category:1951 radio programme debuts
Category:1952 radio programme endings
Category:1950s American radio programs
Category:ABC radio programs
Category:American radio dramas

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Defense Attorney](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Attorney) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Attorney?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.