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I Led 3 Lives
Opening title screen
Also known as	I Led Three Lives
Genre	Drama
Written by	Lee Berg Frank Burt Stuart Jerome Norman Jolley Gene Roddenberry
Directed by	Eddie Davis Leslie Goodwins Jack Herzberg Henry S. Kesler Herbert L. Strock
Starring	Richard Carlson
Narrated by	Richard Carlson
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	117
Production
Executive producer	Frederick W. Ziv
Producers	Leon Benson Julius J. Epstein Jack Herzberg Henry S. Kesler Lew Landers Herbert L. Strock Maurice Unger
Cinematography	Monroe P. Askins Curt Fetters Robert Hoffman
Editors	Ace Clark Charles Craft John B. Woelz
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	Ziv Television Programs
Original release
Network	Syndication
Release	October 1, 1953 (1953-10-01) – January 1, 1956 (1956-01-01)

I Led 3 Lives (also known as I Led Three Lives) is an American drama series syndicated by Ziv Television Programs from October 1, 1953, to January 1, 1956. The series stars Richard Carlson. The show was a companion piece of sorts to the radio drama I Was a Communist for the FBI, which dealt with a similar subject and was also syndicated by Ziv from 1952 to 1954.

Synopsis

The series was loosely based on the life of Herbert Philbrick, a Boston advertising executive who infiltrated the U.S. Communist Party on behalf of the FBI in the 1940s and wrote a bestselling book on the topic, I Led Three Lives: Citizen, 'Communist', Counterspy (1952). The part of Philbrick was played by Richard Carlson. The "three lives" in the title are Philbrick's outward life as a white-collar worker, his secret life as a Communist agent, and his even more secret life as an FBI operative helping to foil Communist plots. I Led 3 Lives lasted 117 episodes. Philbrick served as a technical consultant, with Carlson narrating each episode.

The episodes often had very little to do with the actual events of Philbrick's life as related in his book—Philbrick is credited with only 5 of the 117 screenplays. Screenplays gradually became more and more outlandish, featuring, for example, such supposed "Communist plots" as the conversion of household vacuum cleaners (1942-1954 Electrolux) into tactical missile launchers with which the Communists intended to destroy America's Nike anti-aircraft defensive missiles, and the manufacturing of untraceable "ghost guns" (unserialized Colt M1911 .45 cal semi-automatics) with which the Communists intended to assassinate their political enemies.

The FBI reviewed all of the series's scripts. The series was honored by the Freedoms Foundation as the best television program of 1955.

Main cast

• Richard Carlson – Herbert A. Philbrick
• Virginia Stefan – Eva Philbrick
• Patricia Morrow – Constance Philbrick
• Charles Maxwell – Special Agent Joe Carney
• William Hudson – Special Agent Mike Andrews
• John Beradino – Special Agent Steve Daniels
• John Zaremba – Special Agent Jerry Dressler
• Ed Hinton – Special Agent Henderson

Guest stars

• Vivi Janiss as Comrade Elaine in "Gun Running" and Comrade Endora in "Counterfeit"
• Eve McVeagh as Miss Cutler in "Commie Dies"
• Ewing Mitchell as Mr. Collins in "Defense Plant Security"
• Victor Rodman as Comrade Arthur in "Commie Dies"

Episodes

Season 1 (1953–54)

Season 2 (1954–55)

Season 3 (1955–56)

In popular culture

The show was a favorite of Lee Harvey Oswald, according to his brother.

The title of the TV series I Had Three Wives, which aired briefly in 1985, is a pun on the name of the original; it was an otherwise unrelated comedy-drama about a private detective's three ex-wives, who cooperate on cases.

References

1. "Herbert Philbrick, 78, F.B.I. Spy Who Inspired TV Series in the 50s". The New York Times. August 18, 1993. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
2. ^ Grams, Martin Jr. (2007). I Led 3 Lives: The True Story of Herbert A. Philbrick's Television Program (PDF). BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593930929 – via martingrams.biz.
3. ^ Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (1999). The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present (7th ed.). New York: The Ballentine Publishing Group. pp. 478–479. ISBN 0-345-42923-0.
4. "Freedom Awards Given To Host Of Americans". Sandusky Register. Sandusky, Ohio. February 22, 1956. p. 23. Retrieved November 27, 2018 – via newspapers.com.
5. ^ McNeil, Alex (1996). Total Television: the Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948 to the Present (4th ed.). New York, New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc. p. 400. ISBN 0-14-02-4916-8.
6. Geerhart, Bill (January 23, 2011). "The Best of 'I Led Three Lives'". CONELRAD Adjacent. Retrieved November 27, 2018.

Further reading

• Grams, Martin Jr. (2007). I Led 3 Lives: The True Story of Herbert A. Philbrick's Television Program. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593930929.
• Kackman, Michael (1998). "Citizen, Communist, Counterspy: I Led 3 Lives and Television's Masculine Agent of History" (PDF). Cinema Journal. 38 (1): 98–114. doi:10.2307/1225737. JSTOR 1225737 – via Middlebury College Language Schools.

External links

• I Led 3 Lives at IMDb
• I Led Three Lives: Army Infiltration (S1 E7) at The Internet Archive
• I Led 3 Lives - Pilot via YouTube

• 1950s American drama television series
• 1953 American television series debuts
• 1956 American television series endings
• Black-and-white American television shows
• Cold War espionage
• American English-language television shows
• First-run syndicated television programs in the United States
• Propaganda in the United States
• Television series by Ziv Television Programs