Philo Vance was the fictitious detective created by S. S. Van Dine, which was first published in the mid 1920s. The Radio show starred Jose Ferrer, in the 1945 run, John Emery in the 1946 run, and the final run from 1948 to 1950 starred Jackson Beck, with Joan Alexander as Vance's secretary. George Petrie played the impressionable District Attorney Markham.