Rocky Fortune was the title of an American radio drama that aired weekly on NBC Radio beginning in October 1953 (see 1953 in radio). The series ended its run in March 1954 after 25 episodes. The program was created by George Lefferts.Frank Sinatra voiced the title role of Rocky Fortune for the duration of the series.
Rocky Fortune aired Tuesday nights on NBC at 9:30pm Eastern, immediately following Dragnet. It was a sustaining series, meaning that NBC presented the program without corporate sponsorship. The première episode, "Oyster Shucker", originally aired on October 6, 1953.
Frank Sinatra portrayed Rocko Fortunato, also known as Rocky Fortune, a private eye who also accepted odd jobs from the ficticious Gridley Employment Agency. These assignments typically led Rocky into situations where he would track down criminals, often rescuing people (especially women) in need of help. Rocky made many wise remarks and seemed to attract trouble wherever he went. Sinatra infused the role of Rocky with a witty, tongue-in-cheek quality that acknowledged Sinatra's own career. For example, in the episode "Football Fix", Rocky begins to sing "I've Got the World on a String" while walking down the street, a song Sinatra had performed prior to playing the role of Rocky.
Aside from Sinatra, the only other recurring role on the series was that of Hamilton J. Finger, a police sergeant voiced by Barney Phillips. Other guest roles on Rocky Fortune were voiced by actors such as Raymond Burr, Ed Begley and Jack Kruschen.
In addition to creating the show, George Lefferts was also one of the primary scriptwriters, along with Ernest Kinoy. The two had previously collaborated on other radio programs such as X Minus One and Dimension X, and both would become award-winning writers and producers in the years that followed. Edward "Eddie" King was the show's narrator, who began each episode by stating, "NBC presents Frank Sinatra starring as that footloose and fancy-free young gentleman Rocky Fortune!".
The final episode, "Boarding House Doublecross", aired on March 30, 1954, less than a week after Sinatra won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Private Angelo Maggio in the 1953 film, From Here to Eternity. As a running gag towards the end of the show's run, Sinatra would work the phrase "from here to eternity" into the script as a reference to his film role.