William Gargan was born in 1905 in Brooklyn. According to his autobiography, Why Me? his father was a gambler & bookie, well aquainted with the local politicians, celebreties, & gangsters. Dropping out of school, he shuffled through a series of short-lived jobs. For a while, he worked as a credit investigator/bill collector for a clothing store, once getting shot at by an unhappy debtor. Later he worked as a private detective for an agency, tailing suspects, conducting stakeouts, & protecting payrolls. He was fired when he lost track a diamond salesman he was supposed to be bodyguarding.

He got into acting by accident when his brother ,Ed, took him along to a meeting with an agent. He performed on the stage until his role as Red Regan in The Animal Kingdom(1932) with friend Leslie Howard landed him a Hollywood contract. Throughout the 30's and 40's he made scores of what he called "schlemiel movies", forgettable B movies that still managed to finance a lavish lifestyle of mansions, polo ponies, and yachts, hanging out with Cagney, Pat O'Brien, Alan Jenkins, and the rest of the "Irish Mafia". He enjoyed life immensely, and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for They Knew What They Wanted in 1940.

He spent part of World War II on tour as head of a USO troupe with Keenan Wynn and Paulette Goddard, visiting China & India. William Gargan became a household name in the 1950's on TV as Martin Kane, Private Detective, television's first private dick. The series was revived in 1957 and did well again. His radio career as Barry Craig, Confidential Investigator came after he became known as a detective.

The big story of his life happened in 1960. He was starring in the play The Best Man as a former president dying of cancer. His performance one night was so realistic it brought some in the audience to tears. But it wasn't acting. His hoarse voice turned out to be cancer of the larynx. His voice box had to be removed by surgery, ending his acting career. Breathing and speaking through a hole, or "stoma" in his throat, He forced himself to learn "esophageal speech", and taught the method to other patients for the American Cancer Society for many years. He later campaigned against smoking for the society.

Two years after losing his speech, he gave his final performance - as a mute clown in a TV production called King of Diamonds. Used copies of his autobiography, Why Me? can still be found on the web at Amazon or Alibris.com.