William Hannan Spier (pronounced like the word “spear”) was born in New York City to a Jewish father and a Presbyterian mother.

[4] At the agency, he produced and directed radio shows, such as The Atwater Kent Hour, an hour-long Sunday night presentation of Metropolitan Opera singers; General Motors' Family Party; and Ethyl Tune-Up Time.

[7] At the same time, he was co-director, co-producer and some-time writer of Suspense, an anthology program of mysteries and thrillers, and Duffy's Tavern.

[14] In 1946, Spier directed, produced and sometimes wrote the radio series The Adventures of Sam Spade, based upon the detective created by Dashiell Hammett.

[16] He created (with Louis Pelletier), produced, directed, and wrote for the 1954–1955 CBS situation comedy Willy, starring June Havoc.

[17] In some respects, the show was ahead of its time in that Havoc's character, Willa “Willy” Dodger, was an unmarried lawyer with her own legal practice in a small New England town.

[20] On July 21, 1941, the CBS program Forecast, produced by Spier, broadcast a pilot comedy “51 East 51,” starring Thompson.

[27] In 1945, Spier, along with co-writer Robert L. Richards, was nominated for the Hugo Award for best dramatic presentation – short form for the two-part episode “Donovan’s Brain” on Suspense.

[28] Spier received a Writers' Guild of America Award for best episode longer than 30 minutes in length for the two-episode script “The Unhired Assassin” for The Untouchables in 1962.