Born in Mountain View, the seat of Stone County in northern Arkansas, Powell attended the former Little Rock College in the state capital, before he started his entertainment career as a singer with the Charlie Davis Orchestra, based in the midwest. He recorded a number of records with Davis and on his own, for the Vocalion label in the late 1920s. Powell's film The Enemy Below (1957), based on the novel by Denys Rayner, won an Academy Award for special effects. Dick Powell has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6915 Hollywood Blvd.