"It was a long, long period of absolute dearth," he later said. He had support parts in Love from a Stranger (1947) for Bryan Foy at Eagle-Lion Films and I, Jane Doe (1948) for Republic. He starred in Public Prosecutor, the first dramatic TV drama series shot on film. It was filmed in 1947 but not shown until several years later. Public Prosecutor was ultimately broadcast as part of Crawford Mystery Theatre in 1951. He was in "Entrapment" on NBC Presents in 1949. Howard supported John Wayne in The Fighting Kentuckian (1949) for Republic and had the lead in Radar Secret Service (1950) for the low-budget Lippert Pictures. Howard guest-starred on shows like Lights Out, The Bigelow Theatre and Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and had leads in low-budget films like Experiment Alcatraz (1950). Howard was in Models Inc. (1952) and Make Haste to Live (1954) and guest starred on Schlitz Playhouse, Suspense, Four Star Playhouse, and The Loretta Young Show. His first high-profile film in a long while came when he played Laraine Day's husband in The High and the Mighty (1954). Howard made his Broadway debut in 1953 in Hazel Flagg where he met his future wife, the ballerina and actress Eva Ralf. Television star Howard continued to work in TV appearing in General Electric Theater, The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, The Millionaire, The Whistler, The Ford Television Theatre, The Star and the Story, Science Fiction Theatre, Studio 57, Fireside Theatre, TV Reader's Digest, Front Row Center, and Lux Video Theatre. He had the lead in a series, Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal (1955–57). The series raised Howard's profile, and he was offered the lead in The Unknown Terror (1957). In 1958 he starred in another TV series, Adventures of the Sea Hawk, which ran for 26 episodes. 1960s Howard's 1960s acting work included guest spots on Lawman, Wagon Train, Men into Space, Cheyenne, The Magical World of Disney, The Americans, Outlaws, Gunslinger, Lock Up, Bronco, Surfside 6, 77 Sunset Strip, Rawhide, Hawaiian Eye, Perry Mason, Branded, Profiles in Courage, Days of Our Lives, and The Lucy Show, and The Legend of Jesse James. He formed a friendship with Fred MacMurray, star of the TV series My Three Sons who, like Howard, had worked in Paramount features of the 1930s. Howard was a regular guest star on the show, playing MacMurray's boss. Series producer Don Fedderson used Howard in his other series, Family