In our post on the 1960 episodes of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, we covered how the series changed
dramatically from one of the most original and subversive situation comedies of
its time in Season 1 into a more homogenized and sentimental version of itself
in Season 2. In his Classic TV History blog, television historian Stephen Bowie
has written exhaustively about the show's origins and evolution, so there is
bound to be overlap in our observations about the episodes which aired in 1961,
covering the last two-thirds of Season 2 and the first third of Season 3. As
Bowie points out, one of Dobie's
innovations was introducing a more modern story arc into the series that traces
the character's development and progression through life stages rather than
having each episode serve as a standalone event seemingly frozen in time. After
a season and a half of Dobie and friends running in place through their high
school experience, the series began to generate narrative drive in the third
1961 episode "The Big Question" (January 24, 1961) when teacher Mr.
Pomfritt assigns his students the essay topic "Whither Are We
Drifting?" to get them to think about their future careers as well as
their goals in life. This is the first suggestion that Dobie's high school days
are coming to an end, and he has no idea what he wants to do in life but is not
worried because, like a baby bird, once he is kicked out of his family nest he
will adapt and figure it out. The episode is remarkable because unlike most
sit-coms of the time it does not offer pat answers, and rather than chastise
Dobie for being unprepared for his future, Pomfritt applauds his confidence
that he will find his calling in due time. And the episode rings true to life
for many high school soon-to-be graduates who have yet to figure out what they
would like to be. Coincidentally, Dwayne Hickman himself did not originally
plan to be an actor even though he had been appearing in films since the age of
11, but as he revealed in the cover story for the September 2 issue of TV Guide, his intention to enter college
and study economics was sidetracked by an offer of $300 to appear in the test
film for The Bob Cummings Show, which
was then picked up as a regular series and gave him a supporting role for 4
years and 155 episodes before being given his own show.
After several more episodes that deal with tangential issues
such as Dobie trying to improve his parents' marriage and an attempt to get
Zelda to stop trying to improve him, Dobie and friends finally graduate from
high school in "The Second Childhood of Herbert T. Gillis" (March 7,
1961), an otherwise sentimental story about Dobie's father trying to finally
get his high school degree without his son knowing he didn't finish school. But
the following episode, "Dobie vs. the Machine" (March 14, 1961), has
Dobie again wrestling with his decision on a career when Pomfritt sends him to
a career counseling service that uses aptitude tests and a large computer to
recommend a career for its clients. After taking all the tests and answering
questionnaires, in which his answer to all questions about his interests is
"girls," Dobie bails out before the computer spits out his ideal
career path because he says he doesn't want his life controlled by a machine
and was hoping for direction from someone with feelings and emotion. He decides
to enlist in the Army just as his father did at his age because he reasons it
will give him lots of time to think and figure out his next move. And so begins
the last half of Season 2 with Dobie and Maynard, who has to tag along with
everything that Dobie does, enlisting in the Army, eventually joined by
Chatsworth Osborne, Jr. as well. As Bowie has noted, these episodes appear to
be creator Max Shulman's attempt at mining a trove of boot camp jokes, in all
likelihood drawn from his own experience in the military, which come off like a
derivative of The Phil Silvers Show.
Some of these episodes are painfully corny, such as "I Didn't Raise My Son
to Be a Soldier, Sailor, or Marine" (March 28, 1961) in which Dobie and
Maynard are waiting to board the bus for the trip to boot camp when Maynard
thinks that he left the water running in the bathtub, and since his parents are
away, he runs home to turn it off just before the recruits are ordered to board
the bus. Faced with the possibility of Maynard being labeled a deserter, Dobie
presses Chatsworth to pose as Maynard until he can get back to camp. Needless
to say, the idea that anyone would fall for Maynard and Chatsworth being the
same person is absurd, which is supposed to be the source of humor but actually
falls pretty flat. During his Army service, we don't see Dobie doing any
thinking about his future--he spends most of his time pursuing any young female
he encounters and extricating Maynard from his inevitable messes. It's almost
as if Shulman also needed some time to figure out what to do with Dobie and
needed a place to stash him till he figured it out. That premise might be
plausible if the Dobie Gillis character hadn't originated as a college student
in Shulman's short stories. In any case, the Army episodes are not the series'
high point.
Season 3 begins with Dobie and Maynard being honorable
discharged from the Army--we don't know why or how long they have served, but
when Maynard tries to get back into camp he is driven away with a bayonet. Still
not sure what to do with his life, Dobie is thrown another lifeline or place to
let nature run its course when he discovers that Mr. Pomfritt has left his job
at Central City High to take a job teaching at P. Peter Pryor Community
College, which boasts not only free tuition but admittance to anyone who is a
high school graduate, yet another bend-over-backwards ploy to keep the series
regulars together because not only does Dobie enroll but also Maynard, Zelda,
and Chatsworth. While it makes perfect sense for goof-offs Dobie and Maynard to
attend the school, having Zelda and Chatsworth also enroll does not pass the
sniff test. Ever since her introduction on the series Zelda has been the beacon
of academic achievement, finishing her high school career as valedictorian, and
her constant nagging of Dobie to improve himself intellectually and culturally
makes her decision to attend a college with such a low bar for entry
nonsensical. Chatsworth, is likewise often portrayed as intellectually superior
(for example, in the above-mentioned Army episode when he fills in for absent
Maynard), and in fact an entire Season 2 episode, "Zelda, Get Off My
Back" (February 14, 1961), centers around Zelda being hired to help the
wayward Chatsworth get his grades up so that he can attend Yale, like his
ancestors. By episode's end, Mrs. Osborne has pulled strings to get Chatsworth
admitted to Yale, but of course that detail is dropped and never mentioned
again when he shows up as a student at community college.
But consistency does not appear to have been a goal of the
series. The narrative progression of Dobie's young adulthood has a loose,
meandering direction that closely matches his character's distraction. He may
move from high school to the military to college, seeming to suggest a linear
course, but there are many digressions and tangents along the way. The same is
true of his relationship with Zelda. She is single-minded in her devotion to
him and logically suggests that they are fated to end up together because no
one else wants either one of them. But Dobie, though he admits that he likes
her and respects her, denies that they will one day unite. However, we
occasionally see him seem to accept and acknowledge what he himself calls love
for her. In "Zelda, Get Off My Back," Dobie is at first thrilled when
Zelda is lured away by Chatsworth because it gives him the freedom to pursue
other, more physically attractive young women. But his pursuits prove frustrating
because one is a southern belle who is too delicate to do anything, and another
is so self-absorbed that all she wants to do is talk about herself. The
experience prods Dobie to rush to the Osborne estate to get Zelda back and
confess that even though she is annoying he still loves her. Of course, while
that moment may warm the cockles of any sentimentalist's heart, it is quickly
forgotten once Dobie is in the Army and chasing after anything wearing a skirt.
Once they enter college Zelda nearly loses Dobie to Maryann Krolisch in
"Dobie, Dobie, Who's Got Dobie?" (October 17, 1961), who figures that
if Zelda, who is the smartest girl in school, wants Dobie there must be
something good in him. But when Zelda then pretends to contemplate suicide with
a large bottle labeled "Poison" (which is actually vanilla extract),
Maryann dumps Dobie because she can't bear how pitiful Zelda has become. Shulman
recycles the pawn-Zelda-off-on-Chatsworth trope again in "The Fast White
Mouse" (October 31, 1961) when Dobie conspires to get Zelda off his back
again by persuading Mrs. Osborne that Zelda is the perfect match for Chatsworth
given her intellect and the prospect of intelligent heirs. But seeing Zelda
seemingly happy with Chatsworth painting the town red flips a switch in Dobie
and convinces him that he has to have her back, which Zelda is only too happy
to respond to because she says Dobie needs her, whereas Chatsworth can take
care of himself. Finally, in "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Me and Robert
Browning" (December 12, 1961), Dobie takes Pomfritt's advice to reach
beyond his grasp in chasing after beautiful and popular Poppy Jordan even
though she only uses him to buy her dinner. After failing miserably, Dobie
apologizes to Zelda and says he would like to court her as he would any other
girl. Though she had warned him that if he went after Poppy she would abandon
him forever, she is willing to let him try to win her back if he is sincere.
It's clear at this point that the series is pointing toward an eventual union of
Dobie and Zelda, but how long before another soft, round, and creamy female
distracts him and sends him scurrying off like a squirrel after a nut? 
It's this inclination of Dobie's that informs the best
episode of early Season 3, "Dig, Dig, Dig" (November 14, 1961), in
which Dobie's father assumes that his son's sudden interest in Egyptlogy is
solely because his professor, Dr. Imogene Burkhart in her introduction to the
series, is an attractive older woman with a stable income, just the sort of
woman Herbert had just advised his unambitious son to marry since he will
obviously never amount to anything himself. Though Dr. Burkhart repeatedly
assures Herbert that there is nothing going on between herself and his son,
Herbert keeps flashing back to a silent Rudolph Valentino-like movie he has
just seen with Dobie in the Valentino part and Dr. Burkhart as his paramour.
Every time he seems satisfied with Dr. Burkhart's assurances, he imagines
another reason for suspicion and has to return to her classroom to beg her not
to take his boy away. It's a rare post-Season 1 example of the kind of
brilliant inanity that made the original Dobie
so inspired. Sadly, like many first-effort masterpieces, the pressure and
demands of meeting such a high standard proved unsustainable. But thankfully,
we still have those high points, few though they may be, to enjoy.
The Actors
For the biographies of Dwayne Hickman, Frank Faylen, Florida
Friebus, Bob Denver, Sheila James, Steve Franken, Doris Packer, William
Schallert, and Marjorie Bennett, see the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.
Richard Clair
Born Richard Jones on November 12, 1931 in San Francisco,
Clair served in the military from 1955-57 and broke into television on a 1959
episode of Playhouse 90. He appeared
five times as Dobie Gillis' commanding officer Lt. Merriwether in 1961 episodes
of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and
then in two more episodes playing other characters in 1962 and 1963. He also
made single appearances on My Three Sons
and The New Phil Silvers Show during
this time, but after a couple of appearances on My Mother the Car, two small roles in feature films, and a final TV
guest spot on Run for Your Life in
1966, he changed his name to Dick Clair and in the early 1970s teamed up with
Jenna McMahon to create a husband-and-wife comedy sketch routine on programs
such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Dean Martin Show, and The Funny Side. Though he would have a
handful of acting guest spots through 1984, by 1972 he turned his attention to
writing.
He began writing a few episodes of The Bob Newhart Show and The
Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1972, but the following year he was added to the
writing staff of The Carol Burnett Show
on which he contributed to 120 episodes running through 1978 and won three
Emmys. In 1980-81 he wrote and produced the first 13 episodes of Season 4 of Soap and would go on to create the
sit-coms The Facts of Life, It's a Living, and Mama's Family, which he also co-produced. But perhaps he is most
famous for his involvement with cryonics, freezing the body at death in the
hopes that if a cure for the cause of death is found in the future, the body
can be thawed and cured. Clair became a member of the Cryonics Society of California
in the 1960s and in 1982 contributed $20,000 to have a husband and wife
cryopreserved. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 and when he was near death in
1988 he stipulated that he was to be cryopreserved by Alcor Corporation at a
cost of $100,000. The hospital where he was being treated did not want to turn
his body over to Alcor, so Clair sued the California Public Health Service
under the alias of John Roe and won his case. Alcor was involved in another
lawsuit with Clair because his original will bequeathed his entire $1 million
estate to Alcor but three days before his death he changed the will to leave
only half to Alcor and the other half to his former performing partner McMahon.
The company sued, arguing that Clair was hallucinating at the time due to
medication, but in 1989 abandoned the suit. Clair passed away and was then
frozen on December 12, 1988 at the age of 57. The Alcor web site has a lengthy
article about Clair's after-death treatment under his birth name Dick Jones.
Jean Byron
Born
Imogene Audette Burkhart on December 10, 1925 in Paducah, Kentucky, Byron made
her entertainment performing comedy at Churchill Downs at age 12. She attended
high school in Louisville and at age 13 was a winner in the local Gateway to Hollywood talent contest,
which earned her a trip to Hollywood and a tour of the RKO Studios lot. Back
home she sang on radio stations WGRC and WHAS before her family moved to
California when she was 19. There she sang occasionally with the orchestras of
Tommy Dorsey and Jon Savitt before deciding to pursue acting and studying drama
from 1947-50. In 1952 while performing with the Players Ring theater group, she
was spotted by talent advisor Harry Sauber, which led to an audition, a
contract with Columbia, and a change of her stage name to Jean Byron. Her film
debut was in the Johnny Weissmuller jungle drama Voodoo Tiger. This was followed by B-movie roles in The Magnetic Monster and Serpent of the Nile in 1953. In
1954 she made the switch to television and besides one-off roles on Mr. & Mrs. North, Our Miss Brooks, and It's a Great Life, she was cast in her
first recurring role as Minnie on Mayor
of the Town. Throughout the rest of the decade, she made dozens of
appearances on a variety of series such as The
Millionaire, Highway Patrol, and The Adventures of RinTin Tin as well as
drama anthology series such as Studio 57,
and even landed an occasional film role, though these still tended to be
B-movie fare such as Jungle Moon Men
and Johnny Concho. She married actor
Michael Ansara in 1955 but divorced him the following year, saying that he was
rather moody and at times would not even talk to her for days (Ansara would
later marry Barbara Eden). She never remarried after that. She made the first
of three appearances as high school teacher Mrs. Ruth Adams on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis in 1959,
but when Dobie, Maynard, and Zelda graduated and moved on to junior college in
Season 3, she returned as Dr. Imogene Burkhart. Series creator Max Shulman was
an old friend of hers and insisted that she use her actual birth name for her
character. She appeared 16 times as Dr. Burkhart over the series' last two
seasons.
When
the production team for Dobie tried
to spin off a new series centered on Zelda Gilroy, Byron was cast to play her
mother, but the series was never picked up for broadcast, so instead she landed
the role of Patty Duke's mother on The
Patty Duke Show in 1963, playing opposite her fellow teacher from her Dobie Gillis days William Schallert. She
was Patty Duke's matron of honor when Duke married director Harry Falk in 1965.
When that series ended in 1966, Byron slowed down but continued making
occasional appearances on Batman, Ironside, McCloud, and Mod Squad
into the early 1970s and was a regular performer on The Pat Paulsen Half a Comedy Hour. She stayed active through the
end of the decade and into the 1980s on shows such as The Rookies, Police Woman,
and The Jeffersons until she moved to
Mobile, Alabama with her mother in the late 1980s to be closer to extended
family. She participated in the 1999 Patty
Duke Show reunion, after which she and Duke remained in contact. But
after hip-replacement surgery she developed an infection that proved fatal,
passing away on February 3, 2006 at the age of 80.
Raymond Bailey
Born
in San Francisco on May 6, 1904, Raymond Thomas Bailey decided from an early
age that he wanted to be a movie star, but it was not until he was in his 50s
that he became a familiar face on the big and small screens. As a teenager he
went to Hollywood to become an actor but had to settle for a job as a day laborer
on a movie set during the silent film era, only to be fired after getting
caught sneaking into the filming of a mob scene. During this time he also
worked as a stockbroker and a banker, a job that would come in handy for his
most famous role years later. After striking out in his initial try at the
movies, he moved to New York but had a similar lack of success in the theater
and wound up working as a merchant seaman, which allowed him to travel the
world. He returned to Hollywood in 1938 and landed his first roles the
following year, including credited roles in S.O.S.
Tidal Wave, Daredevils of the Red
Circle, Hell's Kitchen, and Flight at Midnight. But he would not
receive another credited part for the next 11 years, though his career was
temporarily interrupted during World War II when he served in the U.S. Merchant
Marine. Upon returning from military service he began augmenting his film work
with television roles beginning in 1952 on Tales
of Tomorrow. He was prolific in both mediums through the late 1950s,
landing meatier supporting roles in films such as Picnic, Vertigo, and No Time for Sergeants alongside TV
programs such as Whirlybirds, Navy Log, and The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. His work with Alfred
Hitchcock is particularly notable as he appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents 10 times and once more when it was
expanded to The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
But it was the 1960s that really catapulted his career, beginning with three
appearances as District Attorney John Carvell on The Untouchables before landing his first recurring role as Mr.
Beaumont on the single-season comedy My
Sister Eileen. After four appearances as Mr. Yates on Margie, he was cast as community college Dean Magruder on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis beginning
in Season 3, a role in which he would appear 7 times over the final two
seasons.
But
his greatest success was yet to come, culminating when he was chosen to play
miserly banker Milburn Drysdale on The
Beverly Hillbillies beginning in 1962. Since the program would soon
become the most popular show on television, Bailey finally achieved the status
he had sought as a teenager. However, the role would also be his last on the
small screen as he began showing symptoms of Alzheimer's toward the end of the
series' 9-year run, which ended in 1971. After that he appeared in only two
Disney feature films before retiring to a life of near seclusion, though he
apparently kept in touch with Hillbillies
co-star Nancy Kulp. He died of a heart attack on April 15, 1980 at the age of
75.
David Bond
Though hardly a major character on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Bond did appear on the series a
dozen times over its four seasons, with 10 of those playing the Osborne's
butler Tremblay. Born Alfred Allegro in New York City on November 13, 1914,
Bond began his career on the stage and appeared in Broadway productions of Othello and Accidentally Yours in the 1940s before moving west to try his luck
in the film business. Though he made his film debut in 1944, many of his roles
were uncredited generic characters, not logging his first credited part until
1947 in The Private Affairs of Bel Ami.
His long, gangly figure and high cheekbones led to many roles playing ethnic or
foreign characters in features such as Song
of India, We Were Strangers, and Sirocco. He broke into television in
1952 on Sky King and Fireside Theatre and played the alien
Torvak in three episodes of Rocky Jones,
Space Ranger in 1954. Even into the early 1960s many of his roles tended to
be unnamed generics, such as a hobo in a 1961 episode of Dennis the Menace. Occasionally he would land at least a recognizable
part, such as the painter Seurat in the Van Gogh biopic Lust for Life or Jack the Ripper in a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone. But his role on Dobie Gillis seemed to have raised his
profile if only slightly because he received named parts on series such as My Favorite Martian, I Spy, and Dragnet 1967 thereafter. One of his last roles was playing Reverend
Bragg on three episodes of Alice in
1983-84 followed by a final appearance on an episode of Hill Street Blues in 1986. He died from complications from leukemia
on April 16, 1989 at age 74.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 2, Episode 13, "What's
My Lion?": Henry Corden (shown on the left, played Carlo on The
Count of Monte Cristo, and Babbitt on The
Monkees and did voicework on The Flintstones, Jonny Quest, The Atom Ant Show, The Banana Splits Adventure Hour and Return to the Planet of the Apes) plays visiting Imbodian dignitary
Grand Wazir Abdu Ali Hakim. James Millhollin (Anson Foster on Grindl) plays federal agent Hargrove.
George Ives (Doc on Mister Roberts)
plays federal agent Huggins. Tommy Farrell (Chet Holliday on This Is Alice, Cpl. Thad Carson on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, Jay
O'Hanlon on Bourbon Street Beet, and
Fred on Room for One More) plays
coffeehouse proprietor Riff Ryan.
Season 2, Episode 14, "The
Big Question": Harry Swoger (Harry the bartender on The Big Valley) plays police Officer Dugan.
Season 2, Episode 15, "Have
You Stopped Beating Your Wife?": Milton Frome (shown on the right, starred in Pardners, The Delicate Delinquent, and The
Swinger and played Lawrence Chapman on The
Beverly Hillbillies) plays lodge leader Mr. Kenney. Jack Albertson (starred
in Days of Wine and Roses, Kissin' Cousins, The Flim-Flam Man, and Willie
Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and played Lt. Harry Evans on The Thin Man, Walter Burton on Room for One More, Lt. Cmdr. Virgil
Stoner on Ensign O'Toole, Paul Fenton
on Mister Ed, and Ed Brown on Chico and the Man) plays lodge member
Mr. Zabinski. Alan Carney (Mike Strager in a series of RKO comedies in the
1940s, appeared in The Absent-Minded
Professor, Son of Flubber, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, and Herbie Rides Again, and played Herbie on
The Jean Carroll Show) plays another
lodge member.
Season 2, Episode 17, "Zelda,
Get Off My Back": Linda Bennett (appeared in The Big Heat, Creature With
the Atom Brain, and Queen Bee and
was a recording artist whose credits include one of the worst Christmas singles
of all time, "An Old Fashioned Christmas (Daddy's Home)") plays self-absorbed
Monica Klaus. Toby Michaels (starred in Love
in a Goldfish Bowl, first wife of director and Bewitched associate producer Richard Michaels) plays southern belle
Jessica Zeffelhorse.
Season 2, Episode 18, "I Was
a High School Scrooge": Douglass Dumbrille (shown on the left, appeared in Baby Face, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Mr.
Deeds Goes to Town, A Day at the
Races, Julius Caesar, and The Ten Commandments and played Insp.
Hobson on China Smith, Cunningham on The Life of Riley, Grant on Grand Jury, and Mr. Osborne on The New Phil Silvers Show) plays former
football hero Walter "Show 'Em No Mercy" Appleby. James Millhollin (see
"What's My Lion?" above) plays his lawyer Winters. 
Season 2, Episode 19, "Will
Success Spoil Dobie's Mother?": Joyce Jameson (shown on the right, appeared in The Apartment, Tales of Terror, and The
Comedy of Terrors and played Skippy on The Andy Griffith Show) plays movie superstar Merilee Maribou. Larry Daniels (stand-up
comedian married to NBC director/producer Peggy Daniels) plays her publicist. Esther
Dale (starred in The Awful Truth, The Egg and I, Ma and Pa Kettle, and Holiday
Affair) plays Winnie's mother. Norman Grabowski (appeared in Girls Town, College Confidential, Sex
Kittens Go to College, Roustabout,
The Monkey's Uncle, and The Towering Inferno and played Padowski
on Hank) plays football player Fast
Freight McCurdy.
Season 2, Episode 20, "The Second
Childhood of Herbert T. Gillis": Marvin Kaplan (shown on the left, see the 1961 post for Top Cat) plays Dobie's history teacher
Monty W. Millfloss. Robert Foulk (Ed Davis on Father Knows Best, Sheriff Miller on Lassie, Joe Kingston on Wichita
Town, Mr. Wheeler on Green Acres,
and Phillip Toomey on The Rifleman)
plays night school student Callahan.
Season 2, Episode 21, "Dobie vs.
the Machine": Tommy Farrell (see "What's My Lion?" above) returns
as coffeehouse proprietor Riff Ryan. Dorothy Konrad (Mrs. Trilling on The Last Resort) plays career advisor
Dr. Campbell.
Season 2, Episode 23, "I
Didn't Raise My Son to Be a Soldier, Sailor, or Marine": John Fiedler (shown on the right, appeared
in 12 Angry Men, That Touch of Mink, The World
of Henry Orient, Kiss Me, Stupid,
Girl Happy, The Odd Couple, True Grit and played Emil Peterson on The Bob Newhart Show and Woody on Buffalo Bill) plays Army tester Cpl.
Grover P. Wister. Frank Wilcox (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Untouchables) plays Army
psychologist Dr. Worthington.
Season 2, Episode 24, "The
Chicken Corporal": Diane Jergens (shown on the left, appeared in Teenage Rebel, Desk Set, High School Confidential!, and Island of Lost Women and played Francine
Williams on The Bob Cummings Show and
Susie Jackson on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays PX waitress Betsy. Jack Mullaney (appeared in South Pacific, All the Fine Young Cannibals, The
Honeymoon Machine, and Dr. Goldfoot
and the Bikini Machine and played Johnny Wallace on The Ann Sothern Show, Lt. Rex St. John on Ensign O'Toole, Peter Robinson on My Living Doll, Hector on It's
About Time, and Walter Clark on George)
plays Dobie and Maynard's friend Pvt. T.J. Strauss. Burt Metcalfe (Buckley
Dunston on Father of the Bride) plays
their C.O. Lt. Merriwether.
Season 2, Episode 25, "The
Solid Gold Dog Tag": Jerry Summers (appeared in The Young Swingers, Surf
Party, and Dr. Goldfoot and the
Bikini Machine and played Ira on The
High Chaparral) plays drill Sgt. Trotti. Judy Nugent (Donna Ruggles on The Ruggles, Jet Maypen on Walt Disney Presents: Annette, and June
McBean on The Tall Man) plays a girl
impressed by Dobie's uniform
Season 2, Episode 26, "The
Battle of Maynard's Beard": Richard Bakalyan (shown on the right, starred in The Delicate Delinquent, The Cool and the Crazy, Juvenile Jungle, Hot Car Girl, Paratroop
Command, and The Computer Wore Tennis
Shoes) plays drill Sgt. Wyncoup. Bartlett Robinson (Frank Caldwell on Mona McCluskey) plays a colonel of the
court martial.
Season 2, Episode 27, "Spaceville":
Willis Bouchey (Mayor Terwilliger on The
Great Gildersleeve, Springer on Pete
and Gladys, and the judge 23 times on Perry Mason) plays Operation Moonshot's commanding general. Tom Montgomery (directed
the American version of King Kong vs.
Godzilla and multiple episodes of The
Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Gilligan's
Island, and My Mother the Car)
plays an MP.
Season 2, Episode 28, "Like
Mother, Like Daughter, Like Wow": Yvonne Craig (shown on the left, starred in Gidget, High Time, Kissin' Cousins,
Ski Party, and One Spy Too Many and played Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl, on Batman and Grandma on Olivia) plays USO dancer Hazel Grimes. Jane
Dulo (Liz Murray on Hey, Jeannie!,
WAC Pvt. Mildred Lukens on The Phil
Silvers Show, Molly Turner on McHale's
Navy, Agent 99's mother on Get Smart,
Nurse Murphy on Medical Center, and
Grandma Mildred Kanisky on Gimme a Break!)
plays her mother Bubbles. Hugh Sanders (appeared in That's My Boy, The Pride of
St. Louis, The Winning Team, and The Wild One) plays MP Sgt. Quentin.
Season 2, Episode 29, "Dobie
Plays Cupid": Trudi Ames (appeared in Bye
Bye Birdie, Gidget Goes to Rome,
and The Impossible Years) plays adolescent
movie fan Jenny.
Season 2, Episode 30, "Like
Father, Like Son, Like Trouble": Howard Petrie (Hugh Blaine on Bat Masterson) plays military instructor
Col. McCurdy. Carol Byron (Kitty Mathews on Oh,
Those Bells) plays his daughter Dorrie.
Season 2, Episode 31, "Be It
Ever So Humble": Norman Fell (shown on the near right, see the biography section for the 1961 post
on 87th Precinct) plays insurance
physician Dr. Caul. Jonathan Hole (shown on the far right, played Orville Monroe on The Andy Griffith Show) plays Red Cross worker Mr. Mims. Barry
Russo (Roy Gilroy on The Young Marrieds)
plays the platoon sergeant. Paul Bryar (Sheriff Harve Anders on The Long, Hot Summer) plays a sergeant
seen in a TV movie. Jerry Summers (see "The Solid Gold Dog Tag"
above) plays a homesick soldier in the same TV movie.
Season 2, Episode 32, "Aah,
Yer Fadder Wears Army Shoes": Herbert Ellis (shown on the left, played Officer Frank Smith on Dragnet (1952-53), Frank LaValle on The D.A.'s Man, Wilbur on Peter Gunn, and Dr. Dan Wagner on Hennesey) plays Herbert's war buddy
Brooklyn. Barbara Bricker (wife of actor William Campbell and announcer Jack
Narz) plays secretary Marcia Turner.
Season 2, Episode 33, "Everything
But the Truth": Trudi Ames (see "Dobie Plays Cupid" above) returns
as Zelda's friend Jenny.
Season 2, Episode 34, "Goodbye,
Mr. Pomfritt, Hello, Mr. Chips": Jo Anne Worley (shown on the right, a regular performer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) plays Pomfritt's
former student Myrtle Tarantino. Frank London (Shad on Johnny Staccato and Charlie on Peyton
Place) plays postman Monty Ferguson. Joe Corey (Humphrey on Dear Phoebe and Tommy Simpson on Private Secretary) plays janitor Floyd
Trigby.
Season 2, Episode 35, "Take
Me to Your Leader": Barbara Lord (shown on the left, mother of Patrick Warburton) plays advance
film scout Jane Smith. Alan Carney (see "Have You Stopped Beating Your
Wife?" above) plays movie producer Nicholby. Herb Vigran (Judge Brooker on
Gunsmoke) plays Police Chief
Rosenblum. Ronnie Howard (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Andy Griffith Show) plays a runaway
little boy. Richard Bakalyan (see "The Battle of Maynard's Beard"
above) returns as drill Sgt. Wyncoup. Peter Brocco (Peter the waiter on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show)
plays film director Cedric Van Horn. Neil Burstyn (third husband of Ellen
Burstyn, story editor on The Monkees)
plays actor Alabama Schwarz.
Season 2, Episode 36, "This
Ain't the Way We Used to Do It": Jack Grinnage (shown on the right, appeared in Rebel Without a Cause, King Creole, and Wolf Larsen and played Ron Updyke on Kolchak: The Night Stalker) plays commanding officer Lt. Spunky
Merriwether.
Season 3, Episode 1, "The
Ruptured Duck": John Fiedler (see "I Didn't Raise My Son to be a
Soldier, Sailor or Marine" above) plays student advisor Mr. Wurtz.
Season 3, Episode 2, "Dobie,
Dobie, Who's Got Dobie?": Bennye Gatteys (Judith Potter on The Brighter Day and Susan Hunter on Days of Our Lives) plays Dobie's
girlfriend Phyllis.
Season 3, Episode 3, "Move
Over, Perry Mason": Douglass Dumbrille (see "I Was a High School
Scrooge" above) plays law teacher Prof. Brinkerhoff. Charles Lane
(shown on the near left, appeared in The Milky Way, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Lady Is Willing, The Music Man, The Ghost and Mr. Chicken, and The
Gnome-Mobile and played Mr. Fosdick on Dear
Phoebe, Homer Bedloe on Petticoat
Junction, Foster Phinney on The
Beverly Hillbillies, Dale Busch on Karen,
and Judge Anthony Petrillo on Soap)
plays insurance company lawyer Chester L. Wayzack.
Season 3, Episode 4, "The
Fast White Mouse": Hugh Sanders (see "Like Mother, Like Daughter,
Like Wow" above) plays biology Prof. K. Farrington. Margaret Brown (played
Ruthie Kettle in five Ma and Pa Kettle feature films) plays Chatsworth's
girlfriend Rochelle.
Season 3, Episode 5, "The Gigolo":
Diane Jergens (shown on the near right, see "The Chicken Corporal" above) plays student
Bernadine. Bill Bixby (shown on the far right, played Charles Raymond on The
Joey Bishop Show, Tim O'Hara on My
Favorite Martian, Tom Corbett on The
Courtship of Eddie's Father, Anthony Blake on The Magician, Dr. David Banner on The Incredible Hulk, and Matt Cassidy on Goodnight, Beantown) plays her Ivy League boyfriend Roger. Mary
Mitchel (appeared in Twist Around the
Clock, Panic in Year Zero, A Swingin' Summer, and Dementia 13) plays student Darlene.
Season 3, Episode 6, "Dig,
Dig, Dig": Nora Marlowe (Martha Commager on Law of the Plainsman, Sara Andrews on The Governor and J.J., and Mrs. Flossie Brimmer on The Waltons) plays a college cleaning
woman.
Season 3, Episode 9, "The
Second Most Beautiful Girl in the World": Carolyn Craig (appeared in Giant, House on Haunted Hill, and Studs
Lonigan) plays tender-hearted Sally Bean. John Fiedler (see "I Didn't Raise My Son to be a
Soldier, Sailor or Marine" above) plays her father. Maxine Stuart (shown on the left, played Maureen
on Norby, Ruth Burton on Room for One More, Mrs. Hewitt on Peyton Place, Marge Newberry on Executive Suite, Amanda Earp on The Rousters, and Eleanor
"Gram" Rutledge on The Pursuit
of Happiness) plays her mother.
Season 3, Episode 10, "This
Town Ain't Big Enough for Me and Robert Browning": Mary Mitchel (see
"The Gigolo" above) plays popular but shallow Poppy Jordan.
Season 3, Episode 11, "Have
Reindeer, Will Travel": James Millhollin (see "What's My Lion?"
above) plays department store floorwalker Mr. Bevere. Debbie Megowan (Dorine
Peters on My Three Sons) plays a
little girl visiting Santa.
Season 3, Episode 12,
"Crazylegs Gillis": Norman Grabowski (see "Will Success Spoil
Dobie's Mother?" above) plays football star Truck Horse Bronkowski. Joyce
Van Patten (shown on the far right, appeared in I Love You, Alice
B. Toklas!, Mame, The Bad News Bears, St. Elmo's Fire, and The
Falcon and the Snowman and played Janice Turner Hughes on As the World Turns, Clara Kershaw on Young Dr. Malone, Claudia Gramus on The Good Guys, Iris Chapman on The Mary Tyler Moore Hour, Helen Marsh
on All My Children, and Maureen
Slattery on Unhappily Ever After)
plays his wife Ethel. Michele Lee (shown on the near right, starred in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Love Bug, and Along Came Polly and played Karen MacKenzie on Knots Landing) plays Dobie's girlfriend Lila Watkins.
