The Actors
For the biographies of Robert Lansing, Ron Harper, Norman Fell, Gregory Walcott, Gena Rowlands, Ruth Storey, and Dal McKennon, see the 1961 post on 87th Precinct.
Paul Genge
Notable Guest Stars
Showing posts with label 87th Precinct. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 87th Precinct. Show all posts
Monday, January 11, 2021
87th Precinct (1962)
Paul Genge
Notable Guest Stars
Saturday, July 4, 2015
87th Precinct (1961)
Procedural crime dramas were nothing new in the fall of
1961, but 87th Precinct had built-in
name recognition because it was based on a popular series of novels by Ed
McBain, a prolific author in many genres whose legal name was Evan Hunter and
whose birth name was Salvatore Albert Lombino. Hunter started writing fiction
while stationed aboard a destroyer in the Pacific during World War II. Though
he managed to publish a few science fiction stories after returning and
studying English and Psychology at college, he broke into the big time with his
1954 novel Blackboard Jungle, based
on his experiences during a brief tenure as a teacher at a vocational school in
the Bronx. When the novel was adapted into a popular movie the following year,
Hunter suddenly was a hot property for film and television screenplays. He
adapted a novel by David Dodge into the teleplay "Angel's Ransom" for
a 1956 episode of The Kaiser Aluminum
Hour, the same year he began his series of 87th Precinct novels under the McBain pseudonym, which would
produce 55 titles over the next 50 years. In 1958 the first two of these
novels--Cop Hater and The Mugger--were made into feature
films. That same year 87th Precinct
stories made their first appearance on television in a pair of episodes on Kraft Theatre. Two years later in 1960,
another 87th Precinct novel, The Pusher, would be made into a feature
film, this time with Robert Lansing playing Det. Steve Carella, and the die for
the ensuing TV series was cast.
Debuting on Monday, September 25, 1961 on NBC, the show was
described in the September 16 Fall Preview edition of TV Guide thusly:
87th
Precinct (NBC) may just repair some of the damage Car 54, Where Are You? does to big-city cops. Based on the
realistic 87th Precinct detective mysteries of Ed McBain (a pseudonym for
best-selling novelist Evan Hunter), it will feature the same cast of squad-room
heroes...
And Hunter was directly involved in the series, writing the
screenplay for the episode "Line of Duty" (October 23, 1961), which
actor Ron Harper recalled was authored explicitly to develop his character, the
rookie detective Bert Kling. Several other episodes were based on already
published novels: the pilot "The Floater" (September 25, 1961) was
based on 1957's The Con Man;
"Lady in Waiting" (October 2, 1961) was based on 1959's Killer's Wedge; "Lady Killer"
(October 9, 1961) and "Killer's Payoff" (November 6, 1961) were based
on the 1958 novels of the same name; "Til Death (December 11, 1961) was based on the 1959 novel of the
same name; and "The Heckler" (December 18, 1961) was based on the
1960 novel of the same name. One episode, "Empty Hours" (November 20,
1961), was based on a not-then-published novella that would be released in book
form along with two other novellas in 1962. The other six 1961 episodes were penned
by screenwriters based on Hunter's characters, with one episode--"The Very
Hard Sell" (December 4, 1961)--based on a short story by Helen Nielsen. So
considerable effort was made to keep the series faithful to the novels, but
deliberate changes were made nonetheless.
The characters of detectives Steve Carella, Bert Kling, and
Meyer Meyer, as well as Carella's wife Teddy and Meyer's wife Sarah, are all
retained pretty much as written in the novels. But Det. Roger Havilland, played
on TV by Gregory Walcott, is transformed from a dirty cop in the books to a
team player on TV, though he has little in the way of distinguishing
characteristics in early episodes. The single 1961 episode in which he is featured--"Killer's
Payoff"--shows him becoming romantically interested in dancer Nancy
Johnson, whose blackmailer sugar daddy is murdered, but by the story's
conclusion she has decided to leave town, telling Havilland that had he come
along 10 years earlier they might have had something. In other episodes,
Havilland is merely along for the ride.
Supporting characters from the novels who show up in the TV
series include crime lab supervisor Sam Grossman, medical examiner Dr. Blaney
(in the novels there are actually a pair of twins named Blaney who are both
medical examiners), homicide investigators Monoghan and Monroe (who appear only
in the episode "Line of Duty"), and informant Danny Gimp (who also
appears only in "Line of Duty"). In the novels Monoghan and Monroe
have been described as "arrogant and buffoonish," but in their one
1961 TV appearance they seem innocuous. Several other unsavory characters
appear in the novels but not in the TV version: the unkempt, rude, and racist
Det. Ollie Weeks, the self-absorbed police Capt. Frick, lazy Det. Andy Parker,
dim-witted Det. Richard Genero, and sleazy informant Fats Donner. The only bad
cop we see on 87th Precinct is an
ex-cop: in "The Modus Man" (October 16, 1961), former detective Bill
Brewster has left the force to sell used cars, but he also uses what he learned
in his years on the beat to mimic the modus operandi of long-time crooks,
making off with the spoils and leaving the copied criminals as the suspects for
his crimes. It's clear that the dirty underbelly of law enforcement and the
criminal world it inhabits, the very elements that gave McBain's work its
characteristic realism, has been whitewashed for the American TV viewing
audience. 
In fact, the TV series itself plays out like a flag-waving
salute to the men in suits and fedoras who investigate and help solve suspicious
crimes. Harper, in a 2005 interview, said that what distinguished the series
from other crime dramas was that it showed the detectives' lives outside the
office, rather than just sticking to the facts, like Jack Webb's Dragnet, an acknowledged influence on
Hunter. In the very first episode, "The Floater," we see several
scenes at the Carellas' apartment and in a bar, establishing the relationship
between the detective and his deaf/mute wife as one that is playful, sometimes
argumentative, but based nonetheless on real love and affection. In his
featured episode, "Line of Duty," Harper's Bert Kling is shaken up
when he makes his first kill, a teenage kid involved in a box office holdup who
fires first at Kling but whose youth the rookie detective doesn't realize until
he removes a stocking from his dead face. In "Til Death" we get to
see Kling and his fiance Claire Townsend spar over his elusiveness in setting a
wedding date, a dynamic already given full treatment on Peter Gunn in the constant back-and-forth between Gunn and
girlfriend Edie Hart. And in "The Guilt" (November 13, 1961) it's
Meyer's turn to show his sensitive side when he is torn up after making the mistake
of giving an old school-friend-gone-bad too much leeway, which leads to the
criminal's escape and commission of additional crimes. We later get a glimpse
of Meyer's family life in "The Heckler" when he, his wife Sarah, and
their two children are returning from a vacation and Meyer grouses constantly
about not being able to afford cab fare or spoiling the children's dinner by
buying them an afternoon ice cream cone. These scenes attempt to humanize those
who deal with horrible tragedy on a daily basis and come off as cynical when
they try to use sarcastic banter to blunt the effects of what they have
witnessed.
This theme would not be problematic in and of itself, but on
87th Precinct we are also shown a
steady stream of ordinary folk who come to the police station to report trivial
problems. In "Lady Killer" Kling is visited by Harriet Horn, who complains
about men walking around shirtless in public in the midst of a heat wave. Kling
has to explain to her that while she may find this behavior morally offensive,
it's not illegal. In "The Guilt" an unnamed woman pleads for police
protection against her husband, but after she leaves the detectives joke that
she had come to the station before and it is her husband who needs the
protection. In "Til Death" we see a sailor and his girlfriend
reporting that they were robbed, then sheepishly admitting that at the time
they were necking on Lover's Lane. And in "Run, Rabbit, Run"
(December 25, 1961) Meyer is dealing with street-corner necktie saleswoman Mrs.
Turner, who continually evades getting the proper vendor license while all the
while promising she will do so right away. Ordinary citizens are depicted as
comic eccentrics, and the detectives who have to deal with them as requiring
the patience of Job. Even more well-adjusted citizens, like immigrant locksmith
Joe Czepreghi in "Occupation, Citizen" (October 30, 1961), who is the
lone witness who could incriminate a pair of blood-thirsty mobsters, have to be
cajoled by Carella into doing the right thing--putting the preservation of his
new country's justice system above his own personal safety. In short, the
detectives of 87th Precinct are in a
class above everyone else--they have more integrity, sensitivity, sense of
balance, and courage than the average citizen. While it's perfectly fine to celebrate
heroism, 87th Precinct paints its
heroes in stark hues of black and white. 
The theme music and individual episode scores for 87th Precinct were written by Morton
Stevens. Born Morton Aaron Suckno in Newark, New Jersey, Stevens graduated from
the Julliard School of Music in 1950 and soon thereafter became musical
director and arranger for Sammy Davis, Jr. It was Davis who got Stevens
introduced to TV scoring when he insisted that his musical director handle the
arranging chores for his 1960 appearance on General
Electric Theater. There Stevens met Stanley Wilson, musical director for
Revue Studios, who hired him and put him
to work scoring 87th Precinct. While
working for Revue, Stevens met and worked with Jerry Goldsmith, producing
scores for Thriller, Checkmate, and Wagon Train, amongst others. By 1965 he was hired as director of
music for CBS West Coast Productions, which had him overseeing and writing for
series such as Gunsmoke, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Gilligan's Island. In 1968 his
card-playing friend, producer Leonard Freeman, who had recently moved to CBS,
asked him to come up with a theme for his new crime drama, Hawaii Five-O. After a failed first attempt that his wife
characterized as "nice," meaning so-so, Stevens came up with one of
the most iconic opening themes in television history, a theme that won him two
Emmys and a nomination for a third. In the 1970s he scored for series such as Men at Law, Apple's Way, and Police Woman
(for which he received another Emmy nomination). He left CBS in 1977 but would
come back and write guest scores for Hawaii
Five-O until the series ended. He received additional Emmy nominations for
the mini-series Wheels in 1978 and Masada in 1981. In the 1980s John
Williams would invite him to write pieces for his Boston Pops concerts, and he
wrote ambitious scores for his own concerts. However, he was struck down by
pancreatic cancer at age 62, passing away on November 11, 1991.
The series' one and only season has been released on DVD by Timeless Media Group.
The Actors
Robert Lansing
Robert
Howell Brown was born in San Diego and began his acting career in high school,
where he won the award for best actor from the Southern California
Shakespearean Festival when he was 15 years old. After high school he served in
the U.S. Army, stationed in Japan for two years, where he worked for the Armed
Forces Radio Service. When he returned stateside, he worked as a radio
announcer in Ft. Wayne, Indiana while also acting in local theatre before
moving on to New York. He worked odd jobs such as in a plastics factory but
eventually found success when he was cast as a replacement for the part of
Dunbar in Stalag 17 in 1951. It was
during this time that he took the last name Lansing when he was hired by a
Michigan theater stock company, and the Actors Equity Association forced the
name change because another actor was already registered as Robert Brown. After
5 years in New York, he decided to try his luck in Hollywood in 1956, landing
only a few parts over the next few years, most on drama anthology TV shows. But
in 1959 he starred in the lead role of a scientist experimenting with being
able to penetrate solid matter in the feature film 4D Man. In 1960 he made several guest appearances on TV shows like One Step Beyond, Thriller, and Moment of Fear,
but his most important role was as Det. Steve Carella in the feature film
adaptation of Ed McBain's 87th Precinct novel The Pusher. When McBain's series of novels was spun into a TV
series, Lansing was a natural fit for the lead detective of the 87th Precinct.
After
87th Precinct was canceled in
1962, he found sporadic guest work on television and an occasional supporting
role in features such as A Gathering of
Eagles and Under the Yum Yum Tree.
In 1964 he was cast as Gen. Frank Savage in the TV war drama 12 O'Clock High, but his character was
killed off after a season and a half, reportedly because network executives
wanted somebody younger and audiences didn't identify with such a high-ranking
officer. After playing Gen. Custer in a 3-part episode on Branded and playing the lead in the feature Namu: The Killer Whale, Lansing was again cast in a lead TV role as
Peter Murphy/Mark Wainwright on The Man
Who Never Was in the fall of 1966, but the series lasted only 18 episodes.
His role as Gary Seven in the 1968 "Assignment: Earth" episode of Star Trek was intended to be a pilot for
a spin-off series in which he would co-star with Terri Garr, but the series was
never picked up. He continued guest spots on TV at the end of the 1960s and
into the 1970s as well as staying active in theater on Broadway and off. He
appeared in the 1977 science fiction feature Empire of the Ants with Joan Collins and Island Claws in 1980. He had a recurring role as Lt. Jack Curtis on
the Desi Arnaz, Jr. series Automan in
1983-84. He played Edward Woodward's former boss at the CIA in The Equalizer from 1985-89, and was
playing Paul Blaisdell on the David Carradine reboot King Fu: The Legend Continues when he died from cancer at the age
of 66 on October 23, 1994. Ron Harper
Ronald Robert Harper was born in tiny Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania,
near Pittsburgh, where his father worked in a coal mine after World War II.
Harper first became interested in acting while in high school and won an
academic scholarship to Princeton University, where he initially decided to
study law but also was active in theatrical productions. After playing the role
of Caliban in a production of Shakespeare's The
Tempest, Harper met and talked to Albert Einstein, who was then a professor
at Princeton, and was struck by Einstein's observation that if you can make a
living doing something you enjoy, it can make for a wonderful life. Harper
credits this conversation with helping him make the choice to pursue acting
rather than a legal career. He moved to New York and studied acting under Lee
Strasburg before being drafted into the Navy. He was stationed at the Panama
Canal as a kind of tour guide for visiting officers but also worked at an armed
forces TV station there, hosting a children's show and staging dramas with John
Anniston, father of actress Jennifer Anniston. After his service he returned to
New York to resume his pursuit of acting, finally landing as Paul Newman's
understudy in Elia Kazan's production of Sweet
Bird of Youth. He credits Newman's advice in turning down his initial movie
contract offer with 20th Century Fox, but he later accepted an offer from
Universal Studios because it was limited to 3 years rather than the usual 7
years. After being featured in guest spots on a number of westerns during the
1960-61 season, Harper, according to his contract, could have a choice of three
different TV series, though he had to pick one of the three. The first one he
was offered was the role of young detective Bert Kling on 87th Precinct. After reading the script for the pilot, Harper was
impressed by the writing of Ed McBain and immediately accepted the role.
After 87th Precinct,
Harper had a dry spell for two years with only a single guest appearance on Laramie but then was cast along with George
Burns and Connie Stevens on Wendy and Me
in 1964. This series also lasted only a single season, as did his next
assignment, playing Jean Arthur's son on The
Jean Arthur Show in 1966. His run of one-season series continued in 1967
when he was cast in the lead role of Lt. Craig Garrison in the World War II
drama Garrison's Gorillas. It would
be another 6 years before he would find regular TV work when he was cast as
astronaut Alan Virdon on the 14-part mini-series Planet of the Apes in 1974. This was followed two years later by a
recurring role as Uncle Jack Marshall on Land
of the Lost in 1976. He would finally find a lasting role, for 3 years at
least, playing Dr. Andrew Marriott on the daytime soap opera Love of Life from 1977-80, which would
lead to more work on soap operas such as Another
World, Loving, Capitol, and Generations in the 1980s and early 1990s. He has continued to make
occasional TV appearances on shows such as Beverly
Hills 90210, Walker, Texas Ranger,
and Cold Case as well as feature
films like The Odd Couple II, Pearl Harbor, Touched, and the 2015 true crime drama Kidnapped: The Hannah Anderson Story.
Norman Fell
Norman
Noah Feld was born in Philadelphia and graduated from hometown Temple
University with a degree in drama. After serving as a tail-gunner in the
Pacific Theater during World War II, Fell moved to New York and studied under
Stella Adler at the Actors Studio. He made his New York stage debut in Jose
Quintero's Bond of Interest
and by 1955-56 was supporting Edward G. Robinson in Middle of the Night. The year prior he scored his first big television
success in a 1954 production of Twelve
Angry Men on the drama anthology series Studio
One in Hollywood. His first recurring TV role was on the short-lived comedy
series Joe & Mabel in 1956, but
he also began picking up movie roles in features such as The Violators, Pork Chop Hill,
and Ocean's 11, about which he said
he enjoyed working with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. but
that Joey Bishop and Peter Lawford were "creeps." Regular guest
appearances continued in the winter and spring of 1961 on shows like Peter Gunn, Checkmate, and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis before he found his next regular role as Det. Meyer Meyer
on 87th Precinct.
After
the show's 1-year run, he continued to find regular guest work on a number of
shows, including four turns as Arnold Vitnack on Dr. Kildare in 1965, but his work on feature films throughout the
1960s and into the early 1970s eclipsed his TV work, appearing in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The Graduate, Bullitt, and Catch-22. In
1970 he supported Burt Reynolds playing Sgt. Charles Wilentz on Dan August , a role he reprised in 3 TV
movies in 1980. He starred as Nathan Davidson on the short-lived Needles and Pins in 1973-74, won praise
for his role as Smitty on the 1976 TV mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man, and appeared in exploitation features like Airport 1975 and Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold. But he struck gold when he
was cast as salacious landlord Stanley Roper on Three's Company in 1976, a role for which he would be remembered and,
according to him, typecast for the rest of his life. After winning a Golden
Globe for the role in 1979, his character was so popular that CBS spun off
Fell's character and his on-screen wife Audra Lindley into their own series The Ropers, but the show lasted only a
single season. His character would make a cameo appearance on a 1997 episode of
Ellen DeGeneres' show Ellen, one of
his last acting credits, and he played a landlord in a 1994 episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. But he
remained active with regular guest spots and feature film roles during the
intervening years, including starring in another one-season series, playing Ben
Cooper on Teachers Only in 1982-83.
Eventually Fell succumbed to cancer and died in the Motion Picture and
Television Fund's retirement home on December 14, 1998 at the age of 74.Gregory Walcott
Strapping 6'4" Bernard Wasdon Mattox was born in
Wendell, North Carolina and grew up in nearby Wilson, where he was nicknamed
"Barnyard" on his high school football team. After high school he
served two years in the U.S. Army, experience that would serve him well in some
of his early film roles when he played a drill instructor in both Battle Cry and The Outsider. But before that he hitch-hiked his way from North
Carolina to Hollywood with $100 in his pocket and a tennis racket in his hand
to give prospective drivers the idea that he was the college type and not a
risk as a traveling companion. His feature film debut came in the 1952 western Red Skies of Montana, but it was his
performance in Battle Cry three years
later that netted him a contract with Warner Brothers. He continued appearing
in military and western roles throughout the 1950s in films such as Mister Roberts, The Lieutenant Wore Skirts, Jet
Attack, and as Bat Masterson in Badman's
Country. However, his appearance in Ed Wood's remarkably awful science
fiction disaster, Plan 9 From Outer Space,
considered by many to be the worst movie ever made, that would forever mark
Walcott's career. As Walcott would later reveal, he agreed to appear in the
film as a favor to a friend from his church who had invested in the movie. He
figured his appearance as an established film actor would lend the production
some credibility, but instead it only marked Walcott as a participant in a
legendary debacle, though he remained philosophical about it: "It's better
to be remembered for something than for nothing." Still, the association
did not hamper his ability to get roles, as he appeared in numerous westerns
such as Wagon Train, Tales of Wells Fargo, The Deputy, Riverboat, Laramie, Bonanza, and Rawhide before being cast as Det. Roger Havilland on 87th Precinct.
After 87th Precinct
his 5 appearances on Rawhide would
pay off in being cast as Clint Eastwood's foil in 4 feature films starring
Eastwood in the 1970s--Joe Kidd, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, The Eiger Sanction, and Every Which Way But Loose. He would also
appear in one of Steven Spielberg's first films, The Sugarland Express, in 1974, play Gene Hackman's disturbed
brother in Prime Cut, and play the
policeman who hauled Sally Field to jail in Norma
Rae. In the 1980s his number of credits slowed but still managed to include
appearances on The Dukes of Hazzard, Simon & Simon, Dallas, and Murder, She Wrote.
His last screen credit was a cameo as a possible investor for Ed Wood in Tim
Burton's 1994 biopic about the eccentric director. Walcott died of natural
causes at the age of 87 on March 20, 2015.Gena Rowlands
Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Virginia Cathryn Rowlands was
the daughter of a banker and state legislator who for a time worked for the
Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. Her mother, Mary Allen Neal, was
a housewife and painter who later took up acting late in life under the name
Lady Rowlands, appearing with her daughter in two films in the 1970s. Gena
attended the University of Wisconsin, then headed to New York to take up acting
at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1950. She had been a fan of actress
Bette Davis since she was a child and says that she always wanted to be an
actress because it allows you to live so many other lives. She met her first
husband, actor and director John Cassavetes, while auditioning for the American
Academy at Carnegie Hall. Though he told a friend at the time that he was going
to marry her, she told him she did not want to date anyone until she graduated,
though they did occasionally meet for coffee. She made her Broadway debut
playing opposite Edward G. Robinson in Middle
of the Night and began appearing on TV in the series Top Secret in 1954, the same year she finally married Cassavetes.
Her feature film debut came in 1958 in The
High Cost of Loving. The next year she appeared in the first of 10
Cassavetes films, Shadows, as well as
an episode of his TV series Johnny Staccato. She found work doing guest appearances on other shows over the
next two years before being cast as Robert Lansing's deaf/mute wife Teddy
Carella on 87th Precinct.
But it was after the series ended that her career really
kicked into high gear. She starred opposite Kirk Douglas in Lonely Are the Brave and Rock Hudson in The Spiral Road, both released in 1962,
then had a supporting role behind Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland in
Cassavetes' A Child Is Waiting in
1963. The next four years would bring only occasional TV work on shows such as The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Burke's Law, and Run For Your Life, but in 1967 she was cast as Adrienne Van Leyden
on Peyton Place as well as a supporting
role in Frank Sinatra's Tony Rome.
Other than a pair of appearances on Medical
Center, the next 7 years would find her mostly appearing in her huband's
films--Faces, Minnie and Moskowitz, and the role that garnered her first Oscar
nomination and a Golden Globe win, A
Woman Under the Influence in 1974. Six years later she would receive her
second Oscar nomination for her work on Gloria,
also directed by Cassavetes. In 1987 she won a Daytime Emmy and another Golden
Globe for the titular role in the TV movie The
Betty Ford Story. She also won Emmys for Face of a Stranger (1991), Hysterical
Blindness (2003), and the children's program The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie (2004). After Cassavetes' death in
1989, she remarried to retired businessman Robert Forrest and more recently has
appeared in films directed by her children, most notably Nick Cassavetes' The Notebook in 2004. Daughters
Alexandra and Zoe are also directors. Her most recent work was starring
opposite Cheyenne Jackson in 2014's Six
Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, and she was awarded a Lifetime Achievement
Award by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association in January 2015. At age 85,
she does not appear to be slowing down.
Ruth Storey
Ruth Stromberg was born in New York City, daughter of Jewish
folk singer Anna Stromberg, who once appeared on stage in George Jessel's
production of The Jazz Singer. Storey
pursued a career as a stage actress on Broadway until she married actor Richard
Conte in 1943 and moved with him to California that year. In California she
continued her theatrical work, including a record-setting run in a 1958
production of Arthur Miller's A View From
the Bridge. She made her first film appearance in 1953 in the noir thriller
The Blue Gardenia, which starred her
husband, as did her next two films Slaves
of Babylon and I'll Cry Tomorrow.
After a few TV guest spots in the late 1950s, she appeared in a pair of 1960
feature films, Bells Are Ringing,
starring Dean Martin and Judy Holliday, and the drama The Subterraneans, in which she played an analyst, foreshadowing
her post-acting career. After a few more TV guest roles, she was cast as Norman
Fell's wife, Sarah Meyer, on 87th
Precinct. She divorced Conte in 1962 and soon thereafter she largely left
acting and attended UCLA to study social welfare, receiving a Master's degree,
though she had a substantial supporting role as the mother of the murdered
Kansas family in 1967's In Cold Blood.
In 1965 she worked in community rebuilding efforts in Los Angeles after the
Watts riots and eventually opened her own practice, founding the Center for
Human Problems in Sherman Oaks, later relocated to Tarzana. Many of her clients
were in the entertainment business, and she stressed that her practice treated
families rather than individuals in isolation. She died of cancer on August 23,
1997 at the age of 84, survived by her son, film editor Mark Conte.
Dal McKennon
Dallas Raymond McKennon was born in La Grande, Oregon. After
his mother died, he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle who lived on a
farm, where he would amuse himself by learning to do impressions of the various
animals. In high school he studied drama and used his talent for
impressions and sound effects in
recording commercials at a local radio station. After serving in the army
during World War II, he returned to Oregon and found work playing Mr. Buttons
on a live radio children's show in Portland. Landing a bit part in the Jimmy
Stewart feature film Bend in the River,
which filmed in Oregon, convinced him to move to Hollywood where he soon found
work voicing Woody Woodpecker's nemesis Buzz Buzzard and providing the original
voice of Tony the Tiger in Frosted Flakes commercials. He also hosted the
children's program Space Funnies as
the character Mr. Jet, showing The Little Rascals and Laurel & Hardy
shorts. Though he would occasionally find on-screen work as an actor, such as a
1953 episode of Dragnet, the bulk of
his work was for animation. In 1955 he began also working for Disney, doing
several voices in the animated feature Lady
and the Tramp. In 1957 he took over the role of voicing Gumby in Art
Cloakey's stop-animation series The Gumby
Show, a role he reprised in the 1995 feature film revival. He continued
appearing in many Disney features such as Sleeping
Beauty, One Hundred One Dalmations,
Mary Poppins, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. He also
provided voices for attractions at Disney theme parks. In the early 1960s he
voiced the title character in the cartoon Q.T.
Hush but also began getting more on-screen roles, particularly in westerns
like Sugarfoot, Riverboat, and The Tall Man
before being cast as medical examiner Dr. Blaney on 87th Precinct.
After 87th Precinct,
McKennon's workload didn't lessen--he appeared on Gunsmoke, Wagon Train, The Rifleman, and The Virginian--before earning another regular role as inn-keeper
Cincinnatus on Daniel Boone in 1964, a role that continued
until 1970. During that time he also voiced the title character of the cartoon Sinbad, Jr. and in 1968 voiced Archie
Andrews, Hot Dog, and Mr. Weatherbee on The
Archie Show and Archie's Funhouse,
roles he also voiced on 1974's U.S. of
Archie. In 1968 McKennon and his wife moved their 8 children back to Cannon
Beach, Oregon, and he commuted to Los Angeles for his acting work. But while
back in Oregon he wrote and produced musicals for community theaters, such as
one about the Oregon Trail and another about Johnny Appleseed. He died of
natural causes on July 14, 2009 at the age of 89.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 1, Episode 1, "The Floater": Robert Culp (shown on the left, starred in Sunday in New York, Bob &
Carol & Ted & Alice, and Breaking
Point and played Hoby Gilman on Trackdown,
Kelly Robinson on I Spy, Bill Maxwell
on The Greatest American Hero, and
Warren on Everybody Loves Raymond)
plays lady killer Curt Donaldson. Victor Sen Yung (played Jimmy Chan in 13
Charlie Chan movies, Cousin Charlie Fong on Bachelor Father, and Hop Sing on Bonanza) plays
tattoo artist Charlie. Paul Bryar (Sheriff Harve Anders on The Long, Hot Summer) plays missing persons Det. Bertholdi . Wally
Brown (appeared in Notorious, The Left Handed Gun, and The Absent-Minded Professor and played
Jed Fame on Cimarron City and
Chauncey Kowalski on The Roaring '20's)
plays missing persons Det. Ambrose. Kim Hamilton (Dr. Tracy Adams on General Hospital and Penelope Wade on Days of Our Lives) plays a nude
sunbather. Ralph Manza (Al Bonacorsi on The
D.A.'s Man, Jay Drury on Banacek,
Ambulance Aide Stanke on A.E.S. Hudson,
Padre Guardiano on Mama Malone, and
Bud on Newhart) plays a taxi driver.
Season 1, Episode 2, "Lady in Waiting": Constance
Ford (starred in A Summer Place, Home From the Hill, All Fall Down, and The
Caretakers and played Ada Lucas Davis Downs McGowan Hobson on Another World) plays death row widow Virginia
Colt. Margarita Cordova (Rosa Andrade on Santa
Barbara and Carmen Torres on Sunset
Beach) plays knifing suspect Angelica Galindo. Emile Meyer (starred in Shane, Drums Across the River, Blackboard
Jungle, Sweet Smell of Success,
and Paths of Glory and played Gen.
Zachary Moran on Bat Masterson) plays
police Capt. Howard.
Season 1, Episode 3, "Lady Killer": Peter Leeds (shown on the right, played Tenner
Smith on Trackdown and George Colton
on Pete and Gladys) plays diner
co-owner George LaDonna. Marian Collier (Marilyn Scott on Mr. Novak) plays his girlfriend Felicia Plannet. Patricia Donahue (Hazel
on The Thin Man and Lucy Hamilton on Michael Shayne) plays dancer Lady Belle.
Vito Scotti (Jose on The Deputy, Capt.
Gaspar Fomento on The Flying Nun,
Gino on To Rome With Love, and Mr.
Velasquez on Barefoot in the Park)
plays informant Donner. Michael Fox (Coroner George McLeod on Burke's Law, Amos Fedders on Falcon Crest, Saul Feinberg on The Bold and the Beautiful, and appeared
25 times as autopsy surgeons and various other medical witnesses on Perry Mason) plays fingerprint expert
Grossman. Harlan Warde (John Hamilton on The Rifleman and Sheriff John Brannan on The
Virginian) plays psychiatrist Dr. Ben Daniels. Barbara Parkins (starred in Valley of the Dolls, The Mephisto Waltz, and Puppet on a Chain and played Betty
Anderson Harrington on Peyton Place)
plays landlord daughter Mary. Penny Santon (Madame Fatime in Don't Call Me Charlie, Madam Delacort on
Roll Out, Mama Rosa Novelli on Matt Houston, Muriel Lacey on Cagney and Lacey, and Teresa Giordano on
Life Goes On) plays witness' mother
Mrs. Annuci. Billy Halop (appeared in Angels
With Dirty Faces, They Made Me a
Criminal, Tom Brown's School Days,
and Sea Raiders and played Bert
Munson on All in the Family) plays
binoculars owner Richard Samuelson. Doris Kemper (Zelda Harper on Westinghouse Playhouse) plays
complaining lady Harriet Horn. Roger Mobley (Homer "Packy" Lambert on
Fury) plays a boy with a dog. Sidney
Clute (Det. Simms on McCloud, the
National Editor on Lou Grant, and
Det. Paul La Guardia on Cagney &
Lacey) plays a bartender.
Season 1, Episode 4, "The Modus Man": John
Anderson (see the biography section of the 1960 post on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays former detective Bill
Brewster. Eddie Quillan (starred in The
Grapes of Wrath, Mandarin Mystery,
Mutiny on the Bounty, and Hi, Good Lookin'! and played Eddie Edson
on Julia and Poco Loco on Hell Town) plays burglar Blinky Smith. Joe
Higgins (see the biography section for the 1961 post on The Rifleman) plays car salesman Jovial George. Herbert Lytton (Admiral
Reynolds on McHale's Navy) plays a
druggist.
Season 1, Episode 5, "Line of Duty": Walter Burke
(shown on the left, starred in All the King's Men, Jack the Giant Killer, and Support Your Local Sheriff! and played
Tim Potter on Black Saddle) plays informant
Danny Gimp. Vivi Janiss (Myrtle Davis on Father Knows Best) plays victim's mother Mrs. Mattfield. Margie Regan (Lucy Carr
on Michael Shayne) plays Kling's
fiance Claire Townsend. King Calder (Lt. Gray on Martin Kane) plays police investigator Monoghan. Ben Hammer (Judge
Herman Mooney on Law & Order)
plays theater manager Brecht.
Season 1, Episode 6, "Occupation, Citizen": Ross
Martin (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1960 post on Mr. Lucky) plays immigrant locksmith Joe Czepreghi. John Dennis (Dutch
Schultz on The Lawless Years) plays mobster
Johnny-Boy. 
Season 1, Episode 7, "Killer's Payoff": Beverly
Garland (shown on the left, played Casey Jones on Decoy, Ellis
Collins on The Bing Crosby Show,
Barbara Harper Douglas on My Three Sons,
Dorothy "Dotty" West on Scarecrow
and Mrs. King, Ellen Lane on Lois
& Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, and Ginger on 7th Heaven) plays dancer Nancy Johnson. Jeanne
Cooper (Grace Douglas on Bracken's World
and Katherine Chancellor Murphy on The
Young and the Restless) plays blackmail victim Lucy Mencken. 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 soda pop mogul
Edward Schlesser. William Fawcett (Clayton on Duffy's Tavern, Marshal George Higgins on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, and Pete Wilkey on Fury) plays horse trainer Ackie Glotter.
Paul Richards (appeared in Playgirl
and Beneath the Planet of the Apes
and played Louis Kassoff on The Lawless Years) plays ex-con auto mechanic Marty Torr.
Season 1, Episode 8, "The Guilt": Mike Kellin (appeared
in At War With the Army, The Wackiest Ship in the Army, The Boston Strangler, and Midnight Express and played C.P.O.
Willie Miller on The Wackiest Ship in the
Army) plays Meyer's former high school friend Artie Sanford. Norma Crane (appeared
in Tea and Sympathy, They Call Me Mr. Tibbs!, and Fiddler on the Roof and played Rayola
Dean on Mister Peepers) plays Artie's
girlfriend Estelle Vernolla. Eve McVeagh (starred in High Noon, The Glass Web,
and Tight Spot and played Miss
Hammond on Petticoat Junction) plays Artie's
landlady Mrs. Como. Sandra Gould (Mildred Webster on I Married Joan and Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched) plays crime witness Mrs. Stradling. Billy Curtis (starred in The Terror of Tiny Town, The
Wizard of Oz, April Showers, Jungle Moon Men, and High Plains Drifter) plays newspaper
salesman Willy. Stafford Repp (Chief O'Hara on Batman) plays waiter Harry. Kathryn Card (Mrs. McGillicuddy on I Love Lucy, Mrs. Papernow on The Charles Farrell Show, and Maw
Kadiddlehopper on The Red Skelton Hour)
plays a woman asking for police protection from her husband.
Season 1, Episode 9, "Empty Hours": Pat Crowley (Joan
Nash on Please Don't Eat the Daisies,
Georgia Cameron on Joe Forrester, Emily
Fallmont on Dynasty, and Natalie
DeWitt on The Bold and the Beautiful)
plays rich girl's friend Josie Thompson. Hank Brandt (Leonard Waggedorn on Julia, Morgan Hess on Dynasty, and Dr. Aaron Kranzler on Santa Barbara) plays her boyfriend
George. Tom Fadden (Duffield on Broken
Arrow, Silas Perry on Cimarron City,
and Ben Miller on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction) plays fisherman
Sidney Courtney. William Schallert (see the biography section for the 1960 post
on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis)
plays hit-man Eric Blau. John Zaremba (Special Agent Jerry Dressler on I Led 3 Lives, Dr. Harold Jensen on Ben Casey, Admiral Hardesy on McHale's Navy, Dr. Raymond Swain on The Time Tunnel, and Dr, Harlem Danvers
on Dallas) plays banker Mr. Anderson.
Malcolm Atterbury (starred in I Was a
Teenage Werewolf, The Birds, and The Learning Tree and played John Bixby
on Wagon Train and Grandfather Aldon
on Apple's Way) plays the Triangle
Lake chief of police. Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel on Green Acres and Petticoat Junction
and Hank on Gunsmoke) plays canoe
repairman Si. Grandon Rhodes (Mr. Vanderlip on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Dr. Stevens on Lassie, Dr. J.P. Martin on Bonanza, and the judge 16 times on Perry Mason) plays estate executor Mr.
McClintock. Stanley Adams (Lt. Morse on Not
for Hire) plays driver-for-hire Oblinsky.
Season 1, Episode 10, "My Friend, My Enemy": Dennis
Hopper (shown on the right, starred in Giant, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, The Sons of Katie Elder, Cool Hand Luke, Hang 'Em High, Easy Rider,
The Osterman Weekend, Blue Velvet, and Hoosiers and played Smith on Flatland,
Col. Eli McNulty on E-Ring, and Ben
Cendars on Crash) plays college
outcast Andrew Mason. Jocelyn Brando (sister of Marlon Brando) plays his mother.
Garry Clarke (Dick Hamilton on Michael
Shayne, Steve Hill on The Virginian,
and Capt. Richards on Hondo) plays strangling
victim's boyfriend Jerry Fisher. Carol Eve Rossen (Anna Kassoff on The Lawless Years) plays undercover
policewoman Nancy. Harlan Warde (see "Lady Killer" above) returns as
Dr. Ben Daniels. Delores Wells (Playboy Playmate who appeared in Beach Party, Muscle Beach Party, and Bikini
Beach) plays a record store clerk. Joe Corey (Humphrey Humpsteader on Dear Phoebe) plays a sailor. Mitzi
McCall (appeared in War of the Satellites,
White Palace, and World's Greatest Dad, was a regular
performer on Rowan & Martin's
Laugh-In, played Miriam Lerner on Alright
Already and Fran Lipschitz on Silk
Stalkings, and did voicework on The
Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, The Fonz
and the Happy Days Gang, and Free for
All) plays his girlfriend.
Season 1, Episode 11, "The Very Hard Sell": Leonard
Nimoy (shown on the left, played Mr. Spock on Star Trek, Paris
on Mission: Impossible, and Dr.
William Bell on Fringe) plays drug
dealer Barrow. Alice Frost (Mama Holstrum on The Farmer's Daughter) plays widow Mrs. Cornell. Jack Collins (Max
Brahms on Occasional Wife and Russell
Slater on Dallas) plays car dealer
Mr. Garcy. Bill Zuckert (Arthur Bradwell on Mr.
Novak and Chief Segal on Captain Nice)
plays garage mechanic Donnegan. Michael Fox (see "Lady Killer" above)
returns as forensics expert Grossman. Arte Johnson (regular performer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In who played
Bascomb Bleacher, Jr. on Sally, Cpl.
Lefkowitz on Don't Call Me Charlie, and
Clive Richlin on Glitter) plays a
hotel clerk. Jackie Searl (began as a child actor, appearing in Tom Sawyer (1930), Huckleberry Finn (1931), Alice
in Wonderland (1933), Great
Expectations(1934), and Little Lord
Fauntleroy) plays health food store owner Anton.
Season 1, Episode 12, "'Til Death": Darryl Hickman
(Dwayne Hickman's older brother, who appeared in The Grapes of Wrath, The Way
of All Flesh, The Human Comedy, Captain Eddie, Rhapsody in Blue, and The
Tingler and played Cpl. Ben Canfield on The
Americans) plays groom-to-be Tommy Palmer. Judi Meredith (Bonnie Sue McAfee
on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show
and The George Burns Show, Monique
Devereaux on Hotel de Paree, and
Betty Cramer on Ben Casey) plays his bride-to-be
Angela Pavilic. Naomi Stevens (Juanita on The
Doris Day Show, Mama Rossini on My Three Sons, Rose Montefusco on The
Montefuscos, and Sgt. Bella Archer on Vega$)
plays her mother Louisa. Steven Geray (appeared in Phantom of the Opera (1943), Spellbound,
Gilda, All About Eve, and Gentlemen
Prefer Blondes and played Dr. Herman ver Hagen on The Danny Thomas Show) plays her father Anton. Corey Allen (went on
to direct multiple episodes of Dr. Kildare, Police Woman, Dallas, Hunter, and Star Trek: The
Next Generation) plays best man Ben Darcy. Johnny Seven (Lt. Carl Reese on Ironside) plays Tommy's former army
colleague Marty Kellogg. Margie Regan (see "Line of Duty" above) returns
as King's fiance Claire Townsend. Richard Collier (Harry Price on Many Happy Returns) plays florist Hubert.
Season 1, Episode 13, "The Heckler": Robert Vaughn
(shown on the right, starred in Teenage Cave Man, The Magnificent Seven, The Towering Inferno, and Bullitt and played Capt. Ray Rambridge
on The Lieutenant, Napoleon Solo on The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Harry Rule on The Protectors, Harlan Adams on Emerald Point N.A.S., Gen. Hunt
Stockwell on The A-Team, and Albert
Stroller on Hustle) plays heist
mastermind Sordo. Joseph V. Perry (Nemo
on Everybody Loves Raymond)
plays accomplice Chuck. Frank Albertson (starred in Alice Adams, Man Made Monster,
and It's a Wonderful Life and played
Mr. Cooper on Bringing Up Buddy)
plays bomb expert Pop Smith. Mary LaRoche (appeared in Run Silent, Run Deep, Gidget,
Bye Bye Birdie, and The Swinger and played Barbara Scott on Karen) plays his girlfriend Lotte
Constantine. Robert H. Harris (Jake Goldberg on Molly and Raymond Schindler on The
Court of Last Resort) plays businessman Dave Praskin. Jimmy Lydon (starred
in Tom Brown's School Days, Little Men, Joan of Arc, and 9 Henry Aldrich features and played Biff Cardoza
on Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, Andy
Boone on So This Is Hollywood, and
Richard on Love That Jill) plays hotel
clerk Roger Pitt. Michael Fox (see "Lady Killer" above) returns as
forensics expert Grossman. Sam Edwards (starred in Captain Midnight, Twelve
O'Clock High, and The Beatniks
and played Hank the hotel clerk on The
Virginian and Mr. Bill Anderson on Little
House on the Prairie) plays a front desk clerk.
Season 1, Episode 14, "Run, Rabbit, Run": Alfred
Ryder (appeared in T-Men, Hamlet (1964), Hotel, and True Grit) plays
former mobster Toots Brenden. Paul Keast (Nathaniel Carter on Casey Jones) plays new mob boss Trent
Morgan. Barbara Stuart (Bessie on The
Great Gildersleeve, Alice on Pete and
Gladys, Bunny on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.,
Peggy Ferguson on The McLean Stevenson Show,
Marianne Danzig on Our Family Honor,
and Alice on Huff) plays his secretary
Yvonne English. Dave Barry (voice actor who did celebrity impressions as well
as the voices of Bluto and Elmer Fudd in various cartoon shorts) plays outgoing
mob boss Doug Quinn. Alvy Moore (appeared in Susan Slept Here, Designing
Woman, and The Wackiest Ship in the
Army and played Howie on Pete and
Gladys and Hank Kimball on Green
Acres) plays hit-man Mr. Giddon. Ken Lynch (see the biography section for
the 1961 post on Checkmate) plays former
gunman Red Chambers. Charles Wagenheim (Halligan on Gunsmoke) plays former mob driver Harry. Charles MacCaulay
(appeared in Head, Blacula, Airport '77, Raise the
Titanic, Splash, and 6 Perry
Mason TV movies and played Elliot Kincaid #2 on Days of Our Lives) plays mission director Brother Jeffry. Marjorie
Bennett (see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays unlicensed necktie seller
Mrs. Turner.
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