Given the overnight runaway success of medical dramas such
as
Dr. Kildare on NBC and
Ben Casey on ABC
, which both debuted on the Fall 1961 schedule, it was inevitable
that more medical dramas would follow. CBS tried to play catch-up by
introducing
The Nurses on its Fall
1962 schedule, while NBC decided to double its medical offerings by launching a
psychiatric-based drama,
The Eleventh
Hour, on Wednesday evenings following
Perry
Como's Kraft Music Hall.
The Eleventh
Hour revolves around the psychiatric practice of Dr. Theodore Bassett,
played by veteran Hollywood character actor
Wendell Corey, and his younger
protégé, psychologist Dr. Paul Graham, played by
Jack Ging. The Bassett
character had a prior career as an attorney before entering psychiatry, and
this past experience with the criminal justice system makes him a go-to for
legal cases in which a defendant must be evaluated to determine whether they
should be considered legally sane or insane, such as in the series pilot
episode "Ann Costigan: A Duel on a Field of White" (October 3, 1962).
Bassett's legal background also provides the series with the necessary cover to
slide into the crime-solving formula that serves as the foundation for other
police and legal dramas. It's worth noting that the Paul Graham character does
not appear in this first episode, suggesting that perhaps he was a late
addition after the series had been approved for production. Instead, Bassett
consults in this case with psychologist Lucy Anderson and intern Dr. Edward
Alden, neither of whom appear in any future episodes. However, it is also clear
that Ging's Paul Graham character is a play for the younger demographic using
the same formula seen in legal dramas such as
Sam Benedict with
Richard Rust and
Carl Held's short tenure as
David Gideon during the 5th season of
Perry Mason in 1960-61. Graham's role on
The
Eleventh Hour consists largely of administering tests to patients and
occasionally second-guessing Bassett's assessments, though he gets to take the
lead on a couple of cases when Bassett has other obligations--"Angie, You
Made My Heart Stop" (November 14, 1962) and "Eat, Little Fishie,
Eat" (December 5, 1962). But in those episodes, Graham comes off as a
mini-Bassett, employing the same techniques and resisting the same pressures as
his older mentor.
Bassett, on the other hand, is introduced to us as a kind of
mental whisperer. The pilot episode opens with a melodramatic scene in which a
patient in the mental ward of the county hospital goes berserk, assaulting the
medical staff in an attempt to escape and running down the hallway until he
reaches the elevator. Just then, the elevator doors open and there stands
Bassett, calm and unflinching, meeting the patient's gaze without a trace of
fear before exerting a calming influence that persuades the patient to desist
and return to his room. The scene establishes Bassett as someone who cannot be
pressured into deviating from what he believes to be the best course of action
for each patient. When he is called in to evaluate a suspect's sanity, such as
the title character Ann Costigan in this first episode, he refuses to make snap
judgments despite a legal calendar requiring a decision by a certain date. In
this case, Ann Costigan has killed her husband, but Bassett must determine
whether she was legally sane when she did so. Costigan certainly gives off the
appearance of someone who is insane with her petulant outbursts in court
hurling insults at the judge and making other odd remarks as well as claiming
that she killed her husband because he was planning to kill her and had tried
to do so multiple times before. The judge and prosecuting attorney are
concerned that her madness could be just an act and that she knows full well
that being declared insane and committed to a mental institution could lead to
being declared sane as soon as a year or so later, allowing her to be freed
without ever serving any jail time. There is also concern about what she may do
to her late husband's young daughter if given custody of her, so Bassett's job
is to dig beneath her exterior behavior to see what she is really thinking and
feeling.
Which brings us to a discussion of the methods used by
Bassett, and in later episodes Graham, to explore the buried feelings and
events of their patients. First they administer Rorschach tests, followed by a
series of crude paintings that invite the patient to create a story based on
what they see in the paintings. The Rorschach ink blot tests, developed by
Swiss psychologist Hermann Rorschach in 1921, were intended to identify thought
disorders in schizophrenics, which remains their most effective use. Over the
years many have questioned the tests' validity and the objectivity of test
administrators, but they remain in use for certain types of cases, and their
popularity varies by country--they are very popular in Japan but mostly
distrusted in the U.K. Not satisfied with the results of these tests on Ann
Costigan, Bassett then has her reunited with her late husband's daughter at his
office to see not only her reaction to the child but more importantly the
child's reaction to her. This meeting does reveal any problems, so Bassett then
arranges to have sodium pentothal administered to Costigan on the terrace of
her home where she pushed her husband to his death, hoping that the location
and effect of the "truth serum" will uncover what she was really
feeling when she killed him. Sodium pentothal's use is also controversial.
While it is generally recognized as able to reduce inhibition and the higher
cortical brain function believed to be used when someone is lying, it is also a
dangerous barbiturate and some have questioned the reliability of confessions
obtained under its influence. Until recently it was used in this country in
lethal injections until the overseas companies that made it refused to supply
it for that use. In our story, the application of sodium pentothal on Costigan
only makes her attempt to throw herself over the ledge where her husband died,
or at least she appears to make an attempt. So Bassett then proceeds to playing
his last card--putting Costigan under hypnosis and making a post-hypnotic
suggestion that will force her to cut her hair short, after she had earlier
claimed that her husband forbade her to do so, when she hears the triggering
sound of the door clicking shut in her room. Bassett's intern Dr. Alden is at
first skeptical of the technique's validity until Bassett puts him under and
tells him that when he awakens he will have a powerful thirst that can only be
quenched by water from the pitcher on Bassett's desk. Even though he recognizes
where his thirst is coming from after awakening, Alden cannot quench it with
anything other than the water from Bassett's pitcher. And so when Bassett puts
Costigan under, she complies and cuts her hair, though it takes all night for
her to finally succumb to the suggestion. Afterwards she finally confesses to
killing her husband because he was old and ugly, to killing his first wife
because she was fat, and to hating the daughter because she had to change her
dirty diapers when she was a baby. Today testimony obtained through hypnosis is
banned in almost every state, except Texas.
Regardless of the mostly outdated methods used in the pilot
episode, it establishes Bassett as a medical professional who insists on
exploring each case thoroughly until he finds an explanation that appears
irrefutable. He is also depicted as a man who listens carefully to what his
patients tell him and offers a recommendation that he feels is in their best
interests, which may not align with those in power. In the second episode,
"There Are Dragons in This Forest" (October 10, 1962), Bassett and
Graham are called to examine a World War II veteran accused of desertion in the
last days of the War and who is extradited from Germany to face a court
martial. The accused, Mark Tyner, does not dispute that he left his unit and
stayed in Germany, marrying a German woman with whom he has had two sons, but
he does not seem to remember the events surrounding his alleged desertion. Rather
than using the methods employed in the previous episode, Bassett and Graham
have Tyner and his German wife Carla reenact in a kind of mini-drama their
first meeting just before the armistice with Germany was declared. When Tyner
becomes mentally blocked in recalling his encounter with Carla's fiance Werner
at the time, Bassett and Graham step in to portray the two, forcing Tyner to
interrupt when they get the details wrong, which leads to Tyner having to admit
that he killed Werner because he assumed he was a Nazi when he was actually
working undercover for the Allies. So while this reenactment absolves Tyner
from the charge of desertion because he was still acting as a U.S. soldier when
he thought he was killing a Nazi, it also exposes to his German wife that he
killed her fiance but never told her, making for a very difficult reconciliation
after 17 years of marriage and the raising of their two sons. The usually
snarky
TV Guide reviewer
Gilbert
Seldes was apparently moved by this episode in his review in the November 17,
1962 issue such that he offered no criticisms of the series but instead praised
the series for its adherence to reality.
At the end of the episode, Tyner's wife forgives his killing
perpetrated under the fog of war because the bonds of her current family are
stronger than anything else, a resolution very similar to that in the Cold
War-themed episode "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted House" (October
24, 1962) in which
George C. Scott plays a Soviet defector who has created a
new life with an American wife and son until he begins feeling the pull of the
fatherland and feels compelled to return to Russia. After all his tests and
interviews, Bassett is forced to tell FBI agent Sterne that he cannot deprogram
Anton Novak in such a short time and with no legal justification to detain him,
there is nothing they can do to stop him from returning to Russia, that is,
until Bassett is able to make Novak see that Russia will expect him to bring
his wife and son with him, meaning that his son will undergo the same sort of
state programming that he did. Finally recognizing that he does not want his
son to be stripped of his free will and self-determination, Novak abandons his
return at the last minute because again the bond of family is stronger than
that of nationality.
One of the boldest episodes of those that aired in 1962 is
"Of Roses and Nightingales and Other Lovely Things" (November 7,
1962), which deals with the issues of teenage pregnancy and abortion. In this
story 15-year-old high school student Laura Hunter's increasingly hysterical
behavior is revealed to be prompted by the fact that she is pregnant. When the
school doctor recommends to her parents that they have her talk to Bassett, the
parents at first tell him that at age 15 having a baby would be
life-destroying, but he has to remind them that abortion is not legal and that
getting an illegal one could be dangerous (a particularly poignant point from
60 years ago). However, Bassett does not object to abortion merely on legal or
moral grounds, in talking with Laura he learns that she has an aversion to the
idea of it because of an experience she had as a child with a mother cat who
abandoned one of her kittens, allowing it to die. So Laura is determined to
have the baby, but she also feels determined to keep it, which does not seem
like the best choice for anyone involved. A gossipy neighbor of Laura's mother
insists that the parents must pressure the parents of the boy who fathered the
child to make the teenagers get married. But Laura admits that she is not in
love with the boy and does not want to marry him, and once the parents drive by
his house to get a look at him, they realize that he, too, is still a child and
not ready for parenthood or marriage. All if which brings Bassett to the
conclusion that the only real solution is for Laura to have the child and give
it up for adoption. Laura is vehemently opposed to this option and even
considers jumping out of the family treehouse to cause a miscarriage rather
than surrender her baby, but her younger brother is able to talk her out of it,
and finally the whole family comes to accept Bassett's proposed solution as the
best for both Laura and the baby's future. While it might seem at first glance
that the episode is a win for the so-called pro-life agenda, Bassett's approach
is to let Laura make her own choice once she has carefully considered all the
ramifications of that choice. The key to Bassett's character in the series, as
he says in another episode, is that his job is not to tell people what they
should do but to listen.
The series also undertakes a sensitive treatment of
post-partum depression in "The Blues My Babe Gave to Me" (December
12, 1962), which dramatizes overwhelmed new mother Christine Warren unable to
cope with her new, more restrictive role as mother to her infant while also
battling a repressed false memory of having killed her younger sister whom she
was forced to take care of at a young age. While at first glance many viewers
might be quick to judge a mother who wants to kill her own baby, the episode
provides a foundation of childhood trauma to explain such a compulsion.
Childhood trauma also plays a prominent role in the aforementioned "Angie,
You Made My Heart Stop" in which a young woman thinks she caused her
father's heart attack by startling him during a game of hide-and-seek,
resulting in a twisted sense of self as a bringer of death and a string of lies
that only leads to further tragedy to confirm that narrative. Though the series
occasionally resorts to melodrama for sensationalist effect, such as the
rampaging mental patient from the first episode mentioned above, or a tortured
run through the city by co-dependent sister Ruth Radwin in "Eat, Little
Fishie, Eat" in seeking out her brother whom she feels bonded to, it also
should be praised for tackling difficult subjects and attempting to educate the
viewer about many misunderstood mental disorders. Seeing these mental patients
through the eyes of Dr. Bassett, we are encouraged to suspend initial snap
judgments and to just listen to gain a better understanding of the misery that
other people are going through.
The theme song and single episode scores for
The Eleventh Hour were composed by
Harry Sukman. Sukman was born in Chicago on
December 2, 1912 and made his concert debut on piano at age 12. In 1941 he was
hired by the Mutual Broadcast System in Chicago as pianist and conductor and
remained in that position until he moved to Paramount Studios in Hollywood in
1946. In 1954 he began getting assignments to compose scores for feature films
for Ivan Tors Productions, including the science fiction dramas Riders to the Stars and Gog. He continued working on B-grade
feature films throughout the 1950s such as The
Phenix City Story, Sabu and the Magic
Ring, and Verboten! His career in
television began in 1957 when he was hired to score an individual episode for Tales of Wells Fargo. Three years later
he began getting more assignments on Death
Valley Days, Laramie, and Alcoa Theatre. Working with Morris
Stoloff, he shared the Oscar for Best Score at the 1961 Academy Awards for Song Without End. The two were nominated
again the following year for the score to Fanny
but did not win. Sukman would garner one more Oscar nomination for the score to
The Singing Nun at the 1967 Academy
Awards. After scoring 4 episodes of
Dr. Kildare for its first season, Sukman was tabbed to compose the music for
The Eleventh Hour. He would score 56
more episodes for
Dr. Kildare and
began getting occasional assignment on other series such as
The Virginian,
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, and
Peyton Place. After scoring most of the episodes for the
short-lived 1966-67 western
The Monroes,
Sukman was hired to write the score for
The
High Chaparral in 1967, for which he received his first Emmy nomination. He
worked on several other series during the late 1960s including
Gentle Ben,
Cowboy in Africa, and
Bonanza
as well as composing for occasional feature films and TV movies. He received
his second Emmy nomination for his work on the 1979 TV mini-series version of
Salem's Lot. He released a few albums of
his piano instrumentals, beginning with Liberty Records in 1956, as well as a
few more albums tied to his work on film scores. He died of a heart attack on
his birthday in 1984 at the age of 72.
The first season has been released on DVD by Warner Archives.
The Actors
For the biography of Jack Ging, see the 1961 post on Tales of Wells Fargo.
Wendell Corey
Wendell Reid Corey
was born on March 20, 1914 in Dracut, Massachusetts. His father was a
Congregationalist minister who had a single feature film appearance in the 1951
western
Rawhide and who traced his
roots back to U.S. Presidents
John Adams and
John Quincy Adams. The younger
Corey attended high school in Springfield, Massachusetts and initially
considered a career in professional tennis but instead wound up selling
appliances in a department store. His entry into the theater was by chance: a
friend was acting in a local production of
Street
Scene in 1934 and when another member of the cast had to bow out,
Corey was invited to fill in. After spending a year with the same theater
group, he made his professional debut with a Holyoke company in a 1935
production of
The Night of January 16.
In 1938 he was employed by the Federal Theatre Project, part of
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt's New Deal, which is where he met his wife
Alice Wiley. He made his
Broadway debut in a 1942 production of
Comes
the Revelation. Corey served in the military during World War II and
received the Legion of Honor award from Czechoslovakia. He resumed his
theatrical career after returning to civilian life and in 1945 was spotted by
film producer
Hal Wallis while acting in
Dream
Girl. Wallis had Corey signed to a contract with Paramount Studios for whom
he made his feature film debut in the 1947 noir thriller
Desert Fury along with another Wallis discovery,
Burt Lancaster.
Corey worked steadily in feature films thereafter, mostly in supporting roles,
most notably in
Sorry, Wrong Number
with
Barbara Stanwyck,
Any Number Can
Play with
Clark Gable, The File on
Thelma Jordon again with Stanwyck,
Holiday
Affair with
Robert Mitchum and
Janet Leigh,
Harriet Craig with
Joan Crawford, and
Hitchcock's
Rear Window with
James Stewart and
Grace
Kelly. Beginning in the late 1940s, Corey also doubled up by appearing in radio
dramas such as
Cavalcade of America,
Lux Radio Theatre, and
Inner Sanctum. In 1951 he began
appearing on television, at first on drama anthologies such as
Schlitz Playhouse,
Lux Video Theatre, and
Robert
Montgomery Presents. He played Lou Gehrig in a 1955 episode of
Climax! while continuing to make a few
feature films each year. He appeared in
Elvis Presley's second feature
Loving You in 1957 and began his first
TV recurring role as Captain Ralph Baxter on
Harbor Command. His next regular TV role came in the 1959 summer
replacement series
Peck's Bad Girl,
which lasted 14 episodes. In 1961 he co-starred with
Nanette Fabray on
Westinghouse Playhouse, also known as
The Nanette Fabray Show, in which he
played her husband with two rude children from a previous marriage. During this
period Corey also began getting involved in Republican politics. He was the
Master of Ceremonies at both the 1956 and 1960 Republican National Conventions.
He was elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in
1961, serving two years in that role, and was a board member of the Screen
Actors Guild.
However, Corey's career also began
to be affected by his alcoholism. Despite being cast in the lead role as Dr.
Theodore Bassett on
The Eleventh Hour
in 1962, he left the series after its first season and was replaced by
Ralph
Bellamy. After supporting Republican candidate
Barry Goldwater in the 1964
Presidential Election, Corey was elected to the Santa Monica City Council in
1965, on which he served until his death. However, his feature film roles began
declining into exploitation fare such as
Women
of the Prehistoric Planet,
Cyborg
2087, and
Picture Mommy Dead all
in 1966. That year he also ran for an open Congressional seat but was defeated
in the Republican primary. After appearing in feature films
The Astro-Zombies and
Buckskin in 1968, Corey played a
washed-up movie director in
The Star
Maker later that year.
After
returning from filming in Berlin, Corey became ill and died from cirrhosis of
the liver at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital on November 8, 1968
at the age of 54.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 1, Episode 1, "Ann Costigan: A Duel on a Field of
White":
Vera Miles (shown on the left, starred in
Wichita,
The Searchers,
The Wrong Man,
The FBI Story,
and
Psycho) plays murderer Ann
Costigan.
Murray Hamilton (appeared in
No
Time for Sergeants,
Anatomy of a Murder,
The Hustler, and
Jaws and played Steve Baker on
Love
and Marriage and Capt. Rutherford T.
Grant on
B.J. and the Bear) plays her
defense attorney Walter Enley.
Roger Perry (James Harrigan, Jr. on
Harrigan and Son, Det. Sgt. Dan Kirby on
Arrest and Trial, Charles Parker on
The Facts of Life, and John Costello on
Falcon Crest) plays psychiatric intern
Dr. Edward Alden.
Anne Seymour (appeared in
All
the King's Men, The Gift of Love,
The
Subterraneans, and
Fitzwilly and
played Lucia Garrett on
Empire and
Beatrice Hewitt on
General Hospital) plays
psychologist Lucy Anderson .
Carl Benton Reid (starred in
The Little Foxes,
In a Lonely
Place,
Lorna Doone, and
The Left Hand of God and played The Man
on
Burke's Law) plays the murder
trial judge.
Harold Gould (Bowman Chamberlain on
The Long Hot Summer, Harry Danton on
The Feather and Father Gang, Martin Morgenstern on
The Mary Tyler Moore Show and
Rhoda, Jonah Foot on
Foot in the Door, Ben Sprague on
Spencer, and Miles Webber on
The Golden Girls) plays schizophrenic
patient Paul Brauner.
Nelson Olmsted (Captain Masters, MD on
The Phil Silvers Show) plays psychiatrist
Dr. Kendall.
Season 1, Episode 2, "There Are Dragons in This Forest":
Steven Hill (shown on the right, appeared in
The Slender
Thread,
Yentl,
Legal Eagles,
Brighton Beach Memoirs, and
The
Firm and played Daniel Briggs on
Mission:
Impossible and D.A. Adam Schiff on
Law
& Order) plays World War II deserter Mark Tyner.
Mai Zetterling (starred
in
Torment,
Music in Darkness,
Frieda,
The Devil Inside, and
The Man Who Finally Died and played
Phylis Finley on
My Wife and I) plays
his German wife Carla Riehle.
Dianne Foster (starred in
Night Passage,
The Last
Hurrah, and
The Deep Six) plays his
American wife Fay Tyner.
Lloyd Bochner (Chief Inspector Neil Campbell on
Hong Kong and Cecil Colby on
Dynasty) plays his defense attorney
Capt. Norman Hobler.
H.M. Wynant (Lt. Bauer on
The Young Marrieds, Frosty on
Batman,
and Ed Chapman on
Dallas) plays prosecuting
attorney Lt. Jed Pruitt.
Robert Karnes (see the biography section for the 1961
post on
The Lawless Years) plays the court
martial Law Officer.
Season 1, Episode 3, "Make Me a Place":
Barbara
Rush (starred in
When Worlds Collide,
It Came From Outer Space,
Magnificent Obsession, and
Robin and the 7 Hoods and played Lizzie
Hogan on
Saints and Sinners, Marsha
Russell on
Peyton Place, Eudora
Weldon on
Flamingo Road, Nola Orsini
on
All My Children, and Ruth Camden
on
7th Heaven) plays fashion designer
Linda Kincaid.
David Janssen (shown on the left, starred in
To
Hell and Back,
Hell to Eternity,
King of the Roaring '20's,
The Green Berets, and
The Shoes of the Fisherman and played
Richard Diamond on
Richard Diamond,
Private Detective, Dr. Richard Kimble on
The Fugitive, Jim O'Hara on
O'Hara,
U.S. Treasury, and Harry Orwell on
Harry
O) plays her ex-husband Hal Kincaid.
Frank Overton (starred in
Desire Under the Elms,
To Kill a Mockingbird, and
Fail-Safe and played Major Harvey
Stovall on
12 O'Clock High) plays her
fiance Pete Harvey.
Grace Lee Whitney (Janice Rand on
Star Trek, the
Star Trek feature
films,
Star Trek: Voyager, and
Star Trek New Voyages) plays fashion
model Dawn.
Joan Patrick (see the biography section for the 1961 post on
Dr. Kildare) plays fashion model Sue.
Mimi
Dillard (Molly on
Valentine's Day)
plays Linda's maid Hilda.
Season 1, Episode 4, "I Don't Belong in a White-Painted
House":
George C. Scott (shown on the right, Oscar winner, starred in
Anatomy of a Murder,
The
Hustler,
Dr. Strangelove, and
Patton and played Neil Brock on
East Side/West Side, President Samuel
Arthur Tresch on
Mr. President, and
Joe Trapchek on
Traps) plays Soviet
defector Anton Novak.
Colleen Dewhurst (multiple Emmy winner and wife of George
C. Scott, starred in
A Fine Madness,
The Cowboys,
Annie Hall,
Ice Castles,
and
The Dead Zone and played Avery
Brown, Sr. on
Murphy Brown) plays his
American wife Joanne.
Rory O'Brien (Danny Morley on
The Farmer's Daughter) plays his son John.
John Anderson (see the
biography section for the 1960 post on
The
Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp) plays FBI agent Sterne.
Michael Strong (appeared
in
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round,
Point Blank, and
Patton and played Oliver Barbour and Dick Appleman on
The Edge of Night and Sgt. Clark on
Our Private World) plays Soviet agent
Sergei Berinkin.
Pamela Baird (see the biography section of the 1961 post on
Leave It to Beaver) plays the Novaks'
babysitter Milly.
William Swan (Walter Hines on
All My Children) plays an airline desk clerk.
John Newton (Bill
Paley on
Search for Tomorrow and
Judge Eric Caffey on
Law & Order)
plays a soccer coach.
Season 1, Episode 5, "The Seventh Day of Creation":
Katy Jurado (shown on the left, appeared in
High Noon,
Arrowhead,
Trapeze, and
One-Eyed Jacks
and played Rosa Maria Rivera on
a.k.a.
Pablo, La Jurada on
Mas alla del
puente, and
Justina on
Te sigo amando) plays widowed mother
Rose Ramirez.
Emily McLaughlin (Dr. Eileen Seaton on
Young Dr. Malone and nurse Jessie Brewer on
General Hospital) plays her next-door neighbor Myra Williams.
Noah
Keen (Det. Lt. Carl Bone on
Arrest and
Trial) plays Myra's husband Fred.
Charles Herbert (appeared in
The Colossus of New York,
The Fly,
Houseboat, and
Please Don't
Eat the Daisies and played David Barker on
The Donna Reed Show, Peter McCauley on
Men Into Space, and Rickey Selby on
The Clear Horizon) plays their son Stevie.
John McGiver (appeared
in
Breakfast at Tiffany's,
The Manchurian Candidate,
The Glass Bottom Boat,
Midnight Cowboy,
The Apple Dumpling Gang and played J.R. Castle on
The Patty Duke Show, Walter Burnley on
Many Happy Returns, Barton J. Reed on
Mr. Terrific, and Dr. Luther Quince on
The Jimmy Stewart Show) plays neighborhood
alcoholic Mr. Mathewson.
Amy Fields (Jean on
The F.B.I.) plays young mother Lucille Girard.
Paul Newlan (Police
Capt. Grey on
M Squad and Lt. Gen.
Pritchard on
12 O'Clock High) plays Rose's
son's custody case judge.
Muriel Landers (appeared in
Pillow Talk and
Doctor Doolittle
and played Rosa on
Life With Luigi
and Mildred Cosgrove on
The Joey Bishop Show) plays prospective babysitter Mrs. Cooley.
Barry Cahill (Capt. Curt
Douglas on
12 O'Clock High and Buck
Vernon on
The Waltons) plays a
policeman.
Alfred Shelly (Ed Carney on
The
D.A.'s Man) plays the court bailiff.
Season 1, Episode 6, "Of Roses and Nightingales and
Other Lovely Things":
Davey Davison (Virginia Lewis on
Days of Our Lives and Nurse Esther on
General Hospital) plays pregnant high
school student Laura Hunter.
Pat Hingle (appeared in
On the Waterfront,
Splendor
in the Grass,
Hang 'Em High,
Norma Rae,
Sudden Impact,
Batman (1989),
Batman Returns,
Batman Forever,
Batman &
Robin, and
Talledega Nights: The
Ballad of Ricky Bobby and played Dr. Chapman on
Gunsmoke and Chief Paulton on
Stone)
plays her father Bob.
Kim Hunter (shown on the right, Oscar winner, starred in
Stairway to Heaven,
A
Streetcar Named Desire,
Deadline -
U.S.A., and
Planet of the Apes
and played Nola Madison on
The Edge of
Night) plays her mother Virginia.
Alexander Lockwood (Judge Owen Baker on
Sam Benedict) plays her high school
physician Dr. Jim Wilson.
Judee Morton (appeared in
Zotz! and
The Slime People
and played Dr. Smithson on
General
Hospital) plays Laura's high school classmate Nancy Sanders.
Maxine Stuart
(see the biography section for the 1962 post on
Dr. Kildare) plays Nancy's mother Eunice.
Tom Lowell (see the
biography section for the 1962 post on
Combat!)
plays the unborn baby's father Stan Jordan.
Season 1, Episode 7, "Angie, You Made My Heart Stop":
Collin Wilcox Paxton (shown on the left, starred in
To Kill
a Mockingbird,
Catch-22, and
Jaws 2 and played Swannie O'Teale on
Christy) plays young wife Angela Crain.
Dabbs
Greer (see the biography section for the 1960 post on
Gunsmoke) plays her husband Ed.
Norma Connolly (Lena Karr Gilroy on
The Young Marrieds, Mrs. Yost on
The Edge of Night, and Ruby Anderson on
General Hospital) plays her sister Ruth
Sanders.
Albert Salmi (Yadkin on
Daniel
Boone and Pete Ritter on
Petrocelli)
plays museum guard Ken Bradley.
David Sheiner (Norman Brodnik on
Diana) plays defense attorney Dave
Torbin.
Paul Langton (Leslie Harrington on
Peyton
Place) plays Assistant D.A. Walter Maylie.
Ted Knight (Phil Buckley on
The Young Marrieds, Ted Baxter on
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Roger Dennis
on
The Ted Knight Show, and Henry
Rush on
Too Close for Comfort) plays crime
scene investigator Det. Jansen.
Helen Wallace (Nurse Lucy Webber on
Dr. Kildare) plays a jailhouse matron.
Jack Bernardi (Herschel Bernardi's brother) plays a sign painter.
Season 1, Episode 8, "Hooray, Hooray, the Circus Is
Coming to Town":
Burgess Meredith (shown on the right, starred in
Of Mice and Men,
Mine Own
Executioner,
Advise & Consent,
and
The Cardinal and played Martin
Woodridge on
Mr. Novak, The Penguin
on
Batman, V.C.R. Cameron on
Search, the narrator on
Korg: 70,000 B.C., and Dr. Willard Adams
on
Gloria) plays shipping tycoon
Christopher Norbert II and his profligate son Christopher Norbert III.
Edward
Andrews (appeared in
The Harder They Fall,
Elmer Gantry,
The Absent-Minded Professor,
Son
of Flubber,
Advise and Consent, and
The Glass Bottom Boat and played
Cmdr. Rogers Adrian on
Broadside and
Col. Fairburn on
The Doris Day Show)
plays Norbert's other son Richardson.
Richard Evans (Paul Hanley on
Peyton Place) plays Richardson's son
Bennett.
Vaughn Taylor (starred in
Jailhouse
Rock,
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,
Psycho, and
In Cold Blood and played Ernest P. Duckweather on
Johnny Jupiter) plays the elder
Norbert's lawyer Tobias.
Henry Beckman (Commander Paul Richards on
Flash Gordon, Mulligan on
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, George
Anderson on
Peyton Place, Colonel
Harrigan on
McHale's Navy, Capt.
Roland Frances Clancey on
Here Come the
Brides, Pat Harwell on
Funny Face,
Harry Mark on
Bronk, and Alf Scully
on
Check It Out) plays Richardson's
lawyer Mills.
Vic Perrin (the narrator on
Sergeant
Preston of the Yukon, was the control voice on
The Outer Limits, and did voicework on
Jonny Quest,
Star Trek,
Scooby Doo, Where Are You?, and
Mission: Impossible!) plays struggling
writer Anthony Coll.
Henry Corden (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 former sailor Ex-Captain
Blythe.
Steven Terrell (Tom on
The Pride
of the Family) plays sculptor Bill Ives.
Alberta Nelson (appeared in
Beach Party,
Muscle Beach Party,
Bikini
Beach,
Pajama Party,
Beach Blanket Bingo,
How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, and
The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini and
played Lori the waitress on
Peyton Place)
plays his wife Madelyn.
Eve McVeagh (starred in
High Noon,
The Glass Web,
and
Tight Spot and played Frances
Moseby on
The Clear Horizon and Miss
Hammond on
Petticoat Junction) plays Christopher
III's girlfriend Regina.
Henry Jones (Dean Fred Baker on
Channing, Owen Metcalf on
The
Girl With Something Extra, Judge Jonathan Dexter on
Phyllis, Josh Alden on
Mrs.
Columbo, Homer McCoy on
Gun Shy,
B. Riley Wicker on
Falcon Crest, and
Hughes Whitney Lennox on
I Married Dora)
plays Christopher III's mental competency hearing judge.
Jon Locke (Officer
Garvey on
Highway Patrol and
Sleestack Leader on
Land of the Lost)
plays the court bailiff.
Season 1, Episode 9, "Cry a Little for Mary, Too":
Keir Dullea (shown on the left, starred in
David and Lisa,
The Thin Red Line,
Bunny Lake Is Missing,
2001: A Space Odyssey, and
De Sade and played Dr. Mark Jarrett on
Guiding Light, Devon on
The Starlost, and Dr. Steven Meye on
The Path) plays accused killer Jerry Bullock.
Judith Evelyn (appeared in
Rear Window,
Hilda Crane,
Giant,
The Brothers Karamazov,
and
The Tingler and played The Woman
on
Wind) plays his mother Mrs.
Bullock.
S. John Launer (Marshall Houts on
The
Court of Last Resort and the judge 33 times on
Perry Mason) plays his defense attorney Joe Kinderman.
Edith
Atwater (appeared in
The Body Snatcher,
Sweet Smell of Success,
It Happened at the World's Fair, and
True Grit and played Grace Morton on
Peyton Place, Phyllis Hammond on
Love on a Rooftop, Gertrude Hardy on
The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, and
Illsa Fogel on
Kaz) plays prosecuting
attorney Ann Tabor.
Bert Remsen (Detective Lawrence on
Peyton Place, Mr. Pell on
Gibbsville,
Mario on
It's a Living, and Jack
Crager on
Dynasty) plays the murder
trial judge.
Harold Gould (see "Ann Costigan: A Duel on a Field of
White" above) plays the victim's father Eric Stanger.
Shirley O'Hara (Debbie
Flett on
The Bob Newhart Show) plays his
wife.
Mary Mitchel (appeared in
Twist
Around the Clock,
Panic in Year Zero,
A Swingin' Summer, and
Dementia 13) plays Jerry's classmate
Linda.
Robert Biheller (Corky on
Here
Come the Brides) plays her friend Dan.
Christopher Connelly (Norman
Harrington on
Peyton Place and Moses
Pray on
Paper Moon) plays another
friend of theirs.
Season 1, Episode 10, "Eat, Little Fishie, Eat":
Bradford
Dillman (shown on the right, starred in
A Crack in the Mirror,
Francis of Assissi,
Escape From the Planet of the Apes,
The Way We Were,
The Iceman Cometh, and
The
Swarm and played Rev. Andrew Webb on
Dr. Kildare, Capt. David Young on
Court
Martial, Paul Hollister on
King's
Crossing, and Darryl Clayton on
Falcon
Crest) plays playwright Arnold Radwin.
Nancy Wickwire (Lila Taylor Kelly on
Guiding Light, Claire Cassen on
As the World Turns, Liz Matthews on
Another World, and Phyllis Anderson on
Days of Our Lives) plays his older
sister Ruth.
Joe De Santis (appeared in
Deadline
- U.S.A.,
I Want to Live!,
Al Capone, and
Madame X) plays their father.
Ruth Storey (see the biography
section for the 1961 post on
87th Precinct)
plays their mother.
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 actress Maxine Waters.
Robert Fuca (men's costumer on
Mork & Mindy,
Webster, and
Hangin' With Mr.
Cooper) plays prop man Eddie.
Pat Renella (Roxy on
The New Phil Silvers Show) plays a dark-haired man on the street.
Season 1, Episode 11, "The Blues My Babe Gave to Me":
Inger Stevens (shown on the left, starred in
The Buccaneer,
A Guide for the Married Man,
Madigan, and
Hang 'Em High and played Katy Holstrum on
The Farmer's Daughter) plays new mother Christine Warren.
Robert
Vaughn (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, Judge Oren
Travis on
The Magnificent Seven,
Albert Stroller on
Hustle, and Milton
Farnshaw on
Coronation Street) plays her
husband Peter.
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 his father Mr.
Warren.
Clark Howat (Dr. John Petrie on
The
Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu and the police dispatcher on
Harbor Command) plays their friend John
Elwood.
Season 1, Episode 12, "Along About Late in the
Afternoon":
Franchot Tone (starred in
Moulin
Rouge (1934),
Mutiny on the Bounty,
Fast and Furious,
Dark Waters, and
I Love Trouble and played Dr. Daniel Niles Freeland on
Ben Casey) plays newspaper editor Leo
Haynes.
Dean Harens (Noel Clinton on
General
Hospital and SAC Bryan Durant on
The
F.B.I.) plays his son Charles.
Nan Leslie (Martha McGivern on
The Californians) plays Charles' wife
Yvonne.
Chester Morris (see the biography section for the 1960 post on
Diagnosis: Unknown) plays gangster
Frankie Morrison.
Edith Atwater (see "Cry a Little for Mary, Too"
above) returns as Assistant D.A. Ann Tabor.
Peter Adams (Capt. Arturo Toledano
on
Zorro) plays newspaper publisher
Horace Clarke.
Charles Seel (Otis the Bartender on
Tombstone Territory, Mr. Krinkie on
Dennis the Menace, and Tom Pride on
The Road West) plays night watchman Joe.
Jon Lormer (Harry Tate on
Lawman, Sam Watkins on
The Real McCoys, the autopsy surgeon on
Perry Mason, Simon Benjamin on
The Young Marrieds, and Judge Irwin A.
Chester on
Peyton Place) plays mental
patient Krasner.
George Takei (shown on the right, played Sulu on
Star
Trek and Kaito Nakamura on
Heroes)
plays Morrison case consultant Dr. Itsumoto.
Season 1, Episode 19, "Murder by Proxy: Earl Klegg":
Charles McGraw (appeared in The Killers,
Blood on the Moon, The Narrow Margin, and Spartacus and played Mike Waring on The Adventures of Falcon) plays convicted
felon Earl Klegg. Leonard Nimoy (shown on the right, played Mr. Spock on Star Trek, Paris on Mission:
Impossible, and Dr. William Bell on Fringe)
plays his hit-man Ralph Tomek. Lee Farr (Lt. Jim Conway on The Detectives and was married to actor Felicia Farr) plays state
investigator Harvey Dakes. Noah Keen (Det. Lt. Carl Bone on Arrest and Trial) plays state prosecutor
John Bernard. Fay Spain (starred in Dragstrip
Girl, Al Capone, and The Gentle Rain) plays murder victim's
fiance Enid Laslo. Gerald Hiken (cousin of Nat Hiken, appeared in Uncle Vanya, The Goddess, Invitation to a
Gunfighter, and Reds, and played
Katz the Butcher on Car 54 Where Are You?)
plays trade association bookkeeper Vic Fell. Juanita Moore (starred in Ransom!, The Girl Can't Help It, Imitation
of Life, and The Singing Nun)
plays cleaning woman Beatrice George. Regis Toomey (starred in Alibi, Other Men's Women, The Finger
Points, His Girl Friday, and The Big Sleep and played Joe Mulligan on
The Mickey Rooney Show, Lt. Manny
Waldo on Four Star Playhouse, Lt.
McGough on Richard Diamond, Private
Detective, Bill Cochran on Shannon,
Det. Les Hart on Burke's Law, and Dr.
Barton Stuart on Petticoat Junction
and Green Acres) plays district Judge
Thomas Otto. 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 a prison warden.
Season 1, Episode 22, "The New Order: Peter Long":
Simon Oakland (shown on the right, starred in Psycho, West
Side Story, and Follow That Dream
and played Tony Vincenzo on Kolchak: The
Night Stalker, Brig. Gen. Thomas Moore on Black Sheep Squadron, and Sgt. Abrams on David Cassidy - Man Undercover) plays ex-con muscle man Walter
Hayes. Chris Robinson (Sgt. Sandy Komansky on 12 O'Clock High, Rick Webber on General
Hospital, and Jack Hamilton on The
Bold and the Beautiful) plays his son Jack. Jesse White (appeared in Harvey, Bedtime for Bonzo, The Bad
Seed, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad,Mad World,
and The Reluctant Astronaut and
played Mickey Calhoun on Private
Secretary, Jesse Leeds on Make Room
for Daddy, and Oscar Pudney on The
Ann Sothern Show) plays Walter's loan-shark partner Rudy. Lin McCarthy (starred
in Yellowneck, The D.I., and Face of a
Fugitive and played Bill Talbot on Modern
Romances) plays Walter's replacement Peter Long. Jack Ging (see the biography section for the 1961 post on
Tales of Wells Fargo)
plays federal agent Steve Strohm. 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 Jack's friend Milt
Gray. Harry Swoger (Harry the bartender on The
Big Valley) plays Walter's debtor Vulner. Anne Helm (Molly Pierce on Run for Your Life) plays his daughter
Rita. Stephen Pearlman (Murray Zuckerman on Husbands,
Wives & Lovers) plays bartender Eddy.
Season 1, Episode 26, "Inside Track": Kent Smith (starred
in Cat People, This Land Is Mine, Hitler's
Children, Curse of the Cat People,
Nora Prentiss, The Spiral Staircase, and The
Fountainhead and played Dr. Robert Morton on Peyton Place and Edgar Scoville on The Invaders) plays race horse breeder Charles Dennis. Lloyd
Bochner (Chief Inspector Neil Campbell on Hong
Kong and Cecil Colby on Dynasty)
plays his lobbyist William Hillier. Bernard Fein (Pvt Gomez on The Phil Silvers Show) plays rival race
track owner Ben Kilrea. David Janssen (shown on the right, starred in To Hell and Back, Hell to
Eternity, King of the Roaring '20's,
The Green Berets, and The Shoes of the Fisherman and played
Richard Diamond on Richard Diamond,
Private Detective, Dr. Richard Kimble on The Fugitive, Jim O'Hara on O'Hara,
U.S. Treasury, and Harry Orwell on Harry
O) plays Kilrea lobbyist Dan Mullin. Bethel Leslie (appeared in 15 episodes
of The Richard Boone Show and played
Claudia Conner on All My Children and
Ethel Crawford on One Life to Live)
plays state representative Frances Olney. Robert F. Simon (Dave Tabak on Saints and Sinners, Gen. Alfred Terry on
Custer, Frank Stephens on Bewitched, Uncle Everett McPherson on Nancy, Capt. Rudy Olsen on The Streets of San Francisco, and J.
Jonah Jameson on The Amazing Spiderman)
plays committee chairman Leonard Yates. George Kane (Link Morrison on Love of Life) plays committee member
George Crawford. S. John Launer (Marshall Houts on The Court of Last Resort and the judge 33 times on Perry Mason) plays speaker of the house
Goode.
