A Game-Changer

 

On this day in 1964, the last of 732 Boeing KC-135 Stratotankers was delivered to the United States Air Force and assigned to the 380th Air Refueling Squadron at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in January. The KC-135 was developed to replace Boeing's slower, piston-engined KC-97 tanker and improve efficiency with Boeing's B-52 bomber. The Model 367-80 “Dash Eighty served as proof-of-concept prototype and is very similar in appearance to the Model 707 and 720 airliners but is structurally a different aircraft. It is also shorter than the 707 and has a smaller diameter fuselage. The newest Stratotanker in service is KC-135R 64-14840 at 56 years old. It is presently assigned to the 121st Air Refueling Wing, Ohio Air National Guard.

Noted Television Themes

 

Bruce Broughton (1945-) is an American orchestral composer of television, film, video game scores and concert works. He has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career. Broughton has won eleven Emmy Awards and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Score for Silverado. He won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series, Hawaii Five-O, Dallas, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, to name three. Boughton won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music in 1995 for JAG and was nominated for the same award in 2002 for First Monday.

JAG theme

First Monday theme 

Bruce Broughton bio

On The Precipice of Stardom

Marsha Hunt (Marcia Virginia Hunt 1917-) is an American actress with a career spanning over seventy-five years. As of this writing, she is the oldest living and one of the last surviving actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood. She is also the oldest living member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Unable to find a suitable college for her drama training, the Chicago-born native found work modeling for the John Powers Agency and began taking stage acting classes at the Theodora Irvine Studio. She was one of the highest-earning models by 1935. She appeared in popular films including Pride and Prejudice (1940), in which she was quite amusing, Cry 'Havoc' (1943), The Human Comedy (1943), and one of her last noted films before the advent of television was, Raw Deal (1948). Hunt's 1941 contract with MGM kept her busy for six years, providing strong supporting characters.

Television offered mostly dramatic guest-starring roles from the Fifties through the Eighties. She played everything from grandmas to judges. Notable early performances were for Alfred Hitchcock Presents, two anthology series, Climax! and Zane Grey Theater, and numerous, well-hidden roles on detective or drama series during the Sixties and Seventies. She was a cast member for the fourteen-episode, Peck's Bad Girl (1959). The versatile actress never found superstardom yet her longevity proved valuable to many casting directors. Semi-retiring in the early Sixties, television and the stage remained her focal points.

The Western Gone Wrong

Tumbleweeds is a satirical perspective on the American frontier. The comic strip ultimately ran in over 300 newspapers from September 6, 1965, to December 30, 2007. Writer-artist Tom K. Ryan (1926-2019) offered deadpan humor to poke fun at all the clichés and stereotypes of western movies. Set in and around the town of Grimy Gulch with a population that hovered up or down of 50, it was one of the longest-running western comics made continuously by the same author. Ryan had a large following among Native Americans because of his respectful use of those characters. 

The comic strip was remarkable for its large cast of 50 wacky-named characters. The title character (above) got his namesake from the dried-out pieces of plants that tumble away in the wind. It symbolized the laconic cowpoke who has no real ambition to do anything. Much of the comic's humor came from its silly dialogue and the artist's over-the-top stylized characters for both humans and animals. Tumbleweeds is sometimes compared to Johnny Hart's popular B.C. or Wizard of Id strips. The comic strip's dry humor had a target audience, but aside from a nostalgic return, the strip has lost much of its relevance today. Good examples can be found at Tumbleweeds.

Note: From 1969 until 1978, Ryan's assistant was Jim Davis, of "Garfield" fame. Both men worked in Muncie, Indiana. 

Ignoring The 8th Commandment

 

On this day in 1974, Louis Clark Brock (1939-2020) was named Sportsman of the Year. The El Dorado, Arkansas native began his major league career with the Chicago Cubs in 1961 but spent the majority of his big league career as a left fielder for the St. Louis Cardinals as an outfielder. Brock is best known for his base-stealing record, once the major league career and single-season record-holder. Brock and his wife, Jackie, were both ordained ministers serving at Abundant Life Fellowship Church in St. Louis. 

It's Durward Not Durwood

 

Durward Kirby (Homer Durward Kirby, 1911-2000) was an American television host and announcer. Born in Covington, Kentucky, his family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana when he was 15. He graduated from Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis before entering Purdue University to study engineering. The lure of being a radio announcer won out. 

Though Kirby appeared as a host, announcer, or guest on other television programs, most notably as co-host on Allen Funt's show, Candid Camera, his tenure as a regular on television's The Garry Moore Show brought him national attention as did another regular, Carol Burnett. The versatile performer acted in sketches, sang, and danced, transitioning with ease from slapstick to suave product pitchman. He and Moore joined forces for humorous skits, spoofing a historical event, or portraying any number of comical characters. The 6' 4" Kirby's mellow personality served him well, often becoming a foil in skits. Kirby authored three books: My Life, Those Wonderful Years; Bits and Pieces of This and That; and a children's book, Dooley Wilson.

A Noted Television Composer

 

Jerry Goldsmith (Jerrald King Goldsmith 1929-2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his vast work in the film industry but also for television scoring and concert works. He composed scores for five films in the Star Trek franchise and three in the Rambo franchise, as well as for Logan's Run, Planet of the Apes, Patton, Chinatown, Alien, Poltergeist, Gremlins, Hoosiers, Air Force One, and many others. His 1997 opening fanfare for Universal Pictures debuted with the release of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. His silver screen compositions continued into the Twenty-first Century. "Among his many other works" is synonymous with Goldsmith. His film scores were not always identified with him, ranging from light and melodic to very dissonant scores in a style where the melody is nearly non-existent, like many of his influences of early 20th-century composers.

Goldsmith found early work at CBS in 1950 as a clerk typist in the network's music department under director Lud Gluskin. There he began writing scores for radio shows, later progressing into scoring live CBS television anthology series. As the decade progressed, he scored multiple episodes of the television series The Twilight Zone and Dr. Kildare. Goldsmith composed the theme for The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in 1964 and later added his touch to the James Bond parody, Our Man Flint, 1966, and its sequel In Like Flint, 1967. His military/action flare with snare drums was sometimes a giveaway during this period. His most notable television theme in the Nineties was the theme for the UPN series Star Trek: Voyager in 1995. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music. It is the most beautifully constructed theme of any Star Trek television series. His score and theme for Star Trek: The Motion Picture, 1979, was later used on the popular television series, Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987 with an arrangement by Dennis McCarthy.

Note: Goldsmith was good friends with fellow composer, Morton Stevens, of Hawaii Five-O theme fame. Stevens also wrote the theme to television's Police Woman. Goldsmith confessed he used that theme for his Derek Flint character film series. He turned Steven's theme "inside-out" but the melody is lifted intact. Both composers were amused by the reuse.

Approved by Dale Evans

Penny Edwards (Millicent Maxine Edwards 1928–1998) was an American actress on stage, film, and television. The particularly obscure actress was performing on Broadway at twelve before being cast about a decade later in her first film, My Wild Irish Rose in 1947. Around this time, during Dale Evans' pregnancy leave, the vivacious blue-eyed blonde filled Evan's role opposite Roy Rogers in several B-movie western films, Trail of Robin Hood, Spoilers of the Plains, Heart of the Rockies, and In Old Amarillo, among others. Evans specifically requested her. She took a break from the saddle with two 1951 crime noir films, Missing Woman and Million Dollar Pursuit.

Though Edwards announced her retirement in 1954, she returned to appear in a number of television shows, among them were Cheyenne, The Restless Gun, Bachelor Father, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and Perry Mason, before ending her career with two appearances on Death Valley Days in 1958 and 1961. Her main focus after retirement was devoting herself to Christian service.

Last Lunar Footsteps

On this day in 1972, the Ascent Stage of the Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger lifted off from the landing site in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, The Moon. Onboard were Mission Commander Eugene A. Cernan (above) and the LM Pilot, Harrison H. Schmitt. The Command Module was piloted by Ronald Evans. Cernan and Schmitt had been on the surface of the Moon for 3 days, 2 hours, 59 minutes, 40 seconds. During that time they made three excursions outside the lunar lander, totaling 22 hours, 3 minutes 57 seconds. Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the Moon in the Twentieth Century with Cernan as the last man to stand on the surface of the Moon. Apollo 17 was the first mission to have no one on board who had been a test pilot. X-15 test pilot Joe Engle lost the lunar module pilot assignment to Schmitt, a geologist.

More details at Apollo 17

Public Transportation for The Isolated

 

The Union Traction Company of Indiana (1897-1930) operated 410 miles of interurban trackage making it the largest interurban system in the state. Charles Henry, a prominent attorney and politician from Anderson, acquired the “mule car” streetcar system in Anderson in 1891. The interurban lines alleviated the isolation of rural Indiana, running first from Anderson to Alexandria, then to Indianapolis, Marion, Muncie, and Kokomo. The company also ran 44 miles of streetcar lines in Anderson, Elwood, Marion, and Muncie. The UTC was acquired by Indiana Railroad in 1930. They also purchased several other interurban lines creating a new system, running for an additional ten years. By the end of 1941, interurban service was abandoned.

Not Aiming for Subtle

Robert Strauss (1913-1975) was an American Broadway and film character actor arguably best known for his prolific television work. But he hit instant stardom in 1953 on the big screen as Stanislas "Animal" Kuzawa in Stalag 17 —a role he created in the original Broadway production two years earlier—for which he garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His character set the stage for numerous quirky military roles to follow, like Kelly's Heroes or M.A.S.H. The year before he played CPO Lardoski in Sailor Beware and Sgt. McClusky in Jumping Jacks, for the Martin and Lewis comedies. In 1954, he was back in the military for The Bridges at Toko-Ri, then joined Mickey Rooney as half of the lame-brained duo in the wacky comedy, The Atomic Kid here. By the late Fifties, mobster roles became more common. Even in comedies.

For being such a bombastic performer, it seemed logical to spread his work all over living rooms in America where he made the small screen seem bigger. From television's early days of anthology series such as Studio One, or The Alcoa Hour, viewers found him difficult to forget. He made appearances on Medic, hosted and sometimes starring Richard Boone, and was naturally in uniform for The Phil Silvers Show. Westerns somewhat broke any Strauss stereotypes, and he guest-starred on Wanted: Dead or Alive, Stagecoach West, Bat Masterson, and Wagon Train, to only name three. By the Sixties, silly comedies included Strauss in The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and others. He was a cast member on Mona McCluskey, opposite Juliet Prowse and Denny Miller, as Sgt. Stan Gruzewsky. Strauss finished out the decade guesting on comedies in the likes of Get Smart, Mr. Terrific, and The Monkees.

By 1975, it was back to the silver screen for the post-apocalyptic film, The Noah. Not only was it his last performance it was also a rare starring role as the last human on earth, the title character. Strauss is the loan performer in this incredibly forgotten film. A tough assignment any way you slice it. However, his career had long since solidified him as one of the most famous and polarizing character actors of his era.

Note: Above photo of Robert Strauss, William Holden, and Harvey Lembeck in Stalag 17.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

Lt. Gerard tops off his gas tank for a cross-state journey after Kimble's fingerprints show up on his office wire. Kimble has been arrested following a minor traffic accident but he and a cellmate, Fatso, break jail before Gerard arrives. The friendly, slightly mentally challenged cellmate may have been falsely accused of a past crime he did not commit. Something that resonates with the pediatrician.

Fatso, 1963

Guest star Jack Weston as Fatso

Man Cannot Predict The Future

 

Anticipating this date in 1959, Lawrence Earl Flint, Jr. must have been astonished by the advancements in aviation in less than twenty years. Entering the United States Navy he was soon designated a Naval Aviator two days before the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor on December 7. Farthest from his mind at the time would be his future opportunity to set three FAI World Altitude Records by flying to the edge of space in a McDonnell YF4H-1 Phantom II.

Accelerating from level flight at 47,000' with afterburner to Mach 2.5, Commander Flint pulled up into a 45° climb and continued to 90,000'. He had to shut down the Phantom’s two jet engines to prevent them from overheating in the thin atmosphere. He continued on a ballistic trajectory to 98,556 feet'. At the time, this was just short of the 100,000' feet that delineated the beginning of space. Diving back through 70,000', Flint restarted the engines and flew back to Edwards AFB, California.

A Christmastime Tradition

 

On this date in 1964, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer premiered on NBC in the United States. The stop motion animated special was produced by Videocraft International, Ltd., later known as Rankin/Bass Productions. It was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour. Burl Ives narrated the film as the animated Sam the Snowman and the music was written by Johnny Marks. The adventure classic still captivates young children thanks to a swift pace and the encounters with a variety of characters. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS. More at RUDOLPH.

A Noted Television Theme

 

Robert David Grusin (1934-) is an American composer, arranger, producer, and jazz pianist. He has composed scores for feature films and television and won numerous awards for his soundtrack and record work, including ten Grammy Awards. Grusin has scored nearly 100 films, including his Oscar win for best original score for The Milagro Beanfield War, as well as Oscar nominations for The Champ, The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Firm, Havana, Heaven Can Wait, and On Golden Pond.

His television work is equally expansive with music for numerous series from the Sixties through the Eighties. His themes for The Name of The Game and It Takes a Thief, both 1968, were particularly cool in their day. Though not the arrangement heard on the series, Johnny Gregory aka Chaquito is the definitive version for the Robert Wagner series here.

16,000 Hours of Flight Time

 

Lieutenant Colonel Fitzhugh Lee "Fitz" Fulton, Jr. (1925-2015) stands next to fellow test pilot, Colonel Joseph Cotton, with the North American Aviation XB-70A Valkyrie in the background at Edwards AFB, California in the Sixties. Upon his retirement from NASA, Fulton had flown more than 16,000 hours in 235 aircraft types. But his flying days started much earlier during World War II. 

In 1946 Fulton participated in Operation Crossroads, the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. He made 225 sorties flying a Douglas C-54 Skymaster four-engine transport during the Berlin Airlift, and then the Douglas B-26 Invader light attack bomber during the Korean War. Fulton graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School in 1952. He served as project test pilot for the Convair B-58 Hustler supersonic bomber and flew it to a World Record Altitude of 85,360.66 feet during 1962. He flew the B-52 “mother ships” for the X-15 Program from Edwards, AFB.

Fulton continued as a research test pilot for NASA, flying as project pilot for the YF-12A and YF-12C research program. He flew all the early test flights of the NASA/Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft that carried the space shuttle prototype, Enterprise.  

Meteorite Versus Human

 

On this date in 1954, thirty-four-year-old Ann Hodges became the first modern confirmed case of a meteorite striking a human. Asleep under quilts on her sofa in her Sylacauga, Alabama home one afternoon, Hodges was hit by a grapefruit-sized meteorite that crashed through the roof and ceiling of her house, ricocheting off a large wooden radio and impacting her body, causing a large football-shaped bruise on the left side of her abdomen. When her husband returned home from work, there were so many spectators it was difficult to gain entrance to his home.

In a 2018 Wired magazine article, “The Mad Scramble to Claim the World’s Most Coveted Meteorite” they calculated the odds of a meteorite landing in a particular spot as 1 in 182 trillion. Ironically, Hodge’s house was across the road from the Comet drive-in theater.

More images at Sylacauga's meteor

This is Jim Rockford

 

Mr. Rockford, Miss Miller of the Bartlett Book Club. "Great Detectives of America" is not in stock, so we sent you "Cooking Made Easy." 

Hope you enjoy it.

Jim's answering machine: In Hazard, 1976
Guest star: Joseph Campanella

Note: There were a number of inside staff jokes used in the messages. The Bartlett Book Club refers to long-time Rockford scriptwriter, Juanita Bartlett.

A Noted Television Composer

 

Vince Guaraldi (1928-1976), was a highly-respected American jazz pianist noted for his innovative compositions and arrangements. He is probably most associated with the Peanuts animated classic music. His mainstream success catapulted beginning with an early Sixties album and the radio airplay of his arrangement for the likable tune, Cast Your Fate to the Wind. Television producer Lee Mendelson heard the song and hired Guaraldi to write the music for a planned Peanuts documentary entitled, A Boy Named Charlie Brown. For the 1965 Christmas special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, the soundtrack album was recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio and contained the holiday standard, Christmas Time Is Here, along with Skating, and the Linus and Lucy theme. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving originally aired on the CBS network, November 20, 1973, receiving an Emmy Award the following year. It is the tenth prime-time animated television special based upon the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. The animated film is directed by Bill Melendez and Phil Roman and produced by Lee Mendelson and Bill Melendez. 

Read more about Vince Guaraldi

More Appreciated After Death

 

Artist and author, Eyvind Earle (1916-2000), possessed a distinctive graphic design approach for many of his landscape interpretations. The suggested low light, perfectly round silhouette of trees, and bright colors were surrealistic in certain works. Earle began his long and successful career of selling Christmas cards in 1939 that he designed and printed himself for the American Artist Group. He created over 800 designs through 1995 and sold more than 300 million copies. Earle joined Walt Disney Productions in 1951 as an assistant background painter and received credit for his experimental background paintings. Earle returned to full-time painting in the mid-Sixties, producing watercolors, oils, sculptures, drawings, scratchboards, and limited-edition serigraphs. Much of his work was never exhibited in his lifetime, but The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rahr West Art Museum, Phoenix Art Museum and Arizona State University Art Museum purchased Earle's works and are among their permanent collections. 

More stunning works at: Eyvind Earle

Earning Celebrity Status

 

Ruta Lee (Ruta Mary Kilmonis 1935-) has been a staple of television since the early Fifties with appearances in The Roy Rogers Show and the Adventures of Superman. The attractive and ageless actress was never typecast, whether roles in westerns, melodramas, or police dramas which carried her through television's first decade. In the Sixties, she often tapped into her Lithuanian heritage with a convincing German or Russian accent in comedies or dramas. There was no slow down as she plowed through the Twentieth Century. Her frequent appearances on the game show circuit, often with a panelist name placard, went a long way to place a name with the face. 

The 5' 1" Canadian-born actress was no stranger to the occasional film, her big break coming as one of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers in 1954. Her supporting roles continued in Witness for the Prosecution, and the musical comedy Funny Face. 1972's low-funded Doomsday Machine is a campy science fiction adventure with the cast doing their best in spite of the screenplay. Her most recent role was in the 2021 film, Senior Moment starring William Shatner.

Some Records Are Inevitably Broken

 

On this date in 1952, Captain James Slade Nash, U.S. Air Force, a test pilot at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, California, flew a North American Aviation F-86D-20-NA Sabre Dog, 51-2945, to a FAI World Absolute Speed Record at the Salton Sea, in the Colorado Desert of southeastern California, few miles east of Palm Springs. Under less than ideal conditions, the new international speed record was established when the Sabre Dog roared by at 699.9 miles an hour, breaking the previous 1948 record of 670+ miles per hour. Captain Nash barreled the interceptor four times over the course as close as 100 feet to the ground.

Not All Smiles

 

On this date in 1930, the 2-act Broadway musical "Smiles" premiered in New York City and closed sixty-three performances later. Among the extensive cast on opening night were Fred Astaire and sister Adele as Bob and Dot Hastings, respectively. Swallowed up in the ensemble cast was Bob Hope. Produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. with music by Vincent Youmans, Ring Lardner provided some additional lyrics for the music numbers.

A Noted Television Theme

 

As more commercials intrude into a network's time slot, not only has the episodes been trimmed, so has theme song length on various series. Gone are the one minute themes from the Sixties to the Eighties to introduce a show. One of the best short themes of the Twenty-First Century is for the long-running CBS hit series, NCIS. Electronic musicians, Matt Hawkins, Maurice Jackson and Neil Martin joined forces under the name, Numeriklab, to create the theme in 2002, though the arrangement has evolved slightly since then. A slick synthesized work with a melody that comes off as if played by classical mainstream instruments. Scroll down the linked page for the cool NCIS theme.

Note: Speaking of CBS, the original Magnum, P.I. series theme was another hit for Mike Post. The theme has been effectively edited for the new CBS revival series. A theme better shortened for an opening, yet it still captures all the memorable elements of the original.

Mastering Radio and Television

Virginia Gregg (1916-1986) was an American actress known for her many roles in radio dramas and prolific work in television from the Fifties into the mid-Eighties. Gregg's versatility as a voice actress on radio cast her in the major programs of the day, including Lux Radio Theatre, Dragnet, Dr. Kildare, Gunsmoke, The Jack Benny Program, Let George Do It, and Mutual Radio Theater, to name a few. During the Bob Bailey years in Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar, she was exceptional, often cast as his sexy potential love interest yet ultimately her true nature arose by the episode's end as a two-timing criminal. Gregg was equally effective as Richard Diamond's girlfriend, the wealthy Helen Asher, on the Richard Diamond, Private Detective radio series starring Dick Powell. In addition, Gregg made more than forty-five films from 1947 to 1981.

But she made her indelible mark on television. Roles that somewhat typecast her as a homely, disgruntled housewife, belligerent individual, or a condescending co-worker. Her ability to appear in these roles thanks to no makeup and an angry countenance. A face that eventually was made for radio. But she was much more than this. She appeared in nearly every narrative television series in the late Fifties through the mid-Seventies, including Bourbon Street Beat, Hawaiian Eye, 77 Sunset Strip, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, Perry Mason, Wanted Dead or Alive, The Virginian, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, Mannix, Make Room for Daddy, My Favorite Martian, The Twilight Zone, and The Rockford Files, just to add a smattering. Gregg perhaps is best remembered for her many appearances in Jack Webb's Dragnet television series, but she and Webb had a long working relationship since his radio version.

Note: Before going into radio, Gregg played the double bass with the Pasadena Symphony and Pops. She was a member of the Singing Strings group heard initially locally in Los Angeles in 1937 and later on CBS and Mutual.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

This an old fashioned murder mystery episode that has Kimble aboard a freighter, Alaskan Star, a few hours out of Seattle. There are many familiar television faces in this episode and most seem to have their own secrets. Among the eleven intertwining passengers, and a crew of fourteen, is an FBI agent in search of a Korean War criminal and traitor. The viewer logically narrows this down to a male passenger. The agent does not live to pin the crime on the killer, however, and Kimble must use his medical degree to diagnose who committed the murder. 

Ticket to Alaska, 1963
Main guest stars Geraldine Brooks, Tim O'Connor, June Dayton

Record Breaker

 

On this date in 1956, the first prototype XB-58, serial number 55-0660, made its first flight at Fort Worth, Texas, with Convair’s Chief Test Pilot, Beryl Arthur Erickson. The B-58 Hustler served with the United States Air Force as a Mach 2 strategic bomber with the singular purpose of delivering an atomic weapon from a high altitude. It was crewed by a pilot, navigator/bombardier, and a defensive systems operator, located in individual cockpits. Due to advancements in ground-to-air and air-to-air missiles, a higher than average accident rate, and perhaps political decisions, the 116 aircraft only served from 1960 to 1970. Other than the museum samples, all were sent to Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona for long-term storage, though none were brought back to serve. Other than its beautifully aggressive design, the Hustler remains best known for setting numerous speed records.

A Noted Television Composer

 

Artie Kane (Aaron Cohen 1929- ) is an American pianist, film score composer, and conductor with a career spanning over six decades. Kane composed the music for over 250 television shows including Wonder Woman, Vegas, Hotel, Dynasty, Matlock, A Question of Guilt, and Man Against the Mob. During his career, he conducted over sixty motion pictures at MGM, Disney, Universal, Fox, Warner Brothers, Sony, and Paramount.

Of special note was his Music Supervisor position on the first season of The Rockford Files. His chosen music for Rockford in his Firebird was unique for the series. Originally a ninety-minute episode, This Case is Closed (1974), is perhaps the best example. Rockford is staking out a suspect as an inventive heavy percussion score adds tension. As the chase begins, the brass and woodwinds kick in as the stunt driver and Garner speed through a residential neighborhood at a realistic pace. Kane's jazzy, seemingly Lalo Schifrin-inspired music during the chase, was, to my knowledge, never used again. The music chosen for the series was never the same after his tenure with the series eventually repeating the same music cues when the Firebird was in motion.

A Reel Character

 

George Winslow (George Karl Wentzlaff 1946-2015) was an American child actor of the 1950s, noted for his deadpan expression and slow, monotone delivery, belying his young age. Though hard to justify, he was nevertheless nicknamed "Foghorn." The Los Angeles native broke into the entertainment business on Art Linkletter's radio program, People are Funny. When asked his name the youngster said: "George Wentzlaff, but I'd rather be Casey Jones." Cary Grant heard the show and was impressed, which led to Room For One More (1952) and more famously as the leader of young Indians giving Hugh Marlowe a mohawk scalping in Monkey Business the same year, also with Grant. He was the scene-stealer opposite Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953). With brilliant Howard Hawks comedic casting, Wentzlaff played Henry Spofford III, Monroe's young admirer. His lines about her possessing a "certain animal magnetism" or confronting her with, "Are you a burglar?" are the most charming moments in the film. He had another fine turn in the comedy Mister Scoutmaster (1953), where he traded barbs with Clifton Webb's character. After fifteen acting credits, "Foghorn" retired from show business in 1958 at age 12. He finished school and served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.

This is Jim Rockford

 

Sorry, Jim --- this is for Rocky. Hey Rock --- Stan. I got that redhead and her sister. Ten-thirty, Stacy's Grill. [chuckles]

Jim's answering machine: Joey Blue Eyes, 1976
Guest star: Michael Ansara

Questioning Your Identity

On this date in 1945, My Name is Julia Ross premiered in New York City. The sixty-four-minute suspense drama from Columbia Pictures was directed by Joseph H. Lewis and starred Nina Foch, Dame May Whitty, and George Macready. Set in London, Ross takes a position with an employment agency but soon discovers someone(s) are attempting to convince her to question her own identity. Based upon the 1941 novel, The Woman in Red by Anthony Gilbert, the psychological twists and fast-paced, tense action has been played out in many films before and since, but it is worth watching for the convincing cast.

The Landlord's Game

 

On this date in 1935, Parker Brothers launches the board game Monopoly, a multi-player economics-themed board game. Monopoly is derived from The Landlord's Game created by Lizzie Magie in the United States in 1903 and was intended as an educational tool to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land in private monopolies. Around 1932, Parker Brothers bought the game's copyrights to Magie's patent for $500. The original version of the game's format was based on the streets of Atlantic City, New Jersey. Founded in 1883, Parker Brothers was absorbed into Hasbro in 1991. The Parker Brothers trade name was eventually dropped to become Hasbro Gaming.

Retirement in Sunny Arizona

 

On this date in 1954, the Strategic Air Command retired its last B-29 Superfortress to the aircraft storage facility at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona. The B-29  was the most technologically advanced bomber produced during World War II. The Superfortress was manufactured by Boeing at Seattle and Renton, Washington, and Wichita, Kansas by the Glenn L. Martin Company, Omaha, Nebraska, and by Bell Aircraft Corporation, Marietta, Georgia. After a rough teething period, the rapid war effort helped make the aircraft an eventual success. Though modest improvements were made, the Superfortress was underpowered, something its successor, the ten-engined Convair B-36, was not. Even in the late stages of the war, the Enola Gay had to be specially enhanced to be able to lift the first atomic bomb. Of the 3,990 built,  only two B-29s remain airworthy, with the remaining twenty-four displayed at various museums in America, with two displayed in the UK, and South Korea.

A Noted Television Theme

 

Dick DeBenedictis (1937-) is an American pianist and composer of music for numerous television series. The ten-time Emmy nominated musician composed music for Police Story, Columbo, Father Dowling Mysteries, The Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O, Phyllis, and two Matlock spin-offs, Jake and the Fatman and Diagnosis: Murder. Upon retirement, he began a teaching career at universities in Los Angeles and New York City. 

He wrote the theme to Andy Griffith's second hit series, a composition that is easy to remember but difficult to forget: http://www.televisiontunes.com/Matlock.html

Charles Wysocki

 

Charles M. Wysocki, Jr. (1928-2002) was an American painter, whose works depict a stylized version of American life of yesteryear, mostly during the horse and buggy era. Born in Detroit, Michigan, in spent a two-year hitch in the US Army before entering the Art Center School in Los Angeles under the G.I. bill. There, he focused in the field of commercial art, spending four years in Detroit where his illustrations were used in Dodge trucks, Unocal, Carnation, and Dow Chemical Company advertisements. He returned to Los Angeles where he helped to form a freelance advertising agency. Because of his wife's heritage in the San Fernando Valley, Wysocki came to appreciate a simpler, more rural life. Together they made many trips to New England, which served to nurture his interest in early American folk art. He continued his lucrative commercial artwork for a time, but eventually devoted all of his attention to this new interest. In his Americana paintings, Wysocki usually included an American flag, something many admires enjoyed locating.

Peter Haskell: Made for Television

 

Peter Haskell (1934-2010) began his career on American television in supporting roles, as both good and bad guys. Though he acted in the occasional film, the 6' 2" actor is best known for his forty-five years frequenting many popular series, often in an authority role as doctor, Senator, or an unscrupulous businessman. His deviously good looks and strong presence before the cameras began during television's second decade with The Outer Limits, Dr. Kildare, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., The Fugitive, and 12 O'Clock High. He played Dr. Anson Brooks in two episodes of Ben Casey, then Mission: Impossible, with appearances on Medical Center. Haskell had a forty-one-episode run as lead character, Kevin Grant, for the one-season drama, Bracken's World in 1970. He was so familiar during the Seventies on television he was expected on the police/crime shows so popular of the era such as McCloud, Mannix, Cannon, and The Streets of San Francisco. In 1976, he played ruthless billionaire, Charles Estep in, Rich Man, Poor Man - Book II. As the Eighties dawned and his hair switched to white, he continued with mostly single appearances on television's schedule with recurring roles on three daytime soap operas. His last recurring role was in sixteen episodes as Tyler Chase on, The Law and Harry McGraw. His final performance was, appropriately or not, in 2009 during the final season of the medical drama, ER.

Life in Black and White

 

On this date in 1941, American photographer, Ansel Easton Adams (1902-1984),  photographed a moonrise over the town of Hernandez, New Mexico. It would become one of the most famous images of his 1940s period. The American landscape photographer and environmentalist is known for his black-and-white images of the American West. Adams had a life-long passion in photography since being gifted with his first camera at age 12 while visiting Yosemite National Park. He developed his early photographic work as a member of the Sierra Club and was equally famous for his rich Yosemite and Grand Teton photographs.

The Reynolds Rocket

On this date in 1945, American commercial traveler and enterprising businessman, Milton Reynolds, the initial batch of the successful ballpoint pens. He realized reliable ballpoint pens would succeed if he mastered their mass production. Hungarian, László Bíró, made a ballpoint pen in the many years earlier that would not dirty hands and clothes of writers, and not leave blots or smudge. Reynolds was quick to patent Bíró’s invention in the USA before the inventor and his partner, Eversharp, did. Sold under the brand Reynolds Rocket in Gimbels department store in New York City at the cost of $12.50, fifty police officers had to maintain order. With eight million made by Reynolds international pen company, over ten thousand sold out in days.

Note: An outraged Bíró sued Reynolds but did not defend the October 30, 1888 patent rights by John J. Loud, inventor of the first "ball tip" pen. In court, Reynolds referred to the earlier patent and his modification of the 1888 pen. He said his pen was a reduced copy and Bíró’s construction has nothing to do with it.

Boeing The First

 

On this date in 1957, the first production Boeing 707 jet-powered commercial airliner was rolled out at the Boeing aircraft assembly plant at Renton, Washington. The Model 707 was developed from the earlier Model 367–80, the “Dash Eighty,” prototype for an air-refueling tanker that would become the KC-135 Stratotanker. The new airliner had been sold to Pan American World Airways, the launch customer, as part of an order for twenty in 1955. The Boeing 707 was in production from 1958 to 1979 with military variants continuing until 1994. Over 1,000 were built.

Note: shown above during the airliner's second flight.

A Noted Television Composer

 

Richard Markowitz (1926-1994) was an American film and television composer. After composing for numerous low-budget films in the late Fifties and a hand full in the Sixties and Seventies, it was television that provided him steady work, composing for popular series between the Sixties to the Eighties, everything from Ben Casey, Mission: Impossible to Murder, She Wrote in which he received the ASCAP Film and Television Music Award for 1988, 1989, and 1990. But it was his unusual western theme for an unusual series, The Wild Wild West, for which he is best remembered. Prior, he wrote the theme for, The Rebel, most notable for it being sung by Johnny Cash.

A Television Transition

Wisely changing his name from Gustav William Tweer Jr. to Walter Brooke, he became a staple of television audiences for his supporting roles. He always was in command of those characters, whether playing the straight man in comedies, an unscrupulous businessman, a doctor, or any number of authority characters. After a string of uncredited film roles as a reporter or clerk in the Forties—opposite Flynn and Bogart and the like—Brooke quickly got on board the television express. He spent almost his entire career on the small screen. There were a few exceptions: the low-budget science fiction, Conquest of Space (1955), two infamous roles in, The Party Crashers (1958), and Bloodlust! (1961), then his small role with a big impact in the major hit, The Graduate (1967).

Born in New York City in 1914, Brooke landed roles in many popular series of the Fifties including five appearances on The Big Story (1952-59). But I will start with his two episodes of The Twilight Zone, four episodes of McHale's Navy, and three episodes of The Fugitive. He landed a regular role on The Green Hornet series as D. A. Frank Scanlon followed by several appearances in Judd For The Defense and Death Valley Days. He made the rounds on many popular series of the Seventies, including Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law (1971-74), and then hit the cop shows from Mannix to Barnaby Jones, The Rookies, and notable roles on The Rockford Files before landing another recurring role on The Waltons as Clarence Johnson. He finished out his prolific television career through the end of the Eighties until his death in 1986.

Note: above is a capture from his first appearance on The Rockford Files, 1974.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

While working at a gas station in the southwest, Kimble and a customer are taken hostage. The doctor sucks the two violent thieves in on his own fabricated big robbery. The girl gets help from Kimble but she freaks out after seeing his photo on the newspaper's front page. And the criminals have their own plan for her future.

See Hollywood and Die, 1963
Guest stars Brenda Vaccaro, Lou Antonio, Chris Robinson

Not Your Average Flight

 

On this date in 1923, First Lieutenant Lowell Herbert Smith and First Lieutenant John P. Richter, Air Service, United States Army, flew a DH-4B from Sumas, Washington, to Tijuana, Mexico, non-stop. The 1,280-mile flight was made possible by two air-to-air refuelings from tanker airplanes pre-positioned over Eugene, Oregon, and Sacramento, California with the flight taking approximately 12 hours to complete. The DH-4B tanker over Eugene was flown by First Lieutenants Virgil Hine and Frank W. Siefert. The Sacramento tanker was flown by Captain Robert J. Erwin and First Lieutenant Oliver R. McNeel. At both locations, Smith and Richter made two refueling contacts before proceeding on their route. 

Note: Technically, the first American aerial refueling took place two years earlier with a wing-walker stuntman physically transferring to the other plane with a 5-gallon tank of gas on his back.

A International Pictures First

 

On this date in 1944, the American film noir, The Woman in the Window, premiered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was directed by Fritz Lang with a screenplay by Nunnally Johnson. Arthur Lange's film score won the year's Oscar. Distributed by RKO Radio Pictures, the ninety-nine-minute film, nationally released November 3, is the story of a deceptive femme fatale who murders her lover then entangles an unsuspecting psychology professor in the whole affair. The top-flight cast includes Edward G. Robinson, Joan Bennett, Raymond Massey, and Dan Duryea. The film was chosen as the premier project for International Pictures. According to sources, the genre term "film noir" originated in part because of this film.

A Noted Television Theme

 

Beside the intelligent scripts and David Janssen's iconic portrayal of Dr. Richard Kimball, The Fugitive is memorable for its distinctive theme and music cues written by Pete Rugolo. The fast-paced "running" music of the theme perfectly matched the title character. He wrote cues for Barry Morse's character, a contemplative cue for Kimball, as well as numerous cues ranging from sad to exciting chase moments. Being good friends and a Rugolo fan, it was Janssen's hope to have Rugolo work for his first series, Richard Diamond. The series put him at the forefront of television composers. Combined with Maurice Binder's opening graphic sequence, it set the jazzy tone of the series in the beginning. His theme and music cues for Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, was his next milepost. Roy Huggins, creator of The Fugitive concept, would twist the idea around for his next series, Run For Your Life. Having a second title character "running for his life" simultaneously was not as successful, however.

Note: Pietro "Pete" Rugolo (1915-2011) was a Sicilian-born jazz composer who settled in the US in 1921. He wrote music for many series in television's early days which were as diverse as Leave It To Beaver or Felony Squad. Maurice Binder would gain international fame for his creative opening titles for the early James Bond films.

Reel Character Series

 

Adele Jergens (Adele Louisa Jurgens 1917-2002) was an American B-movie supporting actress. Her celebrity status as "Miss World's Fairest" at the 1939 New York World's Fair gained her a great deal of recognition before landing a movie contract in 1944 with Columbia Pictures in mostly forgettable films. The 5' 9” brunette was soon better known as a blonde and typically cast as a tough-talking second female lead as a girlfriend of a gangster or burlesque dancer. She was cast in the Franchot Tone film, I Love Trouble (1948) followed by similar roles that became her mainstay throughout the Fifties such as Armored Car Robbery, 1950 (above) and The Miami Story, 1954. The latter revealing a plump-cheeked puffiness. She failed to become a major star but made an impression with a host of conniving female roles. She was married to film and television actor Glenn Langan from 1949 until his death in 1991. Perhaps tiring of typecast roles, Jergens retired from acting in 1956.

This is Jim Rockford

 

Jim, it's Harry. We've been waiting on you for two hours. The forks---where's the forks?!? Lasagna ain't no finger food.

Jim's answering machine: A Portrait of Elizabeth, 1976
Guest star: John Saxon

The Envy of Your Neighbor

 

On this day in 1954, Texas Instruments announced plans for the Regency TR-1, the first transistor radio to be commercially sold and at a rather hefty price of $50. Texas Instruments of Dallas, and Industrial Development Engineering Associates (I.D.E.A.) of Indianapolis, Indiana, were behind the unveiling of the TR-1. The look and size of the radio were well received, but the reviews of its performance were less glowing. Still, it was a major technology breakthrough that would help propel transistors into the mainstream with competitors getting on board quickly. The mass-market success of the smaller and cheaper Sony TR-63, released in 1957, led to the transistor radio becoming the most popular electronic communication device of the 1960s and 1970s.

A Singular Flight

 

On this date in 1957, Pan American World Airways Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser, Clipper America, flies from Christchurch, New Zealand, to the United States Navy’s Antarctic research station on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound. The flight was to test the feasibility of commercial flights to support the U.S. Navy’s operations in the Antarctic. Following this flight, Captain Ralph Savory, an expert in Arctic flying, said the lack of an alternate airport amid unpredictable weather deemed further flights too dangerous for commercial operations. No future flights were made.

Boeing built fifty-six 377s, a four-engine civil transport developed along with the military C-97 version from the B-29 Superfortress. It utilized the wings and engines of the improved B-50 Superfortress. The airliner was delivered to Pan American in 1949 and named Clipper Southern Cross. Later the name was changed to Clipper Reindeer, and finally, Clipper America, the name given to almost every Pan Am Stratocruisers during their service with the airline.

Low Profile. High Output.

George Duning (1908-2000) was an American musician and highly respected film composer, working on over 300 film and television scores. Nominated five times for an Academy Award, Duning never won. Born in Richmond, Indiana, Duning played trumpet and piano for the Kay Kyser band in the 1940s, later arranging most of the music for Kyser's radio program, Kay Kyser's Kollege of Musical Knowledge. His name may not come to mind as readily as a few other film composers, due to his early uncredited stock music supplied for countless low-budget films of the Forties and Fifties. 

Duning signed on with Columbia Pictures in 1946, where he worked almost exclusively through the early Sixties, collaborating often with director Richard Quine and actor, Glenn Ford. His scores for the original 3:10 to Yuma, and Cowboy are two of the best examples of the western genre. His diversity is displayed in such notable films as Picnic, From Here To Eternity, The World of Suzie Wong, The Devil at Four O'Clock, and Bell, Book, and Candle. Though too numerous to mention, other notable films include his first film score for Johnny O'Clock, followed by Lust for Gold, The Mob, The Brothers Rico, That Touch of Mink, and The Man with Bogart's Face. His work for television, notably The Big Valley, is nearly as prolific, spanning the Fifties through the Eighties.