RetroFan #34

September 2024 No. 34 $10.95

Tiptoe through the tulips with me!

TINY TIM

Take a ride with CHiPs’

PL ASTIC MAN

s t r e t c he s into animation

The Weird-Oh art of BILL CAMPBELL Movie Hercules STEVE REEVES

ERIK ESTRADA & LARRY WILCOX

By Herbie J Pilato

John Candy • Remo Williams • A family’s search for a Disney artist & more!

Featuring Andy Mangels • Will Murray • Scott Saavedra • Scott Shaw! • Mark Voger • Michael Eury Erik Estrada/Larry Wilcox photograph courtesy of the Classic TV Preservation Society. Plastic Man © DC Comics. Weird-Oh art © Round2 Corp., LLC. Hercules © Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved.

Satiate Your Sinister Side!

“Greetings, creep culturists! For my debut

All characters and properties TM & © their respective owners.

issue, I, the CRYPTOLOGIST (with the help of FROM THE TOMB editor PETER NORMANTON), have exhumed the worst Horror Comics excesses of the 1950s, Killer “B” movies to die for, and the creepiest, kookiest toys that crossed your boney little fingers as a child! But wait... do you dare enter the House of Usher, or choose sides in the skirmish between the Addams Family and The Munsters?! Can you stand to gaze at Warren magazine frontispieces by this issue’s cover artist BERNIE WRIGHTSON, or spend some Hammer Time with that studio’s most frightening films? And if Atlas pre-Code covers or terrifying science-fiction are more than you can take, stay away! All this, and more, is lurching toward you in TwoMorrows Publishing’s latest, and most decrepit, magazine—just for retro horror fans, and featuring my henchmen WILL MURRAY, MARK VOGER, BARRY FORSHAW, TIM LEESE, PETE VON SHOLLY, and STEVE and MICHAEL KRONENBERG!” (84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99

#1 ships October 2024!

TwoMorrows.

The Future of Comics Horror History.

TwoMorrows Publishing 10407 Bedfordtown Drive Raleigh, NC 27614 USA 919-449-0344 E-mail:

store@twomorrows.com

CRYPTOLOGY #2

CRYPTOLOGY #3

CRYPTOLOGY #4

The Cryptologist and his ghastly little band have cooked up more grisly morsels, including: ROGER HILL’s conversation with our diabolical cover artist DON HECK, severed hand films, pre-Code comic book terrors, the otherworldly horrors of Hammer’s Quatermass, another Killer “B” movie classic, plus spooky old radio shows, and the horror-inspired covers of the Shadow’s own comic book. Start the ghoul-year with retro-horror done right by FORSHAW, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, RICHARD HAND, VON SHOLLY, and editor PETER NORMANTON.

This third wretched issue inflicts the dread of MARS ATTACKS upon you—the banned cards, the model kits, the despicable comics, and a few words from the film’s deranged storyboard artist PETE VON SHOLLY! The chilling poster art of REYNOLD BROWN gets brought up from the Cryptologist’s vault, along with a host of terrifying puppets from film, and more comic books they’d prefer you forget! Plus, more Hammer Time, JUSTIN MARRIOT on obscure ’70s fear-filled paperbacks, another Killer “B” film, and more to satiate your sinister side!

Our fourth putrid tome treats you to ALEX ROSS’ gory lowdown on his Universal Monsters paintings! Hammer Time brings you face-to-face with the “Brides of Dracula”, and the Cryptologist resurrects 3-D horror movies and comics of the 1950s! Learn the origins of slasher films, and chill to the pre-Code artwork of Atlas’ BILL EVERETT and ACG’s 3-D maestro HARRY LAZARUS. Plus, another Killer “B” movie and more awaits retro horror fans, by NORMANTON, the KRONENBERGS, LEESE, VOGER, and VON SHOLLY!

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45 15 The Crazy Cool Culture We Grew Up With

Issue #34 September 2024

Columns and Special Features

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3

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Retro Television CHiPs

15

Voger’s Vault of Vintage Varieties Tiny Tim

23

Retro Toys The Art of Bill Campbell’s Weird-Ohs

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Oddball World of Scott Shaw!

My Friend, John Candy

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Retro Hollywood Movie Hercules Steve Reeves

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Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon On the set of Remo Williams: The Adventures Begin

Departments

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Retrotorial

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Too Much TV Quiz Hawaii Five-0 celebrity guest villains

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RetroFanmail

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ReJECTED

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Scott Saavedra’s Secret Sanctum The Search for My Family’s Disney Artist

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Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning Plastic Man

RetroFan™ issue 34, September 2024 (ISSN 2576-7224) is published bi-monthly by TwoMorrows Publishing, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614, USA. Phone: (919) 449-0344. Periodicals postage paid at Raleigh, NC. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to RetroFan, c/o TwoMorrows, 10407 Bedfordtown Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614.

Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief. John Morrow, Publisher. Editorial Office: RetroFan, c/o Michael Eury, Editor-in-Chief, 112 Fairmount Way, New Bern, NC 28562. Email: euryman@gmail.com. Six-issue subscriptions: $73 Economy US, $111 International, $29 Digital Only. Please send subscription orders and funds to TwoMorrows, NOT to the editorial office. Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox photograph credit: Classic TV Preservation Society. CHiPs © NBCUniversal. Plastic Man © DC Comics. Weird-Ohs © Round2Corp, LLC. Hercules movie image © Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved. All characters are © their respective companies. All material © their creators unless otherwise noted. All editorial matter © 2024 Michael Eury and TwoMorrows. Printed in China. FIRST PRINTING.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

BY MICHAEL EURY

Michael Eury PUBLISHER John Morrow CONTRIBUTORS Mark Cantrell Michael Eury Rod Labbe Andy Mangels Will Murray Herbie J Pilato Scott Saavedra Scott Shaw!

Mark Voger DESIGNER Scott Saavedra PROOFREADER Eric Nolen-Weathington SPECIAL THANKS The Classic TV Preservation Society Mark Evanier Julie M. Grizzle Hake’s Auctions Heritage Auctions Marc Tyler Nobleman Ruth McCue Saavedra VERY SPECIAL THANKS Erik Estrada Larry Wilcox

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RETROFAN

“All those hippies!” That was my dad’s remark about the hordes of tousle-topped flower children, many of them stoned and dancing provocatively in T-shirts and tattered denim (with some wearing much less!), that we were watching on one of the network nightly news programs. I was 11 years old and still giddy over having viewed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin take their small steps for man on the lunar surface, just a few weeks earlier. But now, a different kind of alien invasion was occurring, right here on terra firma, in some faraway (for those of us in Concord, North Carolina) place which had become a Mecca for the counterculture.

Welcome to Woodstock!

Fifty-five years ago, from August 15 to 18, 1969, “an Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace & Music” was held at a dairy farm in Bethel, New York. Yet it was the name of the arts-centric town not far from Bethel—Woodstock, New York—that was appropriated to brand the counterculture event that, for most Baby Boomers, was The Rock Festival Of All Time. The town’s name was also borrowed by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz, who, in the June 22, 1970 Peanuts installment, dubbed Snoopy’s cute little bird friend—who’d been an unnamed part of the comic strip since early 1966—“Woodstock,” clearly inspired by the rock fest that was also the subject of a documentary film.

Over thirty top music acts performed at Woodstock before “all those hippies.” Were you one of the 460,000 in attendance? How many of you were there and told you had a good time but remember little if anything at all? (Don’t worry, we won’t tell your grandkids; what happens in Woodstock stays in Woodstock, man.) RetroFan salutes this music and pop culture milestone by wishing a Happy 55th to Woodstock! Slap a Jimi Hendrix or Blood, Sweat, and Tears LP onto your turntable and celebrate the anniversary while you dig into what’s in store for you in this issue.

You won’t find Tiny Tim’s name listed among the music artists promoted on the Woodstock flier shown here (courtesy of Heritage Auctions). The stringy-haired uke NEXT ISSUE strummer might have looked like “all those hippies” to my dad, but Tiny Tim was one of a kind, as you’ll read in Mark Voger’s bio of the “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” crooner. Another celebrity—the late, and infinitely funny, John Candy—is profiled this issue by one of our own, Scott Shaw!, who worked with the actor on the Camp Candy animated series. Andy Mangels tunes in to DC Comics’ Pliable Pretzel—Plastic Man—in a look at Plas’ Saturday morning adventures (Baby Plas, anyone?), Will Murray goes behind the scenes during the filming of Remo Williams, and Scott Saavedra reveals his family’s investigation into the career of a family member who once was a Disney employee. Three talented guest writers—Herbie J Pilato, Mark Cantrell, and Rod Labbe—bring to our pages TV’s CHiPs, Weird-Ohs artist Bill Campbell, and movie Hercules Steve Reeves.

So get ready for another groovy grab-bag of the crazy, cool culture we grew up with!

September 2024

RETRO TELEVISION

CHiPs Ahoy!

BY HERBIE J PILATO

A Celebration of the Classic California Highway Patrol TV Series

Author’s log: During my inaugural visit to Los Angeles in the spring of 1977, CHiPs became the first television show or movie I observed in production, in person, on location. The police-[motorcycle] driven series, which originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977 to May 1, 1983, was filming one of its initial episodes, possibly its pilot.

There I was, amid the show’s shining charismatic stars Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox, watching from afar a scene being filmed at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Doheny Street — next to the once No. 1 location of the famed Hamburger Hamlet restaurant chain. Just being near the CHiPs set was close to a dream come true. As a then-high school junior and aspiring actor, I envisioned one day performing on the show. Cheryl Ladd was eventually cast as Kris Munroe, younger sister to Farrah Fawcett’s Jill Munroe, on Charlie’s Angels. I fantasized about playing “Honch,” the younger brother to Estrada’s Officer Francis Llewelyn Poncherello, a.k.a. “Frank” or “Ponch,” alongside Wilcox as Officer Jonathan Baker, a.k.a. “Jon.” Decades later, in January 2023, at the Richard M. Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California, I hosted a CHiPs live event that reunited Eric Estrada and Larry Wilcox with Robert Pine, who portrayed Sgt. Joe Getraer, Ponch and Jon’s no-nonsense by-the-book supervisor; Lou

Wagner, who was cast as the show’s mechanic, Harlin Arliss; Brodie Greer, who played Officer Barry “Bear” Baricza; and Bruce Penhall, who was Cadet/Officer Bruce Nelson.

A few years before that, I had interviewed and befriended Larry for my book, Dashing, Daring, and Debonair: TV’s Top Male Icons from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, portions of which are edited and excerpted within this article. In addition to the Nixon Library event, where I also finally had the chance to talk with Erik, Larry had participated in other live events I hosted over the years. Those included my Classic TV Throwback Thursday and Holiday celebrations at the Burbank Barnes & Noble in 2015, and an NBCUniversal Alumni Reunion in 2015.

In the process of researching this retrospective, I learned that CHiPs creator/producer Rick Rosner began his career as an NBC page.

Ditto that for me.

“Some things are meant to be,” I thought, “…while some dreams eventually come true,” if not always as originally planned.

I never got to play Honch on CHiPs, but not only was I honored to host a special live event that reunited the show’s stars, I’m now delighted to present this article, which I hope you’re equally delighted to read.

A MICRO-CHiPs HISTORY

Based on the real-life exploits of motorcycle policemen of the California Highway Patrol, thus the acrimonious-titled CHiPs series was created by producer Rick Rosner. He originally called the show Chippies, a descriptive reference to the officers which dated back to the Fifties and before. But NBC wasn’t all that crazy about the title,

(ABOVE) Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox in an early CHiPs promotional photo. CHiPs © NBCUniversal. Photo courtesy of the Classic TV Preservation Society (CTVPS). (LEFT) CHiPs incorporated: (FROM TOP LEFT) Michael Dorn (pre-Worf/ Star Trek: The Next Generation), Brodie Greer, Lou Wagner, Larry Wilcox, Randi Oakes (pre-marriage to Gregory Harrison), Erik Estrada, Paul Linke, Robert Pine. Courtesy of CTVPS.

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so it was switched to CHiPs, the pilot episode of which, “Probation,” was directed by Paul Krasney, and written by Paul Playdon.

While several other directors and writers would be hired on week-to-week basis, Playdon received a “Developed for Television by” credit for every other episode from Season One through Season Six. Another key behind-the-scenes player in the CHiPs universe is prolific producer/writer Cy Chermak, who died in 2021. Chermak’s credentials includes other notable weekly programs like ABC’s sadly-short-lived horror series, Kolchak: The Night Stalker (created by Dan “Dark Shadows” Curtis), and Ironside (Raymond Burr’s long-running hit NBC detective drama follow-up to his long-running hit CBS Perry Mason legal series). [Editor’s note: Stake out RetroFan #11 for our Kolchak coverage.]

At its core, however, CHiPs is Rosner’s show, which aired on a network that provided his seemingly destined foray in the industry.

Rosner became an NBC page while attending Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. He left Cornell, returned to NBC, and was eventually hired as a producer for Allen Funt’s Candid Camera series, one of TV’s first reality shows. He also wrote several other shows and movies of the week, worked as a location managing producer for The Mike Douglas Show, and as a Warner Bros. studio executive, just before NBC named him the Vice President of Variety Programming in 1975.

Around that time, Rosner befriended members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department while enrolled in a scuba training seminar for original Tonight Show host Steve Allen. That’s when Rosner was inspired to create CHiPs, which premiered two years later.

By the fall of 1982, the series had gone through several cast changes, with more to come. It was also enjoying its fifth season on NBC and first year in syndication. To help distinguish the two editions, MGM, the show’s distributor, renamed it CHiPs Patrol. Considering the “P” in its title already stood for “Patrol,” the syndicated name proved awkward.

After CHiPs ended its original run, Rosner went on to create other action/adventure shows like ABC’s 240-Robert (1979–1981), which starred John Bennett Perry (father to future Friends star Matthew), a pre-NCIS, pre–St. Elsewhere Mark Harmon (not yet married to Mork & Mindy’s Paw Dawber), and a pre–Buffalo Bill Joanna Cassidy. Rosner also got into the game show business with NBC programs like Just Men (hosted by a pre–Golden Girls Betty White), a new version of Hollywood 4

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Squares (1985–1989, hosted by John Davidson), and Caesars Challenge (produced in 1993 with the prolific Stephen J. Cannel, best known for NBC prime-time hits like The Rockford Files and The A-Team).

In 1998, Rosner partnered with Morgan Gendal to write CHiPs ’99, a TNT reunion movie with Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada back in their gas-powered saddles. In the story, Ponch returns to the force after a 15-year absence to help Jon halt a car theft ring. The movie, which proved to be a hit, was filmed in 17 days.

In 2017, Estrada and Wilcox were nowhere in sight for a big-screen edition of CHiPs, which proved to be a miss. Rosner served as an executive producer on the film, which he co-wrote with actor Dax Shepard, who starred as Jon opposite Michael Pena as Ponch (a role for which Wilmer Valderrama, of That ’70s Show, had initially rallied to play).

Like the 2004 Starsky & Hutch feature film that preceded it (with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson poorly substituting for Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul, who passed away at 80 in early 2024), the CHiPs motion picture was a less-than-well-received satire, thus proving to leave well enough alone and not to mess with mythology when it comes to remaking classic TV shows for theatrical release.

THE ORIGINAL CHiPs ON THE BLOCK

Dynamic. That’s the best word to describe the duo of Erik Estrada as Ponch and Larry Wilcox as Jon on the original CHiPs TV series.

They were the “two de force” of the show’s ever-expanding cast: Robert Pine’s Sgt. Getraer, Lou Wagner’s Harlan Arliss, Brodie Gear’s Officer Bear, Bruce Pennel’s Bruce Nelson; Lew Saunders as Officer Gene Fritz, Brianne Leary as Officer Sindy Cahill, Paul Linke as Officer Grossman, Randi Oakes as Officer Bonnie Clark, Michael Dorn as Officer Turner, Gwen Gilford as Betty Getraer, and a pre-Kaitlyn Bruce Jenner as Officer Steve McLeish, among others.

The essence of what CHiPs evolved into, became, and ultimately represented was not found on other police or detective shows at the time. TV viewers were familiar with realistic “partners in crime” drama shows such as The Untouchables, two editions of Dragnet, The Mod Squad, The Rookies, Charlie’s Angels, and Starsky & Hutch. But CHiPs brought something extra to the mix: the unbeatable on-screen chemistry between Estrada and Wilcox.

Separate and together, these two dynamos possessed and delivered an immeasurable dose of likability; a pertinent trait when performing within the intimate confines

Robert Pine played a central figure in CHiPs. Courtesy of CTVPS.

retro television

of a television show. No matter what’s going on between the characters on screen, despite the characters’ emotions or situations, the actors’ performances in their given roles must somehow still be charming even in the most torrid of circumstances.

In the case of Estrada and Wilcox, their likability factor was off the charts. Virginia Reeser, a Los Angeles–based communications specialist, once explained it like this: “When I think back to watching CHiPs in the 1970s, I can only smile. That was really good television. Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada portrayed two brave, kind, charismatic California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers in the mythical land of Los Angeles, California.

It was a place where you could drive around on impressive motorcycles in the sunshine, even in February. As a young girl growing up in the snowy Midwest, these sun-soaked adventure scenes in mid-winter seemed just as much fiction as Saturday-afternoon sci-fi television.

“CHiPs was based in a real location,” Reeser continued. “Larry and Erik portrayed everyday heroes. Little did I know that in the future, I, too, would come to understand what it meant when they said someone lived in ‘The Valley’ or ‘the Foothills.’

“Beyond their characters working in incredible locations,” Reese observed, “…solving curious crimes, and performing heroic rescues, what I admired most about Larry and Erik’s portrayal of their

characters was their recipe for getting things done together — a fun combination of bravery, teamwork, and charm — all tossed together with charisma and humor. They each had different personalities, but that’s what made the team even better. It showcased the best lesson about working together: as long as you have the same goal, you can have different styles and personalities, and still be a strong, effective team.”

With a flash-forward to the modern reality, Reeser, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband of over 30 years, graphic artist Steve Reeser, concluded: “I see the true, brave men and women who are our California Highway Patrol motorcycle officers.

I’m impressed every time I see them flying down the highway, off to keep us safe and secure, working as part of an incredible team. And I’ve even had the honor of meeting Larry in person at a classic TV event. The strong, kind spirit of his character which shone through in the 1970s is still there in his real-life persona today. As a Vietnam War veteran, he’s the best kind of modern-day hero, a family man who cares deeply about his children and continues to serve his fellow war veterans and the men and women who serve us in the law enforcement fields.”

ERIK ‘IDOL’

It was nothing less than ground-breaking for Erik Estrada to portray Ponch.

Years before, on Julia (NBC, 1968–1971), Diahann Carroll became the first African-American to star in a TV series. A pre-dethroned Bill Cosby shared the bill with Robert Culp on I Spy (NBC, 1965–1968, which was also later transformed into a less-than-stellar feature film in 2002 with Eddie Murphy and, yes, again, Owen Wilson).

Nichelle Nichols was part of the original Star Trek series (NBC, 1966–1969).

Carroll, however, was TV’s initial African-American singular lead, male or female, in a series, drama, comedy, or otherwise.

In like manner, Estrada became the first Latino actor to star in a weekly police series.

Estrada’s substantial first break as a fresh new face transpired opposite Pat Boone in the 1970 feature film, The Cross and the Switchblade, which was followed by performances in movies like Airport ’75, Midway, Trackdown, and The New Centurions. In the latter, Estrada worked with George C. Scott. “I co-starred in that movie,” he once said. “It was great working with him.”

(ABOVE) What does the best-dressed California Highway Patrolman sport on the job? This custom-made uniform shirt was worn by Ponch himself, Erik Estrada, for six seasons on CHiPs. Shirt courtesy of Heritage. (LEFT) At one point, Tina Gayle and Tom Reilly, seen here with Erik Estrada, joined the CHiPs fold. Courtesy of CTVPS. RETROFAN

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A peek at some of the CHiPs merchandise available during the original airing of the program. Bubble gum stickers courtesy of Heritage. Wallet, helmet, and van courtesy of Worthpoint. CHiPs © NBCUniversal.

Estrada also worked with Glenn Ford, Robert Mitchum, Stacy Keach, or as he noted, members of “the old Hollywood,” and met John Wayne. “That was a thrill. I was working next door to him.”

Pre-CHiPs on TV, Estrada made stellar guest appearances on shows like Mannix, Emergency, Hawaii Five-0, Kojak, McMillan & Wife, The Six Million Dollar Man, Medical Center, and Police Woman. Estrada usually portrayed a stereotypical thug with a Latin accent, but off-screen he is intelligent and articulate, though he would not speak fluent Spanish until much later in real life.

A native of New York’s Spanish Harlem, Estrada grew up in an English-speaking environment. As the actor once observed, “My father taught me generosity. He sold snow cones in Harlem. I went with him at 5 and he let me hand out the change and the snow cones. I learned a lot in the couple of years that we did that.

“This happens to a lot of kids from different backgrounds. They lose a lot of their parents and grandparents’ teachings, language, and culture because they have to deal with another language and 6

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culture, 24/7. By the time I was 44, I was terrible in Spanish. I was always intimidated whenever I had to speak it.”

In his youth, Estrada envisioned being a New York City police officer. In a 2016 interview with TV Insider, he noted, “I’m not one to chill because I started working at the age of five… I can’t sit.” He moved to Los Angeles to find jobs as an actor. “I wasn’t looking for the stardom,” he said. “That came. I came out here to work and look for roles and get my mother out of the projects. I was able to do that.”

And a lot more. As Estrada another time explained, “I got involved with this girl who was into acting, then got bit by the acting bug myself.”

That bite eventually became infectiously inspiring to the TV audience when he was cast as Ponch on CHiPs. “Playing a positive role model on a network show,” Estrada had observed, “…it was great. I took it as a responsibility. Poncherello was supposed to be Poncherelli. And then when I got the part I said, ‘You know

retro television

FAST FACTS

CHiPs © NBCUniversal.

what, this guy isn’t going to be Italian-American. He’s going to be Hispanic-American, and they went with it.”

That resulted in a hit series on which, as Estrada told ABC News in 2016, “I got to meet people I watched on TV.” Estrada was himself a big television fan. Growing up in Harlem, he enjoyed watching TV and its various personalities. A subsequent full-circle effect transpired when he encountered and befriended some of those he admired as they later guest-starred on CHiPs. “I got to meet so many celebrities I watched,” he said. “Sid Caesar, Ed McMahon, The Honeymooners, all these actors and actresses on other shows, who would guest-star on our show. That was great. I always took a Polaroid with everyone and kept them. I’m a big fan.

I flip out when I see someone and go, ‘Oh, my God, I gotta get a photo.’”

In no time, Estrada as Ponch swiftly became a pop culture icon whose performance and magnetic image gained him a diverse following of his own. According to TV Guide, Estrada’s persona influenced Victor Willis of the Village People. Willis mimicked Poncho’s form-fitting patrol garb and adopted the look for his role as the “cop” in the famed Seventies disco singing group.

Subsequently, that pulsating sound of music once played a role and roll, literally, in the two-part, episode “Roller Disco” (from September 22, 1979), which featured a plethora of guest stars, including pop star Leif Garrett, super-athletes Fred Williamson and Jim Brown, and a zeitgeist of classic TV icons, namely, Bill Daily (I Dream of Jeannie), Larry Linville (M*A*S*H), Larry Storch (F-Troop), Mike Minor (Petticoat Junction), and more.

In addition to roller dancing, Estrada enjoyed the several other physical aspects of performing on the series. As he once noted, “I really loved the karate… that I did on CHiPs. I studied with a trainer because I knew we’d do episodes that [would involve the sport].”

“It was a hard job, but it was a lot of fun,” Estrada said another time. “I will always be grateful to Ponch. He was a part of me… I always loved Ponch… It was so much fun to be him, to put on my duds, get on that bike, and help out the kids” [e.g., young characters in the episodes].

In recent years, Estrada has also done that off-screen.

In a perfect example of life imitating art, Estrada eventually embodied his initial career intention of becoming a police officer.

In 2006, he was named a reserve officer for Muncie, Indiana’s police force. Originally deputized for a reality series (Armed & Famous), Estrada returned in 2008 to work the evening patrol. He later became a deputy sheriff in Bedford County, Virginia, and a reserve police officer in St. Anthony, Idaho. Today, he is a Federal Officer for the Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Estrada’s new passion is to ensure Internet education is mandated in all schools. “We’ve got to start teaching kids how to be safe in the 40,000+ chat rooms that are out there,” he once said.

“Because they’re being had. These sexual predators groom the kids.

I know, I’ve arrested enough of them.”

Estrada’s charitable heart is large. In 2000, he was named the international “Face” of the D.A.R.E. program (which advocates against substance abuse). He’s also an advocate for the American Heart Association, the United Way, and the C.H.P. 11–99 Foundation, a nonprofit that provides benefits and scholarships for real-life California Highway Patrol family members, in addition to helping with funeral costs for fallen officers, as well as several more charities.

CHiPs f No. of seasons: 6 f No. of episodes: 139 (plus one TV movie) f Original run: September 15, 1977–May 1, 1983 f Primary cast: Larry Wilcox, Erik Estrada, Robert Pine f Network: NBC f Created by: Rick Rosner

SPIN-OFFS AND REMAKES: f CHiPs ’99 (TV movie directed by Jon Cassar and originally airing on TNT on October 27, 1978; reuniting Larry Wilcox, Erik Estrada, Robert Pine, and other original cast members, with special guest Judge Judy Sheindlin) f CHiPs (Theatrical spoof written and directed by Dax Shepard, who also starred as Jon, alongside Michael Peña as Ponch; with Adam Brody, Rosa Salazar, and Vincent D’Onofrio; released by Warner Bros. on March 20, 2017) Additionally, Estrada is an ambassador for Smile Train, a global organization that provides free cleft surgery and other forms of essential cleft care to children in over 70 countries.

In May 2011, he visited Smile Train partner Hospital Margarita Maza De Juarez in Mazatlan, Mexico, and experienced firsthand the life-changing impact that Smile Train has on over a hundred thousand children a year and their families.

Also in 2011, Estrada competed on the second season of the hit Univision show, Mira Quién Baila! [Look Who’s Dancing!], on behalf of Smile Train.

Estrada’s other post-CHiPs positions have included a steady job in the Mexican telenovela Dos mujeres, un camino in the early Nineties, and a role on America’s daytime serial The Bold and the Beautiful in the early 2000s. In comparing the two different language productions, he once noted, “They do soaps differently in Mexico. You have to know the storyline and not [just] memorize the lines. There would be someone feeding you lines before you were performing.”

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Some of his many other TV appearances have included guest spots on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch; Popular; My Name Is Earl; Liv and Maddie; and King of the Hill, for which he voiced a Mexican judge (in the 1998 episode, “Peggy’s Pageant Fever”). From 2000 to 2005, Estrada provided his voice in a regular capacity (as Marco) on the animated series Sealab 2021.

In addition to Armed & Famous and Mira Quién Baila!, Estrada has appeared on several other reality TV shows, such as The Surreal Life, Worst Cooks in America, and Battle of the Network Stars (the original Seventies edition, and the last entry, in 2017, with Larry Wilcox).

In 1997, he published his memoir, Erik Estrada: My Road from Harlem to Hollywood. Also, that year, Estrada wed cinema sound technician Nanette Mirkovich. Their one child, an aspiring actress named Francesca Natalia, was born in 2000. He had been married to Peggy Lynn Rowe, an entertainment executive, songwriter, and producer from 1985 until their divorce in 1990. The couple had two sons and a daughter, Anthony Erik Estrada (born 1986), and Brandon Michael-Paul Estrada (born 1987), a global track star in his own right, and Lyric Alysia Estrada (born 1996).

and as a result I usually got the best college acting roles, my TV commercial career took off, and I made six figures a year as a young man. Naively, I thought it would never stop. I was soon starring in a TV series called Lassie or, better stated, I co-starred with Lassie and went on to do guest roles in various episodic TV shows [The Streets of San Francisco, M*A*S*H, Police Story], ongoing TV commercials, and Disney [films] or movies of the week for the three networks [ABC, NBC, and CBS]. Those included Mr. and Mrs. Bo Jo Jones and The Great American Beauty Contest (in which he co-starred with a pre–Charlie’s Angels Farrah Fawcett).

ROGER WILCO, LARRY WILCOX

With his own unique brand of mainstream charm and appeal, Larry Wilcox played Jon Baker. However, a series of life and career events and passages transpired before he won that monumental role.

Wilcox was born in San Diego and brought up in Wyoming, where he played an electric organ in a band. But by his late teens he was living in Los Angeles, where he began taking piano lessons at the Beverly Hills Music Academy.

During this period, circa 1966, he met a senior acting instructor named Lois Auer, who told him he looked like the “boy next door.”

As he recalled to OldSchool80s.com in 2013, “I just blushed not knowing what she really meant.”

Wilcox could not afford theatrical school and was all too happy to accept Auer’s invitation to attend a few acting classes, free of charge. “I was a natural with little inhibition for some odd reason,” he said.

Approximately one year later, Wilcox enlisted in the Marines and served in Vietnam. He returned to Southern California in 1970 and began a formal education in Dentistry and Drama.

“Dentistry seemed to placate my fear of poverty and satisfy my ego,” he noted, “…while acting satisfied my passion and my young indulgent evolution.”

A then–20-year-old Wilcox believed he would succeed in his newfound craft. “I knew it more and more in every acting class I took,” he told OldSchool80s. “I knew instantly how to dribble the ball and make the three-point shots, if you will, 8

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(ABOVE) Autographed Larry Wilcox CHiPs photograph signed by the actor on October 5, 1998. (LEFT) Wilcox in promotional photo. Courtesy of CTVPS. CHiPs © NBCUniversal.

The CHiPs role of Jon Baker was offered to him by producer Rick Rosner, who had seen Wilcox in The Great American Beauty Contest and an episode of Hawaii Five-0. As the actor recalled, Rosner wanted him to star in a pilot called Aero Bureau with Don Meredith of football fame. “We did that show and had a great time,” Wilcox noted, “but it never sold. So, when CHiPs came around, they wanted me to do that show also, but I said no. My rationale was that there were too many

retro television

police shows then, [besides] the fact that I had come to believe I was now an artiste,” he mused, “and I needed to mold my career accordingly.”

However, when he was offered more money, he “jumped” at the chance.

That leap of faith paved the road to the success of his precise CHiPs portrayal of Jon Baker, one of the first regular characters on a weekly TV show to be identified as a Vietnam veteran. Once again, when it came to CHiPs, life, and art crossed hairs, as it had done with Erik Estrada and his subsequent law enforcement role in reality. With Wilcox, however, the TV transmission was in

Wilcox and Estrada reprised their legendary roles as Jon and Ponch in the 1998 TV movie, CHiPs ’99. Courtesy of CTVPS. reverse; he had served in Vietnam as a U.S. Marine during the Tet Offensive before his on-screen military-historic role as Baker.

Upon his exit from CHiPs in 1982, Wilcox went on to produce the award-winning The Ray Bradbury Theatre for HBO from 1986 to 1989 and guest-star in many popular TV series including Hardcastle and McCormick, Hotel, The Love Boat, Matlock, Murder She Wrote, and MacGyver, as well as several made-for-TV movies.

A man of many talents, Wilcox plays the guitar and piano and, in recent years, has become an inventive businessman whose many creative endeavors align with the immersive, changing technologies of the moment — including devices to help the ongoing battle to eliminate COVID-19. “I love to act, but business is more interesting,” Wilcox once said, “because it’s more competitive and it involves more people. There’s more ‘now’ mentality and energy.

Intellectually, it’s a lot more interesting.”

Wilcox married his first wife, Judy Vagner, on March 29, 1969, while serving his last months of duty after returning from the Vietnam War. They had two children together: Derek and Heidi.

His second marriage was to Dutch native Hannie Strasser, a one-time CHiPs assistant sound technician. The wedding took place on April 11, 1980. Their daughter, Wendy, was born in 1982 and they divorced shortly thereafter. Wilcox raised Wendy.

On March 22, 1986, Wilcox wed Marlene Harmon, a member of the 1980 Olympic heptathlon team. They reside in the San Fernando Valley and have two sons, Chad and Ryan. A dedicated family man across the board, Wilcox has assisted in caring for his father-in-law, a stroke victim. As he once observed, “Family is very important to me because that is the footprint we perpetuate. That is, the ripple in the water when the rock first impacts the pool, and it is those waves, that energy that one produces, that determines our direction.”

Wilcox also dedicates a substantial amount of time and money to help various charitable organizations. For one, he established an NPO Hub website to benefit police officers killed in the line of duty.

Of his air-time of duty with Erik Estrada on CHiPs, and their subsequent christening as immortal TV superstars, Wilcox offered this modest, heartfelt insight: “When I look in the mirror, I don’t see a male icon. But while we were doing the show, we were supposedly male icons because we starred in a television series and there were then only just three networks, and our Nielsen ratings were a high 19 to the 20s… numbers that are unheard of today. So, you’re reaching millions of people. And I always construed it as the networks spending millions of dollars branding you. So, you should be so lucky to have someone spend 10 or 20 million on your brand. And from that, I felt there was a responsibility as a so-called male icon. And the responsibility was that those fans out there have a special place in their heart [for him and Estrada]. And we were able to serve some kind of meal for the appetite they needed. But I don’t think it’s about signing autographs and being a ‘star.’ It’s about serving the hopes, wishes, and spirit of the fans.”

Another time, he concluded, “I owe the public a good performance… the best I can give.”

Estrada in promotional photo. Courtesy of CTVPS.

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Train, Bob Hope Chrysler Theatre, Kraft Suspense Theatre, Medical Center (more than once), and numerous sitcoms. In addition to Mysterious Two, Pine also appeared in motion pictures like Munster, Go Home (based on the Sixties TV sitcom), The Graduate, and Day of the Locust. A classically trained actor, Pine has performed, too, in several live plays such as Chekov’s The Seagull, Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid, and Oklahoma.

Courtesy of Nite of Dreams/ Right before CHiPs, Pine Herbie J Pilato. played Paul Sorvino’s sidekick in Bert D’Angelo/Superstar, a shortlived 1976 Streets of San Francisco spin-off from Quinn Martin Productions for ABC. Pine’s son, Christopher Pine, would make a name for himself as the first new Captain Kirk since William Shatner in the Star Trek reboot trilogy of feature films.

Those began in 2009 and continued with Star Trek into Darkness in 2013 and Star Trek Beyond in 2016.

The father Pine’s CHiPs co-star Michael Dorn later portrayed Lieutenant Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation, the initial TV Trek sequel that later transferred to feature films a few stardates after its original syndicated small screen run from 1987 to 1993.

The first season CHiPs episode, “Crack-Up,” which aired on March 9, 1978, focuses on Robert Pine’s Sgt. Getraer.

It also features a solid list of guest stars including Phyllis Diller, Gary Sandy (WKRP in Cincinnati), Hari (Harry) Rhodes, former child star and Deadend Kid film series lead Huntz Hall, Linda Thompson (former love to Elvis Presley), and Philip Pine. The latter of whom has no relation to Robert Pine or his son Christopher Pine, though Philip did make a guest appearance on the original Star Trek series.

CHiPs’ chipper-faced Lou Wagner would later guest-star on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1992 (as Damon Solok in “Chain of Command, Part 1”), as well as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (as Kras in “The Nagus”) in 1993.

Beyond CHiPs, Wagner is most likely best known for his portrayal of young, rebellious chimpanzee Lucias in the original Planet of the Apes sci-fi feature film franchise. But he began his career as teenage characters like passenger Schuyler Schultz who flew with his parents in the original Airport movie (which led to a film franchise of its own), and on TV shows like Jack Webb’s second incarnation of Dragnet (playing various characters).

That series, meanwhile, has links to another Webb show, which in turn has ties to CHiPs. In the third season episode “E.M.T.” (January 19, 1980), Ponch and Jon take issue with a paramedic. The fire engine associated (LEFT) Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Erik Estrada, Kelly Hu, Lorenzo Lamas, and Larry Wilcox suit up in the 2017 edition of Battle of the Network Stars. Courtesy of CTVPS. (BELOW) The CHiPs cast reunites for a special live event at the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California.

CROSSOVER APPEAL

Beyond the TNT CHiPs ’99 TV reunion movie, the show’s cast has reunited or intermingled at various live events such as San Diego Comic-Con International and the Hollywood Show. There have also been instances in which they either played themselves or reprised their CHiPs roles for other TV shows. Other times, before and after their selective CHiPs debut, the cast either worked together or were somehow associated with the same productions for the big screen or small.

For example, in 1999, Erik Estrada made an animated guest appearance as Ponch on the Family Guy episode, “I Never Met the Dead Man.” In December 2009, Larry Wilcox played himself and revisited Jon Baker’s popularity in a Christmas episode of NBC’s 30 Rock, titled “Secret Santa.”

The name game has also played an important role in the CHiPs legacy, beginning with the Jon and Ponch parts themselves.

Baker’s incognito Los Angeles police code I.D. is 7-Mary-3; Ponch is known as 7-Mary-4. To crack those codes: The number 7 stands for the Central Division, Mary subs for Motors (as opposed to cars) and the number 3 refers to the freeway sector on patrol or assignment.

Officer Jon Baker was named after series creator/producer Rick Rosner’s real-life nephew, Jonathan Baker, a.k.a. Jonathan Andrew Baker, who had a bit part in the show’s pilot episode, “Probation” (September 15, 1977). He played a boy who was stopped by Ponch and Jon for riding his bike on the freeway.

Robert Pine’s Sergeant Joe Getraer was named after a college friend of Rosner’s.

Future Nightmare on Elm Street legend Robert Englund made an early guest appearance in the “40 Tons of Trouble” CHiPs episode, which aired January 11, 1981, 17 months before he reunited with Pine in the feature film, Mysterious Two, which was released May 31, 1982.

Pine made several classic TV guest appearances before his regular role on CHiPs, including shows like The Virginian, Wagon 10

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with the paramedic is Squad 51, a vehicle which had been utilized exclusively in Webb’s Emergency! medical series (which originally aired on NBC from 1972 to 1979).

By the time “E.M.T.” aired, Emergency! had been cancelled, so it was safe for CHiPs to feature Squad 51 the vehicle without infringing upon Webb’s world (other than presenting similar rescue sequences).

CHiPs BITS

No guns, good story, dangerous stunts, no problem, victorious outcome.

That’s the general CHiPs action-adventure consensus. As Larry Wilcox once noted, the series “…was a family show and was meant to have parallel themes for Jon and Ponch. There was always a police theme and a personal theme. The show would shoot a one-hour show in six days and five of those days were normally exteriors with one hard, long day of interiors. The uniforms were hot, and as the show got more popular and the actors (me, we, us) became aware of marketing, the uniforms got tailored and tighter and more uncomfortable in the heat.

“Our show was designed to never pull a gun,” Wilcox explained, “but still have a police theme, as well as a personal theme and a moral to the story.”

Erik Estrada later told Parade magazine: “We were in a time in America when life was really fantastic. It was the Seventies. There was disco. Free love! The streets weren’t as nasty as they are now because they hadn’t turned cocaine into crack yet. AIDS hadn’t hit the streets. It was a great time in America. Our show was on

Sunday night, and it was basically about showing respect for law enforcement and dealing with people on a verbal level. Not pulling guns and blowing their brains out.

“I never once drew my gun, and neither did my partner,” said Estrada, who wasn’t into motorcycle riding either. “No, not at all,” he clarified to Parade.com. When he began working on the series, “…I took a course at the police academy. They taught me how to ride and do procedure.” But that was it, even though he still owns the motorcycle he used on the show (a Kawasaki 1000).

According to what Wilcox once observed, the CHiPs leads enjoyed their jobs. “There were fun memories riding the jet skis, riding the motorcycles, hanging out at MGM Studios, driving my Rolls Royce convertible, directing some episodes of CHiPs and talking with the crew each week which became a surrogate family.”

That included the show’s stunt coordinators who were hired to help and/or sub for Estrada and Wilcox. Scott Dockstader and Gary Davis were the stuntmen for Wilcox; Danny Rogers was there for Estrada, although as Estrada once explained to ABC News, one tragic day on the set, there were no stuntmen available.

During the show’s last season, Estrada was filming a sequence where he jumped on his motorcycle to chase a car backing down an alley. “It was Friday and they filmed the scene,” Estrada recalled.

Later, in his dressing room, he learned there had been a hair in the camera lens, so the sequence had to be reshot. Unsfortunately, the stuntmen had already left for the day.

“They put this young driver in the car,” Estrada said. “The guy stops 25 feet too soon… my motorcycle hits the front fender. I go

Reunited in January 2023 at the Nixon Library: Lou Wagner, Robert Pine, Erik Estrada, Larry Wilcox, Brodie Greer, and Bruce Penhall. Courtesy of Herbie J Pilato.

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through the windshield, land on the hood, and then the bike flips on my back. Boom, a thousand pounds, crushed.”

A helicopter lifted the actor to UCLA, after he fractured ribs, punctured both lungs, cracked his jaw, and broke his wrist. “They gave me five days in intensive care and said I had a 50/50 chance of living,” he said.

Estrada eventually left the hospital and made a full recovery. “I got back on the bike and here I am rolling now,” he said.

CHiPs CLIPS

The cameras for CHiPs eventually stopped rolling, though not before filming several episodes that bespoke the show’s family-geared themes. The more humanitarian aspects of law enforcement which contributed to the show’s success; sometimes, in the simplest of ways.

In the first season episode, “Dog Gone,” which premiered September 29, 1977, Jon and Ponch befriend an injured canine named Muffin. In another first season episode, “Hitch-Hiking Hitch,” Ponch finds himself interacting with a slightly larger animal: a St. Bernard.

Other episodes were easily accessible for the viewer by showcasing the real-life abilities of its stars. Due to Larry Wilcox’s Wyoming upbringing, horseback riding and lasso-rousing became second nature to him. “I’m a frustrated cowboy,” he once noted. As such, that aspect of his off-screen life was incorporated into the CHiPs episode, “The Rustling.” Here, Jon showcases his rodeo skills, when pit against a steer that had strayed onto the path he patrolled with Ponch.

Additional standout episodes are as follows: Season 2, Episode 10 – “Return of the Turns” (November 25, 1978): Directed by Barry Crane and written by Steven Lord, this episode has Jon and Ponch reflecting on old friends, while a careless driver causes turmoil on the freeway. Guest stars include Kaz Garas, who would go on to play TV’s original Steve Trevor in the initial 1974 Wonder Woman TV pilot movie starring Kathy Lee Crosby, and Dee Wallace, who would later find fame as the mom in ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Season 2, Episode 11 – “Supercycle” (December 2, 1978): This episode was directed by Phil Bondelli (who guided several episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man), and written by James Doherty and William Gordon. Here, an Evel Knievel–style stunt cyclist evades, outwits, and embarrasses the CHP, which inspires Harlan to develop a super-cycle for the department. Guest stars include Jason Evers (of countless classic TV guest appearances), George O’Hanlon, Jr., Karen Carlson, and Britt Leach.

Season 2, Episode 15 – “MAIT Team” (January 13, 1979): Directed

by John Florea and written by James Doherty and William Gordon, this episode centers around Cahill (Breanne Leary), who is critically injured in a multi-vehicle pile-up that kills 11 people. Jon and Ponch are assigned to the Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team to find the cause and in the process clear Cahill’s name. Guest stars include TV soap legend Eric Braden (The Young and the Restless), Carmen Argenziano, and Michael Bell.

Season 2, Episode 18 – “Rally ’Round the Bank” (February 3, 1979): In this episode, directed by Barry Crane and written by Lee H. Grant and Paul Playdon, Ponch is puzzled when his mother comes to visit, as he investigates a host of drive-through bank burglaries.

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The new CHiPs trio (no, not really… ): Larry Wilcox, Herbie J Pilato, and Erik Estrada. Courtesy of Herbie J Pilato.

Guest stars include Frank Ashmore, Linda McCollough, and Markie Post (later of NBC’s Night Court).

Season 3, Episode 5 – “Death Watch” (October 13, 1979): Directed by Barry Crane and written by Larry Alexander, this episode centers around a man who commits insurance fraud by deliberately causing accidents on the freeway. The result: Baricza is injured and another CHP officer is killed. Guest stars include Larry Block, Rick Hurst (later of TV’s short-lived On the Rocks sitcom), and Shirley Mitchell (from the Lucille Ball litany of sitcoms).

Season 3, Episode 13 – “Second Chance” (December 1, 1979): A lot is going on in this episode directed by John Florea and written

by Frank Chase and Romana Chase: Jon and Ponch tail jewelry thieves who utilize stolen motorcycles for quick getaways. The CHP hosts a festival for children in physical therapy, where Ponch seeks to befriend a girl paralyzed after the thief charged into her bicycle.

Guest stars include Christine DeBell and Lynn Marie Stewart, who was dear friends with Cindy Williams (of Laverne & Shirley fame).

Season 3, Episode 15 – “Christmas Watch” (December 15, 1979): In this episode, directed by Phil Bondelli and written by John Huff and L. Ford Neal, the holiday season proves just as hectic for Jon and Ponch as any other day on the force, even more so. At the community church, thieves run off with a 15th-Century bell that

Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada are profiled in Dashing, Daring, and Debonair: TV’s Top Male Icons from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s by Herbie J Pilato.

Courtesy of Taylor Trade Publishing.

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holds sentimental value for the local children, while they oversee an auto-theft ring. Guest stars: William Schallert (The Patty Duke Show and The New Gidget), Rosemary Forsythe, Anna Navvaro, and more.

Season 5, Episode 17 – “Alarmed” (February 14, 1982): In yet another adventure directed by Phil Bondelli, this episode, written

by Rudolph Borchert, focuses on officer Bonnie Clark (Randi Oakes), concerned about a former police cadet who is now stealing cars. Guest stars: Simon Oakland (Toma, Kolchak: The Night Stalker), Christina Hart (Three’s Company), and Elizabeth Daily.

Season 5, Episode 26 – “K-9–1” (May 9, 1982): In this episode, directed by Leslie H. Martinson, and written by Stephen Lord, Jon and Ponch partner with K-9 deputies from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, as a fellow officer is injured, during a series of tour bus robberies. Guest stars include John Vernon, Joan Sweeny, Virgil Frye, Victor Bevine, and James Canning.

POST–CHiPs-SCRIPT

To once and for all put to rest incorrect rumors and gossip, and to clarify the truth, Larry Wilcox explained with integrity and gentle honesty the sequence of events evolving his and Erik Estrada’s departures and returns to CHiPs:

of was barely moving and fell over. He said his neck hurt and they took him away in an ambulance.

“The negotiations went on.

“Erik and his management and attorneys gave NBC an ultimatum, according to Cy Chermak, who was present in the meeting at NBC. The ultimatum was this: Give Erik his ownership and fire certain cast members, including myself, and others, or he walks and leaves the show.

“I elected to exit the series just as it was beginning its sixth and final season. My character of Jon Baker was replaced with Bobby ‘Hot Dog’ Nelson, as played by Tom Reilly. Other cast members were fired and notified, and Erik and new cast members and new producers and writers returned, and the show ratings plummeted, contrary to what has been said in the past.

“Erik and I did not talk for years after that firing, as two disgruntled egos. Later, I realized that vengeance is not healthy, and I decided to love him, to show him loyalty and goodness, and ever since we have had a great time together. Erik has bent over backward to help me, and I try to do the same for him and his family. We are both senior citizens now and our chemistry is what made the show work, and it is what makes our various live-event appearances work today. God bless Erik, and may he stay healthy for his beautiful family.”

CHiPs FOREVER

The cover of the first season release of CHiPs on DVD. Courtesy of CTVPS. CHiPs © NBCUniversal.

“Erik had a near-fatal motorcycle accident and was hospitalized for weeks upon weeks. I gave him first aid before the priest at the hospital gave him last rights. It is a miracle he survived.

“His management and legal team began negotiating with MGM and NBC for a percentage and more money.

“MGM/NBC hired Bruce Jenner while Erik was in the hospital, and while they were negotiating, it was reported that Erik was holding out.

“Erik returned to MGM and, on the lot, wrecked the motorcycle on the lawn, and it seemed like schtick at the time as he just kind

The loyal, unending bond shared between Larry Wilcox and Erik Estrada is similar to the monumental regard and affection that CHiPs fans hold for the show.

Case in point: Julie M. Grizzle of Chehalis, Washington. A longtime CHiPs follower, Grizzle is the proud owner of a fully restored 1978 Kawasaki KZ1000P motorcycle.

The Kawasaki is a replica of the “true 1978 Police bike,” Grizzle said, although it did not become a CHP bike until shortly before she acquired it. As Grizzle explained, “I purchased it from a retired police officer in Michigan. He had a dream to own one, too, but his son was in an auto accident and needed money, so I bought it from him.

We have become good friends. He gave me his duty baton, which I have mounted on the saddlebags like they did on the show. I added a few things other items after I got it, including a radio, and the whip antenna [which she was to remove for photos]. All the hard stuff was done before I got it. As it sits now, the bike is an exact replica of the one from the show, and it’s in excellent running condition.”

In January 2023, she brought the bike to Yorba Linda, California, for the CHiPs Live Reunion event at the Richard M. Nixon Library and Museum.

Grizzle was born to Adam and Jewell (nee Norris) Grizzle in Issaquah, Washington, where she was raised and enjoyed what she described as “all the cool Sixties and Seventies TV shows.”

Her favorites were CHiPs, Dark Shadows, Emergency, “…and all the Westerns.”

In 1965 her father piqued her interest in racing Quarter Midget race cars, which she did for five years. “Dad raced full midgets,” Grizzle said, “and as an automotive mechanic, he did all of his own maintenance and taught me as I spent hours in the shop with him.”

“After the race cars came motorcycles,” Grizzle explained, “and when CHiPs came on TV, I was hopelessly hooked. My dream was always to own one of those cool police bikes.”

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Subsequently, in 1974, Grizzle attained her license and required endorsement, and has been riding ever since.

In addition to the Kawasaki, she owns a 2014 Indian Chieftan with a custom sidecar.

Today, Grizzle is a retired Commercial Aviation Technician, who worked for Alaska Airlines for 33 years. She also just happens to be the first female aircraft mechanic in the history of Alaska Airlines.

“I started with them in Anchorage and later transferred to Seattle,” she said.

Grizzle’s present and past hobbies include rebuilding motorcycles, rescuing cats (she has a small animal rescue center in Chehalis), Cowboy Mounted Shooting, dog-sledding (in Alaska she was the Restart Coordinator for the Iditarod for 8 years), ATVs, skydiving, fishing, and as she said, “almost anything outdoors.”

As to what she believes is the key to CHiPs unending popularity, Grizzle said, “The show has endured as a fan favorite because it was good clean TV with a positive message.”

“Plus,” she added with a wink, “the guys were handsome and hot, and the bikes were incredible.”

Grizzle tuned in every week to watch the show during its original run, and she now owns the entire series on DVD. “The classic TV shows were the best,” she noted, “and CHiPs ranks right up there at the top. For a young gal like I was in the Seventies, watching Jon and Ponch save the day on those fabulous bikes... was the best. Now, having the bike and getting to meet my childhood heroes and have them autograph my bike, is priceless.”

“Long live CHiPs,” she chimed.️

Photo: Dan Holm.

Born in Rochester, New York, writer, producer, actor/performer, and TV personality HERBIE J PILATO graduated from Nazareth University in the spring of 1983, with a trimester in Television and Film at UCLA. One year later, began his career as an NBC page at the network’s facility in Burbank, California, and was cast in bit roles on General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful, Highway to Heaven, and The Golden Girls. In 1992, Pilato published his first book, The Bewitched Book, followed by other classic TV companions. He then began producing and appearing on retro media documentaries for Bravo, A&E, TLC, and the Reelz Channel, while he’s also done the same for several DVD and Blu-ray retro releases for Sony, Warner Bros., and Universal (including the award-winning Blu-rays for The Six Million Dollar Man and The Bionic Woman).

Pilato is also the Founder of the Classic TV Preservation Society (CTVPS), a nonprofit that advocates for the positive social effects of classic TV, and has hosted, co-created, and co-executive-produced his own TV talk show, Then Again with Herbie J Pilato (which is still streaming on Shout! TV and Amazon Prime).

In addition to the “Special Commemorative Edition” of The Bionic Book, Pilato has authored Retro Active Television (which the Los Angeles Book Festival named 2023’s “Book of the Year,” and subsequently, Pilato, “Author of the Year”), Connery, Sean Connery, Mary: The Mary Tyler Moore Story, and more. His upcoming books include One Tough Dame: The Life and Career of Diana Rigg and Christmas TV Memories: Nostalgic Holiday Favorites of the Small Screen. For more information, visit www.HerbieJPilato.com.

(TOP) CHiPs fan Julie M. Grizzle receives a bear hug from Erik Estrada, alongside Robert Pine and Larry Wilcox.

(CENTER) Erik signs Julie’s CHiPs motorcycle replica.

(BOTTOM) Julie M. Grizzle in 2015 with her mother, Jewell Grizzle, 90 years old at the time. “She loved the bike,” Julie said of her mother, who died two weeks shy of her 93rd birthday. Photos courtesy of Julie M. Grizzle.

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VOGER’S VAULT OF VINTAGE VARIETIES

God Bless Tiny Tim Was he for real?

Meet the campy troubadour of the groovy Sixties BY MARK VOGER

“Wait’ll you see this, pal,” said Dan Rowan to Dick Martin in what sounded more like a threat than a kindness.

It was January 22, 1968, a Monday evening. NBC was presenting the premiere installment of its super-groovy, anythinggoes comedy hour Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. With its maiden program, the norm-shattering Laugh-In threw a lot at the viewer: new faces, psychedelic sets, bloopers, double-entendre. But no one was ready for what Rowan was about to throw at Martin.

(LEFT) Tiny Tim is remembered for his weird look, mock-effeminate mannerisms and cringe-worthy vocals. Shown: A poster sold at “head shops” across America.

Colorized. (CENTER) Tiny Tim favored garish jackets and was rarely without his ukulele.

From the cover of his debut album God Bless Tiny Tim (1968). © Reprise Records. (RIGHT) Short-haired Herbert Buckingham Khaury struck a pose in this Fifties studio portrait.

“The toast of Greenwich Village in his first appearance anywhere: Tiny Tim!” announced Rowan, who soon skeedaddled from the stage. Out walked a gaunt figure with long, stringy hair, a beak-like nose, and a death-white face. The not-so-tiny Tiny Tim promptly produced a ukulele and began to sing the old Ella Fitzgerald hit “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” in a nails-on-blackboard falsetto, punctuated with the most peculiar facial expressions and gestures.

Martin stood stage-right as he took in the jaw-dropping performance, reacting like someone who’d chugged spoiled milk. After Tiny’s likewise bewildering rendition of “On the Good Ship Lollipop,” he frantically blew kisses at the audience.

“You searched high and low for that one, didn’t you?” Martin said to Rowan afterward.

“Kept him out of the service,” replied Rowan.

“I’ll bet the Army burned his draft card,” said Martin.

Through all of his career struggles leading up to this moment, Tiny Tim had been told by seemingly everyone in his sphere—theater proprietors, audience members, his own parents—that he could never “make it.” The only person who believed in Tiny Tim was the only person who mattered: Tiny Tim himself. With that insane Laugh-In debut, a Pandora’s Box was opened.

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Voger’s vault of vintage varieties

(LEFT) No one knew what to make of Tiny during his first appearance on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1968). The guy in the tuxedo is co-host Dick Martin. (RIGHT) Tiny introduced “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” on a subsequent Laugh-In appearance, with Martin once again “enjoying” the music. © George Schlatter-Ed Friendly Productions & Romart Inc. Tiny Tim—alias Larry Love, alias Derry Dover, alias Emmett Swink, alias Raleigh Del (all previous stage names)—had entered popular culture, like it or not.

And plenty of people didn’t like it.

LIGHTNING ROD

Tiny Tim—remembered for his weird look, mock-effeminate mannerisms and cringe-worthy vocals—was a lightning rod. Most people laughed at him. Some called him a “fruitcake.” Perhaps a few fringe hippies, or aficionados of Twenties songs, took him seriously. But the overwhelming consensus was: He’s a freak.

“Is Tiny Tim for real?” was a question on everyone’s lips after the singer (some would argue against that descriptor) scored his breakthrough on Laugh-In. “It was tough to get letters, after the Laugh-In show, 98 percent ‘pan’ mail,” Tiny told Morton Downey, Jr. in 1994. “They said, ‘Where’d you get him from?’ ‘What’s happening to the world?’

“Even though it was rough, that’s the same thing that happened when I had this long hair in ’54 around the neighborhood in New York City, in Washington Heights. Only this time, it was on a larger scale. It was around the world.”

Tiny Tim (1932–1996) was born Herbert Buckingham Khaury in New York City to a Jewish mom and a Catholic dad. “I remember, when I was three years old, having an old gramophone Victrola,” he told Wes Bailey in 1982. “I was always attracted to, not only those types of records, but a medium in which a voice can come out of a box like that.”

A man named Bill Chambers was in Tiny’s junior high class. “The way people saw him on TV, that’s the way he was back then. That was no act,” Chambers told me in 1997.

“He was very good-hearted, very bright.

I used to go to his house and listen to his 16

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records. He had a crew-cut in those days. He was a big guy—the tallest kid in the class. He used to sit way in the back. He was very shy. He was so unathletic, it was incredible. But he loved sports, especially hockey.

“One kid at school used to bully him a lot. But he would never fight, no matter what. I took care of this bully one time. Herbert never forgot that.”

The scratchy songs coming through that gramophone had an effect on Tiny, who was determined to follow in the footsteps of his musical heroes of yesteryear such as Rudy Valleé, Byron G. Harlan (“Thomas Edison’s favorite singer”), Irving Kaufman, Henry Burr, and Bing Crosby.

But Herbert Khaury seemed like an unlikely entertainer. He was odd-looking, and his passion for the old songs outstripped his actual talent. Still, he had drive. He hustled. His first tryout was at a place called Mom Grant’s Riviera on 43rd Street in 1950.

He went on many more auditions, and adopted the ukulele out of necessity.

“The reason for the ukulele is very important” he said in a video interview taped at Uke Expo 1996. “I used to go to a lot of singing auditions—plenty in the Fifties.” He explained that he would accompany himself on the uke so that if an audition went badly, he wouldn’t have to suffer the humiliation of asking a pianist to return his sheet music.

“Coming up the ladder, I was the original long-haired, white-faced-makeup singer, since ’54,” Tiny told Russ Gorman in 1988.

(Tiny cited the Beatles, Kiss, and Boy George as his stylistic descendants.)

So frequently did Tiny appear as a guest on Laugh-In, some audience members assumed he was a member of the cast. © George Schlatter-Ed Friendly Productions & Romart Inc.

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“It was really tough, because they had a siren come on many times, and it was nip and tuck. At that time, going into New York on the subway trains, I had all the free seats in the world. I used to go into the five-and-dimes or the supermarkets, and the managers would come over and they wanted to know what I’m looking for, to get me out of there quick.”

By the middle Fifties, Khaury was playing Greenwich Village clubs billed as Larry Love, “the Singing Canary.” To stand out, he adopted the falsetto.

“Like it or not,” he told Downey, “I really do thank Jesus Christ for his blessings. He gave me a style which I believe, I pray to him, was a little different. And in this business, originality is the key to success.”

Not everyone embraced the falsetto, to put it mildly. “You’ll never get anywhere singing in that sissy voice,” his father Butros once said, as quoted in a 1968 issue of Rolling Stone. “I’m sorry to say, in all fairness, you’ll never be anything,” said his mother Tillie, as quoted in the same edition.

Khaury turned pro in 1962 when he was paid $10 a night to perform at the Café Bizarre in the Village. His agent George King (who specialized in representing little people) suggested the name

was among the first of his songs to be released. Said Williams: “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, my God... Tiny Tim. What kind of a songwriter am I?’ ” God Bless Tiny Tim was produced by Richard Perry, who later helmed albums by Barbra Streisand, Diana Ross, Ray Charles, and Ringo Starr. Tiny’s album was only Perry’s second production job, and he gave it his full attention. This was no throwaway, no “novelty” album. The campy but heartfelt “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” was the album’s flagship, but there was good stuff, too, like the hauntingly beautiful “Strawberry Tea” and “Fill Your Heart” with its horns, strings, harp, and bell. Still, the album didn’t disappoint fans of Tiny’s campiness. On his send-up of Sonny and Cher’s “I Got You Babe,” Tiny sang both the male and female parts.

Perry also produced Tiny’s (less successful) follow-up that same year, Tiny Tim’s 2nd Album. The cover photograph shows Tiny posing with his parents—the ones who said he’d “never be anything.” Tiny’s cover of “Great Balls of Fire” is like a Sha Na Na song with worse singing, but his “As Time Goes By” boasts a classy arrangement. Bogie might have approved—until Tiny opened his mouth.

Tiny scored a Rolling Stone cover and was interviewed in Playboy. “I guess there’s no denying that I’m ugly,” he told

change to Tiny Tim, after the Charles (LEFT) Psychedelia reigned on the cover of Dickens character. This way, when God Bless Tiny Tim, the singer’s debut album “Tiny Tim” was announced, the audi(1968). (CENTER) Tiny is flanked by parents ence would expect a tiny person—a Butros and Tillie on the cover of Tiny Tim’s flippity-flop right out of the box.

2nd Album (1968). (RIGHT) For better or worse, Later in the Sixties, Khaury Tiny’s prominent profile was the focal point garnered notice while performing of this advertisement for God Bless Tiny Tim at such Greenwich Village spots (1968). © Reprise Records. as the Fat Black Pussycat Cafe, the Alliance Club, and the Page Three. He Playboy. “In fact, I’ve got the kind of looks that can drive people to also made noise at the Scene, a New York City discotheque. Tiny madness.” appeared in Barry Feinstein’s experimental 1968 film You Are What He became a frequent Tonight Show guest and Laugh-In returnee.

You Eat alongside rockers David Crosby, Paul Butterfield, and the (Fellow Laugh-In guest John Wayne played a bit with Tiny in which Electric Flag. Tiny also made a splash on The Merv Griffin Show. It all he shook the singer’s hand, feigning pain at Tiny’s grip—another led to Laugh-In, which triggered a deluge of offers. “fruitcake” joke.) On The Dick Cavett Show, director Otto Preminger THE WHIRLWIND OF FAME played with Tiny’s hair, and said to him in his borscht-thick accent,

By June 1968, Tiny’s single “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” from his “May I ask for the telephone number of your singing teacher? I want debut album God Bless Tiny Tim—another Dickensian reference— to take lessons.” climbed to No. 17. The B-side, “Fill Your Heart,” was co-written “You are a gas,” went a telegram from George Harrison, who

by Grammy winner Paul Williams. In 2004, Williams told me it later presented Tiny on the Beatles’ 1968 Christmas record (their RETROFAN

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annual gift to fan club members). Only Tiny Tim would dare to sing “Nowhere Man” on a Beatles release without having mastered the chords, nor properly tuned his ukulele. Later in life, Harrison famously became a ukulele virtuoso and aficionado. Did he owe it to Tiny Tim? Tiny also got to meet Tuesday Weld (his romantic ideal), Warren Beatty, and Bob Dylan.

(According to Rolling Stone, Tiny said to Dylan: “You are today what Rudy Valleé was in 1928.”)

Elvis Presley once invited Tiny to a show, and gave him a shout-out from the stage. Tiny posed with fellow hipsters-of-the-moment Arlo Guthrie and Michael J. Pollard for an Esquire cover with the tagline “The Beautiful People: Campus Heroes for 68/69.” Beautiful?

Surprisingly, the old guard warmed up to Tiny, too. Frank Sinatra, Jackie Gleason, Johnny Carson, and even Tiny’s idol Bing Crosby all got a kick out of him. Sinatra once dropped in on a recording session of Tiny’s, and ran the resulting photo on the back cover of his 1968 album Cycles.

“He’s very sincere. He’s different. This would be like a ‘flower child’ or something like that,” Carson warned his audience before Tiny’s Tonight Show debut in 1968. Following Tiny’s performance, Carson said, “That’s the damndest act I’ve ever seen.” During their couch interview, Carson walked a fine line between ridiculing and respecting his guest. Tiny later recalled of the experience: “Even the band members and the crew were hostile when I went on to rehearse.”

Bing Crosby happened to be the host when Tiny appeared on the variety show Hollywood Palace in 1969. After Tiny gave his all, jumping up and down while singing “Great Balls of Fire” to an indifferent audience, Crosby strolled out and salvaged the situation.

“You have quite a style there,” Crosby said in those familiar tones.

“I don’t know how to characterize it. Well, it’s spirited anyhow.”

Crosby went off-script during a skit with Tiny in which they traded lyrics from Crosby’s old hits. After Tiny sang a few lines from 1933’s “Learn to Croon,” Crosby quipped: “Boy, you could throw a Labrador through that vibrato of yours.” (It all sounds mean-spirited, but Crosby pulled it off with warmth.)

Tiny played opposite Brady Bunch dad Robert Reed and fellow Laugh-In regular Judy Carne in a 1971 Love, American Style segment titled “Love and the Vampire.” (Guess who played the vampire?) There was a Tiny Tim board game from Parker Bros., a poster sold in “head shops,” a one-shot magazine, and buttons. Beautiful Thoughts (Doubleday) was Tiny’s heartfelt—albeit, padded and overpriced—book of psychedelic art and hippie philosophy. (“Sometimes 18

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(LEFT) The unlikely duo of Bing Crosby and Tiny Tim traded lyrics on TV’s Hollywood Palace (1969). © Warner Bros. (BELOW) Otto Preminger smooths out Tiny’s hair on The Dick Cavett Show (1969). © ABC Television.

a nice long shower will straighten you out... When did you write your mother last?”)

But even when he was riding high, Tiny felt exploited. “I always felt bad for him,” Laugh-In cast member Ruth Buzzi told me in 2002. “Because he would tell us about how he was being ripped off by managers and agents and things. So you just felt sorry for him.”

Tiny told Gorman: “I had the same success like Presley and Valleé and Sinatra in their heyday. Except for them, they said ‘Ah!’ Here, they said, ‘Ugh.’” Tiny’s biggest publicity stunt occurred at the very moment his wave was cresting. On December 17, 1969, he married South Jersey girl “Miss Vicki” Budinger, 17 to his 37, on The Tonight Show. Forty million people gawked at the spectacle, the program’s largest audience up to that time.

Tiny attempted to parlay this ratings bonanza into a “new” act: Tiny Tim and Miss Vicki. The newlyweds appeared on Pat Paulsen’s Half a Comedy Hour (1970), and sang a duet of romantic ditties on The Ed Sullivan Show (1971). This was a big production number with dancers and an orchestra, and Tiny apparently took it seriously. As he crooned, conjuring the spirits of his singing idols, Tiny seemed on the verge of something different, something grander. But that moment of promise passed when,

Tiny achieved yet another entertainment pinnacle by landing on the cover of the Rolling Stone. © Rolling Stone.

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predictably, the audience began to laugh. Tiny rolled his eyes and relented. Then he gave them what they expected: outrageousness and camp.

The couple had a daughter, Tulip, and divorced in 1977. “I’ll always love Miss Vicki,” Tiny later said.

WOODSTOCK MOMENT

I got to meet Tiny Tim during his Sixties heyday. In June of 1969 when I was 11, my own little version of a “Woodstock moment” (two months before Woodstock) occurred, courtesy of the singer. Tiny was scheduled to appear at the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey to autograph copies of Beautiful Thoughts.

I was a fan. I laughed at him—more like marveled at him—on Laugh-In. I admired his bold stance as a totally unique individual (this, despite my father’s dismissal of Tiny Tim as “some kind of a fruitcake”). Tiny really seemed like a guy from another planet.

I’d borrowed the 45 RPM of “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” from a neighborhood kid, and played it over and over. But not the A-side.

I dug the B-side, “Fill Your Heart.” Tiny sang it in his lower register.

The arrangement was catchy. The lyrics were very hippie-ish: “Gentleness can clear the head / Love can clean the mind ...”

On the day of Tiny’s mall appearance, I drew a cartoon of him strumming his ukulele with flowers floating around him. When my

mom pulled into the parking lot at Gimbels Department Store, her timing was perfect; Tiny was just getting out of a town car at the store entrance. He and an entourage of two were met by a Gimbels employee.

Tiny wore pancake make-up, eyeliner, and a dark cape over a checkered suit (which looked mighty strange on this warm, sunny day). He seemed seven feet tall. After a quick chat, the group walked into the store, and I followed.

I had to jog to keep up with The one-shot magazine them. (Like I said, Tiny was Tiny Tim (1968) promised tall.) I remember seeing Tiny’s to be “All New, All True, scraggly hair hanging over the All Tiny!” © Corncob, Ltd. back of his cape as he walked.

The group arrived at a roped-off area where Tiny would autograph books at a table atop a riser. I jostled my way toward Tiny before he ascended the riser, and gave him the cartoon. Tiny was very gracious, and complimented the simplistic artwork of an 11-year-old.

A half-hour later, I spoke with Tiny again, when he signed my copy of his book (“6/7/69: To Mr. Mark: Thank you for buying my book and for the swell drawing you made for me, Tiny Tim”). I told him I liked the message of “Fill Your Heart.” His reply was probably something along the lines of: “That song was written by Mr. Biff Rose and Mr. Paul Williams.”

I had my Tiny Tim moment—two of ’em, actually—and now stood contentedly off to one side outside the roped-off area, still basking in the presence of this freaky being.

Suddenly, three “mall hoodlums” walked in front of me, their attention fixed on Tiny Tim. In 1969, mall hoodlums wore denim, played pinball, smoked Marlboros (later pot), and carried pocketknives, usually for the purpose of carving swear words into phone booths and trees. I didn’t recognize these particular hoodlums, but

(TOP) 40 million people gawked at the spectacle as Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki Budinger on The Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson as their tuxedoed host. © Johnny Carson Productions. (BOTTOM) Pat Paulsen was joined by Miss Vicki and Tiny on Pat Paulsen’s Half a Comedy Hour (1970). © ABC Television. (RIGHT) Tiny played a suspected vampire opposite Judy Carne and Robert Reed on Love, American Style (1971). © ABC Television.

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I knew their type. “Look at that faggot,” one of them said as they watched Tiny. They traded similar comments and laughed. Finally, one of them shouted at Tiny Tim: “Hey, Tiny! Sing!”

Tiny looked right at the trio with a big smile on his face. He stood, held a hand out toward them with a theatrical flourish, and loudly sang one line: “Tip-toe… through the tu-lips… with me-e-e!”

The hoodlums clapped, laughed some more and continued walking. One of them turned back to yell, “Thanks, Tiny!”

Wow. Tiny Tim won over some “faggot”-bashing juvenile delinquents with flower power. There really was, it seemed to me in that moment, hope for the world.

THAT NEXT HIT

His star was fading by the Seventies and Eighties, but Tiny kept plugging, kept hoping for that next hit. He covered everything from disco (“Do Ya Think I’m Sexy”) to country (“I’m Gonna be a Country Queen”) to heavy metal (“Highway to Hell”).

During this dicey period, Tiny grabbed whatever gigs were on offer. Miss Vicki—who in 1974 briefly danced at the go-go institution Minnie’s on the rough-andtumble Admiral Wilson Boulevard in Camden, New Jersey—rejoined him on at least one occasion, the 20th anniversary celebration of the Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, New Jersey, in 1980. Vicki danced while Tiny sang. (Sunday Register reporter Alan Sipress noted that Tiny “collapsed on the stage, squirming like a turtle stuck on its back.”)

In 1982, I met Tiny a second time—I was now 23—when he performed at ye olde Fountain Casino in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Tiny took the Fountain Casino stage to a passably respectful reception. Strumming his ukulele with his forefinger, he played a barrage of Tin Pan Alley ditties, one after another after another. No band—just Tiny and his uke. He would introduce each song, noting the original performer and year of release. The songs seemed truncated, and he performed them in a frenzied rush like some human jukebox.

(I’m projecting here, but I always felt that Tiny was probably accustomed to the sound of audiences booing, but by playing many songs quickly, he could keep one step ahead of the boos.)

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(LEFT) Tiny Tim favorites Bing Crosby, Rudy Valleé, and Tuesday Weld were included in a Beautiful Thoughts spread (1969). © Doubleday. (RIGHT) Parker Bros. jumped aboard the Tiny train with The Tiny Tim Game of Beautiful Things (1969). © Parker Bros. (BELOW) Tiny’s gender fluidity was referenced in this gag button sold during the 1968 campaign.

Tiny’s Fountain Casino gig was a benefit for Vietnam War veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange, the herbicidal weapon deployed by the U.S. that was determined to cause cancer and birth defects. In a hospitality room upstairs at the nightclub, Tiny was sunk into a chair as a group of veterans and their families thanked him for performing at their benefit. After a while, a puzzled-looking Tiny asked the group: “What is this Agent Orange?”

Following an awkward silence, Tiny’s visitors politely explained.

In 1987, Tiny donned garish makeup as Mervo the creepy clown in Bill Rebane’s independent slasher flick Blood Harvest. Tiny sang a song as Mervo with a lyric that could have been his career epitaph: “I want to make the whole world laugh / even if the laugh’s on me.”

Actor/singer Michael Townsend Wright got to know the crooner after he appeared on TV’s The Uncle Floyd Show in 1989, when the two dueted on the 1926 chestnut “Bye Bye Blackbird.”

(Tiny played the uke and sang harmony while Wright sang the melody. “He was generous that way,” Wright said.)

Tiny was drawn to Wright because he, too, doted on the old crooners. Both were vociferous fans of Rudy Valleé. As Wright told me in 2016: “In the middle of the night, he would call me up and say, ‘Mr. Wright, don’t you think Mr. Valleé lowered his singing voice to compete with Mr. Crosby?’ ‘Yes, Herbert, I do.’”

Said Wright of Tiny’s onstage shoutouts to the old crooners: “He’d say, very seriously, ‘Mr. Henry Burr recorded this song in 1909.

I’d like to do it in the original style.’ Of course, it didn’t sound like the original, really. In his mind, it did.”

What of Tiny’s mannerisms? He was apparently “like that” all the time, but on some of his Sixties TV appearances (Laugh-In, Hollywood Palace, Ed Sullivan), Tiny seemed to be knowingly campy.

“He did play it up,” Wright said.

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“Even he admitted it to me. The effeminate thing, the powder on his face. He was very shrewd. He was a showman. He knew he had to get their attention.”

GOING OUT IN HARNESS

By the Nineties, Tiny’s flower-child look had gone to seed. His weight ballooned; his hairline receded; his suits got louder. In 1992, Vicki Lawrence had Tiny on her daytime talk show Vicki! (Tiny couldn’t have been happy that the show was devoted to people who attained “instant fame,” considering how he slogged it out in nightclubs for 18 years prior to his Laugh-In breakthrough.) Tiny seemed perplexed when his interview was interrupted by Bill Saluga, a.k.a. “Ray Jay Johnson,” the fella who made a career out of the catchphrase “You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay.” (You know the rest.)

Tiny participated in a spirited basketball skit on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and became a frequent guest on the syndicated radio show of “shock jock” Howard Stern. Alas, Tiny was a bit too candid on the air, much to Stern’s delight.

Sometimes Tiny didn’t seem to know what he sounded like. He told Lawrence that after divorcing Miss Vicki, he got a “better” wife. Once, upon hearing that Tulip gave birth, Gorman congratulated Tiny on becoming a grandfather. The singer was quick to add, “Illegitimately.”

All of this media exposure gave us a picture of Tiny Tim and his many peccadillos and superstitions.

Tiny—who addressed everyone as “Mr.” or “Miss”—seemed possessed of childlike innocence, but he had unusual sexual predilections, some related to a hygiene obsession. (We know this, unfortunately, because of Tiny’s penchant for oversharing during interviews.) People wondered if Tiny was gay, but he married three women. Yep, Tiny was a strange cat.

On September 28, 1996, while performing at the Uke Expo in Montague, Massachusetts, Tiny collapsed on stage from a heart attack and was hospitalized for 11 days. Tiny was advised to curtail his performing, lest he risk another attack. On November 30, Tiny happened to be singing “Tiptoe Through the Tulips” for the Women’s Club of Minneapolis when he again collapsed. His third wife, Susan Marie Gardner (“Miss Sue”), asked Tiny if he was okay.

He answered with his final words: “No, I’m not.” Herbert Khaury was pronounced dead of cardiac arrest at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis. He was 64.

THE PSYCHEDELIC OBIT

By 1996, I was writing and designing a weekly newspaper page about retro pop culture—old habits die hard—which ran in color on Sundays. Following Tiny Tim’s death, I devoted a full

“broadsheet” page to the singer. To properly honor Tiny’s memory, I really overdid the psychedelic colors, patterns, and typography.

I recall a fellow newsroom denizen saying: “First time I ever saw a psychedelic obit.”

A few years later, I was invited to give a talk on the topic of innovation in page design for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association in New York City. I was directed to provide a title and summary of my talk for CSPA approval. The title just popped into my head: “The Psychedelic Obit.”

Who knows what sort of flim-flam I wrote up as a summary, but my aim was to encourage originality, if not outright recklessness, in these students. Folks in the profession had done things “a certain way” for decades. They needed somebody like—whaddaya know?—the printmedia equivalent of a Tiny Tim to shake things up.

The final slide of my talk (yes, this was before PowerPoint) showed that Tiny Tim page, as if everything had led up to this moment. Of course, none of the students in the audience had any idea who Tiny Tim was. And today, those students’ grown-up children have no idea what newspapers are.

Tiny Tim’s days on top were shortlived; he gamely rode the bucking bronco of super-stardom from 1968 through 1971. And then, as suddenly as his star rose, it plummeted. Tiny Tim, the quintessential flower child, was no longer relevant.

“Very sincere,” Carson had called him. That was key. You always sensed, in watching Tiny, that he wasn’t pretending. He wasn’t someone who dreamed up this shtick. He truly fell in love with those old songs sung by dead men coming out of the gramophone, and dreamed of sharing them with the world. He suffered the slings and arrows in crowded, smoky Greenwich Village clubs and cafés for all those years when nobody wanted him. And then one day, someone did.

If he had come on the scene ten years later, Tiny Tim would have been a contestant on The Gong Show—one-and-done, then discarded. But in the late Sixties, when flower power reigned and being different was celebrated, it was the perfect time for a weirdlooking guy who blew kisses and warbled forgotten songs.

God bless Tiny Tim. MARK VOGER is the author and designer of six books for TwoMorrows Publishing, including Monster Mash (a Rondo Award winner), Groovy, Holly Jolly, and Britmania.

He got quite an education deciphering the double-entendre in Laugh-In. Please visit him at MarkVoger.com.

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RETROFAN #33

The Brady Bunch’s FLORENCE HENDERSON, the UNKNOWN COMIC revealed, Hanna-Barbera’s Top Cat, a Barbie history, RANKIN/BASS’ Frosty the Snowman, Dell Comics’ Monster Super-Heroes, Slushy Drinks, and more fun, fab features! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER! Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Magic memories of ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY for the 60th Anniversary of TV’s Bewitched! Plus: The ’70s thriller Time After Time (with NICHOLAS MEYER, MALCOLM McDOWELL, and DAVID WARNER), The Alvin Show, BUFFALO BOB SMITH and Howdy Doody, Peter Gunn, Saturday morning’s Run Joe Run and Big John Little John, a trip to Camp Crystal Lake, and more fun, fab features!

Featuring a profile of The Partridge Family’s heartthrob DAVID CASSIDY, THUNDARR THE BARBARIAN, LEGO blocks, Who Created Mighty Mouse?, BUCKAROO BANZAI turns forty, Planet Patrol, an encounter with SONNY AND CHER, Disco Fever, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Meet the Bionic Duo, LEE MAJORS and LINDSAY WAGNER! Plus: Hot Wheels: The Early Years, Fantastic Four cartoons, Modesty Blaise, Hostess snacks, TV Westerns, Movie Icons vs. the Axis Powers, the San Diego Chicken, and more!

Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited

by MICHAEL EURY.

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RETRO TOYS

The Wacky, Wonderful World of

Bill Campbell and the

Weird-Ohs

BY MARK CANTRELL For an introverted kid like me growing up in the Sixties, model between patio stones until my fingers were raw, so I could “learn making was the perfect hobby. I could sit alone in my room for the value of a dollar.” hours, listening to the Beatles while gluing styrene models—and In those days, everyone I knew built models, and traded them occasionally, my fingers—together with polystyrene cement. back and forth. That’s how I acquired built-up Aurora models of Testors, the most popular brand, would eventually modify its Frankenstein and Dracula, which would otherwise have been out formula by adding horseradish during the big glue-sniffing scare in of my price range. When my fundamentalist parents saw them, the early part of the decade. Most modelers however, they told me considered people who filled paper bags (ABOVE) This ish of RetroFan needs a little estrogen I had to get rid of them with glue and huffed them to be… let’s say, so they wouldn’t “bring to balance out its he-man featured players like not very smart. demons into the house.” movie Hercules Steve Reeves, so meet “Drag Our mobile home overhung the banks of Crestfallen, I decided that Hag, the Bonny, Blastin’ Babe,” a “Weird-Oh” the Palm Beach Canal in West Palm Beach, if I had to dispose of them, illustrated by the extraordinary Bill Campbell!

Florida, and with the nearest model shop they’d go out in a blaze of This was among a range of Weird-Ohs recreations at least two miles away, it was very difficult glory—literally. I brought Campbell produced in the mid-2000s to replace the to obtain model kits—until I got my first them out to the retaining original box art, which was lost or destroyed, for bike. But there was another problem: wall beside the house one these Sixties faves from Hawk Model Company. we were dirt poor, and my father didn’t night, poured glue on them Produced for Mark Cantrell’s 2014 book, A Weirdbelieve in allowances. I did odd jobs for our Oh World: The Art of Bill Campbell. Courtesy of Heritage. and set them on fire. It was neighbors, including pulling weeds from glorious. Dracula’s demise Weird-Ohs © Round2Corp., LLC. RETROFAN

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worse, it had no hobby shop. To say I was disapwas particularly epic, his arms extended in front of pointed is a gross understatement. Way out in the him as if fighting the flames as he slowly melted hinterlands, I missed the release of the Frantics into a pile of goo. and Silly Surfers, and after being made fun of Once I was mobile, I was out of the house as for modeling by my rural classmates, I stopped much as possible. As a free-range kid who loved building models altogether. exploring, my journeys ranged far and wide, but Peer pressure is a strong force at that age, most often to Renault’s Hobby Shop on Military and as I progressed through junior high and high Trail, which was a modeler’s fever dream. The school, it didn’t let up. After graduation, I spent a shelves were stacked with every imaginable model year and a half with my grandparents in Alabama, kit, and although I couldn’t afford most of them, then moved back to Florida to marry my high sometimes a cheaper one would catch my eye. school sweetheart. Finally away from the haters, Which brings us to the Weird-Ohs. Weird-Ohs artist Like most boys of that age, I was a car nut, and William “Bill” Campbell I gradually got back into building models, mostly loved to read my friends’ Hot Rod magazines. I was and furry friend in 2014. from Star Wars. My interest in the Weird-Ohs lay fallow. especially into top fuel dragsters, and could almost Facebook.

It wasn’t until years later, after a divorce, remarsmell the fuel and hear the screeching of slicks riage, and move to North Carolina, that I started when I was immersed in articles about them. But thinking about the little monsters again. Kids don’t consider, one day at Renault’s in 1963, I saw a dragster from the Hawk Model or much care, who designs the models they build, and I was no Company that stopped me in my tracks. It was in an electric pink different. But as an adult who had just ended a career in box that said “Weird-Ohs” in crazy, warped lettering, IT and taken up writing for a living, I started to wonder and underneath, “Car-Icky-Tures.” But the best part just how the Weird-Ohs had come into being. I was was the monster that was driving. His name was collecting the models I’d built as a kid by then, with the Digger the Way Out Dragster, the box said, and it help of a now-defunct tabloid called Toy Shop. What, was hard to argue with that assessment.

I thought, if I could find the creator of the Weird-Ohs With his nauseating green skin, an evil grin and write a story about him for the magazine? I pitched sporting dagger-like teeth twisted into a rictus of the article to them, and they accepted. malevolence, and orange helmet complete with a An internet search revealed the creator to be one fire-blasting header pipe, Digger was the craziest, William Campbell. The search was complicated a bit most demented-looking model I’d ever seen. To me, because he shared a name with the actor who played he was beautiful, and I was instantly in love. I had to Trelane on Star Trek, but it was a start. Armed with have him. my subject’s name, I dove into the ’net to find contact Fortunately, I had a few shekels left from my information, and came up empty. Not to be deterred, last weed-picking job. It was just barely enough to I contacted Testors, which had acquired Hawk in 1970. liberate Digger from the hobby shop. I rushed home They didn’t have Campbell’s info, but were able to give on my bike with the kit and got to work. When I me the address of John Andrews, who produced opened the box, the model didn’t look much like the Weird-Ohs kits. the box cover illustration, which bothered Andrews had fond memories of his days me for a moment. But the model was so cool at Hawk, but told me his version of how the and unusual that my disappointment passed Weird-Ohs came to be differed from Campbell’s. quickly, and before long, I put a completed He was an artist himself with substantial Digger on the shelf by my window so the paint connections in the aviation and defense could dry. industries, and what he had to say was Now, the real test: Would I fascinating. Armed with his information have to burn him, like Dracula and and some photos he’d sent, I was able to Frankenstein? I soon had my answer. cobble together my Toy Shop article. It was When my mom saw him, the first only my second published piece, and I was thing she did was laugh. If Digger was thrilled just to see my name in print. okay with Mom, then Dad didn’t much A couple of years later, I found a care one way or the other. I was golden. copy of the now-defunct (Do you see But Digger wasn’t the end of the line, as a pattern here?) magazine Model and one Weird-Oh after another rolled out Toy Collector. They had done a special of production and eventually made it to Renault’s. I acquired as many as I could.

Then, one fateful day, Dad announced we were moving to Sealed boxes of some of Campbell’s Okeechobee, Florida, where his father Weird-Ohs, from Hawk Model lived. It was a literal cowtown at the Company. Courtesy of Heritage. Weirdtime, far away from my friends, and Ohs © Round2Corp., LLC. 24

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Weird-Ohs issue, and the information in the article differed quite a bit from Andrew’s account, as he had implied. I decided to try to find Campbell again, if only to find out what the real story was.

This time, a quick search revealed an article by aviation artist Rick Ruhman, who seemed to actually know Bill Campbell. It was a big break in the case, tempered somewhat by the fact that Ruhman didn’t seem to have an email address.

I was, however, able to find his snail-mail address through the American Society of Aviation Artists, wrote him a letter, and soon we were regular correspondents. It turned out that not only did Ruhman know Bill, he had several of his original paintings.

I’m glad Zoom didn’t exist yet or he would have seen me turn green with envy. He gave me Bill’s phone number and urged me to call, but I was reticent. At this point Bill was almost a mythical figure to me, and the old adage “never meet your heroes” kept going through my mind.

But I needn’t have worried.

Bill was one of the most kind, gracious, self-effacing people I’d ever talked to, and I immediately liked him immensely. Celebrities don’t usually phase me, but when talking to Bill my inner fanboy came out, which seemed to amuse him. Since he didn’t seem to mind me calling, I did so, over and over. As we talked, he began to tell me about his life, and it turned out he’d done more—much more—than just the Weird-Ohs.

plastic; they were made of Bakelite, which was very heavy, but they were gorgeous. The models cost $25 apiece, and in 1933, that was a king’s ransom. Way out of my price range, but I still thought, ‘Oh, God, would I love to have one of those things.’ So that’s what got me started.” The display cases noted who had donated the models to the fair: the Hawk Model Company.

Not that Bill hadn’t already been building models, but they were made of wood. “I was probably about eight years old when I started building ship models,” he remembered. “Famous ones like the Bounty and so on. You had to hollow out the hulls, because they were solid. You weren’t laying planking or anything like that. My father would saw them roughly, then I’d get a template to put on it so I’d get the curvature of the hull right.”

After high school, Bill enrolled at the University of Chicago and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, simultaneously. “I’d go to regular school five days a week, and the institute on weekends,” Bill said. “I studied mostly fine art, working on figures and things of that sort. It wasn’t commercial art. I didn’t break into that until I graduated.” Bill played cornet in the college band, which practiced in a room under the bleachers at Stagg Field. One day they were told to find another practice venue, which Bill found out later was because their space was being taken over by the Manhattan Project, which created the first WHO WAS BILL manmade nuclear reaction in CAMPBELL? Bill’s former practice area.

Bill Campbell was born in 1920 His first job out of college was in a town north of Boston. When as a cartoonist, drawing strips he was 14, he moved with his for King Features Syndicate. The parents to Chicago—a move that job didn’t last long, because the would have big implications for wages were abysmal, but it was his future. That was the year of another stepping stone on his the Chicago World’s Fair, where of destined path. When that gig Prints of early Weird-Ohs promotional art. Courtesy of Bill accidentally stumbled upon ended, Bill went back to hauling Mark Cantrell. his future career. On the waterhis portfolio around Chicago front, he saw a pavilion selling and soon landed a position at blimp and autogyro rides. Although he couldn’t afford them, he Roberts Studios, which supplied artwork to Sears and Montgomery also saw something else that stopped him in his tracks.

Ward. After that he was hired at an engraving firm called Blomgren “I went into the control area where they sold the tickets,” said Brothers, where he got to do his first aircraft illustration for a Bill, “and here were these beautiful plane models. They weren’t client’s restaurant menu.

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WWII was raging overseas, but Bill had gotten a deferment due to a heart murmur. But as the war escalated and the need for troops grew, he found himself in demand by Uncle Sam. In early 1943, Bill got the Order to Report for Induction so many others had already received, and after basic training, he boarded an Army troop ship bound for Italy. Since he could draw, his CO made him an advance scout who would explore ahead of his unit, draw enemy troop positions and the like, and report back. Bill and his company fought the Germans from Naples north to the Alps, where they heard the war in Europe was over. “Then we assumed we would be shipped back to Japan to fight there,” said Bill, “but while we were on the train that was bringing us back to be redeployed, the Rome papers came down and said they had dropped the atom bomb, and we all in concert said, ‘That’s it.’”

Bill was soon back in the States, where he immediately started pounding the pavement for an advertising job. He found one at Promotional Arts, an ad agency that produced artwork and advertising copy for companies across the country. He didn’t know it, but a phone call was about to change the entire course of his career.

“One day a call came in from Millprint, a huge printing company in Milwaukee,” Bill recalled. “They printed the boxes for the Hawk Model Company, and their box artist, a guy named Dick Wellman, had just had a heart attack. They first asked Paul Maxwell, a co-worker and wonderful illustrator, if he’d like the job. Paul wasn’t interested, but told them ‘Why don’t you ask Bill? He’s got a great portfolio of aircraft illustrations.’

“So I took my illustrations out to Hawk and met the owners, Dick and Phil Mates, who were brothers. They asked me if I could return the finished artwork—I believe it was a McDonnell Banshee—in one week. I said yes, and it was the start of a beautiful working arrangement.”

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Bill signed on with Hawk on a contract basis, and it turned out to be a creative bonanza for the young illustrator. “Hawk was a very eclectic producer,” said Bill. “They were risk-takers —there wasn’t anything they wouldn’t try. In the course of my relationship with the Mates brothers, I produced more than 250 box tops of various items including insects, ground-effect machines, Studebaker Larks, cable cars, Zeppelins, and parachute infantry. The grist for the mill was varied and unique, 1965 Fleer to say the least.”

Weird-Ohs It was at Hawk where Bill packaging and first met John Andrews, a cards. Courtesy of model designer and producer Heritage. Weird-Ohs who was destined to play a © Round2Corp., LLC. large role in his career with the company. Bill and John hit it off immediately. Both men were free thinkers, always willing to challenge the status quo. “The minute I stepped into his office, it was off to the mind races,” said Bill. “It was never about the job, but some way-out idea that had been rolling around in his fertile brain. Maybe he just wasn’t challenged by the people around him, because I seemed to be a good backboard for him to bounce ideas off of.”

After Bill had been at Hawk for a while, he began to tire of painting the same old planes, ships, and cars. With an imagination like his, that’s not surprising, and it led to a creative burst that produced something remarkable. “One morning I sat down at my drawing board and did some off-the-wall stuff,” he remembered.

“First off was a sketch of a fellow in a dragster done in wild colors, with the rear wheels burning rubber and the front wheels airborne.

The head was oversized to put the emphasis on his vampire teeth, while his helmet sported a flame-throwing exhaust pipe. The helmet was decorated with somewhat convoluted graphics.”

Bill had just created Digger the Way-Out Dragster, the ghoulish creature that would soon quicken my adolescent heart—but he wasn’t done yet. After two more crazy creations emerged from his drawing board, Bill created maquettes of his little monsters and presented them to the Mates brothers and John Andrews.

He was met with confusion.

His freaky-looking little statues were so far from the type of thing Hawk usually produced that no one knew what to make of them. But when some model salesmen saw Bill’s prototypes, they got excited. The sales guys told the Mates brothers that kids loved things that were funny and gross, and the Weird-Ohs (as Bill had named them offhandedly) would absolutely blow them away.

With dollar signs in their eyes, the brothers agreed to produce them.

retro toys

But time was of the essence; the annual Chicago Hobby Show was coming up soon. “The Hobby Show opened on Sunday,” Andrews recalled. “The hobby buyers came down the aisle to our booth, but they wouldn’t come in—they viewed the models from a respectable distance, as if they had a fungus they were sure to catch if they got too close.”

By the end of the show, however, the Weird-Ohs were red-hot.

Hawk was forced to crank up their production capacity just to keep up with the torrent of orders. “They told me that 247,000 of these things were ordered at the first go-round at the Chicago show,” said Bill, “and I said ‘Oh, here we go.’ Then the company went into full 24-hour production to get them out. Then they asked me to do some more, and we went into sports themes because we were running out of car ideas.”

THE WEIRD-OHS

The original Weird-Ohs line consisted of 12 models:

(ABOVE) Campbell’s illustration for Surf Monster, an unproduced model. (BELOW) Silly Surfer print. Courtesy of Mark Cantrell. Weird-Ohs © Round2Corp., LLC.

f Digger, the Way Out Dragster f Daddy, the Way Out Suburbanite f Davey, the Way Out Cyclist f Drag Hag, the Bonny, Blastin’ Babe f Freddy Flameout, the Way Out Jet Jockey f Endsville Eddie, the Short Stop Stupe f Huey’s Hut Rod, the Way Outhouse Bomb f Leaky Boat Louie, the Vulgar Boatman f Francis the Foul, the Way Out Dribbler f Killer McBash, the Dazzling Decimator f Wade A. Minut, the Wild Starter f Sling Rave Curvette, the Way Out Spectator I’m sure that, like me, the majority of Digger builders wondered why the actual model didn’t look much like Bill’s box top painting. The answer is John Andrews. As kit producer, his job was to take Bill’s designs and make them fit the steel molds that would produce the model parts. Instead of pantographing Bill’s maquettes, which would have produced an exact replica, Andrews decided to interpret the designs his own

way. Bill wasn’t thrilled upon seeing the finished product, but as a freelancer for Hawk, didn’t have much say in the matter. Besides, the checks still cleared.

One day an artist named Bob Allen approached the company with his idea for a line of model kits to capitalize on the Sixties surfing craze. He called them the Silly Surfers, and the resulting kits were adorned with Bill’s art, although they were so well done that Bill felt photos of the finished models would have been just as effective.

There were five Silly Surfers models: f Hot Dogger Hangin’ Ten f Hodad Makin’ the Scene with a Six-Pack f Woodie on a Surfari f Hot Dogger and Surf Bunny Riding Tandem f Beach Bunny Catchin’ Rays By now, the British Invasion was in full swing, so Allen created the Frantics, a line of rock ’n’ roll-themed kits for which Bill also created the illustrations. There were just four models:

Weird-Ohs expanded beyond car culture and surfing themes to other sports, as ref lected in this 2006 illustration by Campbell. Courtesy of Mark Cantrell. Weird-Ohs © Round2Corp., LLC.

f Bopped Out Steel Pluckers Having a Bash f Totally Fab f Frantic Cats f Frantic Banana Punishing the Skins RETROFAN

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The unproduced “Lenny Leadfoot and his Magenta Monster Jet Dragster” was deemed too complex a model. Courtesy of Mark Cantrell. Weird-Ohs © Round2Corp., LLC.

In addition, Bill created many more Weird-Ohs concepts that were deemed too expensive to produce. Just a few of them: f Kommandor Dunkvasser, a monstrous U-Boat captain f General Fritzgruber Luftwaffle, a crazed WWI pilot flying an Eindecker monoplane f Slap Shot Stosh, a hockey player in the midst of stick-checking an opponent f Lenny Leadfoot and his Magenta Monster, a Bonneville racer with a jet-powered ride f Draggin’ Drac, a vampire driving a casket

(RIGHT) Another unproduced WeirdOhs model: General Fritzgruber Luftwaff le in his Sturmgrupen Eindecker. (BELOW) The unproduced Tutti Amore, Bill’s updated version of Sling Rave Curvette.

Courtesy of Mark Cantrell.

Weird-Ohs © Round2Corp., LLC.

In the years to come, the Weird-Ohs were reborn time after time in various incarnations, and even became a short-lived computer-animated TV show. Unfortunately, the characters bore little resemblance to Bill’s original vision. In addition to the models, the Weird-Ohs line expanded into other merchandise: Halloween masks, puzzles, bubble gum cards, model paint, a board game, a record album, and a Digger helmet that became the Holy Grail of Weird-Ohs collectors.

After his time at Hawk, Bill went back to the advertising industry, but he kept coming up with ideas for lines of model kits: f The Despicables, monster models with action features f Aer-O-Toons, a series of cartoon aircraft f Trackwhackys, in the same vein but with cars f The Spaced Outs, aliens flying bizarre contraptions 28

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Bill was also a fine artist and editorial cartoonist, and spent years drawing incisive political illustrations for Global Outlook magazine. But he knew he’d be mostly remembered for the Weird-Ohs. “I guess I’m like the old veteran actor who hopes he’ll be remembered for his Hamlet, when my true fifteen minutes of fame is in those strange classics,” he said. “Who would have thought I’d be remembered for those funny, quizzical bug-eyed monsters after all this time?”

Bill Campbell passed away on March 7, 2017 at the age of 97, leaving a legacy of outstanding achievements both personal and professional. I feel very lucky to have known him.

MARK CANTRELL is a full-time freelance writer based in Wake Forest, North Carolina, who has authored several books and hundreds of magazine articles on healthcare, science, the military, travel, and lifestyle for publications as diverse as MAD magazine and Air & Space/Smithsonian.

He is the author of the book A Weird-Oh World: The Art of Bill Campbell (Schiffer Books, 2014).

THE ODDBALL WORLD OF SCOTT SHAW!

'I 'm the Real Article-What You See Is What You Get' My Friend, John Candy

BY SCOTT SHAW! Kids tend to identify with fictional characters and actual celebrities of all types with whom they feel have things in common. The connections could be cultural, vocal accents, or specific talents, among other elements.

In my case, I grew up as a fat kid and I loved overweight comedians like Jack E. Leonard, Totie Fields, and especially Jackie (The Honeymooners) Gleason, who was the direct basis of my favorite cartoon character (then and now), Fred Flintstone. And when I first saw John Candy on NBC’s SCTV Network 90 in 1981, I was immediately a fan of his, due to his humor much more than his weight, but I never expected that my weight would determine winding up as the producer of his animated network cartoon series almost a decade later.

YOUNG JOHN CANDY

John Franklin Candy was born on October 31, 1950 in New Market, Ontario, Canada. The younger brother of Jim Candy (Mar. 24, 1947– Apr. 16, 2011), John spent his earliest years in King City, Ontario, with their parents, Sidney and Evangeline Candy. The senior Candy was a WWII veteran who returned from Europe to be a car salesman.

When John was five, Sidney suddenly died from a heart attack at only 35 years old. It was a medical vulnerability that had plagued the Candy family for generations and an emotional issue for John his entire life.

Evangeline, now Sidney’s widow, along with Jim and John, relocated from King City to East York, a borough that at the time, was primarily composed of neat, tiny, low-cost bungalows filled with working-class families. East York’s Donlands Theater was a favorite place for John to escape reality, soaking up Hollywood films as well as British comedies starring Peter Sellers, Alec Guiness, Alastair Sim and others. “I think that I may have become an actor to hide from

(ABOVE) I want Candy! Tom Hanks smooching mermaid Daryl Hannah might’ve been the big draw behind Splash, but as this lobby card from the delightful 1983 comedy reminds us, the wonderful John Candy, who played Hanks’ brother in the film, also made a splash with audiences.

Splash © 1983 Touchstone Pictures. Signed lobby card courtesy of Heritage.

myself,” John once explained. “You can escape into a character. You can get lost and take up another life.” As a first-generation television viewer, John also absorbed hours of comedic series that are now considered classic. John once told Playboy, “I loved watching Jack Benny, Jack Paar, The Honeymooners, Burns and Allen, George Gobel, The Munsters, Rocky and His Friends, Howdy Doody, Rin Tin Tin, and Lassie. I wasn’t influenced by any one show, I was influenced by the medium.”

As a student, John was merely adequate, better known and liked for his warm personality than good grades. Becoming a class clown was inevitable, but surprisingly, John avoided appearing in school stage productions due to his severe shyness. John preferred to entertain his friends with games and shows in someone’s garage. In ninth grade, John was sent to Neil McNeil, a Catholic high school that was located an hour away from his home. His grades were mediocre because he focused on other activities. After his father had died, John became the family “dad,” not Jim. That extended to his friends, mostly kids who needed the help that John was happy to provide. But the loss of his father also made him feel like an outsider even among his friends, although John never revealed it to them.

John had grown into a tall kid by the time he entered high school, but his self-consciousness about his increasing weight was becoming evident. He applied the extra pounds to playing offensive tackle on the school’s football team. While on the gridiron, John was formidable, intimidating, and massive, but when the RETROFAN

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The oddball world of scott shaw!

One of Candy’s early film gigs was as the voice of “Den” (CENTER) in the 1981 animated film Heavy Metal, based upon the European comic book anthology of the same name. This segment adapted a story by Richard Corben. Heavy Metal © 1981 Columbia Pictures. Cel courtesy of Heritage.

game was over, John was his usual likable self, playing clarinet in the school band. He was elected to student council as treasurer, a position that gave him the power to book bands for school dances.

John’s time as a football player didn’t last long, due to a knee injury. After that, his enthusiasm for the game was focused on the Toronto Argonauts team in the Canadian Football League. John was a regular at Exhibition Stadium, and a flamboyant fan who yelled a lot. By this time, he was a smoker, a toker, and a drinker.

But the party guy maintained a responsible attitude.

Even in his senior year in high school, John still felt that it was important to help his family and friends. He worked nights and weekends at a department store to earn enough to buy “the White Knight,” his name for a big old Chevy. According to John, “I was the 16-year-old driving everyone to bingo and shopping. It was quite a responsibility. It made me the man in charge of a lot of things.”

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class was full. He wound up in a modernized version of Julius Caesar and a drama titled Burning Effigy, written by one of John’s classmates. He played a dog and got a lot of laughs despite the topic of the piece. John was was also a huge fan of comedian and actor Jonathan Winters, and was a comic book collector.

Although John was a popular and talented teenager—a party animal with a big appetite—he still felt he was an outsider. He was sensitive and eager to be liked; with lots of girl friends but no girlfriend, John was understandably lonely. He also felt that his life had no direction, and therefore decided to join the U.S. Marines.

Fortunately, he was rejected due to his knee injury, the one that prevented him from being a football player, but he still didn’t have a career path or goal. As John admitted, “I was a confused young man. I didn’t know what I wanted to be.

Football was out because I’d hurt my knee.

I had a series of odd jobs—selling sports goods, mixing paint, you name it. One of my jobs was with an ice show. I drove a small portable rink around. I made the ice. It was one of my first tastes of show business.”

At Centennial College in Scarborough, John enrolled in its journalism program, but he quickly lost interest and often skipped class. In his second year there, he switched to theater courses but dropped out before the year’s end. It didn’t matter. By now, John finally realized that he wanted to become an actor... but how?

EARLY ROLES

While John was still attending courses at Centennial, he gradually became friends with one of Toronto’s top talent agents, Catherine McCartney, whose office was across the street from Eaton’s, the depart-

Candy, as “Ox,” was a standout among star Bill Murray’s sad sack buddies in Harold Ramis’ riotous 1981’s military spoof, Stripes. Stripes © 1981 Columbia Pictures. Lobby cards courtesy of Heritage.

The oddball world of scott shaw!

ment store where John was working part-time. After months, 19-year-old John shyly revealed to Catherine that his goal was to be an actor. Ironically, she was searching for someone to play a high school football player in a TV commercial for toothpaste.

Considering John’s recent history, he nailed the audition, playing opposite of actor/TV show/author host Art (Champagne for Caesar, People Are Funny, Kids Say the Darnedest Things) Linkletter. While on the set, John lit up a cigarette, which incited Linkletter to sternly lecture John that he should not smoke. Without missing a beat, tall and heavy-set John dryly informed the tightly-wound TV personality, “Yeah, it might stunt my growth.” That’s when Art Linkletter starting saying the darnedest things...

Soon, John was on the air again, now extolling the greatness of Molson’s Golden Ale, which impressed his friends from school.

According to Catherine, “John had a quality of vulnerability. He was young and awfully cute. He was really eager to be an actor, so we kept trying to line up auditions for him.” She appreciated his sincerity, too. “John had the ability to make people feel special even if he had only known them a short time. Once he became your friend, he was always there for you, to listen and provide a shoulder to cry on.”

In addition to Catherine, John had also become friends with an aspiring writer/actor, Lorne Frohman. They had a lot in common, which included an absence of knowledge about how to pitch a TV show, as if that stopped them. They developed a show titled I Spy News without planning a budget, cast, or director. After a single pitch, they realized how incredibly unprepared they were. I Spy News was never mentioned again.

In 1971, thanks to talent agent Kay Griffin, John got (RIGHT) SCTV’s line-up of spooky characters: a small part as a Shriner in a Dr. Tongue (Candy), Count Floyd (Joe Flaherty), new Canadian play, Creeps, and Woody (Eugene Levy). (BELOW) “The at the Global Village Theatre Sammy Maudlin Show” from SCTV, with in Toronto. Over its run, he Candy as William B. Williams and Flaherty as became close friends with Maudlin. SCTV © Second City Entertainment. Courtesy another young man with of Scott Shaw!

a similar physique, Charles Northcote.

They both were thrilled to appear in a professional theater production, despite each getting paid a puny $40 a week. Some nights, after rehearsals and performances, Charles, John, and John's girlfriend Rosemary Hobor would drive the White Knight to a nearby public skating rink, watching John play hockey on the ice while drinking Rosemary’s thermos of hot chocolate or coffee. Around this time, John had a new job he had no interest in, a door-to-door salesman selling nothing but facial tissues, paper napkins, and candles. “I was terrible at it,” he recalled. “Out of 40 salesmen, I was number 40. I was having so much fun doing theater, my heart just wasn’t in flogging napkins. Finally, the boss called me in. ‘Candy, you’re fired. I should never have hired a damned actor.’ I’m thinking, ‘Actor?

Somebody’s recognized me as an actor? I like that.’” And John was becoming an actor, or at least an extra in 1971’s film Faceoff.

In the spring of 1972, John signed on with a touring troupe, the Caravan Theatre, that relied on a grant from Canada’s federal government, with six actors in children’s plays presented at Toronto’s Poor Alex Theatre and city parks.

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Valri Bromfield, who was hoping that her talented friend Dan Aykroyd might join the troupe, but he turned down the gig due to the material. The Caravan Theatre director, Stephen Katz, suggested someone else to fill the #6 seat, the as-yet-unknown but very talented 21-year-old John Candy, who wound up playing mustache-twirling villains, humanoid toadstools, and blocks of wood, among many other roles. According to his co-toadstool Gale Garnett, “He had what appeared to be bottomless eventemperedness. We were doing children’s theater outside in the rain, which led to a certain amount of grumbling. John was the only one who never complained.”

When Valri introduced John to Dan Aykroyd, they immediately hit it off because they had very similar senses of humor, albeit from two very different angles. John grew up somewhat poor and definitely shy while Danny, who grew up as the son of a deputy minister in the Canadian government, was rebellious and self-confident, yet they became lifelong friends.

CHICAGO, CHICAGO, IT’S HIS KIND OF TOWN

That fall, John found a new gig in another touring children’s theater, Jolly Jesters, a low-budget company created by a man with more ambition than talent and an investor with more money than sense.

Jolly Jesters—the name sounds like it’s right out of SCTV’s Melonville—operated with a small group of hired actors that visited schools and performed sketches based on classic public domain stories such as Robin Hood and Treasure Island... for a small fee. John was not only an actor, he also was the stage/road manager, driving a van filled with background

the show, befriended John. He confided with her that he revered Charles Laughton, hoped to portray Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame some day, and that when he became rich and famous, he would install an applause machine in his house to welcome him home.

Early in 1973, the word got around that the legendary revue comedy troupe Second City in Chicago was planning to open a branch in Toronto with local comedians and were going to hold auditions. Valri Bromfield and Dan Aykroyd planned to be there.

They realized that since John was probably too shy to try out on his own. They asked John to join them for lunch and accompany them to the audition. As John recalled, “Unbeknownst to me, Dan and Valri put my name down on the list. My name was called. They pushed me into a room. Sweat was all over me.” “As soon as they saw him on stage, they were thrilled, more thrilled, in truth, than they were with Valri and me,” said Aykroyd. Indeed, both of John’s friends became part of the Toronto Second City company, but two days after John’s audition, he received an offer to temporarily join the main troupe in Chicago. This was not planned by Second City and John was the only discovery that received that offer. Although only 22 and extremely green, he obviously had incredible potential

(LEFT AND ABOVE) Just when you thought National Lampoon’s Vacation couldn’t get any funnier, John Candy showed up near the end of the movie, making the beleaguered Griswold family’s perilous trek to Wally World all the more unforgettable. Vacation © 1983 Warner Bros. Signed lobby card courtesy of Heritage.

canvases and props, all for $65 every week. One of the Jolly Jesters was an actor named Byron White, who enjoyed serious conversations with John, who revealed to Byron that his ultimate dream was to play a major role in a serious drama like Death of a Salesman, one that would have an impact on audiences. Byron was also a bit jealous about John’s girlfriend Rosemary, asking himself, “Why can’t I find a girl like that?”

That same year, John and future SCTV mate Martin Short appeared in Cucumber on Canadian TV. Then, Stephen Katz cast John in The Stag King, a fairy tale for adults adapted from an 18th Century Italian comedy with a cast of ten, all wearing animal masks. Mary Kerr, who designed the masks and costumes for 32

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that Second City wanted to nourish. John left for Chicago in the spring and stayed there for the rest of 1973. John also had a small role as “Paulie” in 1973’s Class of ’44, the sequel to 1971’s Summer of ’42, which was shot in Toronto.

“I’d never really been away from Toronto before, and I had all these weird images of Chicago,” John later recalled. “I guess it went back to infatuation with The Untouchables on TV. Once I got there I realized Al Capone and Frank Nitti weren’t around anymore.

“I’ll never forget when I first went down to Chicago, how in awe I was. The company I joined had Bill Murray, Betty Thomas, Jim Staahl, and Ann Ryerson. I remember watching them perform one night and I thought, ‘I’ll never be able to fit in. I can never do this.’

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Then [director] Del Close leaned over to me as I was watching and said, ‘You’’ll be doing this Wednesday night...’

“I was so nervous that on my first night while the stage was dark between sketches, I ran smack into one of the guys and hit him so hard I split my lip. And I had to to introduce the next sketch—our VD sketch. Blood was running down the side of my mouth as I talked.

Everyone started laughing. I guess they just thought it was part of my act.”

Bill Murray assigned himself to be John’s Chicago sherpa. Here’s how John described their exploits: “He took me all over the city, showed me every landmark.

We’d have a hamburger at the original McDonald’s, a pancake at the International House of Pancakes.

We went to every weird, seedy area imaginable. He’d always say, ‘This is my town and this can be your town too.’ When we’d go to Wrigley Field he knew every Cubs player that had ever lived. In fact, I had my first case of sunstroke seeing a Cubs game.”

John, having the time of his so-far-life, absorbed everything around him and partied hard. Toward the end of his Chicago period, John’s natural charm and charisma won over his audiences as well as his fellow cast members. John’s girlfriend Rosemary moved down to share an apartment with him. Life was sweet and John wanted to stay in Chicago, but his plans suddenly evaporated by the news that he was needed back in Toronto. John had no idea that he was about to join a cast of talented writers and performers who were forming a think tank for comedians that would become the perfect nest for young Mr. Candy.

A RETURN TO TORONTO

Second City’s Toronto branch had been struggling for a while, and six months after it opened, the place went bankrupt. Bernie Sahlins, the producer who, with theatrical innovator Paul Sills, created Second City in 1959, was very upset because the Toronto branch was key to his plans to expand his empire, already with an assembled line-up of impressive new talent. In 1973, Andrew Alexander, a young local magnate, and other investors saved Second City. Alexander took control, but Sahlins retained control of the creative side of the theater.

The new cast consisted of a lot of familiar names: Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, John Candy, and Rosemary Radcliffe, with Catherine O’Hara, Andrea

(TOP) Candy’s rising star power co-billed him with comedy superstar Richard Pryor in the 1985 comedy, Brewster’s Millions. (LEFT) Don’tcha feel safer, in John Candy’s hands?

Poster for his starring role of “Frank Dooley” in the 1986 comedy, Armed and Dangerous.

Brewster’s Millions © 1985 Universal Pictures.

Armed and Dangerous © Columbia Pictures. Lobby card and poster courtesy of Heritage.

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Martin, and Dave Thomas signing up soon. The cast’s immediate rapport was recognized by their audiences and ignited Second City’s takeoff. Gilda Radner recalled, “There would be nights when this magical, chemical, extrasensory thing would happen between you and the others. Something incredible would happen onstage... Later, you’d be so excited about what had happened, you couldn’t sleep all night.

You’d be trying to remember exactly what made it click so well and made it come together like a piece of art, with rising action and a climax and an end.”

Once he returned to Toronto and rejoined Second City, John seemed to be the overgrown kid of the cast.

(Joe Flaherty was definitely the team’s adult, since he was the oldest cast member by more than a few years.)

But within a few years, John went from rookie to seasoned Second City vet and was chosen to train young recruits for Second City’s touring road show.

In 1974, the Canadian Broadcasting Company decided to create something fresh, a hip sketch comedy show for kids. Trevor Evans, the network’s senior TV producer looked to the performers in Second City. The entire cast auditioned for the new series with the most 1974-ish title possible, Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins. The chosen ones were Gilda Radner, Rosemary Radcliffe, and John Candy, with Fiona Reid (from the cast playing at the first Toronto venue) and a number of other comedians and “Zunkins” puppets, all performing comedy sketches full of improv opportunities.

The gig was seasonal but the cast was paid approximately $200 every day at work, which was usually three days a week for ten weeks to produce a season’s worth of Dr. Zonk episodes.

John especially appreciated its much larger audience and its handy extra income. According to Rosemary Radcliffe, “I swear he got up in the morning thinking about fame and went to bed at night thinking about fame. When you’re that driven, you may not know how you’re going to get there, so you try all of the avenues.” During this period, John appeared on Canadian television’s The ABC Afternoon Playbreak (also featuring Gilda Radner) and Police Surgeon (he played an accused killer).

In the summer of 1974, John got a role of one of a pair of bumbling detectives in a forgettable sex comedy, It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975). His partner-in-comedic-crime was an older actor, Lawrence Dane, and they stole the picture, therefore appearing in a spin-off film, Find the Lady (1976).

Although Second City’s cast were amusing audiences in every performance, the comical writers/actors were under a lot of pressure. Rather than performing the same material like most live entertainment, the people who regularly purchased tickets 34

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to Second City’s presentations expected see fresh situations, characters, and gags in what was essentially improvisation. After a year of stress, Rosemary Radcliffe and Gilda Radner moved on, and Catherine O’Hara, Andrea Martin, and Dave Thomas were new Second City recruits.

In the spring of 1975, John Candy joined a splinter group consisting of the Chicago cast and a few members of the Toronto branch that traveled to a shopping mall in Pasadena, California, to test the waters for another Second City offshoot. The cabaret theater bore the title Alterations While U Wait, which the mall shoppers naturally assumed was a tailor shop. The effort was a flameout but California captured John’s interest and he made several trips between Pasadena and Toronto, including a memorable four-day odyssey with Dan Aykroyd. Aside from their fun and friendship, the trip’s more memorable aspect was that as soon as they arrived in California, Dan received a phone call from New York, offering him a job on Lorne Michaels’ new late-night sketch show for NBC, Saturday Night Live, that fall.

John was pleased for his friend, but frustrated that, although he came to Los Angeles with a list of contact names and phone numbers, he never got the break he hoped for. Fortunately, he did appear in a low-budget comedy that anticipated what SCTV would become, Neal Isreal’s Tunnelvision (1976).

By the fall of 1975, Pasadena’s Alterations While U Wait’s paucity of customers forced the Second City spin-off to close and John returned to Toronto. There, he was welcomed into Coming Up Rosie, another Canadian TV series produced by the guy behind Dr. Zonk and the Zunkins.

(ABOVE) The farce was with us in Mel Brooks’ 1987 Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs, where Candy suited up as “Barf the Mawg” in this costume. (INSET) Barf’s tail. Spaceballs © 1987 Brooksfilms/MGM. Courtesy of Heritage.

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that funny when you read it and turn it into something hilarious.

He was the most predictably unpredictable member of the cast.”

After Bloomfield met John’s girlfriend Rosemary, he thought that she was the ideal woman to be Mrs. Candy. “He was drawn to real people rather than the showbiz crowd. Rose was an earth mother. She was a potter, and he was proud of the work she did.

For him, it was a plus that she had nothing to do with the entertainment business.”

Fortunately, Andrew Alexander, the owner of Second City, was making millions of dollars from SCTV. Unfortunately, John and the other cast members were barely making scale for TV actors. As the show gained popularity, SCTV’s stars weren’t getting a significant raise... and John wasn’t being paid as much as some of the other cast members, especially Dave Thomas. After Alexander asked his performers to sign away future royalties for a very modest sum, the situation was even parodied in the show itself, with Guy Caballero trying to force Johnny LaRue to sign a similar document.

NOT NECESSARILY LIVE, FROM MELONVILLE

In the fall of 1976, SCTV debuted on Canada’s Global television network. Comprising the cast were Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Catherine O’Hara, Dave Thomas, John Candy, and Harold Ramis, the latter from Chicago’s Second City; Ramis would not only be a cast member but also the show’s head writer.

According to John, “Our producers found the cheapest studio and made the cheapest deal possible. Being the simpletons that we were at the time, we accepted their offer.” The show’s concept was to satirize TV for Baby Boomer audiences from the first generation to grow up with the newly affordable form of home media from a cathode ray tube. The setting was Melonville, a small town with a local television station, SCTV, run by “Guy Caballero” (Joe Flaherty) and “Edith Prickley” (Andrea Martin).

John’s regular characters included mellow Melonville “Mayor Tommy Shanks,” sycophantic talk show sidekick “William B. Williams,” 3-D horror host “Doctor Tongue,” and the town’s sleazy TV personality and Hugh Hefner surrogate “Johnny LaRue.” He also portrayed innumerable celebrities, everyone from Orson Welles to Julia Child. SCTV director George Bloomfield considered John to be the “grandmaster” of the cast. “He had an instinct that everyone in the group trusted. He wasn’t the most prolific writer, and there were others who brought more brain power and analysis to the material. His special ability was for what he could do in lifting something off the page. He could take something that didn’t seem

(ABOVE) A perennial fave from the Candy film archives is the 1987 holiday comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles, where he co-starred with wild-and-crazy guy Steve Martin. (LEFT) Looks like the welcome mat isn’t being rolled out for “Buck Russell” in the 1989 family comedy, Uncle Buck. Planes, Trains and Automobiles © 1987 Paramount Pictures.

Uncle Buck © 1989 Universal Pictures. Both, courtesy of Heritage.

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Belushi. In fact, the film was so filled with characters and stories, even though John was present on the set for over six months, his actual screen time was less than ten mostly forgettable minutes. Once released the next year, 1941 got a rough welcome from the critics and public, but 1979 was a good year for John, who married Rosemary Margaret Hobor in Toronto. She was John’s anchor—quiet, patient, and unimpressed by the world of entertainment.

While 1941 disappointed John—although he and Spielberg discussed their own projects, nothing solidified—he was even more determined to succeed.

He acquired a Los Angeles agent, Garry Blye, a fellow Canadian, who said, “John Candy was like a man on a train that was clearly going somewhere. He wouldn’t spend more than a week without work of some kind.”

John signed onto John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd’s SNL-based quasi-musical film comedy The Blues Brothers. Again, John wound up spending months in production yet barely visible in the final cut of this popular movie, which at least pleased him to be a

(LEFT) Candy, the romantic leading man.

Poster from 1991’s Only the Lonely, whose title is based upon a Roy Orbison tune. (RIGHT) The Spring 1986 issue of Muppet Magazine featured Candy as the Easter Bunny. Only the Lonely © 1991 20th Century Pictures. Muppets © Disney. Courtesy of Heritage.

In 1978, at the end of its third season, Global suddenly cancelled SCTV. Desperate to keep the show airing, Alexander made another deal for a fourth season that involved producing the show in Edmonton, rather than Toronto. John refused to work for Andrew Anderson under those terms.

In 1978, the SCTV writers/actors traveled to Los Angeles to work on scripts for the show’s third season with Harold Ramis, who, after its second season, left SCTV for Hollywood. After finishing their scripts, the cast held a huge party to celebrate. Among their guests was Steven Spielberg, whose next movie was 1941 (1979), a post–Pearl Harbor story set in California that, when in theaters, felt like a wartime version of It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, written by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale, and John Milius. Spielberg offered John a part, but he didn’t take Steven seriously. John explained, “I was under the influence of a lot of rum and Coke. I said, ‘I appreciate your interest, but I know this is a party, and we’ve all been drinking.

Anyway, there are any number of leeches around here who want the job more than I do.’” But when John returned to Toronto, he found a message on his phone that confirmed Spielberg’s offer.

John wasn’t the only Second City cast member in 1941, which also featured Joe Flaherty, as well as SNL’s Dan Aykroyd and John 36

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small part of a big box-office winner. At the time, SCTV resumed production, minus John Candy. Meanwhile, the feud over royalty payments between John and Andrew Alexander was seen by the public. When Alexander announced that he was working on getting SCTV back on the air, John’s response to the Toronto Star was that he had no interest in returning to the new season’s cast.

WHEN AT WALLY WORLD, ASK FOR ‘LASKY’

Big City Comedy (1980) was assembled by Second City’s Bernie Sahlins, NBC, and—believe it or not—a company owned by the family of Donny and Marie Osmond. The characters he created on SCTV were owned by Alexander, therefore “Johnny LaRue” became John’s onetime nickname, “Johnny Toronto.” Rose and John’s daughter Jennifer was born on February 3, 1980, and made her debut in John’s arms with Betty White while appearing on the show. It’s no wonder John was running on all cylinders! Unfortunately, due to a lack of marketing and shifting time slots, Big City Comedy was cancelled after 13 episodes that, sadly, have never been shown again since they aired.

After doing voiceover work for three different characters in Ivan (Ghostbusters) Reitman’s animated anthology feature film Heavy Metal (1981), John was pleased to join his old mates Ramis, Murray, Flaherty, and Thomas after producer/direction Reitman cast John as “Dewey ‘Ox’ Oxberger” in 1981’s military comedy Stripes.

Considering that John was once rejected from joining the Marines, Ox’s introductory dialog was ironic: “You may have noticed I have a bit of a weight problem. I’m going to walk out of here a lean, mean fighting machine.” Unfortunately, John felt degraded by two separate scenes, in the field and in a mud-wrestling-with-six-women match. “I was fighting right up to the end to get out of it,” said John.

At least Stripes was a hit and John had a memorable final shot on the ridiculous/adorable faux cover of Tiger Beat magazine’s “Super Love and Kisses Issue.”

In the spring of 1981, a few weeks before Stripes was released in theaters across North America, John was up for grabs as the most in-demand comedian in television. About the same time, Andrew Alexander was negotiating with NBC for a fourth season and at one point, NBC even considered to replace SNL with SCTV after new SNL Executive Producer Dick Ebersol mentioned to NBC's President Brandon Tartikoff that he was considering to entice some of the SCTV cast to SNL. Meanwhile, Andrew Alexander was signing a deal for a new, 90-minute SCTV in a late nighttime slot on NBC. When the gossip and news reached the public, reporters began asking John what his plans were regarding which show he was leaning to.

It made John so nervous that he and his family went into seclusion in his family farm north of Toronto. He did consider SNL, but its cast

was much bigger than SCTV and its inner politics were rumored to be much crueler, so, after healing wounds and enduring tricky contract negotiations, John Candy returned home to what was now called SCTV Network. He left the sixth season in 1982 when the title altered to SCTV Channel, the final iteration of the show that moved to cable on Cinemax in the U.S. and Superchannel in Canada, although John continued to guest-appear when his schedule permitted.

John’s next appearance in a film was National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983), directed by someone he could trust, Harold Ramis. Due to a last-minute story change, John was added to the cast as an easily influenced Wally World theme park security guard named “Lasky.” Although John was on screen for only a few minutes, his performance stood out as one of the blockbuster movie’s most

memorable roles. It was also important to his career; this was his first experience with the film’s screenwriter, the prolific John Hughes, who would work with John on many more films. But his next film, the one that finally made John a star, was worth working for scale... fish scale, to be precise.

Produced by Brian Grazer; written by Grazer, Bruce Jay Friedman, and Lowell Ganz; and directed by Ron Howard, 1984’s Splash was the first movie from Disney’s new film label, Touchstone Pictures. Starring Tom Hanks as “Allen Bauer,” a young man who falls in love with a mysterious woman who turns out to be a mermaid named “Madison.” John portrayed Allen’s older brother, “Freddie,” a lovable bachelor rascal with a hedonist lifestyle, reminiscent of Johnny LeRue, a.k.a. Johnny Toronto. SCTV alumni Eugene Levy was “Dr. Walter Korbluth,” a mad oceanologist obsessed with Madison. Although a secondary character, John stole the show, but until Howard convinced him otherwise, when he first read Splash’s script, John wanted to take the role of the lunatic scientist. As critic Pauline Kael wrote in The New Yorker,

(ABOVE) Candy in Cool Runnings, the unlikely story of the first Jamaican bobsled team. © Disney. (LEFT) Candy had an uncredited role in the John Hughes–written Career Opportunities. © NBCUniversal.

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“Ron Howard has a happy touch, and he’s the first film director who has let John Candy loose. This gigantic, chubby Puck has been great in brief appearances, but the role of Freddie the playboy is the first role big enough for him to make the kind of impression he made in the SCTV shows.”

Roger Ebert, in The Chicago Sun-Times, wrote, “They should have made Candy the lover, and Hanks the brother. Then we’d be on the side of this big lunk who suddenly has a mermaid drop into his life.”

Splash, John’s long-awaited breakthrough, was the tenth highest-grossing film of 1984. John signed a development deal with Touchstone to create and control three of his own projects every year. He hoped he could bring in some of his SCTV pals to work with him, but the studio’s executives didn’t seem to be familiar with them or their writing abilities, and none of the films that John pitched to Disney were ever made. Around the same time, Ivan Reitman approached John with the role of tax accountant “Louis Tully” in his upcoming blockbuster Ghostbusters (1984), but due to financial differences, John turned down Candy played two characters in Nothing But Trouble (1991), including the "lovely" the role that SCTV’s Rick Moranis ultimately Eldona, seen here with Chevy Chase. © Warner Bros. portrayed.

At 33, increasingly anxious as he approached the same age at which his father died—as well as his Planes, Trains & Automobiles certainly drew interest to John, brother Jim’s recent heart attack—John signed up for the Pritikin but many of his following films only feature Mr. Candy as a minor character, a one-scene cameo, or a voice artist. John also appeared Longevity Center in Santa Monica. Pritikin’s rules were no meat, no on film and in animation in Camp Candy (DIC/Saban) first airing on caffeine, no alcohol, and no tobacco.

September 9, 1989 on NBC, lasting two seasons until Spring 1991, John was a bit embarrassed to learn that he was chosen one of then a third season (1991–1992), adding a few new episodes for Playgirl magazine’s “Sexiest Men” award, describing him as, “The syndication. shaggy moptop, dimpled cheeks, physical grace—nobody is sexier On October 6, 1988, John met Bruce McNall, then-owner of the than this giant of comedy who turns us on with good humor.” But wife Rose agreed, “It’s a great ego booster. He may be a sex symbol, L.A. Kings hockey team, at the first game that included the team’s newest member, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. John immediately but he’s my sex symbol.” was impressed by the businessman who had a similar physique JOHN CANDY, MOVIE STAR and interests in common. They quickly became pals, having fun John continued to appear in films of varying quality and success. together while watching games from McNall’s private seats. His Then National Lampoon’s Vacation’s writer, John Hughes—also a influence on John would eventually become significant. director—came a-callin’. John’s role would be “Del Griffith,” a As for John’s more significant roles, Hughes’ The Great Outdoors chummy, talkative, traveling shower-curtain-ring salesman with a (1988) teamed up John and Dan Aykroyd as two old pals—one sad secret opposite Steve Martin as “Neal Page,” a tightly-wound, average, one wealthy—who bring their families along on a entitled advertising executive and family man, in 1987’s Planes, camping vacation. A mild comedy, its climax pitted John against Trains and Automobiles (PT&A). “I just cried with laughter when I a 1,400-pound grizzly bear. “It was one of the most frightening read it,” said John of the then-untitled script. “It’s like it was written experiences of my life,” admitted John. “I know I impressed a lot of for me, which makes a big difference, I could just see the movie the film crew. They didn’t know I could run that fast.”

Uncle Buck (1989), another Hughes film, gave the public a chance in my mind.” Hughes wrote a line for Del that perfectly described to see how wonderful John was with children, especially Macaulay the man who played him: “I’m the real article; what you see is what Culkin, despite the fact that he played a likable lowlife with a darker you get.” Steve Martin has expressed his respect for John, who side. A five-minute punch-out between John’s “Buck Russell” and worked tirelessly on his acting showcase and deserved to walk “Pooter” the drunken birthday clown was edited out of the film away with this beloved film. PT&A changed John’s life, making him a legitimate Hollywood star who would never again go out in public for being too violent. During this time, John created his own radio show, Radio Kandy, in his Frostbacks company’s business office’s without being approached by his devoted fans, the annoying-orworse consequence of fame.

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(LEFT) L.A. Times article about our own Scott Shaw!’s involvement with Camp Candy, the 1989–1992 cartoon show placing an animated John Candy in the role of summer camp counselor. Courtesy of Scott Shaw! (RIGHT) Camp Candy promotional cel. (BELOW) Camp Candy’s star, as designed

by Scott Shaw! Camp Candy © DIC/Saban. Courtesy of Heritage. recording studio in Santa Monica, and many of his friends were honored guests.

And then there was 1991’s Nothing But Trouble, a film originally titled Valkenvania, written and directed by and starring Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, John, and Demi Moore, with an on-screen performance by Digital Underground and featuring the first appearance in media of Tupac Shakur. The movie had an underground comix vibe. John had two roles (one of which is in drag), and Dan’s prosthetic nose was disturbing. When John was asked if Aykroyd’s bizarre story would make a good movie, his immediate response was, “Aww, Danny smokes too much pot.” Audiences either loved or hated Nothing But Trouble... mostly the latter.

Late in his career, John finally had the opportunity to perform as the male lead in a romantic drama film. Only the Lonely (1991) pits a middle-age policeman’s budding relationship with a young woman who works for a mortician against his lifelong relationship with his mother. Oddly, John had better chemistry with the elder Maureen O’Hara than with love interest Ally Sheedy. John also had a small role in Oliver Stone’’s JFK (1991) as New Orleans lawyer “Dean Andrews, Jr.”

In 1991, John, Wayne Gretzky and Bruce McNall purchased the Canadian Football Team’s Toronto Argonauts. Because it had been John’s favorite football team growing up in that city, he was more than willing to be its #1 promoter, regularly appearing at games involving the Argonauts. But in 1993, McNall pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy and fraud, and admitted to bilking six banks out of $236 million over a ten-year period, and was sentenced to seventy months in prison. Losing money, a friend, and his confidence of judgement left John shaken.

Ironically, among John’s final movies was one of his better films.

Disney’s Cool Runnings (1993) starred John as “Irv,” a dishonored bobsled coach who was enlisted by a Jamaican sprinter—disqualified from the Olympic Games—to start the first-ever Jamaican bobsled team. A lot of fun, but not completely a comedy, in Cool Runnings John portrayed a character with a personality similar to his off-screen persona.

John Candy suddenly died on March 4, 1994 in Durango, Mexico, while filming Wagons East; sadly, his family was still in West Los Angeles’ Pacific Palisades neighborhood. His death was due to John’s shaky health and the thin atmosphere of the location.

John’s wife Rosemary Hobor Candy is still alive, and their kids are doing well. Daughter Jennifer Candy (born on February 3, 1980) is a producer and actress, known for In Vino (2017), Where’s This Party? (2014), and Liv and Maddie (2013).

She has been married to Bryan Sullivan since 2012.

They have one child. Son Christopher Candy (born on September 23, 1984) is an actor, voice artist, and writer, known for To the Stones (2020), Where’s This Party? (2014), and Contracted (2013).

CAMPING OUT WITH JOHN CANDY

Back to Camp Candy and how I became friends with John...

In the spring of 1990, I was working at Hanna-Barbera Productions when I got a call from an executive at DIC asking me if I wanted to produce and direct a new cartoon show starring John Candy. I had just finished producing H-B’s and Martin Short’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley series for NBC and was unaware that the former SCTV member had recommended me to John. I immediately agreed and got to work on the show’s concept, originally pitched by Saban’s representatives to NBC as based on Alan Sherman’s best-known novelty song “Hello, Muddah, Hello, RETROFAN

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The oddball world of scott shaw!

(LEFT) Original Camp Candy art commission by Shaw! Camp Candy © DIC/Saban. Courtesy of Scott Shaw!

Faddah (A Letter from Camp),” originally released in 1963; adding John’s presence sealed the agreement. A late pickup in May to air in September seemed impossible, but so was my Ed Grimley experience.

I had a budget of $20,000 to develop the look of the show, including character designs and backgrounds. I spent half of the money hiring Michael Mitchell to design the backgrounds’ style.

The other ten grand was dispersed to 20 cartoonists I knew, with the instruction to draw $500 worth of sketches of John Candy. I figured that John would hate some and like aspects of others, so I’d know what he wanted. Instead, he hated every one of them because they all accentuated his weight. Therefore, it was up to me to come up with the design of cartoon John Candy—and immediately, too! Fortunately, my wonderful wife Judy saved the day: “Scott showed me some of the drawings of John that had been submitted by various artists. They were all so exaggerated and I knew John’s feelings would be hurt. I told Scott that he should draw John like Scott draws himself: chubby and cute. He did, and John loved it.” With Judy’s smart suggestion, I drew John to have the same recipe as Fred Flintstone regarding chubby body designs: a potato with legs. John was ebullient: “That’s me!!!” (But I still wince when I realize that if I’d drawn that in the first place, I would have earned $10,000 for a single sketch!)

Working with John was fun and easy because we had a lot in common. “Scott’s whole persona is perfect for what he does—he just knows so much about the world of cartoons and comic books,”

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(ABOVE) Camp Candy lunch box set circa 1989.

(BELOW) Cover to Marvel’s Camp Candy comic book series from 1990. Cover by Howie Post and… wait for it… Scott Shaw! Camp Candy © DIC/Saban. Both courtesy of Scott Shaw!

(LEFT) Background design for Camp Candy by Michael Mitchell. Camp Candy © DIC/Saban. Both courtesy of Scott Shaw!

The oddball world of scott shaw!

John told the L.A. Times. “He’s just a Peter Pan of sorts. He grew up in a lot of ways, but he’s still got that great edge of a kid. It seems almost impossible to get a story approved by NBC, but once we do, then Scott comes in and starts breaking it down. They quibble over the smallest things—the voice of a character, how the character looks, what the attitude is.”

Unlike some celebrities I’ve worked with, John was rarely “on” and unusually thoughtful, helpful and fun for a Hollywood star.

John was naturally charming. Years later, I learned that DIC’s Production Manager Winnie Chaffee sensed that John would be much more comfortable with me as his producer because I was also a big man, at the time, over 400 pounds. If I’d known that at the time, I might have been offended, but it certainly helped our relationship. After the second season of Camp Candy, I left the show when Saban took over, but John and I remained friends. When I visited him on the set of Nothing But Trouble, I got to watch Tupac Shakur and Digital Underground perform “Same Song” multiple times. Not long after, once our son Kirby was born, John insisted on driving Judy and our new baby around West L.A. so he could spend time with them both.

John was a sweet man, and it was apparent to me that he didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings because he knew firsthand how deeply wounded he felt when anyone hurt his feelings. John was interested in an animated special I conceived, Halloween Candy, that would include voiceovers from other SCTV folks. My last meeting with John was to discuss future collaborations between us and writer/producer Chris Columbus, who wanted me to oversee new cartoon “shorts” starring of many of his SCTV characters that would escort John’s upcoming films.

Of course, reality had other plans.

John is still much missed. One of the finest expressions of that was from Ryan Reynolds, and if you loved John Candy, please view Ryan’s tribute to John online at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BDq_fVPW0JI. Of course, you’ll shed a few tears, as do I. Quotations sourced from the Los Angeles Times’ Calendar Sunday section (June 17, 1990) and the book Laughing on the Outside by Martin Knelman (St. Martin’s Press, 1996).

For 50 years (and counting), SCOTT SHAW! has written and drawn underground comix, mainstream comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, TV cartoons, toys, advertising, and video games. He has worked on such characters as Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew (which he co-created with Roy Thomas), Sonic the Hedgehog, the Flintstones, the Jetsons, the Simpsons, the Futurama gang, the Muppet Babies, Garfield, the Garbage Pail Kids, and yes, even Annoying Orange. His career has garnered him four Emmy Awards, an Eisner Award, and a Humanities Award. Scott is also known for his “Oddball Comics Live!” visual presentation of “the craziest comic books ever published” and for his regular participation in “Quick Draw!” with Mark Evanier and Sergio Aragonés. He was also one of the teenagers who co-created what is currently known as Comic-Con International: San Diego, America’s biggest annual fan event. He can be reached at shawcartoons.com.

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Too Much TV COLUMN ONE

1) Ricardo Montalban 2) Hume Cronyn 3) Gavin MacLeod 4) Ed Asner 5) Buddy Ebsen 6) Andy Griffith 7) Rich Little 8) David Wayne 9) Harold Gould 10) Ross Martin Hawaii Five-0 © CBS Television. All Rights Reserved.

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If your old man used to gripe that you’d never learn anything with your nose glued to the boob tube, here’s your chance to prove him wrong.

(Father doesn’t always know best.)

Each guest actor in Column One corresponds to the Hawaii Five-0 villain he played in Column Two. Match ’em up, then see how you rate!

Aloha!

RetroFan Ratings 10 correct: Fine-Tuned RetroFan Sock it to me, baby! I bet you know theme song lyrics too!

7–9 correct: Rabbit-Eared RetroFan Dy-no-mite! You wasted your childhood with the rest of us!

Book ’em, Danno!

4–6 correct: Fuzzy-Receptioned RetroFan Up your nose with a rubber hose ’til you spend more tube time!

0–3 correct: Tuned-Out RetroFan Ya big dummy! Put down that book and go watch some classic TV!

COLUMN TWO

A) Professor Ambrose Pierce, tour leader peddling stolen traveler checks B) Lewis Avery Filer, insurance investigator-turnedimpersonator/thief C) Johnny Kling, vengeful killer who recreates movie scenes when murdering D) Honore Vashon, crime lord and protective father to ne’er-do-well son E) Arnold Lovejoy, patriarch of a flim-flam family F) Tokura, Japanese mobster with samurai ties G) Tony Aliza, Hawaiian “kumu” mob boss H) August March, smuggler of Asian fine art I) Monsieur Bordeaux, master of disguise/Honolulu hotel thief J) Big Chicken, profusely sweaty drug dealer

ANSWERS: 1–F, 2–B, 3–J, 4–H, 5–A, 6–E, 7–C, 8–I, 9–D, 10–G

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WORKING WITH DITKO

JACK KIRBY’S DINGBAT LOVE

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RETRO HOLLYWOOD

Man or Myth The

Steve Reeves Story

Mr. America, Mr. World, Mr. Universe

BY ROD LABBE SETTING THE STAGE: HOW STEVE AND I MET

By early 1960—thanks to my big sister, Sue—I was already a battle-scarred veteran of the monster movie matinee wars.

Each weekend, I’d accompany her to the latest horror or science fiction thriller from American International Pictures, Universal, Allied Artists, or Britain’s Hammer Studios, served up hot and steaming at either the State Theater, Opera House, or Haines (an “old timey” movie palladium). We ate popcorn drenched in real butter, guzzled gallons of Coca-Cola, chewed, chomped, and consumed Junior Mints, Jujubes, Pom-Poms, Peanut Butter cups, Dots, Charms, and other assorted sugary confections, and didn’t give a fig about cavities, type 2 diabetes, or artery-clogging cholesterol.

We were no different from millions of late-Fifties kids. Neighbors constructed backyard bomb shelters (“just in case”), Ike golfed at the White House, and Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, and Bonanza entertained us for free on TV. Sue spun a Hula Hoop, wore pedal pushers, and raced her sleek Firestone bike rocket (with horn, light, rainbow-hued handlebar tassels, and a (RIGHT) From Mr. America to Mr. International Box Office! Hercules, starring Steve Reeves, muscled its way into theaters across the globe in the late Fifties and early Sixties. Courtesy of Heritage. Hercules © Embassy Pictures/Warner Bros.

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wire basket). I hoarded Golden Books and Archie comics, rarely missed an episode of The Mickey Mouse Club, and dreamed my crazy little boy dreams.

It was an idyllic period, despite the threat of nuclear proliferation. Today, I see remnants of that life in photos, scrapbooks, videos, MeTV, RetroFan, and Turner Classic Movies, but I remember, too… and vividly.

Scary movies and everything they entailed were very much a part of our childhood existence together. Take, for instance, one memorable Saturday afternoon, sometime in 1959.

While Sue and I waited to buy tickets (a cool double bill: Earth vs. the Spider and The Brain Eaters), something caught her discerning eye. “Hey, look,” she remarked, pointing to a lurid poster for Hercules (1958), starring an actor named Steve Reeves.

A prophetic moment, indeed, since I knew Hercules would soon find its way onto Sue’s “must-see” list.

Sure enough, within three weeks, we were right back inside that same theater (the State), watching Hercules—a.k.a. Steve Reeves—fling a shining discus into Rome’s wild blue yonder.

No one inhabiting my limited circle of friends and family looked anything like this Steve Reeves cat. He seemed unreal, more akin to one of Ray Harryhausen’s creations. I’d no idea he’d been a world-class competitive bodybuilder. What’s a “bodybuilder”? As for Jailbait (an Ed Wood production) and Athena (MGM)—two of Reeves’ earlier cinematic efforts from 1954—I’ll be kind and say they weren’t exactly on our “must-see” list.

The notion that Steve Reeves might exist as a flesh and blood human never once dawned on me. Really, why would it?

I was a naïve Baby Boomer living in Waterville, Maine, an average-sized mill town defined by Scott Paper Company and other assorted manufacturing plants. My favorite pastimes, away from movie-going, included coloring inside the lines, Halloween, and Captain Kangaroo. Now and again, I’d put pencil to notebook paper and write derivative short stories about vampires and werewolves, distressed damsels, and fanciful universes inhabited by noble heroes (kinda like Hercules, now that I think about it).

Four decades later, writing brought us together, Steve and me.

My goal: to interview Mr. Reeves for publication. This was far from an easy undertaking; it required determination and a liberal dosing of street smarts. In search mode, I’d bought the magazine Cult Movies #18, featuring a Reeves interview. Oh, I felt such overwhelming envy!

Why couldn’t I be the one holding that microphone?

An autograph collector’s reference book, won from eBay, supplied the necessary catalyst. Between Love Boat refugees and 46

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(TOP) Pre-Hercules Steve flexes in bodybuilding promo photos from the Fifties. (BOTTOM) Reeves with cast mates in publicity pics from the 1954 film drama, Athena.

Courtesy of Heritage. Athena © MGM.

Murder, She Wrote “guest stars,” I spotted a listing for Steve Reeves. Now I had my key! One insightful letter later (supplemented by several choice published clips), I threw caution to the four winds and nervously awaited a response.

It came within days, handwritten and signed “Steve.”

Included were his phone number, an autographed photo, and an appropriate time to chat.

OMG! The next week was spent compiling questions and gathering reams of library/Internet research. Tape recorder and copious notes by my side, I made that fateful phone call on July 7, 1997.

A female voice answered, identifying herself as Mrs. Reeves.

We exchanged niceties, and then someone picked up an extension, cleared his throat, and spoke. “Hello, Rod, this is Steve. How are you doing?”

Clash of cymbals, blast of celestial trumpets, and my mind went blanker than a freshly washed blackboard. “I’m okay, I mean, I’m f-f-fine, Mr. Reeves. Thanks for agreeing to chat with me.”

“My pleasure. And please, it’s Steve. No need for formalities among friends.”

“Fine, um, Steve.”

Thus, an amazing collaboration was launched. I listened and learned, as Earth’s only genuine demigod taught me about a life well-lived.

Here’s his inspirational story…

MEET STEVE REEVES

Stephen Lester Reeves entered our mortal existence January 21, 1926, in Glasgow, Montana. Naturally physically gifted, Steve’s startling good looks and strapping athletic build elicited constant curiosity. At football games, out shopping, anywhere and everywhere, curious bystanders stopped and asked, “Aren’t you a movie star?”

The question amused him. “If anyone had predicted I’d end up driving chariots, wrestling lions, and pulling down stone temples for a living,” he told me, “I would’ve said they were nuts.”

One early afternoon, not long after high school graduation, Steve and a good friend took off on a little excursion. They rode the trolley from Hollywood to Santa Monica, with the sole intention of

retro Hollywood

a good time in L.A. Steve had already received his draft notice and was looking forward to cutting loose.

“That’s when I noticed it again,” he laughed. “Passengers giving me the fish eye. They’d whisper among themselves, stare, and giggle and whisper some more. One woman asked outright if I was a movie star! ‘No, no, I’m not a movie star, only a tourist!’ My buddy couldn’t help but laugh over that one.

“Our first stop was Muscle Beach. In those days, wrestlers and acrobats hung out down there, impressing their lady friends with feats of strength and skill. The wrestlers encouraged me to wrestle, and all the acrobats told me I had show business possibilities!

Food for thought, but there were more pressing matters at hand, a little something called World War II. I was also thinking about bodybuilding, so show business held no allure for me.

“Civilian life didn’t become a reality again until 1946. After my discharge, I went back to LA, to visit a few Army pals. On the streets

and trolleys, complete strangers asked, ‘Excuse me, may I have your autograph?’ I kid you not! I thought, ‘Hey, maybe I should try being a movie star. I’d make a fortune selling signed pictures.’

“I’d gotten into weight training by that point and gained quite a bit of muscle. Quality physiques were uncommon sights in the Forties. Bodybuilders were dismissed as homosexuals, morons, vain buffoons, or all three. Personally, I ignored the criticism. Lifting gave me confidence.

“I established a whole new aesthetic standard: wide shoulders and a tiny waist. The v-taper. It revolutionized how people trained.

I’d inherited outstanding genetics from my dad, plus, a handsome face didn’t hurt.”

As Steve revealed to me, bodybuilding began to open new doors for him.

“That was truly a fantastic time for me. I moved quickly through the competitive ranks and won Mr. America (1947), Mr. World (1948), and Mr. Universe (1949). Bodybuilders back then packed on pounds by eating fattening foods. If I reached 203, it was a solid 203. I worked at sculpting my body: wide shoulders, big arms, defined abdominals, powerful legs, something pleasing to the eye.

Gaining weight just to get huge struck me as the wrong way to go.

“When I joined Ed Yarick’s gym, I jumped from 163 to 193 in four months. That’s 30 pounds of real muscle, all packed on where it should be. Everyone wondered what the heck I was doing. No big secret. I lifted consistently, got plenty of shut-eye, didn’t drink or carouse, and ate nutritious food. My physique developed naturally

Television Superman George Reeves was snubbed from DC Comics photo covers during the Man of Steel’s TV heyday, but movie Hercules Steve Reeves had better success on comic covers. (LEFT) That’s Steve—the beefy one!—on the cover of Timely’s (Marvel) Miss America Magazine vol. 7 #13, from 1948. (RIGHT) Over a decade later, Reeves’ rendition of Hercules was immortalized in this painted portrait which adorned the movie adaptation appearing in Dell’s Four Color #1006, from 1959. Miss America Magazine © Marvel.

Hercules © Embassy Pictures/Warner Bros.

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read, ‘Steve, come to New York City, and our firm will represent you. along aesthetic lines. At the [Mr.] America, I weighed 213. But Bodybuilding’s fine, a tremendous springboard,’ they explained, building muscle, real muscle, without fat, came effortlessly.

“Don’t get me wrong. Winning Mr. America was no cakewalk. ‘but it can’t make Steve Reeves a star. We can!’

I’ve only had two tough contests in my entire bodybuilding career: “This letter literally fell into my lap. Was it fate? I’d already the Mr. America and Mr. Universe. I went muscle-to-muscle with enrolled at the San Francisco School of Chiropractic, under the GI Bill Eddie Patterson at the America. I’d already beaten him a few of Rights. Nonetheless, I decided to give the talent agency a ring. months earlier, in California, for the Western Mr. America title.

“They talked, and I listened. Their logic couldn’t be refuted.

He sure as hell gave me a run for the money. An extraordinary What did bodybuilding hold for me, money-wise? Chiropractic competitor and a true champion. I respected him immensely.” school was another dead end. Trophies won’t put food on the Reeves’ Mr. Universe table or cash in the bank, competition is one that and New York might open garnered attention. exciting career doors.

“The showdown “So, I made my very first everybody remembers is the show business decision and Universe, where I competed relocated to the Big Apple. against Reg Park,” Reeves “Every week, I attended recalled. “It’s my most acting classes, and weekfamous contest. Reg was ends were spent performing about my height, except he didn’t have the v-taper. That competition was a turning point for bodybuilding.

Proportion and balance ruled the day, and blocky physiques fell out of favor.

Posing, too, changed.

Routines were more graceful, fluid, with a dollop of good, old-fashioned sex appeal.

“Things have changed so much since those old bodybuilding days. The sport used to be pure; no steroids, drugs, or growth hormones involved, just eating right and hitting the gym.

We’re utterly corrupted by steroids and other so-called chemical ‘enhancements.’ vaudeville routines with It’s downright pathetic. a comedian named Dick Steroids are poison. They’re Birney, a kind of Jerry Lewis a surefire path to disaster to my Dean Martin. This and destruction. ran for about three or four months.

“Here’s the problem, as “I hated big city life. Seeing I see it: everyone’s after stardom. Instead of exercising (LEFT) Was the second time a charm? homeless people sleeping in for physical betterment, they desperately crave Not for Steve Reeves, who stepped alleyways and on sidewalks attention! Generating publicity is distracting. I trained away from the Hercules role after and park benches disturbed alone; a partner would’ve pulled me away from my the sequel Hercules Unchained. me.

Central Park was nice, but single-mindedness. Simply put, bodybuilders commit (RIGHT) Steve Reeves made only my background is the Midwest, themselves. You stay clean and focused. Anything else two Hercules films but was so with wide-open skies and is a waste of energy.” identifiable in the role that this 1990 freedom. Oh, New York City’s artist’s doll was constructed in his ‘WE CAN MAKE STEVE REEVES A STAR’ an interesting place, don’t get likeness. Fully jointed and 21 inches Steve’s path to Hollywood began at the Mr. America me wrong. I enjoyed its cultural tall, this sandaled action figure was competition. landmarks and skyscrapers and also signed on the back by the actor.

“At the America contest,” Reeves recalled, “I received whatever, but the allure wore Hercules Unchained © Galatea Films/Warner a letter from the Wallace Downey Talent Agency that off quickly.

Bros. Both, courtesy of Heritage.

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retro Hollywood

“One matinee, Cecil B. DeMille’s east coast talent scout caught years, and I need an actor who can take direction. You’re not that our act. Afterward, he asked if I’d mind shooting a screen test. person, so I’m cancelling your contract.’

We did the test, and within days I was flying out to California and “What could I say? My big chance dried up and disappeared.

Paramount Studios, a seven-year contract in my pocket. Not bad Poof! Right out the window. Working for DeMille taught me a for a 22-year-old! memorable lesson: professionals follow-through and learn from “The moment I arrived at Paramount, Mr. DeMille’s secretary their mistakes. Next time, I’d do things differently, if there was a ushered me into his plush office. One entire wall was covered with next time… and I’d definitely listen to my director [laughs]!” pictures of Paramount’s most famous stars: Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Betty Hutton, Alan Ladd, Dorothy Lamour… and right in the middle FROM ED WOOD TO PIETRO FRANCISI was me!

As Steve explained to me, “For another decade, I earned a living in “‘You see that photograph, Steve?’ asked Mr. DeMille. ‘He’s my the fitness field, representing gyms, and I also made two movies, Samson.’ Mr. DeMille was though nothing on par casting Samson and Delilah, with a Cecil B. DeMille with Hedy Lamaar. My production. screen test impressed him, “My film debut was in despite the obvious drawJailbait (1954), directed by back: I couldn’t act! No Edward Wood, Jr. He’d problem. A little polishing, seen a 15-minute TV pilot and I’d be good to go.

I’d done called Kimbar, Lord “Mr. DeMille spared no of the Jungle, and contacted expense. A private acting my agent. ‘Would I play a coach, an office of my detective in The Hidden Face, own, delicious food, access which turned out to be to the gym, you name it.

Jailbait?’ Heck, yeah!

Life was going smoothly, “I had fun working with until he asked me to lose Ed. In that film made about weight. ‘The camera puts him [director Tim Burton’s on 15 pounds,’ Mr. DeMille Ed Wood, 1994—ed.], they explained. ‘At your current claimed he wore women’s clothing on the set. All I size, you’ll overwhelm our can say is, not while I was audience.’ around! As a director, “‘Okay, sure.’ I gave he’d let scenes unfold him my word… I’d go on a naturally. There were no reducing diet and lose 15 pretensions with him. A pounds. No sweat. fine gentleman.” [Editor’s “That promise came note: Do you dare uncover back to bite me on the the shocking secrets behind. Dropping even five behind filmmaker Ed pounds proved a terrific Wood? Join us for RetroFan struggle. My buddies #39’s interviews with Wood were all saying, ‘You’re movie alumni!] the greatest there is. Why Steve continued, “From change your physique? Just there, I landed a small part to be an actor?’ in Athena (1954), an MGM “It came down to musical starring two very economics and ambition: popular stars, Janie Powell Acting meant a steady Although sometimes shoeless or in boots, post-Hercules Reeves and Debbie Reynolds. Jane income, and I could also continued to star in internationally distributed “swords and had just done Seven Brides stay healthy… maybe not in sandals” flicks like 1960’s The Giant of Marathon, from which this for Seven Brothers (1954, competition shape, but I’d publicity photo hails. Courtesy of Heritage. The Giant of Marathom © MGM. MGM), a real smash, but no desire to fade away into MGM didn’t know what to obscurity. do with Athena. Its bodybuilding theme was just too bizarre. The “Back at the studio, Mr. DeMille saw that I hadn’t lost much. movie tanked.

He’d say ‘Ten more to go!’ At the gym, they’d tell me, ‘You’re “I continued my education via TV and theatrical work, looking too skinny!’ starting with Wish You Were Here, a play that eventually toured.

“This went on for about three months, and Mr. DeMille finally I also performed in the Broadway production of Kismet. My last laid it on the line. ‘Listen, kid, you’re not committed. Samson and Broadway play was The Vamp, starring Carol Channing.”

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Steve also kept busy appearing on television shows such as “Burns and Allen, Topper, The Bob Cummings Show, Dinah Shore, Ozzie and Harriet, Red Skelton, and The Ralph Edwards Show. No leading parts, which was okay. I saw every one as a learning experience.

“Meanwhile, I signed a contract with American Health Studios; they’d hired me as their public relations guy. I hung around the gym and answered questions and cut ribbons. A walking, talking resource.

“Things were about to change in a very big way. I received a telegram from Pietro Francisci, an Italian movie director/producer.

He’d been looking for an actor to play Hercules and was coming up emptyhanded. I mean, there were good-looking guys in Italy, and there were tall, built guys, and even guys with acting ability. Pietro needed all three rolled into one.

“His 13-year-old daughter had seen Athena. She ran home and said, ‘Daddy, I’ve found your Hercules!’ He drove to the theater, saw the picture himself, and sent me a letter. Would I consider starring as Hercules for the big screen?

“Well, I didn’t know what to make of this. ‘Pietro Francisci? Who’s that?’ I ignored his telegram and tried to forget about the whole thing.

“You know what? I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I kept thinking: ‘You’ve been waiting for years to be a movie star. Here’s your chance, why not do it?’ Pietro sent me a $5,000 advance and an airplane ticket. That sealed the deal.”

The role required that Steve sport facial hair. As he was growing a mustache and goatee, “My boss asked, ‘Hey, what’s with the beard?’ I said, ‘to look more distinguished and present a better image as your public relations rep.’ It made me feel bad, not being honest with him, so I ’fessed up, he wished me luck, and we shook hands. After ten days, I had the sideburns down, jumped a plane, and flew off to Italy. What an adventure!

“Filming in a foreign country flummoxed me. It’s vastly different than Hollywood. For one thing, I can’t speak a word of Italian, and the director couldn’t speak any English. I compensated by going over scenes and memorizing the entire script, including everyone’s part and watching for physical cues. A good actor is a good reactor; 50

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he should be interested in what the other person is doing. I had to be very interested!”

Joseph E. Levine, an American film producer who would ultimately found Embassy Pictures, was at the time acquiring European-made movies and repackaging them for audiences in the United States. As Steve explained, “He owned theaters and displayed an intuitive knack for promotion. That’s a gift.

Either you have it, or you don’t. After buying Ulysses (starring Kirk Douglas, 1954), Joe dabbled more and more in the European market. One of his Italian connections recommended Hercules, so Joe invested cash, dubbed the voices into English, and conducted a brilliant promotional campaign inspired by Spartacus. The end result was a record-breaker!”

Released in the U.S.A. on July 22, 1959, Hercules was a hit, earning $66.6 million globally. On its heels was 1959’s Hercules Unchained, also starring Reeves. By 1960, Steve Reeves was one of the top-grossing actors in numerous countries.

“Hercules’ runaway success shocked me,” Steve admitted. “To have it be highest box office of the year, world-wide? A sensation? Unbelievable.

“Here’s a typical Joe Levine story, and every word is true: He and I were eating at a hotel in Rome and Looking for adventure? It’s guaranteed by this poster for negotiating to do Morgan the Pirate (1960). Every actor’s director Arthur Lubin’s 1961 contract has stipulations. movie, The Thief of Baghdad, starring former Mr. Universe Mine read that my name and no one else’s would appear Steve Reeves. Courtesy of above the title, a standard Heritage. The Thief of Baghdad © contract clause for a star Titanus. player.

“Joe was having none of it. He wanted his name above the title and bigger than the title. And I said, ‘No way, Joe, no way. A contract is a contract, and I’m not budging.’ Joe was eating spaghetti, blew his stack, and tossed the plate! Spaghetti hung from the crystal chandeliers!

“Once you sign a contract, it’s set in stone. There’s no changing it without consent of both parties. The time for disagreeing is before-

retro Hollywood

hand. Joe tried pulling a fast one on me, but I had the contract, and there was nothing he could do about it.”

Steve recalled. “I co-starred with Gordon Scott, a former lifeguard and a memorable screen Tarzan. Gordon and I are old friends; I’ve known him since I was 20, and he was 19.”

SWORDS AND SANDALS It was Steve who was responsible for his “old friend” landing the The success of Hercules spawned the new swashbuckling movie Titans film role. “Duel of the Titans was originally called Romulus and genre of “swords and sandals.” Steve remarked, “Every Italian Remus, and the producers approached me for both parts. That’s producer wanted a piece of the action. They’d hire some third-rate difficult to pull off convincingly. I suggested they find another actor Hollywood agent and say, ‘Find me a bodybuilder who’ll look good to play my brother, someone physically compatible and a box-office wearing a toga.’ Seriously! About half a dozen guys flew over for name. ‘Who?’ they asked. ‘No one comes close to matching you.’

Hercules films, B- and C-class junk. The characters might have been ‘Gordon Scott does!’ called Machiste, Samson, or Goliath, but it all boiled down to one “They weren’t sold, so I flat-out said, ‘Gordon not only has a thing: a Hercules imitation.” superb physique, he’s already famous as a big-screen Tarzan. I’ll These sword-and-sandal knock-offs were not known for their only do the picture if Gordon Scott is cast as Romulus.’ I had them production values. As Steve remembered, “Their films were over a barrel… if ‘Gord’ demanded a fortune, they’d either pay it or horrible! Cheap costumes, forfeit what promised to cardboard sets, awful be a blockbuster. Gordon special effects. That’s ended up making more why I wouldn’t do a third money from Duel of the Titans than any picture in Hercules. I was after his entire career!” something different.

From that point on, I did Of course, the lucrative “swords and sandals” adventure stuff, like The genre was prosperous for Giant of Marathon (1959), Steve Reeves as well—for The Last Days of Pompeii a while. “The fantasy (1960), Thief of Baghdad (1961), and The Slave (1962). action genre worked for They were swashbuckling me, but public tastes action pictures, combining change overnight,” he derring-do and the heroics recalled. “While filming of Hercules.”

Pompeii, Sergio Leone, the Steve fondly recalled assistant director, pulled working with director me over and said, ‘Steve, Andre de Toth, best known I’m thinking of doing a for Warner Bros.’ 1953 Western called A Fistful horror film House of Wax, of Dollars and basing it on the aforementioned on a Japanese Samurai 1960 swashbuckler flick film. Are you interested Morgan the Pirate. “Mr. de in playing the lead? He’s a Toth wore an eye patch cowboy.’ and a crew cut.,” Steve “Sergio actually said, “what you might call directed Pompeii, even a ‘man’s man.’ He’s another though the credits have director who’d let you him listed as assistant do scenes exactly as you director, first unit. Mario wanted and just guided Barnari was the official you a bit. I appreciated director, an older man, the atmosphere on his set, maybe 75 or 80, and there calm and comfortable. only as a name. Sergio had No strife. Working under talent and energy. Still, those conditions is always what did he know about fun.” the American West? I’m A fan-favorite among from Montana. My mothSteve Reeves’ films placed er’s family owned ranches, the one-time Hercules Based on Gordon D. Shirreffs’ novel Judas Gun, A Long Ride from Hell and if I were ever to do a alongside a Lord of the was Reeves’ last big film. Co-written by Italian screenwriter Robert Western, I’d do it right. I Jungle. “One movie fans wondered how an Italian Natale, the 1968 Western did not attract the audiences that once always ask me about is could take a script, scene marveled over Hercules. Courtesy of Heritage. A Long Ride from Hell © B.R.C. Duel of the Titans (1961),” by scene, from a Japanese Produzione S.r.l.

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film, and make a good American Western out of it! A crazy idea to me, so I turned Sergio down.

“Clint Eastwood stepped in, and a grand career was born. He’s a unique talent, no doubt. Certain people are born to play certain characters. That’s how it was with Clint Eastwood and A Fistful of Dollars.” [Editor’s note: For a closer look at the “Spaghetti Westerns” of Sergio Leone, see RetroFan #10.]

LIFE AFTER SANDALS

Other potential starring vehicles were offered to international superstar Steve Reeves. “I was asked to play James Bond in Casino Royale, but they were paying peanuts. And I’d need an English accent! Sean Connery staked a claim on the part with Dr. No and forever stamped it as his own. He’s the perfect Bond.

“Hammer Studios offered me the male lead in One Million Years B.C. for a measly $50,000! What an insult! Sure, working opposite Raquel Welch and fighting dinosaurs and a volcano would’ve been fun, but money prevented all that.

The Italians were paying $250,000 per movie, and I was worth every penny. One Million Years BC went to someone else. Don’t remember who [John Richardson as “Tumak”], but he gave a good performance.”

Yet the idea of a film Western was one the Montana native couldn’t shake. “Since A Fistful of Dollars had hit so big, I launched a Western project of my own.

While living in Switzerland, I borrowed about 50 Western novels from the local library. Three caught my eye as potential movie material. I contacted a literary agent friend, sent him the titles and authors, and asked if he could do some legwork for me. He got back and said John Wayne had optioned one, and the others belonged to Clint Walker, from the Cheyenne TV show [which you read about last ish, in RetroFan #33—ed.]. Two months later, Walker released his option on the book topping my list, Judas Gun [by Gordon D. Shirreffs]. I changed the title to A Long Ride from Hell (1968); in Italian, that means, ‘I Live for your Death!’ Right to the point, huh [laughs]?

An Italian writer [Roberto Natale] and I put together a script. He did the opening and closing of scenes, I added the authentic Western things. Man, I worked like a dog multi-tasking. I was star, co-author, and technical director.

“The picture made excellent money in Italy. Over here, not so much. [The film projection process] Cinerama had just filed for bankruptcy, so their films were dumped. I saw A Long Ride from Hell only once on the big screen, at a Del Mar drive-in.”

By the end of the Sixties, Steve Reeves was moving into different directions. “By age 45, my kind of movies were passé,” he admitted to me, “and after the failure of Long Ride, I retired.

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“Early retirement shocked my fans, but frankly, acting was stressful. You had to go to bed early. You had to look exactly right.

If I’d been a director, I could work unshaven, in ragged jeans, after a big night on the town. As an actor, a leading man, you’re held to an entirely different standard.

“My buddies, Tyrone Power and Errol Flynn, died young, and they loved what they were doing. Not me—I didn’t love it. I even developed an ulcer!”

An ulcer wasn’t Steve’s only film-related medical issue. “I was still in pretty good shape, except for one thing. During Pompeii, I severely injured my shoulder, and the pain bothered me constantly. Fight scenes had to be choreographed, without any wiggle room. Between shots, I’d heat the shoulder up and get it mobile then ice it down.”

Curiously, the physique that helped make Steve Reeves famous began to work against him.

“Years ago, I’d go to a studio, and they’d say, ‘Gee, we’re sorry, Steve, you’re a nice-looking guy and all, and at the most, we might be able to put you in two pictures a year.

But not as the main star. We have Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson under contract, and you’re not in their league. You have a good face, but you also have those big muscles, and they’re something of a hindrance, Steve Reeves you understand.’ in 1990.

“I understood, all right. My Dotty’sgoinglikethis. muscles worked against me for ten years in Hollywood, and over the next 50, they’ve been my bread and butter! Advertisers contact me weekly, asking if they can use this image or that footage. Just a few seconds, and you wouldn’t believe the money! I’m earning more now than I ever did as a bodybuilder or an actor, without lifting a finger.”

During our conversation on that day in July 1997, Steve looked back at his career with fondness.

“Fans write me every day, and their letters are incredibly touching. ‘I’m 58 years old, still pumping iron, and my kids are working out, too,’ they say. ‘And you’re the reason why.’

“You know what, Rod? To be remembered at all in life is astounding, and Hercules put me on the map. It’s a cultural phenomenon.

“I’ve enjoyed a rewarding, fulfilling life—as a bodybuilder and as an actor. It startles me, sometimes. No publicist could ever concoct a story this wild. I only wanted to lift weights and ended up a famous movie star. Those people on the trolley obviously knew something I didn’t!”

Steve Reeves died May 1, 2000.

ROD LABBE is a New England-based writer specializing in Baby Boomer pop culture and all it entails.

SCOTT SAAVEDRA’S SECRET SANCTUM

The Search for My Family’s Disney Artist

BY SCOTT SAAVEDRA

I was sitting in the dark at my desk. This was years ago while attending Rhoda Street Elementary. It may have been third or fourth grade. The teacher had loaded a film onto the 16-millimeter projector and flipped it on. The familiar flickering sound of the projector overwhelmed the music at first as it slowly built up volume and urgency. The class was watching “The Rite of Spring,” the longest segment of Walt Disney’s Fantasia (1940). The story is a dramatic telling of the birth of the world and creation of life up to the death of the dinosaurs. Most

importantly it features a fine, fine dramatic battle between a T-Rex and a Stegosaurus (which—spoiler—dies right before our eyes in what had to be a first for a Disney film). As I re-watched the segment before writing this, it reminded me that most of the first half is almost completely effects animation—steam, explosions, lava, and

more—and it is stunning. Just completely stunning (so stunning that some effects were reused toward the end of the segment).

This type of spectacular animated experimentation was very inspirational to me as a young, budding artist. Every Disney animated short and feature film I

(ABOVE) A screen capture of the amazing dinosaur battle from Fantasia (1940). (INSET AND RIGHT) A 1957 Disneyland guide book with map from just two years after the park’s opening.

Not quite as awsome as it would become (there’s not even a Matterhorn ride yet, for Pete’s sake). © Disney. Courtesy of the estate of B. J. Martin.

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saw as a kid was as much master class as entertainment. The main problem was that these animated gems were so hard to actually see. Disney animation, as I recall during the Sixties, was a rare treat on television and mainly seen on the movie screen. Getting seven of us kids packed into the station wagon for a trip to the drive-in could end up with us having to sit through The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes as easily it could reward us with The Jungle Book (one of my all-time faves).

And then Disneyland. My Uncle Bob went soon after it opened. His assessment: meh. His sister, my mom before mom-hood, visited not long after.

Her assessment: something along the lines of “It was nice.” I went to “the happiest place on Earth” with my parents around

Sketch of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse by Henry Major, a Hungarian artist who traveled the U. S. drawing notables. Art circa 1928. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.

1963. I apparently found the newly opened Enchanted Tiki Room enchanting. “You loved those birds,” my mom tells me every couple of years.

My point? Disney represented a high and fascinating level of creativity to me (as it has for many—most?—RetroFans).

So you can imagine that my curiosity was piqued when I heard that I had a relative who worked for Walt Disney (the company and the man). My middle brother Craig pretty much had the same reaction.

Which is very fortunate because he is something of the family historian and willing to sit down and talk to people in a way that I’m not. We sat down to try and piece together the known and unknown about our former Disney-employed relation.

The relative in question was my maternal grandmother’s cousin, Betty Jane Martin. In the greater family order she was my cousin twice-removed. Everybody called her Cousin B. J., just B. J., or Betty Jane. Cousin B. J. appeared at some family gatherings, but it was generally known that she had worked for Disney. Craig, being more curious than the rest of us, first talked to her when he was 14 (circa 1977), about her time with Disney.

Decades later, Craig and I (with my wife Ruth as witness) sat down early last February for an official debriefing.

THE SEARCH BEGINS

Cousin Betty Jane joined Disney Studios at Hyperion after the release of the transformational hit animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She was so taken with the film that she kept a scrapbook full of articles, ads, and other promotional ephemera. (Note the dancing girls promised in the newspaper ad.)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs © Disney.

Courtesy of the estate of B. J. Martin.

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Scott Saavedra: I’m talking to my brother Craig, winner of two Tony Awards. What made you decide to interview Betty Jane?

Craig Saavedra: I was in journalism [in middle school] and a huge Disney fan.

Walt Disney was an idol of mine. But there were a lot of rumors out there like that he was frozen upon death—not true, he was cremated. That he was an Anti-Semite and a bigot. Just stuff that bothered me, and when I found out that Betty Jane was a former employee I was fascinated by that. I wanted to find out what the truth was.

In grade school, the frozen Walt Disney story was regarded as a fact. I’m not saying that I believed it—I don’t recall—but it didn’t surprise me a bit. The subject of possible bigotry or Anti-Semitism from Walt Disney on the other hand didn’t enter my brain at all when I was 14 years old. I—simple boy that I was—had moved on by then; focused more on comic books

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and MAD magazine than animation. But interviews with family and associates of the late entertainment legend contend that Walt Disney was a decent man (though a sometimes scary boss). On the other side of the scale, Disney was a product of his times, his animators were largely white men; women were mostly relegated to less important tasks, and some of the studio’s films had racially mocking characters.

The bad comes with the good in all of us unfortunately. Oh, and Disney was never frozen. That’s just nuts.

(LEFT) The Story and Gag department at the Hyperion studio.

Just one of five small photographs—enlarged and digitally restored to bring out details—taken

by Cousin Betty Jane, circa 1938. These images have never before been published. (BELOW) Detail of shutters which feature a walking Mickey with his gloved hand raised high. Courtesy of the

SS: Did she fill you in on any of those rumors?

CS: She… it’s interesting, because that was the angle of my [journalism class] story.

Mostly, I wanted to find out the truth and what he was like and I think that she was kind of a fanboy… a fangirl. She idolized him. She said nothing bad about him. She dispelled any rumors about him being an Anti-Semite or bigot. She talked about all the diversity on the staff… she said the men were the [animators and] the women were ink and paint.

SS: There were women in the story department.

CS: I don’t remember her saying that.

It’s true! The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt (Little, Brown and Company, 2019) shares a story of how Bianca Majolie had gone to high school with Walt Disney, studied to be an artist, was stuck in a job she didn’t like, and, after corresponding with Disney, was offered work in the story department. It was 1935 just one year before animation began on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Ever hear of it?

While women were strongly discouraged from trying to find work at Disney then—even the ink and paint department, which was something like 100 women

estate of B. J. Martin.

strong, was not looking for new hires—a young writer named Grace Huntington soon joined Bianca in the story department.

Both women were warned about the rough talk of the menfolk (mercy!), but Bianca and Grace were up to the challenge. This is all recent scholarship and news to me, but I’m grateful for it. As a young student of Disney specifically and animation generally, I only “knew” that women worked in ink and paint and the great Mary Blair did backgrounds and concept work. Mock me if you must.

WHERE’S BETTY?

You may be wondering, was Cousin B. J. in the story department? No, she was not. I had always thought that she was in the ink and paint department but she wasn’t there either. So, what else was there for a young woman to do at Disney (Walt met his wife Lillian in the ink and paint department, FYI)? The Great Depression was still knocking America hard. Walt Disney was about to make his personal and potentially

(LEFT) In this 1963 photo Betty Jane, in a white top, enjoys a moment with her mother (RIGHT). Courtesy of the estate of B. J. Martin.

studio-destroying dream come true with Snow White (after all, who on Earth would sit through a feature-length cartoon?).

Ink & Paint, the Women of Walt Disney’s Animation by Mindy Johnson (Disney Editions, 2017) lists (with photos!) the women who worked at Disney over the years. Not just women in ink and paint but other departments too. Sadly, there is no mention of our cousin twice-removed.

Where was Betty Jane?

SS: Mom says that Betty Jane worked at Disney for a year or less and you said that she worked in the…

CS: She worked in the process lab.

SS: Was that film processing?

CS: Film processing. Back then all the studios had their own labs. They wouldn’t send it out to Deluxe or whoever. [Disney] owned their own lab and I don’t know exactly what she did there. I don’t imagine that she worked with chemicals because that was a man’s job back then. I do know that her heart was set on working in ink and paint. That’s what she wanted to do.

SS: But she did not make it there CS: No, I don’t think so.

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(LEFT) Disney Studios at Hyperion. Note on back of the photo: “As seen from Hyperion Blvd. just right of the main entrance. Disney’s office in center background.” (BELOW) Note on the back of the photo reads “Mr. Pickley, who was responsible for getting me my job, standing in front of the [Process Lab] door I entered each day.” Courtesy of the estate of B. J. Martin.

SS: So what year would this have been that she worked there?

CS: [She worked at] the Hyperion studios so it was pre-1940.

Betty Jane had the good fortune to live in Southern California not terribly far from Disney’s Hyperion studio, a name that references its street address: 2719 Hyperion Avenue, Los Angeles, California. A supermarket sits there now. According to my mom, Betty Jane worked for Disney around 1938 or 1939. This would have been in the wake of the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. A scrapbook of hers with Snow White clippings more or less supports this.

Her photographs also place her at Hyperion featuring additions that were made to the studio, circa 1935–1937. One photo shows the man who helped Betty Jane get her job, Leonard Pickley. Pickely was a Special Effects Supervisor (on Fantasia… you know, with all the good special effects). The process department was responsible for special effects. Did Betty Jane work on special effects for Fantasia? That very well 56

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CS: She… like a lot of people who are elderly and at a certain place in their life, they don’t want to talk about certain things. I asked her about her personal life. She just didn’t want to go there. I do think that she remembered [Walt] Disney through a very rose-colored set of glasses. Very flowery.

She remembered Walt Disney coming out every morning pushing a tea cart with donuts and, you know, welcoming everybody and addressing people by name.

Ruth McCue Saavedra (wife!): It’s kind of sad, though, if she wanted so badly to be part of [Disney] and mysterious because… why did she leave?

would have taken artistic talent. I would love to know but I don’t.

SS: How did you find her memory, because I know that she was supposed to not have a really great memory?

Betty Jane became ill and took a leave of absence from the company, according to our mom. The leave seems to have been permanent. Still, she paid attention to what was going on there after she had gone. It’s frustrating, but not much else is known of Betty Jane’s time at Disney. There is no record of her discussing the job. She did manage to save some character sketches (photocopies) and a script or two and that’s

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fun, but her actual work experience is just gone.

WALT IS WATCHING YOU

CS: Just after [Disney] moved to Burbank… this is all from her… there was a budding union movement at the studio that Walt Disney was very much against, that exploded in 1941, but she was protecting Disney by saying… The thing is Walt Disney, we now know, was an FBI informant and testified [before] the House Un-American Activities Committee, so she seemed pretty sympathetic to him and very much on his side, [saying] “the troublemakers are the reds.”

I interviewed her long-hand, writing it in my steno pad, I can’t take dictation…

You know what sticks in my mind? I [asked] why do people think that Walt Disney was frozen. Why did they think he was anti-Semite, and she said, “Oh, that was all propaganda from the reds.”

It appears that Walt Disney was indeed a contact for the FBI until he died in 1966.

It wasn’t uncommon for business leaders to suspect that union organizers were commies even if the organizing was, in fact, legal. And it’s very true that Disney was angry and hurt by the labor unrest. I didn’t go through much of Disney’s FBI file, which is available online. However, this one entry from 1954 did indicate one way to stay on the FBI’s good side:

Mr. DISNEY has volunteered representatives of this office [the Los Angeles Field Division] complete access to the facilities of Disneyland for use in connection with official matters and for recreational purposes.

WAR EFFORT

After Disney, Betty Jane went to technical school before the U.S. entered World War II to study making technical drawings and blueprints. When she graduated, she and another woman got jobs at a ship builder on

Terminal Island situated between the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach.

On their first day of work, the two women discovered that all of the other employees in their department were men. And they all had spittoons by their manly desks.

The next day, the spittoons all had flowers in them. Betty Jane likely worked there throughout the war. She did her bit!

ARTIST

Betty Jane would later tell my mom that she “dabbled” in art. I only ever heard her referred to as “an artist.” To be called an artist… in my experience people assume it means that you are a painter. When I was much younger, a co-worker found out that I was an artist and encouraged me to paint vans (“that’s where the money is”) and then produce an oil painting based on a dream he had involving hundreds of angels. I wasn’t a painter, I was a commercial artist (these days we call ourselves graphic designers). That is, I provide a service that requires artistic sensibilities.

(TOP) Written on the back of the photo: “Side view of Process Lab.” (LEFT) Examples of notes Betty Jane took while at Disney. (LEFT) At top of the notes are special effects that B. J. found notable from Snow White, and (RIGHT) an “inventory” of sights around the studio including a garage for Mickey Mouse’s car and signs in Pig-Latin. Courtesy of the estate of B. J. Martin.

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(FAR LEFT) Note on back: “Windows center of music and recording dept. Man entering hall leading to Process Lab and the theater sound stage at far right.” (LEFT) Detail of photo showing a man in a tie watching Cousin Betty Jane take her photo. Could it be Walt Disney himself? Courtesy of the estate of B. J. Martin.

Cousin B. J. was an artist and she explored her creativity in whatever medium that intrigued her.

My wife and I have a couple of pieces of Betty Jane’s work in our home. One is a copper bas-relief of a stylized geisha in a custom bamboo frame and the other is a small abstract created from crayons. She melted crayon bits like you may have done in grade school (you heard me). Actually, our walls are full of paintings and sketches

from various relations across my and Ruth’s families. Beyond the two works that we have, I haven’t seen much of anything else of hers so I have no idea the extent of her talent.

But everyone who knew her said that she was an artist, so that’s what Betty Jane was.

Not that everyone thought such a thing was worthwhile.

My maternal grandmother thought it was frivolous. Yet, Grandpa wanted to be an actor but, having a family, worked a more stable job instead. Creativity wasn’t as appreciated, I guess. My mom was creative in her way, though. She sometimes made our clothes (when we were small), liked to decorate, and unexpectedly took tap-dancing lessons once she finally stopped having kids. She was the most serious dancer in a sparkly hat that I’ve ever seen. It was if each tippity-tap slashed at her soul. “I was counting!” she would later explain. Counting is a tap-dancing thing.

Craig and I agree, in our family creativity was, if not specifically encouraged, allowed.

Actually, I was the exception. Dad encouraged me, and Mom saw that I was happy and let me be, even when she was worried about my comic book consumption.

was on wheels and [had] a bunch of saws.

I remember her garage was a single car detached garage like you’d have in the Thirties. Like the one Disney started his studio in but it was filled with tools… they might have been art tools. I’ve got a couple of her hammers and saws.

Fun Fact: In 1923, Walt Disney’s Uncle Robert’s garage became Disney’s first animation studio in California. Rent was a single dollar a month. Disney used scrap to make an animation table, and Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse’s first film, was produced there. The garage is on display at the Garden Grove Historical Society, and the animation table is at The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Fun Fact 2: Steamboat Willie is now in the public domain. And if you’d like to know why the public domain is so important, consider this: Snow White was in the public domain when Disney produced his beloved film.

REMNANTS

Betty Jane died in 2000. My mom, her brother good ol’ Uncle Bob, a couple of his kids, and my brother Craig helped clean up her home afterward.

CS: I went to her house and helped clean [it] out. Uncle Bob gave me her tool [box] that was handed down from her father. It

(LEFT) An unsigned sketchbook page with Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Pluto. Possibly drawn by Cousin Betty Jane or gifted to her by another artist.

(ABOVE) An example of Betty Jane’s own work, a bas-relief, currently resides in the Secret Sanctum’s guest room. Courtesy of the estate of B. J. Martin. Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Pluto © Disney.

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(LEFT) Betty Jane continued to follow the Disney Studio’s output long after she left the studio, including comic books like this copy of Dell’s Four Color #12 starring Bambi (1942).

Cover art by Ken Hultgren.

(ABOVE) The headline announcing the death of Walt Disney was clipped from the Long Beach Press-Telegram for Thursday, Dec. 15, 1966.

It was the last entry in her scrapbook. (BELOW) Thanks to works moving into the public domain, Scott was able to bring animation pioneer Winsor McKay’s Gertie the Dinosaur straight into Toontown for Roger Rabbit’s Toontown #2 (Sept. 1991). Cover art by Jukka Murtosaari. Bambi and Roger Rabbit’s Toontown © Disney.

What was extracted from the garage and Betty Jane’s home was disbursed to interested family members or thrown away.

What was saved wasn’t much, considering.

My mom regrets that, “Sometimes you don’t think of the right thing at the right time.” Betty Jane had married briefly, had no children, appeared to be close to my grandmother, but in the end…

I pursued this story, short as it is, because I wanted a record of her life as best as could be assembled. I didn’t want it to disappear into the dust like the poor creatures at the end of “Rite of Spring.”

SS: Is there a final thing about Betty Jane that stuck with you?

CS: She was very gentle, very nice, [but] not particularly reliable as a source of information. I remember being disappointed in the information that I was able to get. I thought that she was going to say,

“Every morning Walt would come in, pat me on the back, and say [bad Walt Disney impersonation], ‘good job, Betty Jane, those drawings look wonderful,’” and then she’d hand me a signed cel from Pinocchio… that’s what I was expecting.

SS: Well, I expect this [article] to be short and focused on [the images we have] because what she has here is interesting.

CS: But I remember being disappointed in it. [pause] You’re not recording, right?

SS: It was really great having you on my show today, Craig. Thank you for all your information.

CS: [laughter] Wait, are you recording this?

SS: [recording ends] One morning in 1989 I got a phone call, “Hi, Scott. My name is David Seidman.

How’d you’d like to work for a Mickey Mouse outfit?” David was a comic editor at Disney producing stories for foreign markets and, later, for the short-lived Disney Comics line. I accepted his challenge and became the latest generation of my family to work for Disney. A plot twist I never saw coming.

Many thanks to my brother Craig, my mom, and her brother, the fabulous Uncle Bob, for their contributions.

SCOTT SAAVEDRA is a Retro Explorer operating from his Southern California–based Secret Sanctum. He is a writer (more or less), artist (occasionally), and graphic designer (you’re soaking in it).

You can find him on Instagram as scottsaav, where he updates infrequently.

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ANDY MANGELS’ RETRO SATURDAY MORNING Welcome back to “Andy Mangels’ Retro Saturday Morning,” your constant guide to the shows that thrilled us from yesteryear, exciting our imaginations and capturing our memories. Grab some milk and cereal, sit cross-legged leaning against the couch, and dig in to Retro Saturday Morning! This issue, we’re taking you on a Funtastic journey through the wacky and wild Saturday morning adventures of… Plastic Man! One of the oldest comic book heroes—and certainly the bounciest—is Plastic Man, a wacky crook-turned-super-hero who has amused fans since his debut in 1941. “Plas” (as fans and friends call him) was created by cartoonist Jack Cole, and although the character was popular from the start, few could have ever guessed that he would become a recurring animated guest-star, or that he would headline his own animated series, have a super-powered son, and sproing back and forth from cartoons to live-action! Read on for the stretchable history of a red-suited maniac who might just pop up anywhere…

PLASTIC MAN

STRETCHING FROM THE COMICS TO TELEVISION

After working for Centaur Publishing and Lev Gleason Publications, young cartoonist Jack Cole was brought to the fold of Quality Comics in mid-1941. Owner Everett Arnold asked Cole to come up with a hero similar to the Spirit, BY a Will Eisner character that ran in comic books and ANDY newspapers. Cole decided to combine detective work MANGELS with super-heroics, creating Eel O’Brian, a safe-cracking thief who is accidentally doused with chemicals. As he healed from near-mortal injuries, O’Brien decided to reform, especially after discovering that he could now stretch his body into any shape he could conceive. Wearing a red leotard and sunglasses and dubbing himself Plastic Man, the new crimefighter first appeared in Police Comics #1 (Aug. 1941).

With a weird mix of humor and heroics, Plastic Man proved a hit, and he soon got his own sidekick, a chubby polka-dot-shirtwearing mostly-reformed crook named Woozy Winks. Plastic Man was soon not only headlining Police Comics through #102 (Oct. 1950), but he also appeared in 64 issues of his own series, Plastic Man, from 1944–1956! Quality Comics was sold to National Comics Publications (now called DC Comics) in 1956, and they revived Plastic Man for a 20-issue series from 1966–1968 and 1976–1977.

Unlike some later stretchable heroes, Plastic Man had a few unique properties. He could mimic the faces and features of others, making him an effective doppelgänger. When he took the shape of other objects, whether they were chairs, airplanes, animals, or clothing, the items would retain the red-black-and-yellow colors of (TOP) Plastic Man in the Game of Death (Vital his costume! He was essentially bulletproof and mostly indestrucPublications, with material from Quality Comics, 1943) tible, though heat would melt him, and cold would stiffen him. And was a wartime one-shot comic but is considered the through all his stories, Plas kept a manic sense of humor, pinballing first issue of the Plastic Man series. Art by Jack Cole. through stories filled with adventures and slapstick.

(ABOVE) Promotional cel for The Plastic Man Comedy/ Beginning in 1966, television networks were growing hip to the Adventure Show featuring (LEFT TO RIGHT) Penny, popularity of super-heroes, as the ABC Batman series became a Plastic Man, and Hula-Hula. It was just one of Plastic campy live-action hit, and new cartoon studio Filmation premiered Man’s television adventures. Plastic Man TM & © DC Comics.

The New Adventures of Superman on Saturday mornings (see RetroFan Cel courtesy of Heritage.

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#25). On weekday afternoons on syndicated stations, fans could watch Grantray-Lawrence’s Marvel Super-Heroes series (see RetroFan #15), featuring: Captain America, Thor, Sub-Mariner, Iron Man, and Hulk.

National made a deal with Hal Seeger Animation Productions in 1966 to try to sell Plastic Man as an animated series. Seeger was working on ABC’s Milton the Monster Show (1965–1966) and the syndicated Batfink (1966–1967), the latter of which was already a parody of super-heroes. Comic scribe Arnold Drake wrote a Plastic Man pilot script, which was referenced in the letters column of Plastic Man vol. 2 #2 (Feb. 1967): “The pilot film was written by amiable Arnie Drake and made by Hal Seegar Productions, which has racked up a raft of television triumphs. Negotiations with networks and sponsors are now under way, so there’s every indication that PM will be aired on prime time early next year.”

Unfortunately, nothing ever became of this pilot, and no artwork or indication that it was ever animated has surfaced.

Plastic Man guest-starred on Season One of Super Friends and is seen here with Superman. © DC Comics. guest-appearances of the Flash, Green Arrow, and Plastic Man. The voice of Plas was Norman Alden, who already voiced Aquaman for the Super Friends show. Whether Hanna-Barbera ever planned to do anything further with those three heroes is unknown, although the Flash did eventually appear in future Super Friends seasons.

A PLASTIC LAWSUIT

(LEFT) Plastic Man #1 (DC, Nov.–Dec. 1966). Art by Gil Kane. (RIGHT) Plastic Man #11 (DC, Feb.–Mar. 1976). Art

by Ramona Fradon. © DC Comics.

Soon, most of DC’s other heroes were being developed

by Filmation, which planned to include them as part of The Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure on CBS in the fall of 1967. Filmation developed concepts to bring to the screens Green Lantern, Green Arrow, the Flash, Hawkman, Doom Patrol, B’wana Beast, the Atom, Wonder Woman, Metamorpho, Blackhawks, Teen Titans, the Justice League, and Plastic Man, among others. A few of those concepts did make it onto the screen as guest-hero segments on the series, but most never went beyond their initial development.

Plastic Man would finally make his animated debut on ABC’s Super Friends, debuting on September 8, 1973 (see RetroFan #26). That first season of stories saw one-episode

(RIGHT) Plastic Man model sheet prepared for his Super Friends episode in 1973. Art by Alex Toth. © DC Comics.

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In early 1977, Filmation announced that they would be producing a 90-minute live-action Plastic Man movie for NBC, and they began shopping an animated series as well. Nobody seemed interested, though, and Filmation gave up on the idea.

The following year, though, Filmation produced Tarzan and the Super 7 for CBS (see RetroFan #15), and one of its segments was titled Superstretch and Microwoman. That segment was a first for Saturday mornings: it starred a pair of married African-American crime-fighters! They were Chris Cross, who could stretch his body into any shape, and Christy Cross, who could shrink down to tiny sizes. Another segment on the series was Manta and Moray, which featured two aquatic-themed characters.

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DC Comics took umbrage to the two segments, and in 1978 filed a lawsuit against Filmation, which detailed more about the relationship between the companies and how Plastic Man was entangled in the mess. The court documents state: Since 1967, plaintiff has marketed comic books using the Plastic Man character. Plastic Man, a crime-fighter, has the ability to stretch and assume the shape of inanimate objects that retain the color and design of his costume. Since September 1979, plaintiff has exhibited a Plastic Man animated series over the ABC television network.

Defendant, a Nevada corporation having its principal place of business in California, makes live and animated television film series, sometimes for its own account and sometimes for others, including plaintiff. In 1967, defendant created the Aquaman series for plaintiff under a contract. In 1976, plaintiff granted defendant an option to produce a live or animated Plastic Man show, but defendant never exercised the option.

In September 1978, defendant began exhibiting over the CBS television network two animated series which are the subject of this lawsuit— Manta and Moray and Superstretch, both as part of the Tarzan and Super Seven show. Exhibition continues today. Defendant also licenses others to market toys and games based on the Manta and Moray and Superstretch series.

Manta is an underwater hero. Moray is his female companion.

Whiskers is their walrus-like companion.

Superstretch has essentially the same abilities as Plastic Man. In addition he has a wife, Microwoman, and a pet dog, both of whom often accompany him on his adventures.

Initially, Filmation appeared to lose in the resulting trial, with verdicts finding special compensatory damages on the Aquaman claims in the amount of $389,091.75, and special compensatory damages on the Plastic Man claims in the amount of $817,765.50.

“Because we had licensed and tried to sell a Plastic Man show prior to creating Superstretch and Microwoman, and had not succeeded, our actions became suspect,” said Filmation head Lou Scheimer in our joint book for TwoMorrows, Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation. “We had sold Superstretch to CBS during the time we had an option on Plastic Man, and then DC had sold—through Ruby-Spears—their own 1979 Plastic Man series to ABC. The jury and judge found that DC might have sold their show earlier had we not done Superstretch. This meant that we were found to owe damages in two claims: breach of contract and breach of confidential relationship. Damages were based on lost television profits and potential negative effects on licensing revenue; no damages were incurred by the declining sales of the Plastic Man comic book series, though.”

When a judge reconsidered the verdict, DC’s wins were almost entirely wiped out. The damages of $389,091.75 for the Aquaman claims were thrown out completely, and only two claims for Plastic Man versus Superstretch were upheld. The damage awards issued to DC for those two claims went from $817,765.50 to $221,339. DC was not given attorney’s fees, an accounting, or destruction of the Filmation films and underlying materials. DC was granted an injunction, that Filmation would not make any further Manta and

Detail from a DC house ad promising an animated Plastic Man cartoon for 1966 that never happened. (The Wonder Woman and Metamorpho toons were also scuttled.) © DC Comics.

Moray or Superstretch and Microwoman cartoons. Although the case did bring about major changes in intellectual and copyright law, it barely benefitted DC Comics at all, probably costing them more in attorney fees than they gained (see RetroFan #15 for far more on this lawsuit).

So, what of the ABC Plastic Man show we’ve now mentioned a few times? Glad you asked!

BOUNCING HIS WAY ONTO TV SCREENS

Through the early days of Saturday morning animation, two studios had dominated the market: Filmation Associates and Hanna-Barbera Productions. Working side-by-side at HannaBarbera were Joseph Ruby (film editor) and Kenneth Spears (track reader). In 1959, the pair began to write episodes of series such as Space Ghost and Herculoids together and develop shows. Their first big hit was Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, which they co-created, but they left shortly after all the new episodes for the series were completed, frustrated that they couldn’t move up on the ladder to the role of associate producers. After a period of time at DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Ruby and Spears began working for Fred Silverman at CBS—and then ABC—taking West Coast pitches for the New York–based executive. Because networks worked closely with studios on content at that time, Silverman asked them to help supervise the Saturday morning shows, and in 1977, they founded Ruby-Spears Productions, a direct animation competitor to Hanna-Barbera and Filmation. Their first series was 1978’s

Plastic Man battles a giant squid to save his friends Penny and Hula-Hula in this promotional cel from The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show. © DC Comics.

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Fangface, followed in 1979 “Another was that Character model sheet details for The

by The Plastic Man Comedy/ ABC, respecting certain Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show. (LEFT Adventure Show. urgings of parents’ TO RIGHT) The Chief, Hula-Hula, and It’s important to note groups, then had all sorts Penny. © DC Comics. that Filmation’s initial of rules about the content of their Saturday morning plans for Plastic Man were shows that involved inserting ‘educational’ content and on NBC, and that they had a strong relationship with CBS. Filmation certain pro-social values… Among the pro-social requirements at did not have a good relationship with ABC, having ended their busi- that moment was that every show that particular year had to have ness liaisons bitterly over a 1976 series called Uncle Croc’s Block. And minority representation. Someone in it had to not be a white guy.

ABC was already airing Super Friends, so with insiders Ruby-Spears As it was explained to me, Standards and Practices at ABC had and a ready-made relationship with DC, a Plastic Man series was an made up a list of racial and ethnic minorities and it was kind of like easy sell. Ruby-Spears paid $188,000 to DC Comics to license Plas, ‘Pick one.’ Joe Ruby, one of the producers of the show, looked it over and development began for a Fall 1979 debut. and picked ‘Hawaiian.’ He and Norman had previously invented The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show followed Plas (voiced by a sidekick for Plas who had perpetual bad luck and whose voice Michael Bell), who was an agent for a covert government agency. would be based somewhat on Lou Costello’s. They had the fine He would fly around the world in his PlastiJet (or occasionally drive animation designer (and producer of the show) Jerry Eisenberg his PlastiCar), fighting goofy super-criminals and helping mere convert that character’s look to Hawaiian and named him Coconut. mortals. Aiding him along the way were the comely Southern belle Around or about the last minute, someone heard that was an Penny (voiced by Melendy Britt), and—replacing Woozy Winks—a ethnic slur so he was renamed Hula-Hula.” portly Hawaiian man named Hula-Hula (voiced by Joe Baker, doing Several of Plastic Man’s comic book foes were translated for a Lou Costello impression), who was constantly having bad luck. the screen, including his arch-enemy Doctor Dome (voiced by Heading the covert operation was the Chief, a vivacious ravenHoward Morris). Other foes on the show included Doctor Honctoff, haired woman with a formidable white streak in her hair (also Carrotman, Nefario, Computerhead, Dr. Duplicator, Dr. Astro, the voiced by Britt). A romantic triangle of sorts Weed, the Clam, Half-Ape, Crime Clown, existed, as Plas lusted after the Chief, while Mr. Meteor, Hugefoot, and Disco Mummy.

Penny only had eyes for Plas. Hula-Hula, in As can be expected from “villains” with turn, mostly had love for food. names like that, the majority of Plastic The reason that Woozy Winks was Man’s stories emphasized comedy and replaced by Hula-Hula are not what most weirdness over physical action or danger. people expect. As series writer Mark Evanier Michael Bell, who was tremendously explained on his blog, Notes From Me, “As it familiar to TV fans of the day for being the was explained to me, none of them were voice of the Parkay margarine commercials, mad about Woozy… and they weren’t really was the sarcastic and nasally voice of Plastic trying to adapt the old Jack Cole comics for Man. He said this to Xun Yukinori in a 2009 television. The mission was to take the idea interview for The Toon Zone: “I loved comic of this guy named Plastic Man and find a new, modern-day context in which he could operate. I doubt anyone even looked much Voice actor Michael Bell, a comic at the old comics. So that was one reason book fan, was thrilled to voice the Mr. Winks was in absentia. one and only Plas. IMDb.com.

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(THIS PAGE) While Plastic Man’s zany villains often left our hero feeling deflated or tied up in knots, the Pliable Pretzel’s Saturday morning cartoon also allowed our hero to stretch his muscles in super-heroic action. © DC Comics.

books. There was Plastic Man, the Sub-Mariner, and young Billy Batson who became… ‘Holy Moley!’ Captain Marvel. Those were my faves. But I loved Plastic Man. I just thought he was so great. It was so amazing all the stuff he did. Really imaginative. So when I got cast in the series, I said, ‘This is fabulous! I’m playing my childhood hero.’”

Of his voice for Plas, Bell said, “I tried several different approaches. At that time, Don Adams was very successful with Get Smart—so [the director] said, ‘Can you do the Get Smart character [Agent 86]?’ And that’s what I ended up doing. It was that kind of clipped phrasing.” Bell also played other voice roles on the show at the behest of producers, who said, ‘Okay, this is going to be a show with ‘visiting guests’, but we don’t have major bucks. Can you do other characters? Bystanders? Bad guys? Occasional dogs, etc.?’ And I said, ‘Sure.’ So I wound up doing all those guest characters, and Ruby Spears really let me play! …I had the most fun because I had so many heavies to do that I had to keep changing… I did some lame impressions, i.e. [Jack] Palance, [Rod] Steiger, etc., and all the other big heavies I could muster up in that period. It was really great fun and a chance to stretch (no pun intended).”

The first season of The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show was run as a two-hour block, including not only the Plastic Man shows (often two stories per week) but also adventures for the following

series: Mighty Man and Yukk (about a shrunken super-hero and his talking dog), Fangface and Fangpuss (wacky werewolf adventures), Fangface (solo reruns of the previous season), and Rickety Rocket (mystery-solving African-American kids in the future). The show also included helpful advice for kids in the way of 30-second “Plastic Man Consumer Tips.” The two-hour format only lasted a few months, and in December 1979, the show was cut back to 90 minutes.

The Consumer Tips were a part of the network’s attempts to be prosocial for kids. Representatives from the Bank Street College of Education oversaw all ABC shows, and helped to craft the 30 Plastic Man tips which included topics such as reading product information while shopping, comparing prices in stores, and how to critically evaluate messages from commercials.

On Sunday evening, September 2, 1979, ABC aired a prime-time Saturday morning preview special (see RetroFan #10) titled Plastic Man and ABC Saturday Morning Sneak Peek. “Out of the pages of DC Comics comes Plastic Man!” So began ABC’s 1979 preview, which was co-hosted by the animated stretchable hero—watching a super-size TV with Penny and Hula-Hula—and live-action Kids Are People Too entertainer Michael Young. It would be the only preview special to include a fully-animated episode of a TV series—in this case, Plastic Man—which was never rerun!

Throughout the episode, the all-new Plastic Man episode “Louse of Wax” was presented in long segments, in which the evil candleheaded Wick was angry at Plastic Man for stealing the spotlight from Wick’s Wax Museum. Inside the museum were various monsters, including Frankenstein, Dracula, a Yeti, a pineapple creature, and seen from behind in one shot, Mickey Mouse in Fantasia’s sorcerer robes! Later that night, Plas was supposed to meet and RETROFAN

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entertain the Maharajah of Rinjapur and get a priceless pearl, but Wick pitted him against the watery Creature, a Viking, a caveman, and a pirate, and the hero was captured. Wick took Plas’ shape to steal the Maharajah’s pearl, and fooled Penny into going with him aboard the PlastiJet. Luckily, Hula-Hula helped free Plas, and the day was saved. Too bad that due to the adventure, Penny and Hula-Hula were the only ones that got to watch the TV previews, but the Chief gave Plas a quick taste of the new fall lineup before the show closed.

Besides being the only Plastic Man never re-aired, “Louse of Wax” contains two other distinctions. First, Plas made a reference to both Batman and the Super Friends, establishing himself firmly in the DC Universe. Secondly, the opening sequence actually included a very brief explanation of Plas’ origin, including an animated reproduction of the splash image of Jack Cole’s art from Police Comics #1, the first appearance of Plastic Man! Although the Plastic Man cartoon series would show a different comic book in the opening scenes (Plastic Man vol. 2 #11), the special featured its own exclusive cover.

The other oddity for the Ruby-Spears Production special was that it was aired several weeks early—due to a cartoonists strike scuttling premiere plans—as a supertext would spell out every time Young would mention the new Saturday mornings: “New season starts 2 weeks from Saturday.” Due to this, a second special—the one-hour The Plastic Man Preview Hour—was run on Saturday, September 15, alongside The Best of Super Friends!, a rerun of the Out of the Blue premiere, and a Saturday version of Kids Are People Too. The official new season began the following week, on September 22nd!

Writer Mark Evanier notes of the production and scheduling of the special, “I have no idea why the Plastic Man special aired the way it did. I know we put it together in record time—it was one of the fastest cartoon shows ever produced for television. I think from the time I wrote the script to the time it aired was about six weeks. We had finished production on Plastic Man for the time being. I got called in and I was told, ‘We need to write another episode of Plastic Man and you’re the fastest writer we’ve got.’ I had a bunch of outlines that I had written for the Plastic Man show and they hadn’t used them all.

We looked over the leftover outlines and Joe Ruby said, ‘I like this one; let’s do this one.’ I described to Jerry Eisenberg, one of the producers, what

(ABOVE) Plastic Man meets the Wick in the unique Plastic Man Preview Hour special. (RIGHT) A Jerry Eisenberg illustration featuring Plastic Man and his son Baby Plas. © DC Comics.

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the villain would look like—the guy with candle on his head. He designed the character literally before I wrote the script. I went home and wrote the script in one or maybe two nights. They recorded it the next day. It was the fastest show ever produced.

We literally had no time and the animation was going on.”

As for the comics-accurate opening, Evanier notes that he rewrote the opening for the series—announced by Dick Tufeld—because the main series opening wasn’t completed yet!

“I just rewrote it for the special because the animation for the opening of the show wasn’t done yet. Somebody else animated that [series opening]. I just expanded it a little bit for no visible reason.

The reason we did a lot of things on this show was because it occurred to me to do them because I had a day to write this thing.” And was Evanier responsible for the Mickey Mouse cameo? He claims he wasn’t responsible, and only learned of it when the show was completed. “I didn’t see this thing until it aired on ABC the first time.”

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show debuted on September 22, 1979, and ran for a year. Because ABC had committed to the series for two years, a second season was commissioned, with a slightly different take. For its second season, the show was retitled as The Plastic Man/Baby Plas Super Comedy, and cut to a half-hour.

Now, Plas and Penny were a married couple, and they had a son named Plas (also voiced by Michael Bell). The toddler had the same stretching abilities and costume as his father, and also had a penchant for getting into all kinds of troubles. Each show featured a lead “The Plastic Family” episode—it was a rarity that a nuclear family was featured on a new animated series—a secondary “Baby Plas” adventure, and more “Plastic Man Consumer Tips.” The second season ran from October 4, 1980 to September 5, 1981.

Ironically, before going to syndication, The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show was rerun on CBS—not ABC—from November 1983 to February 1984, replacing the second season of The Dukes, an animated spin-off of The Dukes of Hazzard.

PLASTIC MAN COMES TO LIFE!

Later in 1984, Arlington Television (a divisional offshoot of Golden West Television, owned by Jeff Simmons) repackaged the show as The Plasticman Comedy Adventure Show—turning the two-words in Plas’ name into one—and used it as a catch-all daily first-run, off-network daily syndication series that featured almost all of Ruby-Spears’ animated content to date. The daily show included story segments from Plastic Man, Baby

andy mangels’ retro saturday morning

Plas, Mighty Man & Yukk, Rickety Rocket, Heathcliff and The Dingbats, Marmaduke, Fangface, Goldie Gold, and Action Jack! But to host the series—because many syndicated animation blocks featured a host—producer/director Steve Whiting hit on the idea of filming new segments with a live-action host.

Working for Santa Monica-based Arlington Television Sales, Whiting—then a Redwood City independent video producer—told the San Francisco Chronicle in 1986 that, “They literally thrust these dusty film canisters [from Ruby-Spears] at me and said, ‘Here, see if you can get these ready for syndication.’” Among the many shows was Plastic Man. “I used to read his comic books, and remembered how he could stretch himself into different shapes, slip under doors —great stuff. I thought, ‘Why don’t we have a live Plastic Man who introduces the cartoons?’ I remembered how I had enjoyed watching a live host every day.”

Whiting did have to get his pitch by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears to get the job, though. As he told Marc Tyler Nobleman for his Noblemania website, “I pitched them my idea of a live Plastic Man hosting the show from the PlastiJet and talking directly to the young viewers as friends. They bought the creative concept on the spot. I got the gig with full control to produce it in the San Francisco Bay Area.” Repackaging the shows for syndication was a bit like putting a puzzle together, creating a new show from the original elements and matching time versus longer commercial breaks. Whiting had to edit some shows to fit the necessary time frames.

Whiting had a set built at Versatile Videos in Sunnyvale, California, that resembled the PlastiJet seen in the Plastic Man cartoons. He hired some veteran TV writers—Steve Arwood from Nashville’s Riders in the Sky, and Rick Sanchec—to script a host of intros for the show. He then had to find an actor to portray the hero who wouldn’t mind being seen in skintight spandex. How about someone who had already posed in a lot less? Enter Mark Craig Taylor, Playgirl magazine’s nude male “Man for October” in 1980.

Taylor was a comedian and a Yale graduate with a degree in psychology, and had done improv with San Francisco groups such as the Screaming Memes and Marks to Morrissey comedy groups.

Now struggling to keep a solo career going, Taylor jumped at the opportunity to become a super-hero. “Most entertainers are hard-up mothers,” Taylor told the SF Chronicle. “If somebody offered me a lot of money to sell catsup, I’d do it. I’m struggling. I’m in debt.

If they didn’t get me, they’d get somebody else. I couldn’t refuse it.”

A casting agency helped to find the right man for Plas, and Whiting recalls that they saw Mark Taylor doing stand-up in San

Francisco and brought him in. “We went through a lot of people,” Whiting said in a promotional newspaper piece. “But when Taylor walked in, he was it. He’s brilliant at ad lib and we’ve been able to use more special effects than we thought we could, simply because Taylor’s been able to carry off the lines.”

Of the audition, Taylor told the Noblemania website that, “I think I had to read a script and see if I could get in the ballpark of that voice. They had a couple of different cartoon voices. I was looking for a voice similar to Don Adams’ Get Smart. I was a fairly trim, fit guy and if they just added a little shoulder (LEFT) Plastic Man as portrayed muscle, they could

by Mark C. Taylor. (RIGHT) make a super-hero out Plastic Man at Taylor’s of me. It didn’t take a lot daughter’s fifth birthday. © DC of padding to make it Comics. happen.”

Whiting and Taylor looked at the veteran writers’ scripts—each about two pages—and decided to throw parts of them out because they talked down to the audience, while they used other parts to ad lib from. They wanted to do something a little more sophisticated, making a move that might bring in audiences of all ages. “We decided this wouldn’t be one of those kiddie shows where the actor talks down to the audience,” said Taylor in the SF Chronicle. “We wanted it to be genuinely funny, more camp than corny.” This even included a few winking double entendres for adult viewers.

Taylor wore a custom muscle suit to pad out his body, and leotards and a wig that exactly (LEFT) Taylor’s matched both the animated head shot. (RIGHT) character and his comic book Taylor discusses progenitor. The costume was an upcoming scene done by a San Francisco stage with director Steve designer. Early special effects Whiting. © DC Comics. work was accomplished with tons of red-painted props to make Plas stretch into shapes just as he did in the cartoons.

“There were no typical segments,” Whiting said on the Noblemania website. “The straightforward introductions and segue throwaways went quite quickly, and we could do two or three of those in an hour. When we were shooting shots that we knew we were going to manipulate in post-production using what was at the time very advanced DVE (Digital Video Effects), it took a lot longer. Stuff we did on green screen at that time was very precise and difficult to make work at all convincingly. Some introductions with effects and rigging by our gaffers and effects RETROFAN

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guys would take two or three hours to set up. When, on camera, our Plastic Man transforms from a tire to himself and moves right into an introduction, for example, it took about two hours to set up. It still stands up today… so to speak. Some great stage and video edit technicians put their heads together to make that work impressively for its time.”

In his introductions, Plas would sometimes even interact with animated cast members on the viewscreen aboard the PlastiJet set; it helped that Whiting had gone through all the cartoons to restore and assemble them, so he could pull out funny moments of “breaking the fourth wall” style years before Deadpool or She-Hulk would do the same. Whiting’s promotional website notes that Plas talks, “directly to his audience. It’s obvious that he can see them as well as they can see him.”

Filming the 130 intros, wraparounds, and closes took around six weeks, before Whiting and his team entered the post-production phase. Each episode had to be precisely 28:30, with blank spots on the film for commercials.

Arlington put out the 130 half-hour episodes to national, first-run-off-network weekday syndication in 1984—130 on a five-day Monday–Friday schedule provided six months without a rerun—and the show proved to be a major hit. It played in over 200 U.S. markets and actually became more profitable in syndication than it had been in its original network run! Whiting’s cost for

FAST FACTS

THE PLASTIC MAN COMEDY/ADVENTURE SHOW f No. of seasons: One f Studio: Ruby-Spears Productions f Original run: September 22, 1979–September 27, 1980 (ABC) f No. of episodes: 16 (multi-story episodes) (plus one special)

THE PLASTIC MAN/BABY PLAS SUPER COMEDY f No. of seasons: One f Studio: Ruby-Spears Productions f Original run: October 4, 1980–September 5, 1981 (ABC) f No. of episodes: 13 (multi-story episodes) f Michael Bell: Plastic Man, Baby Plas f Melendy Britt: Penny, the Chief f Joe Baker: Hula-Hula

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© DC Comics.

PRIMARY VOICE PERFORMER CAST

producing the series was about $300,000. Soon enough, the show grossed $4 million in market sales! It remained one of the more popular syndicated packages until Disney started muscling in on the territory in 1987.

Whiting and Taylor weren’t done with promoting the show once it was up and running, though. Mark put on the costume and goggles and embarked on “The Plastic Man Personal Appearance Blitz.” He co-hosted a segment of Evening Magazine in San Francisco that was nominated for a local Emmy Award. He visited businesses and children’s events, supermarket openings, charity drives, and conventions. He patrolled the halls of the NATPE (National Association of Television Programming Executives) Convention, as television buyers milled about deciding on what shows to purchase (that NATPE was where Taylor met his wife-to-be). He even appeared at the 1984 Democratic National Convention, meeting political luminaries such as Jesse Jackson and Walter Mondale!

Through all the filming and success, Taylor kept a sense of humor… especially because he was still performing comedy. “I certainly don’t think the thing’s a masterpiece,” he told the SF Chronicle. “I think people can’t believe that someone has the guts to do this sort of thing. I mean, here’s this guy who’s willing to wear tights and goggles. I think they tune in just to see if I’m for real.”

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show was later rerun on Cartoon Network starting in 1993, and has appeared on other platforms. Mark Taylor—or Taylor Marks as he is sometimes billed—continued performing until 1995, when he had a stroke brought on by complications from brain surgery. The resulting partial paralysis and speech problems ended his career, while he rebuilt his motor control and his life.

SO MANY PLASTIC MEN

Since Plas left the air, he’s never truly been gone from Hollywood, with the stretchable hero popping up in animated projects galore, and constantly in development for live-action.

andy mangels’ retro saturday morning

(ABOVE) Batman and Plastic Man in an aired but rejected pilot episode for a proposed Plastic Man show. (BELOW) Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants!) provided the voice in the Plastic Man pilot and Brave and the Bold appearance. © DC

In 2006, Warner Bros. and Cartoon Network commissioned a Plastic Man television pilot, produced by Andy Suriano and Tom Kenny.

‘Mazing Man comic creator Comics.

Stephen DeStefano designed and storyboarded the pilot, titled “Puddle Trouble,” and Tom Kenny did the voice of Plas. Sadly, the Cartoon Network passed on the series, but “Puddle Trouble” was later released on the Plastic Man DVD set, as well as on the DC Universe streaming and YouTube channels.

Kenny wasn’t finished with Plastic Man, however, and again appeared as the character for the fantastic retro-style Batman: The Brave and the Bold on Cartoon Network from 2008–2011.

Plas appeared in at least seven episodes, including stories that recounted his origin, introduced the new Baby Plas, saw him working alongside DC’s other stretchable sleuth Elongated Man, and had him joining the Justice League (a story point mirrored in comics of the day).

More Plastic Man shorts based on the “Puddle Trouble” short were produced by Warner as part of the DC Nation Shorts. At least six episodes of Plastic Man were created for the 2012–2013 series, with Kenny returning to voice Plas again. Kenny has also voiced Plas for the direct-to-DVD projects Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League vs. Bizarro League (2015), Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash (2018), and in 2018’s Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Plastic Man would bounce back to make cameos, including non-speaking appearances in Young Justice, and comedic bits for Mad TV (where he was voiced by Dana Snyder), Robot Chicken, and Justice League Action (Snyder again). He has a non-speaking appearance in Justice League: The New Frontier (2008), was voiced by Joey Cappabianca in 2018’s Teen Titans Go! to the Movies, and has recently been vocalized by Oliver Hudson in 2021’s Injustice DVD.

Since the 1980s, Warner Bros. Pictures had been developing a live-action Plastic Man film. In 1988, director Joe Dante planned a film, with Peter Guber and Jon Peters set to produce. Scripts were written for it by Charles Gale and Joe Lafia. Paul “Pee-wee Herman” Reubens was in discussions to star. A second-draft script this writer has by Gale is dated February 16, 1989. The story was set in 1941, and Eel O’Brien was a low-level rook who accidentally gains his powers and ended up fighting Nazi spies. Gale eventually left the project, telling Comics Scene magazine in 1994 that, “I didn’t see enough material there for a feature film for me, personally… I don’t see anything inherently exciting about Plastic Man, so I bowed out. I read it as a kid, and Plastic Man was a very strange comic—very cold and uninvolving.”

Amblin Entertainment stepped up in 1990, commissioning a new script by Larry Wilson (later joined by Leslie Dixon) and planning the films for Summer 1993 to be produced and directed by Bryan Spicer. Paul Reubens was now signed to star, and DC Comics staffers were informed (see sister magazine Back Issue #3). “Plastic Man is different than Superman because he’s a hero who starts off as a criminal,” Spicer said in a 1994 interview in Comics Scene #46. He also revealed that at one point, preproduction had started—with Tom Sanders as production designer, Bob Ringwood as costume designer, and Joan Bradshaw as a co-producer—but that it had shut down again while waiting for a better script. It also may have been shut down due to the arrest of Paul Reubens at an adult theater in Sarasota, Florida on July 26, 1991, but that could just be a coincidence in timing.

In March 1995, the Matrix creators, Larry and Andy (now Lilly and Lana) Wachowski, wrote a comedic screenplay, with Andy (Lana) telling an MTV reporter that, “The basic idea we came up with was that [Plastic Man] would be an environmentalist, almost like an Earth First-er-type guy.” Rumors swirled that by 1996, director Geoffrey Wright was attached, and actor Jeff Goldblum was rumored to be involved. But that project eventually melted away, and Plas took a brief slumber. As he revealed in a 2023 tweet, James Gunn also took a stretch for the film: “Matt (Matthew Lillard) and I sat in a trailer with the head of Warner Bros, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, on the set of Scooby-Doo in 2000 (!!!) and told him we wanted to do Plastic Man.” More than a decade later, Kevin Smith and Geoff Johns pitched an animated film to Warner, with Big Bang star Jim Parsons

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Plastic Man and Batman brace themselves for battle in Batman: Brave and the Bold. © DC Comics.

voicing Plas, but that never went anywhere. In 2018, another new film project was announced, with Robert Shaye producing and a script by Amanda Odoko. In 2020, Cat Vasko was hired to rewrite the script, turning the Plastic Man film into Plastic Woman instead. Current rumors from Warner’s James Gunn era are that director Darren Aronofsky could now be circling a Plastic Man film project…

THE MELTED PLASTIC LEGACY OF THE SHOW

With the popularity of Plastic Man, the lack of home media for the character is mystifying. At least one VHS tape was released in America in 1986, with at least one British and one Australian release as well, all licensed through Worldvision.

In March 2005, when this author was working with the production team at BCI Eclipse—where I produced about 36 DVD sets of Saturday morning cartoons—we attempted to get the rights to release The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show. The plan was for these to have been the entire syndicated show as aired, showcasing all of the Ruby-Spears segments and featuring all of the live-action intros and extras. Speaking of extras, there would have been rare footage and photos of filming for Mark Taylor, as well as interviews with Taylor, producer Whiting, and voice actors and show writers for the various Ruby-Spears programs.

For reasons only clear to the legal and budget-minded “bean counters” at BCI, The Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show deal did not proceed.

Four years later, on October 20, 2009, Warner Home Video released many of the Plastic Man segments to DVD in The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show: The Complete Collection. Although 35 of the short adventures are on the two-disc set, it is far from complete: missing are any of the “Plastic Family” or “Baby Plas” stories, as well as the rare “Louse of Wax” pilot episode. Even worse: the Plastic Man Consumer Tips were gone!

Today, Michael Bell and Melendy Britt still occasionally do conventions, and are not shy about signing Plastic Man memorabilia. Neither is Mark Taylor, who even had some specialty jackets made up by Angel’s Wrestling Wear for special appearances; one 70

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looks like his old costume with an eight-foot stretched arm looped up in the air.

He doesn’t appear often at conventions, though, spending most of his time now as a physical therapist, helping others rehabilitate from injuries or other medical complications.

As anticipation builds for whatever James Gunn has cooked up for his future DC plans—and with his past interest in Plastic Man, one can expect that to rear its head again—fans can reasonably expect that they may see new material. Sadly, whether fans will ever get to officially see the old material—whether it is the Ruby-Spears shows, the live show intros, or even the more modern shorts for DC Nation—is unknown. Keep an eye out, though… if you see something bright red with yellow and black trim, and a suspicious pair of white sunglasses, it could be a sign that Plastic Man is about to bounce back into the spotlight!

We’ll see you in the next issue of RetroFan as we take on the Jackson 5, the Beatles, and other real rockers of Saturday morning!

Unless otherwise credited, artwork and photos are courtesy the collection of Andy Mangels. Some photos are from Heritage Auctions. Marc Tyler Nobleman’s website quoted with permission above is at www. noblemania.com ANDY MANGELS is the USA Today best-selling author and co-author of 30 books, including the TwoMorrows book Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation, as well as Star Trek and Star Wars tomes, Iron Man: Beneath the Armor, and a lot of comic books. He recently wrote the bestselling Wonder Woman ’77 Meets The Bionic Woman series for Dynamite and DC Comics, and has written six Fractured Fairy Tales graphic novels for Junior High audiences, released by Abdo Books, as well as Bookazine projects (available at any grocery store checkout) on Ant-Man, Iron Man, The Little Mermaid. He is currently working on a series of graphic novels for the online game Planet Xolo, Kickstarter graphic novels for The Patchwork Girl of Oz and Born with the Devil In Me: The Life and Deaths of H.H. Holmes, and a book about the stage productions of Stephen King. Additionally, he has scripted, directed, and produced Special Features and documentaries for over 40 DVD releases. His moustache is infamous. Follow him on multiple sites at https://linktr. ee/andymangels

WILL MURRAY’S 20TH CENTURY PANOPTICON

Remo Williams and the

BY WILL MURRAY

Secret of Sinanju

You never know where your freelance writing career is going to take you.

In 1985, it carried me to my first movie shooting location, Mexico City. The project was Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins.

This was not a direction I ever expected. I had just a few books to my name at that time. One, The Assassin’s Handbook, was devoted to the bestselling Destroyer paperback series that debuted in 1971. I had also ghostwritten a single novel in the series. Encounter Group had come out the previous year.

I had interviewed series creators Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir for a small-press mystery magazine called Skullduggery. But it folded before the story saw print. Jim Steranko’s Prevue had it under consideration, but the interview was never published there. When Sapir and Murphy read my piece, they asked to use it as the nucleus of a non-fiction book on their series. More importantly, they hired me to assemble it. This became The Assassin’s Handbook.

In 1982, Prevue managing editor David McDonnell left for Starlog magazine. Before long, he was editing Starlog.

I had written a couple of minor pieces for Starlog. Although I loved science fiction movies, I was no film expert and did not expect to ever contribute much.

When the Destroyer movie was announced in 1984, Dave asked me to interview Sapir and Murphy for a short news piece. Thanks to my access to the creators, I got some wonderful quotes regarding

(ABOVE) The adventure begins! And then it ends!

Poster for Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, starring Fred Ward as the title star, a transplant from the Destroyer series of action novels. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins © 1985 Orion Pictures. Courtesy of Heritage.

their opinions of Lorenzo Semple’s original script, their own unsuccessful attempt, and the Christopher Wood shooting script.

Imagine my surprise when Dave called me a year later to ask if I wanted to fly to Mexico City to cover Remo Williams and the Secret of Sinanju, as they were calling it then. All expenses paid.

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up to that point, none of them in the film business. I wasn’t sure if this was my thing.

But Dick Sapir strongly encouraged me and so I decided to go.

Dave assigned me purely on the basis of my Destroyer expertise and access to Sapir and Murphy. I figured it was a one-shot deal. Was I ever wrong!

As Dave later explained it to me, the Remo assignment was not viewed as important, and if I fumbled the assignment, his other writers could pick up the pieces later. But if I proved myself, he could add me to his roster of film correspondents.

I had no inkling of this. And so off I winged to Mexico.

I was naturally excited. Remo starred Fred Ward, who had recently come to prominence in The Right Stuff playing astronaut Gus Grissom.

Joel Grey was his Korean mentor, Chiun, the Master of the deadly martial art called Sinanju, whose job it was to train Remo Williams in Sinanju, thereby making him the perfect assassin for the secret U.S. government agency known as CURE. Four-time James Bond director Guy Hamilton was helming the project. Screenwriter Christopher Wood had done The Spy Who Loves Me and Moonraker. Orion Pictures hoped Remo would become the next Bond.

This was a press junket, so I was embedded with a small group of seasoned journalists. Among them was James van Hise, whose articles I had read in various comic book fanzines. Also, the now-legendary Ben Fong-Torres of Rolling Stone magazine and novelist T.E.D. Klein.

The way junkets work is that a unit publicist essentially acts as the reporter wrangler. Paul Sammon was his name.

It was his job to escort us to the various sets and locations and introduce us to the talent.

(ABOVE) Movie Remo Williams Fred Ward (INSET) had garnered attention from moviegoers in the role of astronaut Gus Grissom (TOP RIGHT) in the 1983 historical drama, The Right Stuff. The Right Stuff © 1983 Warner Bros. Fred Ward photo credit: IMdB. com. (RIGHT) Director Guy Hamilton.

Courtesy of the Movie Database.

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I remember meeting my first actor in the hallway of the Hotel Krystal Rosa the night of our arrival. J. A. Preston was then playing the mayor on Hill Street Blues. In this film, he was CURE operative Conn MacCleary. On TV, Preston wore sharp three-piece suits. Here, he was attired in a flowered shirt and black vinyl pants. It was a little jarring, but he was nice.

The next morning, we were taken by van along a dusty road, leading up to an extinct volcano known as the Hill of the Star. It’s a legendary place. Atop its flat summit, the Toltec culture hero Quetzalcoatl avenged the death of his father. During a later era, this was the site of the Aztec New Fire ceremony. Every 52 years, when the Pleiades was directly overhead, the Aztecs lit a ceremonial torch. They believed that this renewed the Universe for another half-century.

As we climbed the dusty hill, I saw forlorn shacks marking the way. Dogs barked. We could glimpse a familiar sight—but it was in the wrong country.

Rearing up was the green torch of the Statue of Liberty. Soon, a gigantic bust came into view.

The filmmakers had painstakingly copied the head, shoulders, and upraised arm of the original Statue of Liberty, building it on the summit. During that year, the real Lady Liberty was being refurbished, and this copy included the workmen’s scaffolding and chain-link fence temporarily surrounding the original.

This was the first day of filming on this outdoor location. Workmen were applying finishing touches to the realistic rust stains while water trucks struggled to keep down the dust devils.

As we unloaded, I spied Guy Hamilton standing by the camera and monitor, preparing to shoot a scene in which Remo and Chiun show themselves in the windows of Liberty’s crown.

It so happened there was a hitch. The camera lens wasn’t wide enough to encompass Liberty’s entire head—and this was to be a panoramic shot. The correct-size lens was not at hand, so a driver had to be sent back to Churubusco Studios to fetch it—a two-hour drive.

Since he had nothing better to do while he waited, Hamilton talked to us.

“All locations are a bit of a sod, aren’t they?” he lamented. “You cannot control the weather and other things, so all locations are agony.”

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

Two Mexican crew members were sent up into the crown to substitute as Remo and Chiun Grey so Hamilton could experiment with positioning and camera angles.

As the sun burned off the smog, revealing the mountains and volcanoes that ring the Valley of Mexico, Joel Grey quietly arrived in full make-up, looking elderly and wise. Fred Ward then showed up, and the two embraced.

Because earlier scenes were shot around the real Statue of Liberty the previous November, Ward and Grey were dressed in winter clothes. This was not ideal. Even though it was early March, the local Mexico temperature was 80 degrees.

Grey kept his distance. We were told that he was trying to stay in character. So everybody addressed him as Master Chiun. We were also informed that back in the States, his father was gravely ill, so we couldn’t talk to him at that point.

The casting of Grey as a Korean was not as controversial then as it would be today.

Spiegel happened to come across the soundtrack cassette of Cabaret in his desk. Inspiration struck.

Grey was initially reluctant to sign on because of the heavy make-up needed. Three hours of prep were required every time Grey was transformed into Chiun by make-up wizard Carl Fullerton.

The first time the actor looked in the mirror in that guise, he did not recognize himself. That convinced Grey he could play Chiun.

Stunt coordinator and second unit director Glenn Randall of Raiders of the Lost Ark fame expressed his concern about a scene they had yet to figure out.

“We’ve got to slide Fred Ward down the arm of the statue, which is going to be very difficult, because we had to follow the exact statue. It didn’t give us a lot of freedom to design a set to help the stunt. It’s a pretty acute angle, so we’re still scratching our heads over that.”

At the same time, Randall was confident that he could pull it off.

From the Remo Williams film, Ward as Remo and Joel Grey as Chiun. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins © 1983 Orion Pictures.

“I don’t think there’s any stunt they can come up with that can’t be done some way,” he noted, adding, “Fred’s a unique athlete.”

Because time is money on a location, Hamilton huddled with Ward and Grey and improvised an exchange between Remo and Chiun, making dialogue changes after each take and handing them to his leads.

Each take concluded with Ward saying, “Chiun, you’re incredible,” to which Grey would reply, “No. I am better than that.”

I found it interesting that each time Grey spoke his line, he gave it a completely different inflection.

When the lens finally turned up, Ward and Grey disappeared inside the Statue of Liberty mock-up. We were allowed to watch the scene from a distance as it unfolded through the monitor.

“Obviously, our first thought was to go with an actor who was [Asian],” producer Larry Spiegel noted. “We searched from the Philippines to the Far East, all the way through the United States.”

After five months of screening such luminaries as Keye Luke and Pat Morita, as well as numerous unknowns, Spiegel failed to find the right personality and look.

“We decided we were going to go for an actor, whether he was [Asian] or not. The right actor meant more to the role than the right race.”

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(INSET) Life was a cabaret, old chum, for RetroFan’s own Will Murray (RIGHT), on the Remo Williams set in 1985 with none other than Joel Grey (LEFT).

(LEFT) “Statue of Liberty” during the film shoot in Mexico City. (LEFT TO RIGHT) Dan Scapperotti, unidentified, Ben Fong-Torres, unidentified, Paul Sammon, James Van Hise, Will Murray, unidentified, T.E.D. Klein. Special thanks to Will Murray for identifying the figures. Both photos courtesy of Will Murray. we contacted Guy Hamilton. We sent Guy 52 books. We didn’t have much hope that he would be interested. We were very, very surprised—overjoyed, quite frankly—to get his very positive response. Orion was very pleased to have Guy on the project.”

Assistant producer Judy Goldstein was quick to shoot that comparison down.

“We’re not Bond,” she insisted, “and we’re not Raiders, and we’re not the Executioner. We want to carve new territory. Everything we’ve been striving to do creatively is to have our own patina.”

I recall Goldstein telling me that they were planning to call the movie Remo, but they didn’t want it to be confused with the as-yet-unreleased Rambo. I had not heard of Rambo up to that point and recall being confused by her comment.

A few years later, I went to Yuma, Arizona to cover the filming of Rambo III. But that’s another story….

Later that day, we were shuttled to the Maria Isabel Sheraton to interview Joel Grey, who had shed his thick make-up and was once again himself.

Crew members began calling out “Silencio, por favor! Silencio!”

Then an American voice yelled, “We’re rolling!”

As seen through the monitor, the camera was focused on the clear blue sky above Liberty’s crown. At first, footsteps climbing the interior steps are the only sounds heard.

The actors began speaking, Grey first: “You are using only a fraction of the power in your body—and brain. Sinanju uses it all. That is its sole secret—it’s only strength.”

“Yeah,” grumbled Ward. “Well, couldn’t we skip today—move on a bit—you know, lesson 36. I’m sure I could do that well.…”

“Silence! The Emperor Smith is disgusted with your progress.”

The camera then pulled back to show Remo and Chiun framed in Liberty’s row of crowning windows.

After all that waiting, it took only one take to capture the scene.

“Guy Hamilton is an uncanny filmmaker,” Larry Spiegel told us.

“He has a sense of economy that is brilliant. He’s like a laser.”

Remo Williams was being talked up as the next James Bond.

“I think once Chris Wood came aboard,” Spiegel explained, “the glint appeared in Orion’s [Pictures’] eyes. They began to see the very beginnings of perhaps a James Bond series. Once we saw that glint, we decided to make that more than just a glint. And

Ward approaches danger in this promotional image from Remo Williams. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins © 1983 Orion Pictures.

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Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

His last day of filming was now behind him.

Grey addressed the tricky issue of playing a Korean. “They had seen Asian actors from both coasts and from the Orient, and they had not found the blend. There’s something very real and down to earth about Chiun. And there’s also something nether-worldly about him. He’s not like Yoda, but some of those qualities seemed to be there in some of the things he says and does.

Although he says, ‘Of course I’m doing them. I’m Chiun.’”

I asked Grey if he had read any of the Destroyer novels, and he admitted to only reading one. “It’s not the kind of thing that I read.”

Then he surprised me by saying, “Actually, the thing that never bored me was The Assassin’s Handbook. It really made me laugh a lot. I thought it was very cheeky. Like Chiun.”

I asked him how he saw Chiun, and he laughed. “You ask me that question? I should be asking you.”

Then Grey went on to observe, “This character gets older every week. Originally, when I read the script, it was 70. Then it was 75. I think by the time the movie opens, he should be 100!”

The next day we went to the indoor set, which was on the Churubusco Studios lot. A great number of U.S. films were being shot there at the time, including the original Dune.

Over the ensuing years, I would return to Churubusco for The Mask of Zorro and the original Total Recall, but I had no idea at the time that I was embarking on a new career trajectory.

That day’s shooting involved Fred Ward trying to smash through a plate glass window in order to escape a poison-gas trap. The glass wasn’t cooperating, and they had to go again and again.

We were not able to observe this scene due to the cramped quarters, and only heard intermittent banging.

Movie sets can serve more than one purpose. When the lunch break was called and the crew headed off for their meal, we journalists were escorted to Sound Stage 6 and into an elegant den with a fireplace that was constructed for the film’s central villain.

Lunch was served at a large table. But it was a working lunch, attended by Hamilton and Fred Ward.

We first asked about the loud banging. Ward replied in his laconic way, “I was kicking the window that wouldn’t break.”

The questioning turned to Orion’s expectations for a franchise like James Bond.

“I suppose unfortunately that’s why I’m involved,” Hamilton allowed. “You see, Orion really are Bond. They were United Artists.

And then, on the famous night of the long knives with Transamerica, they became Orion overnight. The only thing that didn’t shift over with them is Bond. So they have a long tradition and happy memories of Bond. But I said, if I wanted to make a Bond, I’d go make a Bond. I wouldn’t make Remo and Chiun. This has got to find its own audience, its own ideas, its own interest, its own characters and its own style. And Bond you ain’t gonna get!”

Joel Gray as Chiun, master of Korean art of Sinanju. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins © 1983 Orion Pictures.

“Remo is very much blue-collar,” interjected Ward, “which James Bond definitely isn’t.”

Early in the film, Ward as a cop had to escape drowning in his sinking police car.

The first take did not go well.

“So when it came time to do it,” he explained, “it was dark. I couldn’t see anything. They said, ‘We’ll give you a signal. Then you start acting.’ I went in there, and they closed the door on me. I could see these fuzzy lights and I waited. I saw no signal. I waited and waited and waited, and it seemed very strange to me, not being able to see or hear. Then I came out and they said, ‘Well, we weren’t ready.”And they got these other lights. After that it was fine.”

“He gulps water very well,” Guy Hamilton said with a dry British smile.

Hamilton continued, “It’s always just trying to find a freshness to what movies are all about—action, fun, laughs—no pretty girls in this, except Kate Mulgrew, but she lives on Cloud Nine in a completely different story. I don’t know how to describe the picture, except as ‘entertainment.’ I hope it’s got a little bit of wit and style to it. But let’s not get pretentious about it.”

Ward appeared casual about the prospect of playing Remo in any number of sequels.

“One thing I must say is that I do like this character a lot,” he admitted. “If I have to repeat a role, this is different enough that it’s worth it to me. And I certainly hope that Guy would be involved if we do another one.”

After lunch, as the crew were setting up another scene, Ward took a chair, picked up a book and began reading it.

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Here, I learned my first lesson about set-visit etiquette.

I walked up to Ward and asked him if it was a Destroyer novel he was reading.

It was not, and once Paul Sammon saw me talking to him, he came over and drew me aside, admonishing me that I was not to talk to cast members without permission.

I never did that again.

“Fred was Guy Hamilton’s first choice for this picture,” Spiegel told me. “And he was the first actor we saw. But Orion was not convinced that he was Remo. I don’t think they would admit that at this point. We saw a lot of others at their request, literally a couple of hundred actors.”

The love-hate relationship between the reluctant Remo— framed for a crime he didn’t commit—and the disdainful Chiun, who felt it was an insult to be asked to train a mere white man in the Korean discipline in Sinanju, formed the heart of the story.

“I see a little bit of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in the relationship between Remo and Chiun,” Spiegel added. “Whenever they were on the screen, they were always bickering, but you knew that the two men really loved each other.”

Kate Mulgrew played Major Rayner Fleming of the U.S. Army.

Her part was originally that of a reporter, but it was changed during a rewrite. This was after her turn as Mrs. Columbo, and a decade before Star Trek: Voyager.

“I’m the only woman in the picture,” she explained. “I have wonderful lines, none of which I could possibly repeat to you. I’m pretty much the straight man.”

In the scene about to be shot, Remo will save Mulgrew and himself by using a diamond embedded in a front tooth of actor Patrick Kilpatrick to cut the glass—with the gem still in his mouth.

Ouch!

Kilpatrick removed the diamond-studded denture while explaining, “My character is a GQ man going bad.

He’s very clean on the outside and very dirty on the inside.”

Through a plate-glass window, we watched Mulgrew rehearse a scene where she is overcome by gas, and faints onto a blanket. Here, I discovered how boring it can be to watch a scene come to life.

Wilford Brimley played CURE director Harold W. Smith. He was not shooting during our visit, so we never talked to him. From a casting perspective, I was surprised. Brimley was the opposite of the book series’ Smith, who was thin and austere.

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Kate Mulgrew as Major Rayner Fleming keeps a close eye on Remo. Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins © 1983 Orion Pictures.

(LEFT) From the 1987 Remo Williams television pilot, the Chiun costume worn by Joel Grey’s successor to the role, Roddy McDowall. Courtesy of Heritage.

A day off was built into the junket schedule, so that the journalists could visit the Toltec ruin, Teotihuacan, the so-called City of the Sun. I had long been interested in Pre-Columbian Central American civilizations, and always wanted to explore these ruins. But I never thought I would.

Yet here I was.

So it was fun to climb the gigantic Pyramid of the Sun, and look down upon what was once a living city.

I almost came to harm when I started back down. The broad steps had two stone markers set on each landing, indicating the staircase. But farther away on either side stood false markers. The pyramid was so steep that not until I walked to the edge where I thought the top step would be did I discover myself looking down at a sheer drop of about 80 feet to the next terrace. I backed away quickly, and found the actual steps. It had been a close call. If I had stepped down, I would had been seriously injured.

The day before we were supposed to depart, Larry Spiegel asked me if I could stay on an extra day. I was surprised, but flattered. So I spent an extra day talking to him about the film and his plans for the future.

Larry was very interested in talking to me because The Assassin’s Handbook was being used as a production bible of sorts, and due to my friendship with Warren and Dick. He questioned me about my on-location observations.

Larry told me that an early discarded concept had Remo wearing a T-shirt with a bull’s-eye on the front. The idea was that

Will Murray’s 20th Century Panopticon

once an enemy was able to visually center his gunsights on that bull’s-eye, it was already too late. Remo would be close enough to eliminate him before the trigger could be pulled.

I thought it was such a cool idea that years later, when I scripted the Marvel Comics Destroyer magazine, I borrowed the bull’s-eye T-shirt, giving it a different spin.

It had taken five years to get to this point, said Spiegel, who had never before produced a major motion picture. He saw Remo as his breakout project. Fred Ward and Joel Grey were signed for three installments, but Spiegel hoped for a long-running franchise.

“I think we are extremely fortunate to have Fred and Joel as Remo and Chiun,” he reflected. “Whatever it took, it was worth it. I for one couldn’t be more pleased. This is a dream come true for me. I said this to Joel the other day: regardless of whether this picture is a commercial success, or not—and I hope and pray it is—this picture is a great success to me. Making this picture and making it in the way and in the manner in which it’s being made, with the care and the love, and the attention to detail, and with the spirit that abounds on this set between the actors themselves, the actors and the crew, and most importantly between the actors and the director, makes this picture already. Next Wednesday, when we wrap, this picture will have been, in my mind, regardless of the box office outcome, a success for me. I consider this a milestone in my life.”

I wish that it had turned out that way. But when the film was released that October, the box office fell short. No sequels followed. In the decades before his death in 2022, Fred Ward went on to have a fulfilling career, but not as a leading man.

Remo Williams: The Adventures Begins later proved to be a popular UHF channel feature and subsequently did well on video. A TV pilot was shot, starring Jeffrey Meek and Roddy McDowall as Remo and Chiun. Alas, the series was not picked up.

Now, nearly 40 years later, Sony TV has announced a Destroyer television series in development. Remo may return yet.

One of the weird things about having your work adapted to film is that authors are not usually given set visits. Exceptions are rare.

To this day I find it strange that I spent three days on this shoot and Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir never received an invitation. But as Remo used to say, “That’s the biz, sweetheart.”

I went on to write 40 novels in the Destroyer series. Numerous Starlog assignments brought me to different cities, which I exploited for background and story locales until the magazine folded in 2009.

The following summer I was off to North Carolina to cover a group of horror films for Starlog’s sister magazine, Fangoria, one of which was the now-classic Evil Dead II—which will be the subject of next issue’s column.

WILL MURRAY is the writer of the Wild Adventures (www.adventuresinbronze. com) series of novels, which stars Doc Savage, The Shadow, King Kong, The Spider, and Tarzan of the Apes. He also created the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl with legendary artist Steve Ditko.

RETROFAN

September 2024

77

19942024 UPDATE #2

TwoMorrows 3

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ZOWIE!

THE TV SUPERHERO CRAZE IN ’60s POP CULTURE

by MARK VOGER

HOLY PHENOMENON! In the way-out year of 1966, the action comedy “Batman” starring ADAM WEST premiered and triggered a tsunami of super swag, including toys, games, Halloween costumes, puppets, action figures, and lunch boxes. Meanwhile, still more costumed avengers sprang forth on TV (“The Green Hornet,” “Ultraman”), in MOVIES (“The Wild World of Batwoman,” “Rat Pfink and Boo Boo”), and in ANIMATION (“Space Ghost,” “The Marvel Super Heroes”). ZOWIE! traces the history of the superhero genre from early films, through the 1960s TV superhero craze, and its pop culture influence ever since. This 192-page hardcover, in pop art colors that conjure the period, spotlights the coolest collectibles and kookiest knockoffs every ’60s kid begged their parents for, and features interviews with the TV stars (WEST, BURT WARD, YVONNE CRAIG, FRANK GORSHIN, BURGESS MEREDITH, CESAR ROMERO, JULIE NEWMAR, VAN WILLIAMS), the artists behind the comics (JERRY ROBINSON, DICK SPRANG, CARMINE INFANTINO, JOE GIELLA), and others.

Written and designed by MARK VOGER (MONSTER MASH, HOLLY JOLLY), ZOWIE! is one super read!

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MARVEL COMICS In The EARLY 1960s

AN ISSUE-BY-ISSUE FIELD GUIDE TO A POP CULTURE PHENOMENON All characters and properties TM & © their respective owners.

by PIERRE COMTOIS This new volume in the ongoing “MARVEL COMICS IN THE...” series takes you all the way back to that company’s legendary beginnings, when gunfighters traveled the West and monsters roamed the Earth! The company’s output in other genres influenced the development of their super-hero characters from Thor to Spider-Man, and featured here are the best of those stories not covered previously, completing issue-by-issue reviews of EVERY MARVEL COMIC OF NOTE FROM 1961-1965! Presented are scores of handy, easy to reference entries on AMAZING FANTASY, TALES OF SUSPENSE (and ASTONISH), STRANGE TALES, JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY, RAWHIDE KID, plus issues of FANTASTIC FOUR, AVENGERS, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, and others that weren’t in the previous 1960s edition. It’s author PIERRE COMTOIS’ last word on Marvel’s early years, when JACK KIRBY, STEVE DITKO, and DON HECK, together with writer/editor STAN LEE (and brother LARRY LIEBER), built an unprecedented new universe of excitement!

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COMIC BOOK IMPLOSION (EXPANDED EDITION) by KEITH DALLAS & JOHN WELLS

NOW IN FULL-COLOR WITH BONUS PAGES! In 1978, DC Comics launched a line-wide expansion known as “The DC Explosion,” but pulled the plug weeks later, cancelling titles and leaving dozens of completed comic book stories unpublished. Now, that notorious “DC Implosion” is examined with an exhaustive oral history from JENETTE KAHN, PAUL LEVITZ, LEN WEIN, MIKE GOLD, AL MILGROM, and other DC creators of the time, plus commentary by other top pros, examining how it changed the landscape of comics forever! This new EXPANDED EDITION of the Eisner Award-nominated book explodes in FULL-COLOR FOR THE FIRST TIME, with extra coverage of LOST 1970s DC PROJECTS like NINJA THE INVISIBLE and an adaptation of “THE WIZ,” JIM STARLIN’s unaltered cover art for BATMAN FAMILY #21, content meant for cancelled Marvel titles such as GODZILLA and MS. MARVEL, and more! NOW SHIPPING! (144-page FULL-COLOR SOFTCOVER) $26.95 • (Digital Edition) $10.99 • ISBN: 978-1-60549-124-0

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Was reading “Retro Fanmail” in the latest edition, and got excited for a second when I saw the Burt Ward/Robin cover of Black Belt magazine. I actually wrote an article about

Burt Ward/martial arts/his feud with Bruce Lee for a Bruce Lee special edition of Eastern Heroes magazine a couple of years ago, and was thinking, How did I miss this?

Actually... [it was a fake cover produced in] Photoshop.

While there is an article in that issue about Burt Ward, the actual cover features karate master Fumio Demura.

Ouch. Just FYI. JASON McNEIL Surely, the Joker had to be behind this!

This is my first time writing to your publication.

Thank you to Herbie J Pilato for his winning article on Elizabeth Montgomery [RetroFan #31].

Bewitched has been a favorite series of mine since I was seven or eight years old. It was great to have insight on Elizabeth and who she was in life.

I want to ask if you may have any articles on Bob Newhart in future issues? His Eighties series left a big impact on me and I would love to see any one of your expert contributors do an article on Newhart and any of Bob Newhart’s work.

Thank you for your time.

RICKY D. SNYDER We love all of Bob Newhart’s sitcoms, but don’t have anything slated about them or Mr. Newhart in RetroFan. Yet. Hopefully your letter will inspire one of our columnists to take on the assignment.

I loved the interview with Elizabeth Montgomery. While I enjoyed the wealth of information Mr. Pilato included, what struck me most was the sheer “everyday person-ness” of Ms. Montgomery. Referring to herself as “Lizzie,” giving Mr. Pilato zucchini from her garden, and the utterly endearing “Oh, goody!” exclamation painted a portrait of a woman as genuine and charming as her on-screen persona.

My second-favorite article was the story of Hula Hoops! The toys that capture the public’s imagination and endure for decades are the simplest. My children had several hula hoops in their back yard toy collection, and I don’t think they ever used them for actual hula-hooping.

They would lay them in patterns on the ground to create a jumping path, they would hang them from tree limbs and throw balls and Frisbees through them, they would hold contests to see who could roll one the farthest with one big push… but actually putting them around their waist and swiveling their hips? Nope! Hula hoops and Frisbees are all-purpose toys—with a little imagination, they can be used in infinite ways. That’s why they’re still around.

I would have gotten a perfect score on the Too Much TV Hairstyles quiz, but I mixed up my Morks with my Vinnie Barbarinos. Curse you, fluffy feathered hair!

I got a kick out of the article about Camp Crystal Lake because we have a Crystal Lake Campground here in Michigan. It’s owned by a high school classmate, and I always get some funny double-takes when I tell people that my class reunions are held every year at Crystal Lake Campground.

I remember watching Run, Joe, Run and Big John, Little John. Thank you for the coverage on these shows; I would never see an article on this subject in any other publication. This is a prime example of what makes RetroFan so unique and so much fun. You not only cover the big stuff of our childhood but also the small (but not forgotten) stuff with equal love.

MICHAL JACOT

Mr. Pilato’s reminiscences of his interviews with Ms. Montgomery humanized a legend.

Mr. Murray’s excellent Peter Gunn article’s quote attributed to Mr. [Blake] Edwards about Gunn’s “...environment,” “night world.... with strange unusual characters” perfectly summarized the series’ appeal. The settings and peripheral characters provided the juice, like the mysterious actor Capri Candela, who played a beatnik dancer performing to a combo consisting of a flutist and someone with a triangle (at least best I can remember—she would “die” and be “reborn” when the triangle was sounded?). Another unforgettable character was an androgynous club manager in one episode played by someone who supposedly in real life at one time owned multiple clubs catering to female clientele—pretty daring for the time.

BIG SURF

Enjoyed the coverage of Elizabeth Montgomery this issue. I liked Bewitched as a kid. Even

watched all eight seasons, again, during the pandemic.

What was nice is it was less about her as Samantha Stephens and more about her life and likes in addition to that show. It was actually very touching to read that, nearly two decades later, she was still friendly with David White and Dick Sargeant. And surprising that she’d worked with White prior to Bewitched. Or that she was married four times and had considerable contention with her father. All news to me.

Yet, why would a father be jealous when his daughter does so well rather than having pride in his offspring? Also, how inspiring that a fan bonded with her, and they became friendly, rather than her refusing the interview or just going through superficial motions. Points to the author in patience and persistence for holding out for and achieving a meaningful series of interviews. This was a fun and informative read.

Enjoyed the look at Alvin and the Chipmunks, too. Also watched that in younger years.

It was likely long in reruns by the time I saw it. Maybe 1964 or 1965? I know I wanted the Soaky figures of the trio—which, to my amusement, you pictured. I was stunned to see the Chipmunks’ character designs both before and after. A far cry from the three I still remember.

And to see a recent rendition of them as human?

I think they worked better as playful animals rather than having “Dave Seville” constantly yelling at regular kids. The earlier designs had no real warmth to them. Maybe that’s why they were revamped? Nice that the article reminded me of where I’d seen Clyde Crashcup. And what his assistant’s name was.

It’s both funny and inspiring that Ross Bagdasarian went from nothing to a star with a big name and bigger property in so short a time. The catch is he wasn’t long-lived to enjoy the fruits of success or contribute more ideas. I hadn’t known he died so young from smoking.

Yet, sure enough, in one of the published photos, there’s a cigarette. I think of that when I see clips of Rod Serling, Dan Rowan, and Dean Martin, or even old snapshots of my dad. They did themselves in with a terrible habit.

If “Witch Doctor” was a 1958 hit, it just didn’t vanish. I heard it later when I was a child. So, a perennially popular novelty song that continued to amuse kids.

The Hula Hoop article was fun. I was actually good at it. But, sadly, it’s not a paying skill.

Plus, I found such a rarity, in the Time After Time article, I had to comment. I never saw the film, but the comment was about creativity and seemed refreshingly honest. It was that Nicholas Meyer never, in a trillion years, would have thought of the premise himself. How often is someone that candid? But he did add to it and reconfigure the material. I’m so used to comic book folks who claim it all, even when they don’t remember or know better, that this stopped me in my tracks.

JOE FRANK

Tell your friends about us, and share your comments about this issue by writing me at euryman@gmail.com.

RETROFAN

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79

ReJECTED! Not every great idea is successful, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate the also-rans, the nearly-made-its, and the ReJECTED. Steve Reeves was, without a doubt, a terrific Hercules. While his physique was outstanding, his sartorial taste left him...

BY SCOTT SAAVEDRA (CONCEPT: RUTH SAAVEDRA)

Hercules Unclothed

BY THE GODS! DRESS HIM!

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AMERICAN COMIC BOOK ALTER EGO #190 CHRONICLES: 1945-49 MITCH MAGLIO examines vintage jungle

Covers the aftermath of WWII, when comics shifted from super-heroes to crime, romance, and western comics, BILL GAINES plotted a new course for EC Comics, and SIEGEL & SHUSTER sued for rights to Superman! By RICHARD ARNDT, KURT MITCHELL, and KEITH DALLAS.

(288-page COLOR HARDCOVER) $49.95 (Digital Edition) $15.99 ISBN: 978-1-60549-099-1

SHIPS SUMMER 2024

BACK ISSUE #155

ALTER EGO #191

ALTER EGO #192

BRICKJOURNAL #86

comics heroes (Kaänga, Ka-Zar, Sheena, Rulah, Jo-Jo/Congo King, Thun’da, Tarzan) with art by LOU FINE, WILL EISNER, FRANK FRAZETTA, MATT BAKER, BOB POWELL, ALEX SCHOMBURG, and others! Plus: the comicbook career of reallife jungle explorers MARTIN AND OSA JOHNSON, FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more!

#191 is an FCA (FAWCETT COLLECTORS OF AMERICA) issue! Documenting the influence of MAC RABOY’s Captain Marvel Jr. on the life, career, and look of ELVIS PRESLEY during his stellar career, from the 1950s through the 1970s! Plus: Captain Marvel co-creator BILL PARKER’s complete testimony from the DC vs. Fawcett lawsuit, MICHAEL T. GILBERT in Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and other surprises!

MARK CARLSON-GHOST documents the mid-1950s super-hero revival featuring The Human Torch, Captain America, SubMariner, Fighting American, The Avenger, Phantom Lady, The Flame, Captain Flash, and others—with art by JOHN ROMITA, JOHN BUSCEMA, BILL EVERETT, SIMON & KIRBY, MIKE SEKOWSKY, MORT MESKIN, BOB POWELL, and other greats! Plus FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, and more!

LEGO LANDSCAPING! A detailed look at how to create realistic stone and foliage from bricks: ANU PEHRSON’s White Wall from Game of Thrones, and JOEL and JONATHAN NEUBER’s (working!) Pirates of the Caribbean ride! Plus BRICKNERD, BANTHA BRICKS: Fans of LEGO Star Wars, step-by-step “You Can Build It” instructions

by CHRISTOPHER DECK, and Minifigure Customization with JARED K. BURKS!

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BACK ISSUE #156

BACK ISSUE #157

KIRBY COLLECTOR #92

KIRBY COLLECTOR #93

THIS ISSUE IS HAUNTED! House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Unexpected, Marvel’s failed horror anthologies, Haunted Tank, Eerie Publications, House II adaptation, Elvira’s House of Mystery, and more wth NEAL ADAMS, MIKE W. BARR, DICK GIORDANO, SAM GLANZMAN, ROBERT KANIGHER, JOE ORLANDO, STERANKO, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, and others. Unused cover by GARCÍA-LÓPEZ & WRIGHTSON.

BRONZE AGE GRAPHIC NOVELS! 1980s GNs from Marvel, DC, and First Comics, Conan GNs, and DC’s Sci-Fi GN series!

With BRENT ANDERSON, JOHN BYRNE, HOWARD CHAYKIN, CHRIS CLAREMONT, JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ, JACK KIRBY, DON MCGREGOR, BOB McLEOD, BILL SIENKIEWICZ, JIM STARLIN, ROY THOMAS, BERNIE WRIGHTSON, and more. WRIGHTSON cover.

KEITH GIFFEN TRIBUTE ISSUE! Starstudded celebration of the prolific writer/ artist of Legion of Super-Heroes, Rocket Raccoon, Guardians of the Galaxy, Justice League, Lobo, Blue Beetle, and others!

With CARY BATES, TOM BIERBAUM, J.M. DeMATTEIS, DAN DIDIO, ROBERT LOREN FLEMING, CULLY HAMNER, SCOTT KOBLISH, PAUL LEVITZ, KEVIN MAGUIRE, BART SEARS, MARK WAID, and more!

IN THE NEWS! Rare newspaper interviews with Jack, 1973 San Diego panel with Jack and NEAL ADAMS discussing DC’s coloring, strips Kirby ghosted for others, unused strip concepts, collages, a never-reprinted Headline Comics tale, Jimmy Olsen pencil art gallery, 2024 WonderCon Kirby panel (featuring DAVID SCHWARTZ, GLEN GOLD, and RAY WYMAN), and more!

Cover inked by DAVID REDDICK!

SUPPORTING PLAYERS! Almost-major villains like Kanto the Assassin and Diablo, Rodney Rumpkin, Mr. Little, the Falcon, Randu Singh, and others take center stage!

Plus: 1970 interview with Jack by SHEL DORF, MARK EVANIER’s 2024 Kirby Tribute Panel from Comic-Con, neverreprinted Simon & Kirby story, pencil art gallery, and more! Unused Mister Miracle cover inked by MIKE ROYER!

(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Oct. 2024

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COMIC BOOK CREATOR #36 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #37

RETROFAN #35

RETROFAN #36

RETROFAN #37

TOM PALMER retrospective, career-spanning interview, and tributes compiled by GREG BIGA. LEE MARRS chats about assisting on Little Orphan Annie, work for DC’s Plop! and underground Pudge, Girl Blimp!

The start of a multi-part look at the life and career of DAN DIDIO, part two of our ARNOLD DRAKE interview, public service comics produced by students at the CENTER FOR CARTOON STUDIES, & more!

STEVE ENGLEHART is spotlighted in a career-spanning interview, former DC Comics’ romance editor BARBARA FRIEDLANDER redeems the late DC editor JACK MILLER, DAN DIDIO discusses going from DC exec to co-publisher, we conclude our 100th birthday celebration for ARNOLD DRAKE, take a look at the 1970s underground comix oddity THE FUNNY PAGES, and more, including HEMBECK!

Saturday morning super-hero Space Ghost, plus The Beatles, The Jackson 5ive, and other real rockers in animation! Also: The Addams Family’s JOHN ASTIN, Mighty Isis co-stars JOANNA PANG and BRIAN CUTLER, TV’s The Name of the Game, on the set of Evil Dead II, classic coffee ads, and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER & MICHAEL EURY.

Feel the G-Force of Eighties sci-fi toon BATTLE OF THE PLANETS! Plus: The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.’s STEFANIE POWERS, CHUCK CONNORS, The Oddball World of SCTV, Rankin/Bass’ stop-motion Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, TV’s Greatest Catchphrases, one-season TV shows, and more! With ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, MARK VOGER & MICHAEL EURY.

The Jetsons, Freaky Frankensteins, Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling’s HOLLYWOOD, the Archies and other Saturday morning rockers, Star Wars copycats, Build Your Own Adventure books, crazy kitchen gadgets, toymaker MARVIN GLASS, and more! Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

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New from TwoMorrows!

ALTER EGO #188

ALTER EGO #189

BACK ISSUE #152

BACK ISSUE #153

BACK ISSUE #154

JOHN ROMITA tribute issue! Podcast recollections recorded shortly after the Jazzy One’s passing by JOHN ROMITA JR., JIM STARLIN, STEVE ENGLEHART, BRIAN PULIDO, ROY THOMAS, JAIMIE JAMESON, JOHN CIMINO, STEVE HOUSTON, & NILE SCALA; DAVID ARMSTRONG’s mini-interview with Romita; John Romita’s ten greatest hits; plus FCA, Mr. Monster’s Comic Crypt, & more!

MARVELMANIA ISSUE! SAL BUSCEMA’s Avengers, FABIAN NICIEZA’s Captain America, and KURT BUSIEK and ALEX ROSS’s Marvels turns 30! Plus: Marvelmania International, Marvel Age, Marvel Classics, PAUL KUPPERBERG’s Marvel Novels, and Marvel Value Stamps.

Featuring JACK KIRBY, KEVIN MAGUIRE, ROY THOMAS, and more! SAL BUSCEMA cover.

BIG BABY ISSUE! X-Babies, the last days of Sugar and Spike, FF’s Franklin Richards, Superbaby vs. Luthor, Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine, Baby Snoots, Marvel and Harvey kid humor comics, & more! With ARTHUR ADAMS, CARY BATES, JOHN BYRNE, CHRIS CLAREMONT, SCOTT LOBDELL, SHELDON MAYER, CURT SWAN, ROY THOMAS, and other grownup creators. Cover by ARTHUR ADAMS.

BRONZE AGE NOT-READY-FORPRIMETIME DC HEROES! Black Canary, Elongated Man, Lilith, Metamorpho, Nubia, Odd Man, Ultraa of Earth-Prime, Vartox, and Jimmy Olsen as Mr. Action! Plus: Jason’s Quest! Featuring MIKE W. BARR, CARY BATES, STEVE DITKO, BOB HANEY, DENNY O’NEIL, MIKE SEKOWSKY, MARK WAID, and more ready-for-primetime talent. Retro cover by NICK CARDY.

(160-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $21.95 (Digital Edition) $9.99 • Now shipping!

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(84-page FULL-COLOR magazine) $10.95 (Digital Edition) $4.99 • Ships Aug. 2023

All characters TM & © their respective owners.

DOUBLE-SIZE ANNIVERSARY ISSUE! The Marvel side includes mini-interviews with JOHN BUSCEMA, MARIE SEVERIN, JIM MOONEY, and GEORGE TUSKA—plus “STAN LEE’S Dinner with ALAIN RESNAIS” annotated by SEAN HOWE! On the DC side: talks with CARMINE INFANTINO, JOHN BROOME, JULIUS SCHWARTZ, JOE KUBERT, & MURPHY ANDERSON—plus a GARDNER FOX photo-feature, and more!

KIRBY COLLECTOR #91

RETROFAN #33

COMIC BOOK CREATOR #34 COMIC BOOK CREATOR #35

30th Anniversary issue, with KIRBY’S GREATEST VICTORIES! Jack gets the girl (wife ROZ), early hits Captain America and Boy Commandos, surviving WWII, romance comics, Captain Victory and the direct market, his original art battle with Marvel, and finally winning credit! Plus MARK EVANIER, a colossal gallery of Kirby’s winningest pencil art, a never-reprinted SIMON & KIRBY story, and more!

Meet the Bionic Duo, LEE MAJORS and LINDSAY WAGNER! Plus: Hot Wheels: The Early Years, Fantastic Four cartoons, Modesty Blaise, Hostess snacks, TV Westerns, Movie Icons vs. the Axis Powers, the San Diego Chicken, and more!

Featuring columns by ANDY MANGELS, WILL MURRAY, SCOTT SAAVEDRA, SCOTT SHAW, and MARK VOGER. Edited

by MICHAEL EURY.

DAN JURGENS talks about Superman, Sun Devils, creating Booster Gold, developing the “Doomsday scenario” with the demise of the Man of Steel, and more! Traverse DON GLUT’s “Glutverse” continuity across Gold Key, Marvel, and DC! Plus RICK ALTERGOTT, we conclude our profiles of MIKE DEODATO, JR. and FRANK BORTH, LINDA SUNSHINE (editor of DC/Marvel hardcover super-hero collections), & more!

An in-depth look at the life and career of writer/editor DENNY O’NEIL, and part one of a career-spanning interview with ARNOLD DRAKE, co-creator of The Doom Patrol and Deadman! Plus the story behind Studio Zero, the ’70s collective of JIM STARLIN, FRANK BRUNNER, ALAN WEISS, and others! Warren horror mag writer/ historian JACK BUTTERWORTH, alternative cartoonist TIM HENSLEY, & more!

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KIRBY COLLECTOR #90

WHAT IF KIRBY... hadn’t been stopped by his rejected Spider-Man presentation?

DC’s abandonment of the Fourth World?

The ill-fated Speak-Out Series? FREDRIC WERTHAM’s anti-comics crusade? The CIA’s involvement with the Lord of Light?

Plus a rare Kirby interview, MARK EVANIER and our other columnists, a classic Simon & Kirby story, pencil art gallery, & more!

Cover inks by DAMIAN PICKADOR ZAJKO!