Kojak: The Cool Detective

November 8, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we continue with a new blog series, “One-Named Detectives,” we find ourselves in New York City on the search for a bald man with a lollipop in each pocket on Kojak.

See the source image — Photo: dailyexpress.com

From 1973-78, Lt. Theo Kojak (Telly Savalas) fought crime in the city with an amazingly upbeat personality. The first choice to play Kojak was Marlon Brando; he was willing to do it, but I never could find out why the network would not approve him. Kojak is known for his catch phrase, “Who loves ya baby.” And that lollipop fetish? Kojak was trying to cut back on his smoking habit and used suckers as a way to do so.

The show was created by Abby Mann, a television writer. The series had an interesting back story. Universal Television asked Mann to write a story based on a 1963 murder/rape case of Wylie and Hoffert, two women from Manhattan. Because of the attitude of many police about African Americans, after a shoddy investigation, the murders were blamed on George Whitmore Jr. A second investigation proved he was innocent and identified the real killer, Richard Robles who was then sentenced to life in prison. The story Mann created was titled the Marcus-Nelson Murders and Telly Savalas starred in the movie as “Kojack,” and the movie became the pilot for the television show.

32 Kojack ideas | actors, actors & actresses, hollywood — The cast of Kojak. Photo: pinterest

There were several other cast members on the show including Telly’s real-life brother George who played Detective Stavros. Other regulars were Captain Frank McNeil (Dan Frazer), Detective Bobby Crocker (Kevin Dobson), Detective Saperstein (Mark Russell), and Detective Rizzo (Vince Conti).

It has a little bit of 1940s noirish feel mixed with seventies details. Plots frequently deal with the Mob. There were also several jewel heists, bad cops who were murderers, and serial killers.

A lot of guest stars appeared on the show and so did many of Telly’s friends including Tige Andrews, Jackie Cooper, Michael Constantine, Vincent Gardenia, Daniel J. Travanti, Bernie Kopell, Shelley Winters and Danny Thomas.

Two different theme songs were used for the show. Seasons one through four used “We’ll Make It This Time” composed by Billy Goldenberg with lyrics written by Bill Dyer. The last season’s theme was composed by John Cacavas.

In season one, Kojak was in the top ten. The show aired Wednesday nights on CBS following Cannon, the show we learned about last week. In season two, the show moved to Sunday nights after Cher and before Mannix (which we’ll discover next week). Seasons two and three the show was in the top twenty. The show had decent ratings the fourth season, but it declined for the fifth season which is when it was canceled.

Two CBS movies were made later–Kojak: The Belarus File in 1985 and Kojak: The Price of Justice in 1987. In 1989 ABC tried to revive the series again with five more movies.

Savalas was won an Emmy in 1974. The show was nominated for best drama series that year as well but lost to Upstairs Downstairs. That exact scenario also occurred in 1975.

I learned a few fun facts researching the show. One was that Savalas was typically cast as the villain before getting the role of Kojak. Savalas was also a singer who had released five albums between 1972-1980.

For all you vintage automobile fans, Kojak drove two cars during the series: a 1970 Ambassador and a 1972 Alfa Romeo.

One fact that really surprised me was that Queen Elizabeth was said to be an avid fan of the show.

Telly Savalas seemed destined to play Kojak. Film producer Howard Koch said, “Telly was great in everything. But he was born for ‘Kojak’—those snappy remarks, they were really him.”

At his memorial service, friends remembered how kind he was. A “little old lady” wanted an autograph from him at the exact moment he needed to pay attention to a blackjack game in Vegas. She got the autograph, and he didn’t get the hundreds of dollars he lost that round. They also told a story about one cold day in New York while they were filming and the only thing available for warmth was a lady’s mink coat which Telly proudly wore.

So, when you hear Kojak ask, “Who loves ya baby?,” you can confidently answer “We all love you.”

Celebrating Nevada Day with Abby Dalton

March 29, 2021 / thewritelife61 / 4 Comments

This month is all about National Days for States. Today we are celebrating National Nevada Day which is March 29, 2021. Our star who was born in Nevada is Abby Dalton. Abby was born Gladys Marlene Wasden in 1932 in Las Vegas.

Dalton began working as a teen model and also appeared on several record album covers. In 1957 she was cast in several unmemorable and hard-to-watch movies including Rock All Night, Teenage Doll, Carnival Rock, and The Saga of the Viking Women and Their Voyage to the Waters of the Great Sea Serpent.

Abby started her television acting career by being cast in a variety of westerns, including Have Gun Will Travel, Rawhide, Maverick and The Rifleman.

*Dalton caring for Bobby Darin*–Photo: wikimedia.com

In 1959, Abby received the role of Nurse Martha Hale on Hennesey. Jackie Cooper played US Navy physician Lt. Charles “Chick” Hennesey. The two medical professionals meet at a hospital where they work for the US Naval Stations in San Diego, CA. Both Dalton and Cooper received Emmy nominations for their roles on the series. The show continued on the air for three seasons before it was cancelled.

When the show ended, The Joey Bishop Show was beginning its second season. The series was going through an overhaul and season two debuted with Dalton married to Joey Bishop as Ellie Barnes.

*Joey Bishop with Dalton*–Photo: wikimedia.com

Dalton was married in real life to Jack Smith in 1960. When her character has a baby, her son on the show was played by her real-life son Matthew and her daughter Kathleen also appeared on the show. Unfortunately, her marriage ended in 1972. (Her first marriage to husband Joe Moudragon also ended in divorce in 1959.)

Ironically, the finale to Hennesey when she married Chick Hennesey was shown two days after The Joey Bishop Show’s show’s first airing of her character.

Dalton was cast in the pilot for Barney Miller as his wife, but the show was not picked up by any of the networks and later the role was given to Barbara Barrie.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is listal-with-bob-crane.jpg — Dalton and Bob Crane–Photo: ABC – Love American Style

Abby was also a favorite in Love American Style and The Love Boat. She did make some appearances on several shows during the seventies on Nanny and the Professor, Police Story, Apple’s Way and The Waltons.

In later years, Dalton was known as a game show panelist, appearing on Match Game, Super Password, and Hollywood Squares. In the eighties, you could see her on Hardcastle and McCormick, Murder She Wrote, and Hotel.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is etour-1.jpg — John Astin and George Furth with Dalton–Photo: ABC – Love American Style

During the 1980s Dalton accepted another permanent role as Julia Cumson on Falcon Crest. She is the daughter of Angela Channing (Jane Wyman) and a vintner. While she appeared as a decent woman, the season two finale clues us in that she was a murderess. Season three finds her navigating life in both a psychiatric ward and a prison. She escapes, planning on killing her mother. We believe her to have been killed at the end of the year, but in the fourth season, true to the soap opera formula, we realize she is alive, although maybe not well. She would make occasional appearances on seasons five and six but is not seen after that year.

Her daughter Kathleen Kinmont was married to her “son” on Falcon Crest, Lorenzo Lamas. Kinmont was also married to actor Jere Burns after her divorce to Lamas but that marriage also ended in divorce.

Dalton died in 2020 after suffering from a long illness.

Abby Dalton, 1982. (Photo by Getty Images)

Although Dalton’s career has to be labeled successful, I think with a break here or there, it could have been much more fulfilling. She seemed to be a good actress and could be very funny. Perhaps a sitcom rather than a tv drama might have catapulted her into a second wave of television acting roles. Despite, the fact that you feel like she never got that big break she deserved, she had permanent roles in three television series and entertained many people during her game show circuit era. Considering how many people never get a chance to star in a television show, she had a long career; thanks Abby Dalton for bringing us three decades of entertainment.

Just When You Think It Can’t Get Any Weirder, It Does

September 11, 2017September 11, 2017 / thewritelife61 / 6 Comments

Although I love The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family, there are a lot of shows on television today that make me shake my head. It’s amazing what is airing when you scroll through the channels: Vanilla Ice Goes Amish, I Cloned My Pet, Doomsday Preppers, and these are some of the best reality shows out there. However, when I researched sitcoms from the classic era, I also found a lot of weird concepts there also. Let’s take some time to look at a few of them.

Boss Lady (1951)

Lynn Bari was Gwen Allen, owner and operator of Hillendale Homes Construction Co. which was owned by her father. While this show would not seem unusual at all today, back in 1951 it was not common to see a woman the boss of a construction crew. This show began on the Dumont network and then switched to NBC for twelve episodes, running as a summer replacement from July to September 1952.

Where’s Raymond? (1953)

Believe it or not, this was a musical sitcom. Ray Bolger (who had sang and danced as The Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz) was a song and dance man named Ray Wallace living in Pelham, New York. He had a girlfriend named Susan (Marjie Millar) and a business partner Peter (Richard Erdman). Verna Felton from December Bride was his understudy’s mother-in-law. The show lasted 2 ½ years on ABC.

The People’s Choice (1955)

Ok, pay attention, because the basis of this show is confusing. Socrates (Sock) Miller played by Jackie Cooper is a Bureau of Fish and Wildlife Orinthologist studying to be a lawyer. Honestly! He has car trouble one day and is picked up (and picked up) by the mayor’s daughter Mandy who thinks he should be on the city council. Sock decides to be a lawyer to support Mandy. In the finale to year one, the two elope and conceal their marriage for the entire second season. When the show came back for a third year, the mayor finds out about the marriage, Sock gets his law license, and Sock’s free-loading pal Rollo (Dick Wesson) moves in with the couple. Now Sock is managing a real estate development. Just when you thought it could not get more confusing, Sock’s basset hound Cleo would do tricks and comment directly to the audience about situations occurring on the show. LSD had not even become a social problem yet, so it was not responsible for this show, so I’m not sure how this crazy mess stayed on the air for 104 episodes.

Dick and the Duchess (1957)

Dick Starrett (Patrick O’Neal) is a claims adjuster in London. There are some exciting scenarios to provide interest. He meets and marries Jane (Hazel Court) a duchess. She becomes his wife and assistant, although she still expects to live in the manner she has become accustomed to. She humorously gets involved in his investigations. The network must not have thought she was that funny helping out because CBS cancelled it after 25 episodes.

Mr. Ed (1961)

Let me say, I do not put Mr. Ed in the same category as Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl, or Bachelor Father, but I don’t mind catching an episode or two now and then. When looking at strange concepts for show, this one does have to go into the mix.

When the creator asked Young to appear in the show, he turned him down twice. A pilot was made without him. It did not sell, so producers Arthur Luben and Al Simon decided to enter it directly into syndication, and Young then agreed to take on the role. It was very successful, so CBS bought it.

Wilbur Post (Alan Young) is a married architect. Wilbur and his wife Winnie (Connie Hines) bought their house with a horse included. Their neighbors were played by Edna Skinner and Larry Keating. What no one else realized (including his wife), was that Wilbur was the only human who could understand Ed and talk with him. Ed was quite the character; he was a hypochondriac; a voracious reader; a playboy, or play horse; loved Carl Bernstein and wanted to decorate his stable in Chinese modern.

The voice of Ed was a highly guarded secret until the show ended in 1967 when it was revealed to be Rocky Lane. Ed was played by Bamboo Harvester, a palomino. One interesting fact about this show is that it has been seen in 57 different countries.

My Mother the Car (1965)

This is another one of those shows you roll your eyes about. Dave Crabtree (Jerry Van Dyke) lives in LA. He wants to buy a new station wagon, and when he goes shopping, he realizes his mother’s voice is coming through the radio of a 1928 Porter. Ann Sothern provides his mother’s voice. Of course, he buys the car which irritates his family, but they don’t know his secret. He also has to deal with a car connoisseur who wants to buy the car for his collection. Maybe it’s a Freudian slip, but I’m a bit offended that a mother is portrayed as an old jalopy as opposed to a new, sleek car, but I digress. This show was only on the air for a year and then the radio was turned off.

The Second Hundred Years (1967)

Here is the premise of this one: In 1900, 33-year-old Luke Carpenter (Monte Markham) is prospecting for gold in Alaska. An avalanche occurs, and he is buried alive and frozen.

In 1967, Luke’s son Edwin, who is 67, is told that his father has been found alive. Dad looks 33, but his identity and past has become a top-government secret. He is released into the custody of Edwin (Arthur O’Connell) and grandson Ken (also Monte Markham). Luke has a hard time adjusting to life in the 1960s. I know you are surprised, but the show was cancelled after 30 episodes.

My World and Welcome to It (1969)

This show was based on James Thurber’s writings. The show was set in Connecticut where John Monroe (William Windom) was a cartoonist for Manhattanite Magazine. He was intimidated by his wife Ellen (Joan Hotchkiss). To escape his boring and nagging life, he escapes into a secret world where his cartoons come alive and he is a king. He drifted between real and fantasy lives. NBC cancelled the show after a year, but CBS picked it up and aired it from May-September of 1972. So, the presence of LSD does explain the writing on this one. What it doesn’t explain is that this show won two Emmys in 1970 : Outstanding Continued Performance by and Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series. The competition for comedy included Love American Style, Room 222, The Bill Cosby Show, and The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.

The Roller Girls (1977)

Meet the Pittsburgh Pitts, an all-women roller derby team, owned and managed by Don Mitchell (Terry Kiser). The Pitts were pretty but useless when it came to roller derby. James Murtaugh played the team’s announcer Howie Devine. After four episodes, the network agreed this really was the pits and it was cancelled.

Apple Pie (1978)

This show aired for one episode – I thought they used to call that a movie. (A couple sources say 2 episodes, perhaps a mini-series.) The show is set in Kansas City, Missouri. A hairdresser named Ginger Nell Hollyhock (Rue McLanahan) is lonely and decides to advertise in the local paper for a family. She ended up with a con artist, Fast Eddie (Dabney Coleman), a tap-dancer daughter, a son who wanted to fly just like birds do, and a grandfather figure (Jack Guilford).

So, when you think you’ve seen it all before, you probably have. I would not be the least surprised to read that in the fall there will be a reality show that features a roller derby team, or a woman who advertised for a family in the personal ads, or an insurance adjustor married to royalty.

I do have to say that both Dick and the Duchess and My World and Welcome To It seem to have some die-hard fans who appreciate the shows I guess I should watch a few more episodes.

Listen up you sitcom developers; if you think you have a concept that’s a bit too far out there, it will probably be a big hit. After all, who would have guessed a show about an alien from Ork who traveled in an egg, and gave birth to a 79-year old man would score high ratings?