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Bob Denver began his professional television career in 1957, appearing in one episode of "The Silent Service," but his career took off in earnest in 1959 when he was cast as the comedic beatnik Maynard G. Krebs in the long-running sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." He appeared in 144 episodes of that series throughout its four seasons, cementing Denver as a reliable, funny supporting player. 

After "Dobie Gillis," Denver secured a few notable gigs, appearing on "The Andry Griffith Show" and "Dr. Kildare," as well as the feature films "Take Her, She's Mine," and "For Those Who Think Young." By 1964, however, Denver's legacy was secured when he was cast as the title character in Sherwood Schwartz's hit sitcom "Gilligan's Island." Although that series only lasted 98 episodes in three seasons, it was a massive hit, beloved by audiences everywhere. Critics often lambasted "Gilligan's Island" for being too silly, but its reputation preceded it,...

Producer Sherwood Schwartz wasn't looking to make anyone a star when he began casting his 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island." The show was intended to be slapstick fun for the whole family, peppered with jokes that landed just as hard with parents as they did with their children. To get this across, he needed an ensemble that could remain in mellifluous orbit around Bob Denver's blundering Gilligan. (Denver himself was already a small screen star thanks to his portrayal of beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.") If the actors could get away with delivering Schwartz's groan-worthy banter without evoking groans from the undemanding folks at home, they were welcome on his uncharted desert island.

This isn't to say he hired a bunch of nobodies to fill out the cast of "Gilligan's Island." Jim Backus and Natalie Schafer were established, veteran performers, while Tina Louise...

It's hard to think of a sitcom that typecast its actors more severely than "Gilligan's Island." Even though it only aired for three seasons, the slapstick comedy series about seven castaways marooned on a desert island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean proved inescapable professionally for its entire ensemble.

This was partly due to the albatross of syndication. After its cancellation, "Gilligan's Island" quickly became a favorite with undiscriminating couch potatoes, who got off on the show's laughably simple formula, inane gags, and colorful locale. They loved watching Bob Denver's blundering Gilligan repeatedly sabotage every single effort to get off the island, Ginger doing just about anything, and the Howells somehow living in the lap of bamboo luxury.

The show's enduring popularity was understandably bad news for the future endeavors of its younger performers, particularly Denver, Tina Louise, and Dawn Wells, all three of whom lacked a strong enough pre-...

Bob Denver was a gifted comedic actor that, thanks to his association with the hit series "Gilligan's Island," found himself unfortunately typecast. Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom was a massive success, and its seven lead actors, although some of them previously known, became forever linked with their roles on the series. Denver was no longer an actor who played Gilligan, he was Gilligan. Many might have assumed that Denver didn't have any acting range beyond playing a bumbling dimwit like Gilligan, and the actor never had a success quite as large as he did in 1964.

It may surprise one to learn that Denver was, by all accounts, a pretty cool guy. Indeed, he was known prior to "Island" for playing the ultra-cool character Maynard G. Krebs on the sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Maynard was also a broad, comedic character, but he was a devoted beatnik who wrote poetry,...

In the mid-60s, beach movies were all the rage. The super-specific subgenre was an early iteration of the coming-of-age movie, but in place of any real depth or story, its plots often focused on adolescent fun. They typically featured music, dancing, bright colors, and light romantic and comedic hijinks. At their most complex, the teen beach movies came across as a discordant mix of the sanitized family cinema of the '50s and the youth-in-revolt transgressiveness of '70s film -- slightly wholesome, but slightly countercultural.

The 1963 movie "Beach Party" is often credited with popularizing the mini-genre, and after its success, plenty of imitators were churned out in quick succession. Among them is "For Those Who Think Young," a relatively forgotten movie that's best-known as Nancy Sinatra's film debut. It wasn't just Sinatra who made waves on screen, though; the movie also starred Tina Louise and Bob Denver,...

Here's a lightly intriguing bit of Hollywood history that involves "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," "Gilligan's Island" and Arthur Penn's New Hollywood masterpiece "Bonnie and Clyde."

Like most showbiz lore, it begins with Bob Denver's physical condition. If you're reading this, there is a very good chance that you've never seen an episode of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," let alone heard of it. Created by humorist Max Shulman, whose other major claim to fame is having written "The Tender Trap", the sitcom aired for four seasons on CBS and quickly became a showcase for Denver, whose Maynard G. Krebs brought beatnik culture into America's living rooms.

Krebs was a hepcat with an affinity for jazz and a hatred of work. He spoke via a too-cool-for-school patois, and, being too young to know much of what he was talking about, often made an ass of himself in doing so.

Before Bob Denver was the blundering first mate Gilligan, he was the jazz-loving beatnik Maynard G. Krebs on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Max Shulman's sitcom, which he adapted from his own short stories, centered on, well, Dobie Gillis (Dwayne Hickman), a young man who was hopelessly fixated on the pursuit of wealth and success, convinced they were the keys to getting young women to fall in love with him. It was Denver as Dobie's close buddy Maynard who really caused a stir, though, winning viewers over with his laid-back, quirky personality and relatable aversion to work. (We appreciate a fella who doesn't kowtow to the demands of the capitalist machine.)

As popular as "Dobie Gillis" was for CBS, airing for four seasons from 1959 to 1963, it would soon be eclipsed by another comedy series on the network anchored (no pun intended) by Denver -- "Gilligan's Island," of course.

The culture at large seems to be very ambivalent about Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island." On the one hand, it was massively popular and, thanks to plum syndication deals, remained in the pop culture consciousness for literally decades, feeding its goofy reruns to multiple generations. The seven stranded castaways are all easily recognizable by millions, and kids grew up chuckling to Gilligan's antics. On the other hand, "Gilligan's Island" is often lambasted, critically, as the nadir of television. The series takes place in a lightweight, cartoonish universe, and it doesn't ever reach deeply into the souls of the characters to analyze how they adapt to being stranded on a tropical island. There is no madness or deterioration, just shenanigans. 

Anything as popular as "Gilligan's Island" at least deserves a robust and healthy regard, however. Its seven stars may have been playing broad, slapstick archetypes, but their performances certainly struck a chord.

One needn't recount the premise of "Gilligan's Island." One only needs to listen to the theme song.

When Sherwood Schwartz was first casting his sitcom "Gilligan's Island" back in 1964, he knew that finding the right actor to play the Skipper -- Jonas Grumby, the captain of the S.S. Minnow -- was going to be a challenge. He had envisioned the title character as a shrimpy, thin man, and he knew that he wanted Bob Denver, previously the star of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," in the role. To provide a physical contrast, Shwartz wanted the Skipper to be large, imposing, and capable of yelling in rage. But, and this was key, the Skipper also had to be lovable. In an interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Schwartz was explicit in saying he wanted a teddy bear of a man. Someone who was big and round, but also imminently cuddly.

When Bernard Hill died recently, I wrote about the unique feeling accompanying the real-life death of an actor when that actor has been especially associated with a dramatic death scene onscreen. That feeling is only magnified when it’s been a very long time since the actor performed the demise in question. Juanita Moore, with her character’s funeral in 1959’s “Imitation of Life” being the grandest of any in the movies, only dying in real life in 2013 is an example.

One of the most extreme of these has just occurred, a death that also represents the severing of another critical link to Old Hollywood. Darryl Hickman died this past Wednesday, May 22, at the age of 92. He was a child actor in “The Prisoner of Zenda” and John Ford’s “The Grapes of Wrath” who, upon exiting his teenage years, decided he wanted to become a monk. He entered a...

Darryl Hickman, a child actor in Leave Her to Heaven and The Grapes of Wrath, died at 92 on Wednesday, May 22, his family said. No cause was given.

Hickman appeared in more than 40 films, having been a contract player at Paramount and MGM.

He portrayed the youngest member of the Joad family, Winfield, in John Ford’s 1940 adaptation of The Grapes of Wrath, as well as a role as the younger version of Van Heflin’s character in the 1946 noir, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers.

In 1945’s Leave Her to Heaven, Hickman played Danny, younger brother to Cornel Wilde’s Richard. Danny was disabled by polio and when he comes to live with Richard and his wife, Ellen (Gene Tierney). He drowns by Ellen’s hand in the middle of a lake due to jealousy of Richard’s affection for the boy.

In 1951, he briefly retired from acting to enter a monastery,...

Darryl Hickman, who appeared in such films as The Grapes of Wrath and Leave Her to Heaven as a youngster before becoming a CBS executive in charge of daytime drama and an actor once more, has died. He was 92.

Hickman, who lived in Montecito, died Wednesday, his family announced.

He was the older brother (by three years) of the late Dwayne Hickman, who starred on the 1959-63 CBS comedy The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Darryl appeared with his brother in Captain Eddie (1945) — he played famed fighter pilot Eddie Rickenbacker as a boy — and on three first-season episodes of Dobie as older brother Davey, who came home from college.

In 1951, after appearances in more than 40 movies, Hickman — who had been a contract player at Paramount and MGM — became disillusioned with the business and entered a monastery, though he was back in show business before long.

Hickman had made his first...

Prior to 1964 -- the year "Gilligan's Island" debuted, comedian and actor Jerry Van Dyke already had an expanding showbiz career. In 1963 alone, he appeared in the films "The Courtship of Eddie's Father," "Palm Springs Weekend," and "McClintock!" He also had a few guest appearances on his brother's sitcom "The Dick Van Dyke Show," and regularly turned up on talk shows to perform and converse.

It was in 1964 that Van Dyke was offered the title role in Sherwood Schwartz's "Gilligan's Island," still in development at the time. Van Dyke couldn't have predicted that "Gilligan's Island" would last for 98 episodes and become one of the most widely recognized sitcoms in TV history, so turning it down didn't seem like much of an event. As the public now knows, the title role in "Gilligan's Island" went to comedian Bob Denver, star of "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." 

Van Dyke would subsequently...

The premise of Sherwood Schwartz's 1964 sitcom "Gilligan's Island" is succinctly laid out in its indelible theme song, written by Schwartz and George Wyle. The S.S. Minnow, helmed by Captain G. Jonas Grumby (Alan Hale) and his first officer Gilligan (Bob Denver) took on five passengers for a three-hour boat tour of Hawai'i. The ship hit some bad weather, got lost at sea, and washed up on an uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific. Now the two sailors, along with a millionaire (Jim Backus), his wife (Natalie Schafer), a movie star (Tina Louise), a professor (Russel Johnson), and a lottery-winning tourist (Dawn Wells), have to learn to survive, all to comedic effect.

"Gilligan's Island" has no themes of actual survival, instead rolling with its slapstick elements; the series clearly takes place in a cartoon reality. As such, the characters play as broad archetypes, mugging and screaming in an unrealistic fashion.

Lynn Loring, who appeared as a young actress on Search for Tomorrow, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and The F.B.I. before becoming one of the highest-ranking female executives in Hollywood at the time, has died. She was 80.

Loring died Dec. 23 at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center after a series of chronic illnesses, her son, Chris Thinnes, told The Hollywood Reporter. Her family chose not to make public her death until now.

Loring also acted in a few movies, including Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass (1961), Pressure Point (1962) and, alongside then-husband Roy Thinnes, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (1969).

When she was 7, Loring joined the new CBS soap opera Search for Tomorrow in September 1951 for the first of its 35 seasons. She would portray Patti Barron, daughter of Mary Stuart’s Joanne Gardner, for a decade until she graduated from the Calhoun School for Girls and entered Barnard College...

Anne Whitfield, who appeared at age 15 in the 1954 Hollywood Christmas chestnut White Christmas and went on to a prolific career in episodic TV throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, died February 15 at a hospital in Yakima, Washington. She was 85.

The actor, whose TV credits stretch from I Married Joan and Father Knows Best through The Six Million Dollar Man and Adam-12, suffered what her family describes as an “unexpected accident” during a walk in her neighborhood.

“Through the kindness of neighbors who provided expert medical support, family had the gift to say goodbye and express love and gratitude, a gift we will always cherish,” her family said.

Born August 27, 1938, in Oxford, Mississippi, Whitfield was four years old when she moved to Hollywood with her mother Frances Turner Whitfield, who served as the aspiring child performer’s agent and acting coach. By age 7 Whitfield was appearing on such radio series as...

Watching "Gilligan's Island" reruns as a child always had this author wondering if "Gilligan" was the character's first name or last name. Gilligan, as played hilariously by Bob Denver, was the main character of the series, but also its buffoonish comic relief. He was most countered by his straight man, the Skipper (Alan Hale) or Professor Roy Hinckley (Russell Johnson), but he served as a foil for every character. Denver doesn't get enough credit for his pliability as a comic performer. Denver passed away in 2005 at the age of 70, best known for "Gilligan's Island" and for the 1959 sitcom "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." He was also a regular on the Sherwood Schwartz series "Dusty's Trail" as well as the 1968 series "The Good Guys."

On "Gilligan's Island," many fans wondered what Gilligan's full name was. It seems that, at the end of the day, he's like Cher or Fabian, sporting only one name.

Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O’Neal has died. The star of Love Story (for which he received a best actor nod) Peyton Place, Barry Lyndon, and Paper Moon was 82.

“So this is the toughest thing I’ve ever had to say but here we go,” his son Patrick O’Neal wrote in a Dec. 8 Instagram post. “My dad passed away peacefully today, with his loving team by his side supporting him and loving him as he would us.” A cause of death was not disclosed. O’Neal had been diagnosed with leukemia in 2001 and prostate cancer in 2012.

Ryan O’Neal was an iconic leading man with a tumultuous personal life Ali MacGraw und Ryan O’Neal in ‘Love Story’ | ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images

O’Neal started out as an amateur boxer before turning to acting in the 1960s with parts in shows such as The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,...

Ryan O’Neal is dead at the age of 82 after years of health struggles. His son Patrick announced the news on Instagram.

O’Neal was one of the true heartthrobs of the New Hollywood era, making many who saw him in “Love Story,” “What’s Up Doc?,” “Barry Lyndon,” and “The Driver” swoon. He also was much more than a pretty face, showing a capacity to let the great directors of the era mold him into something so much more powerful than his looks. And his life was defined in some ways, also, by heartbreak and misfortune: the loss of his great love Farrah Fawcett in 2009, the years-long legal troubles of his son Redmond, the rupture of his relationship with son Griffin, and fraught connection to his daughter Tatum. He was a prickly icon, someone whose public statements and demeanor defied people to like him. But the films he leaves behind...

Ryan O’Neal, the boyish leading man who kicked off an extraordinary 1970s run in Hollywood with his Oscar-nominated turn as the Harvard preppie Oliver in the legendary romantic tearjerker Love Story, has died. He was 82.

O’Neal died Friday, his son Patrick O’Neal, a sportscaster with Bally Sports West in Los Angeles, reported on Instagram. He had been diagnosed with chronic leukemia in 2001 and with prostate cancer in 2012.

“As a human being, my father was as generous as they come,” Patrick wrote. “And the funniest person in any room. And the most handsome clearly, but also the most charming. Lethal combo. He loved to make people laugh. It’s pretty much his goal. Didn’t matter the situation, if there was a joke to be found, he nailed it. He really wanted us laughing. And we did all laugh. Every time. We had fun. Fun in the sun.”

On the...

Judy Nugent, who portrayed one of the twins on the early TV sitcom The Ruggles and a girl who flies around the world in the arms of the Man of Steel on a heartwarming Adventures of Superman episode, has died. She was 83.

Nugent died on Oct. 26 “surrounded by family at her Montana ranch after a short battle with cancer,” according to a family statement shared by her daughter-in-law and Battlestar Galactica and Chicago Fire actress Anne Lockhart (the older daughter of Lassie and Lost in Space star June Lockhart).

The younger daughter of a prop man at MGM, Nugent also appeared in two films directed by Douglas Sirk: as a wise-cracking tomboy who tries to get a blinded widow (Jane Wyman) to snap out of it in Magnificent Obsession (1954), and as one of the daughters of Fred MacMurray and Joan Bennett’s characters in There’s Always Tomorrow (1956).

Nugent also...

Historically speaking, sci-fi geeks have long held certain truths to be self-evident. Specifically, all the even-numbered "Star Trek" movies are the good ones, and all the odd-numbered "Star Trek" movies stink out loud.

Looking back, it sure seems that way at a glance. "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" was the badass adventure with all the death and destruction and villainy. "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home" was the funny one with the fish out of water story and the whales, um, in water. "Star Trek IV: The Undiscovered Country" is a thrilling Tom Clancy novel in outer space. "Star Trek: First Contact" is the one with all those cool cyborgs in it.

The tried-and-truism falls apart when you get to the relatively stinky "Star Trek: Nemesis," but for nine movies, every other "Star Trek" film was largely written off as a mistake of one kind or another. And...

Carole Cook, “Sixteen Candles” actress, Broadway star and longtime collaborator and friend of Lucille Ball, has died. She was 98. Cook’s rep, Robert Malcolm, confirmed the sad news to Et on Wednesday, revealing that Cook died three days shy of her 99th birthday.

“She was one of my favourites. She passed away from heart failure today. She was in the hospital. She came home last week. Her birthday would have been Saturday. She would have been 99. She died peacefully, and her husband was there,” Malcolm shared.

“She was a wonderfully gifted and outrageous woman. She could say the dirtiest things and you would never be offended,” he added. “She was a lovely, lovely person. She was an incredibly talented woman and loved what she did.”

Cook came to Hollywood in 1959 from Texas, getting her start on an episode of Ball’s “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse”. Born Mildred Frances Cook, Ball convinced...

The famed star of stage and screen, Carole Cook, has died of heart failure at the age of 98. Born Mildred Francis Cook, the actor was given the stage name Carole by her longtime friend and mentor Lucille Ball and it stuck for her entire 60-year career.

Starting in the late 1950s, Cook was a staple on television, appearing on shows like "U.S. Marshalls," "The Lucy Show," "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis," "McMillan & Wife," "Maude," "Baretta," "Charlie's Angels," "Kojak," "The Love Boat," "Murder, She Wrote," "Grey's Anatomy," and "Dynasty," to name but a small sampling of her credits list.

She was almost as prolific on the stage as she was on television, appearing in a ton of big-name shows. She notably was the second actor to fill in for the role of Dolly Levi in "Hello, Dolly!" after Carol Channing and appeared in shows on and off Broadway...

Carole Cook, a veteran stage and screen actor who was a protégé of Lucille Ball, has died in Beverly Hills, Calif., of heart failure. She was 98.

Cook was known for her guest roles on “The Lucy Show” from 1963-68 and “Here’s Lucy” from 1969-74. She began her acting career in 1959 when Ball requested she appear in an episode of “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” titled, “The Desilu Revue.”

In films, Cook was known for her role as Molly Ringwald’s Grandma Helen in the 1984 John Hughes rom-com, “Sixteen Candles.” She also appeared in “The Incredible Mr. Limpet,” “Palm Springs Weekend,” “American Gigolo,” “The Gauntlet,” “Grandview, U.S.A.,” “Summer Lovers” and “A Very Sordid Wedding.”

In addition to her television work with Ball, Cook guest starred on “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,” “U.S. Marshal,” “Daniel Boone,” “My World and Welcome to It,” “That Girl,” “Baretta,” “Starsky and Hutch,” “Charlie’s Angels,...

David Davis, a veteran comedy writer who co-created the indelible ensemble comedies “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Taxi,” died Nov. 4 in Los Angeles.

Davis’ death was confirmed Saturday by his daughter, Samantha Davis-Friedman. Survivors also include his wife of many decades, “Rhoda” star Julie Kavner, now best known as the voice of Marge Simpson from Fox’s “The Simpsons.”

Davis was known for his work in the Mtm Television stable. He wrote for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Rhoda” and in addition to helping to craft two Hall of Fame sitcoms. After retiring from writing in 1979, Davis worked as a consultant on TV and film projects including the ABC TV series “Phenom” and noted pics including 1987’s “Broadcast News” and the 1983 Oscar winner “Terms of Endearment.”

Born in Brooklyn in 1936, Davis got his start in TV as a script supervisor on such early 1960s comedies as “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis...

Burt Metcalfe, the revered TV producer who worked on all 11 seasons of “Mash,” died July 27 in Los Angeles. He was 87.

Metcalfe was an actor turned director-producer who was recruited to work on “Mash” by director Gene Reynolds, who launched the series adaptation of Robert Altman’s 1970 black comedy released by 20th Century Fox. Metcalfe started out as an associate producer and rose to showrunner for the show’s final six seasons. He also directed 31 episodes of the series’ 251 installments.

Reynolds, who was with “Mash” through the 1976-77 season before moving on to the helm of CBS’ “Lou Grant,” died at age 96 in February 2020.

The CBS series adaptation defied low expectations for movie adaptations and became pop culture touchstone of the 1970s and early ’80s. Set during the Korean War, Alan Alda starred as Col. Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, a cynical surgeon with a heart of gold who helped run a mobile...

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Burt Metcalfe, the onetime actor from Canada who served as a producer, director and writer on all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H, collecting 13 Emmy nominations along the way, has died. He was 87.

One of the show’s unsung heroes, Metcalfe died Wednesday in Los Angeles of natural causes, his wife of 43 years, actress Jan Jorden announced. (She had a recurring role as Nurse Baker on the series.)

Before he gave up full-time acting to work on the other side of the camera, Metcalfe played the surfer Lord Byron opposite Sandra Dee and James Darren in Gidget (1959), appeared on the first season of The Twilight Zone and starred on the 1961-62 CBS sitcom Father of the Bride.

Metcalfe was a producer on all but five of M*A*S*H‘s 256 episodes from 1972-83 and its showrunner for its last six seasons. He...

Dwayne Hickman, whose turn as eternal romantic Dobie Gillis made him a teen idol in the 1960s, has died this morning at age 87 in his Los Angeles home of complications from Parkinson’s Disease.

An actor, producer, director and artist, Hickman starred in the hit TV series The Bob Cummings Show and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. He died on the birthday of his dearest friend and former “Dobie …” cast member Bob Denver, whom he again costarred opposite in the CBS, movie of the week, Surviving Gilligan’s Island, playing a CBS network executive.

Born Dwayne Bernard Hickman on May 18, 1934 in Los Angeles, Hickma’s earliest screen appearances included began at age six, making his film debut, as an extra in The Grapes of Wrath.

As a teen he starred in his first television series opposite Bob Cummings, where he honed his comedic skills under the watchful eyes of...

Dwayne Bernard Hickman, an actor, producer and television director best known for his starring role in the 1950s and ’60s sitcom “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis,” died of complications related to Parkinson’s disease on Sunday. He was 87 years old.

Hickman’s death was confirmed to Variety by the actor’s public relations head Harlan Boll.

Born on May 18, 1934 in Los Angeles, Calif., Hickman began screen acting at a young age with appearances in “The Boy With the Green Hair” and 1940’s “The Grapes of Wrath.” As a teenager, he starred as Chuck MacDonald in “The Bob Cummings Show,” acting alongside the titular comedian across the sitcom’s four-year run.

In 1959, Hickman earned the marquee role on “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.” The actor starred in all 148 episodes of the 20th Century Fox sitcom. As the first major television series to feature teenagers as its primary characters, “Dobie...

Trade magazine ad promoting Pollard's nomination for Best Supporting Actor Oscar in "Bonnie and Clyde".

By Lee Pfeiffer

Actor Michael J. Pollard has passed away from cardiac arrest at age 80. Pollard's unique look and acting style propelled him to fame in the 1960s. Pollard was born in New Jersey and crossed the river to study in the famed Actors Studio. He first appeared on Broadway in the smash hit production of "Bye Bye Birdie" and quickly became a familiar face on popular television programs including  "Gunsmoke", "Lost in Space", "The Andy Griffith Show", "Star Trek", "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Route 66", "I Spy", "The Fall Guy", "The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.", "Crime Story", "Superboy" and "Tales from the Crypt". Pollard's trademark onscreen persona was as a lovable but dim-witted, slow moving character. The image paid off handsomely for him when was cast as C.W. Moss...

Bobby Diamond, who portrayed a young orphan opposite Peter Graves and a wild stallion on the 1950s NBC series Fury, has died. He was 75.

Diamond died May 15 of cancer at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif., author and longtime friend Laurie Jacobson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Diamond also starred with Jack Klugman on "In Praise of Pip," a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone, and played Duncan "Dunky" Gillis, a cousin of Dwayne Hickman's title character, on the final season of another CBS series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Legend has it he ...

Bobby Diamond, who portrayed a young orphan opposite Peter Graves and a wild stallion on the 1950s NBC series Fury, has died. He was 75.

Diamond died May 15 of cancer at Los Robles Regional Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif., author and longtime friend Laurie Jacobson told The Hollywood Reporter.

Diamond also starred with Jack Klugman on "In Praise of Pip," a 1963 episode of The Twilight Zone, and played Duncan "Dunky" Gillis, a cousin of Dwayne Hickman's title character, on the final season of another CBS series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.

Legend has it he ...

Herb Ellis, an actor and director known for helping Jack Webb create the iconic TV series Dragnet, died Dec. 26 in San Gabriel, Calif. He was 97.

Born Herbert Siegel in Cleveland, Ohio on Jan. 7, 1921, Ellis was a radio actor and director. His frequent collaborations with Webb included a pilot they wrote titled Joe Friday, Room Five which later served as the foundation for the iconic TV procedural Dragnet.

For the first eight episodes of the series, which debuted in 1952, Ellis played Officer Frank Smith opposite Webb before Ben Alexander took over the role until the series ended in 1959.

In addition to Dragnet, Ellis appeared in various other radio series including Dangerous Assignment, Escape, Tales of the Texas Rangers, and The New Adventures of Nero Wolfe.

On the movie side, Ellis appeared in notable films such as Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing and Billy Wilder’s The Fortune Cookie.

In 1967, he returned...

Another 3-D breakthrough, this time for a Paramount musical rescued from oblivion and remastered by the 3-D Archive. Rhonda Fleming and Gene Barry star in a blend of songs and Alaskan adventure filmed in downtown Hollywood. The depth effects are great, but the big surprise is Teresa Brewer, the radio star turned one-shot movie musical wonder. Her voice resurrects memories of pop vocals just prior to the arrival of Rock ‘n’ Roll.

Those Redheads from Seattle

3-D Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1953 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 90 min. / Street Date May 23, 2017 / available through Kino Lorber / 34.95

Starring: Rhonda Fleming, Gene Barry, Agnes Moorehead, Teresa Brewer, The Bell Sisters, Guy Mitchell, Jean Parker, Roscoe Ates, John Kellogg, Sheila James Kuehl, Dub Taylor, Max Wagner.

Cinematography: Lionel Lindon

Film Editor: Archie Marshek

Original Music: Sidney Cutner, Leo Shuken

Written by Lewis R. Foster, Geoffrey Holmes (Daniel Mainwearing) and George Worthing Yates

Produced by William H. Pine,...

Why is it… that 20th Century Fox’s Legion teevee series is so good but their X-Men movies suck so bad?

Why is it… now that Geek Culture has become so damn legitimate, I can no longer afford to be a Geek?

Why is it… that Wild Dog has lasted longer on television than it did in the comics?

Why is it… now that Marvel understands that their Civil War II Big Event was not well-received by readers or retailers and that their other recent Big Events hardly were any better received, they decided to restore the Marvel Universe to its more traditional roots – by launching still another Big Event?

Why is it… that Krypto was named Krypto? Do you know any Earthlings who named their dog Eartho? Not even the Marx Brothers named their dog that. And if Krypto were to chase a car, he’d catch it and...

Chris Cummins Jan 24, 2017

A look-back at the previous attempts to bring Archie to TV before they got it right with Riverdale...

When Riverdale premieres on the CW on January 26th, it will mark a milestone for Archie Comics - the first time in the company's 75-year history that its characters will truly shine on television. A mix of gleefully ridiculous kitsch with standout performances and some truly smart writing, the series is poised to be 2017's breakout TV hit.

See related Shane Black: a career retrospective Zack Snyder interview: Batman V Superman

That said, it took a while for Archie to get to this point. There have been many attempts to bring Archie and his friends to TV before, but these all suffered for either being shoddily animated (the various 1960s cartoons), misguided (1990's Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again), or just plain, um, weird (the X-Files cash-in Archie's Weird Mysteries...

Chicago – When encountering film producer, director, writer and “movie star” Warren Beatty, I entered into an interview that would be truly one of a kind. The spontaneous Mr. Beatty works a talk in a give-and-take Socratic method, searching for the truth underneath the rhetoric, as he did with his new film “Rules Don’t Apply.”

The film is a quasi-biographical profile of the legendary American billionaire Howard Hughes, but don’t mention that to writer/director Beatty (who also portrays Hughes). What he wanted to explore was the truth around Hughes, in the personification of a fictional couple (Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins) working for the billionaire. Set in 1958 Hollywood – the same year a young Warren Beatty arrived there – the film highlights the clash between the sexual looseness that existed in the movie business, and the potential seekers that “got off the bus” in tinsel town, still mired in their 1950s puritanism.

Article by Jim Batts, Dana Jung, and Tom Stockman

Happy 9oth Birthday to a legend! Roger Corman has directed more than 50 low-budget drive-in classics, produced and/or distributed 450 more, and helped the careers of hundreds of young people breaking into the industry. A partial list: Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Irvin Kershner, Monte Hellman, Peter Bogdanovich, Gail Ann Hurd, James Cameron, Jonathan Kaplan, Joe Dante, Robert Towne. Considering Corman’s own films, Jonathan Demme has stated. “Roger is arguably the greatest independent filmmaker the American film industry has seen and probably ever will see.” And he’s still going strong, currently producing the upcoming actioner Death Race 2050. We Are Movie Geeks has taken a look at Corman’s career and here are what we think are the ten best films that he has directed:

Honorable Mention. The Premature Burial

The Premature Burial (1962) is the ‘odd man out’ among the...

This is the time of year when the broadcast networks start to reveal their pilots for the upcoming fall season. The fact that the broadcast networks still think in terms of a “fall season” is simply adorable.

The greatest contribution given to us by the American broadcasting industry is their reimagination of the rubber stamp. So we’ve got a few spin-offs of presently successful comics shows – ABC is toying with a show featuring Mockingbird as an Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. castoff, and NBC is considering a show called Powerless about superpowerless wannabes who work at an insurance company. Yes, you’re right: we used to call superpowerless people “people.” Now they’re “powerless.” If this one hits air, it might be renamed “Super-Ability Challenged Beings.”

By the way, I hate the word “reimagine” so much that I’m going to start calling it the “I-word.”

So. How many comics-spawn teevee...

Born in St. Louis on May 27, 1911, iconic actor Vincent Price retained a special fondness for his place of origin, and that love was reciprocated with Vincentennial, a celebration of his 100th birthday in his hometown back in May of 2011 (for summary of all the Vincentennial activities go Here). One of the guests of honor at Vincentennial was Vincent Price’s daughter Victoria Price. Because of their close relationship and her access to his unpublished memoirs and letters, Victoria Price was able to provide a remarkably vivid account of her father’s public and private life in her essential book, Vincent Price, a Daughter’s Biography, originally published in 1999. .In 2011, her biography of her father was out of print. but now it’s been re-issued and Victoria will be in St. Louis this weekend (October 9th – 10th) for three special events. In addition to the biography, she will also be signing...

Yvonne Craig, an actress best known for portraying Barbara Gordon a.k.a. Batgirl on the 1966 television series Batman, has passed away at the age of 78. She was at her home in Pacific Palisades at the time of her passing and had been battling breast cancer, which had metastasized to her liver. In addition to Batman, she also appeared on Star Trek, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island, The Mod Squad, and The Many Lives Of Dobie Gillis. Her movie appearances included It Happened At The World's Fair and Kissin' Cousins, which were both opposite Elvis Presley.  Craig is survived by her husband, her sister, and two nephews. ...

Yvonne Craig, best known as Batgirl in the 1960s’ Batman series, died Monday at her home in California. She was 78.

According to reports, Craig was battling breast cancer that recently spread to her liver.

The actress played Batgirl (and her alter ego Barbara Gordon) in nearly 30 episodes of Batman. “I used to think the reason they hired me was because they knew I could ride my own motorcycle,” Craig said in Les Daniels’ Batman: The Complete History. “I realized they hired me because I had a cartoon voice.”

Her additional credits included a Season 3 Star Trek stint as an...

Rip our beloved Bat Beauty! A punch in the gut to Batfans. A first crush for men of a certain age, the beautiful Yvonne Craig has died at the age of 78.

Yvonne was born on the 16th of May 1937. In her early life before her television career she trained to be a ballet teacher. She gradually moved into acting during the 1950s. Before appearing on television she starred in a few films including; The Young Land, The Gene Krupa Story, Ski Party, and High Time. She even played alongside Elvis Presley in Kissin’ Cousins and briefly dated the King. During the mid-1960s Yvonne moved from film into television, where she appeared in many shows including Man With a Camera, Wagon Train, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. More famously she played “Marta” (a green skinned Orion) in the third series Star Trek episode entitled “Whom Gods Destroy” in 1968.

1967 she was...

Streaming video is a godsend if you want to catch up with recent seasons of TV series. But what's a TV fan to do who wants to stream older shows? Netflix has very little from before the millennium, and Amazon Prime has very little from before 1990.

That's not a knock; the big streaming services know their market. Still, it's worth remembering that Amazon's initial appeal as a bookseller was it's long-tail catalog, the notion that comprehensiveness was worthwhile because somebody somewhere would want that obscure or ancient title, that the markets for all those titles were collectively significant and worth catering to, and that the Internet had at last made it easier to connect those customers with what they wanted.

But until the big streaming services step into the long-tail breach, Shout Factory TV (at shoutfactorytv.com) is ready to make a home there. The boutique streaming service, which is free and requires no subscription,...

I love movie and television soundtracks. I’ll often use a given soundtrack while I work, letting it fuel my writing. I can’t listen to music with lyrics in them; that interferes with my process. I’ll get themes, characters, even scenes or whole plots from the music. Soundtrack music is in service of the story that the film is trying to tell; it’s a part of the narrative, heightening the emotion that’s being invoked.

I have my own particular favorites. The composers usually have a large body of work but certain key works resonate within me – Jerry Goldsmith’s Chinatown and Patton, James Horner with Field of Dreams, Shaun Davey’s Waking Ned Devine, Elmer Bernstein’s To Kill A Mockingbird (has there ever been a more beautiful and evocative theme?) and, of course, The Magnificent Seven.

I’ve also been very fond of Alan Silvestri...

I’m having a hard time focusing this week. See, Sunday is my annual Hanukkah party, and I’m in a tizzy making sure that I have enough food for my guests. My parents taught me that if I don’t have leftovers, I didn’t get enough. I don’t know how many people are coming.

Which is complicated even after the food is ordered. There’s the entertainment.

There was a time when I had a day job and most of my friends had day jobs, and we’d see each other at the various office parties we attended. In my time, I’ve attended holiday parties at DC and at Marvel. Both were fun. Maybe I wasn’t looking hard enough, but I never saw any of the shenanigans associated with office parties. No one was photocopying his naked butt. No one was having sex in a closet,...

We’ll be celebrating the 5th year anniversary of Super-8 Movie Madness at The Way Out Club in St. Louis on Tuesday October 7th with an encore performance of our most popular show. It’s Super-8 Vincent Price Movie Madness in 3D, the show that we took on the road to promote Vincentennial back in 2011. We’ll be honoring the hometown horror hero by showing condensed (average length: 15 minutes) versions of several of Price’s greatest films on Super-8 sound film projected on a big screen. They are: Master Of The World, War-gods Of The Deep, Pit And The Pendulum, The Raven, Witchfinder General, Tim Burton’s Vincent, Two Vincent Price Trailer Reels, Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein and The Mad Magician in 3D (We’ll have plenty of 3D Glasses for everyone)

The non-Price movies we’re showing October 7th are The Three Stooges in Pardon My Backfire...

Whoever wins the November runoff election between Sheila James Kuehl and Bobby Shriver, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will get at least one new board member this year who vows to make the County more film friendly.

At least that’s what we heard from both Kuehl, an actor best known for The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis who later became California’s first openly gay elected state official as an Assembly member and state senator, and Shriver, a Kennedy clan scion who helped launch Product (Red) before becoming a Santa Monica city councilman.

Related: Outgunned & Outspent, California Film Commish Is Losing Business To Predatory States, Cities

Both were responding to a recent Deadline investigation that found filming in the County is much more difficult and expensive than in the city of Los Angeles. The 4,752-sq.-mile county has 10 million residents, 87 other cities besides Los Angeles and vast...

Whoever wins the November runoff election between Sheila James Kuehl and Bobby Shriver, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will get at least one new board member this year who vows to make the County more film friendly. At least that’s what we heard from both Kuehl, an actor best known for The Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis who later became California’s first openly gay elected state official as an Assembly member and state senator, and Shriver, a Kennedy clan scion who helped launch Product (Red) before becoming a Santa Monica city councilman. Related: Outgunned & Outspent, California Film Commish Is Losing Business […]...