Saturday, March 5, 2022

Tim Considine Passes On

Tim Considine, who played eldest son Mike on My Three Sons for its first five seasons and starred in Mickey Mouse Club serials featuring Spin and Marty and The Hardy Boys, died on March 3 2022 at the age of 81.

Tim Considine was born on December 31 1940 in Los Angeles, California His father, John W. Considine Jr., was a producer for MGM. His grandfather, John Considine, was a vaudeville impresario. It was then perhaps natural for Tim Considine to go into entertainment. 

Tim Considine made his movie debut in 1953 in The Clown, playing the son of the title character played by Red Skelton. That same year he made his television debut in an episode of the show I'm the Law. He made guest appearances on the shows The Ford Television Theatre, Your Jeweler's Showcase, Chevron Theatre, The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, The Great Gildersleeve, and Treasury Men in Action. In 1955 he was cast as Spin on the Mickey Mouse Club serial "The Adventures of Spin and Marty." Tim Considine would appear in subsequent Mickey Mouse Club serials, playing Spin in two more "Spin and Marty" serials, Frank Hardy in two "Hardy Boys" serials, and Steven Abernathy in the serial "Annette." Tim Considine would do further work for Walt Disney, appearing in the Disneyland serial "The Swamp Fox" and the feature film The Shaggy Dog (1960). It was in 1960 that Tim Considine was cast as Mike Douglas in the sitcom My Three Sons. In the mid to late Fifties he also appeared in the movies Executive Suite (1954), Her Twelve Men (1954), Unchained (1955), The Private War of Major Benson (1955), and Sunrise at Campobello (1960). He guest starred on the shows Zane Grey Theatre, Cheyenne, and Johnny Ringo.

In the Sixties Tim Considine continued to appear on My Three Sons until its fifth season. While he enjoyed working on the show and loved his cast mates, he had tired of the series by that point. His character, the eldest son Mike, was written out of the show as having married his fiancée Sally Ann Morrison (Meredith MacRae).  He guest starred on the shows The Untouchables, Bonanza, The Fugitive, Medical Center, Ironside, and Gunsmoke. He appeared in the movie Patton (1970), playing a soldier suffering from post traumatic stress disorder who is slapped by General Patton.

In 1971 Tim Considine guest starred on an episode of The Smith Family. In 1973 he appeared in the movie The Daring Dobermans. Thereafter he left acting and took up writing and photography. He wrote the books The Photographic Dictionary of Soccer, The Language of Sport, American Grand Prix Racing: A Century of Drivers & Cars, and Twice Around the Clock: The Yanks at Le Mans. He returned to television in a guest appearance on the short-lived television series Legend. In 2000 he appeared in the Wonderful World of Disney TV movie The New Adventures of Spin and Marty: Suspect Behavior. He appeared in the movies Monster Makers and Frankenfish. His final feature film appearance was in the movie Ray of Sunshine (2007).

Tim Considine will probably always be best known for his work with Disney and his stint on My Three Sons, but he displayed considerable range during his career. In the episode "The Spoiler" of The Untouchables, he played Arnie Mizo, who helps his uncle Johnny Mizo (Rip Torn) recover money Johnny had stolen from mobster Vince Majesky (Claude Akins). In the Bonanza episode "The Reluctant Rebel" he played the son of a hog farmer (Royal Dano) who is embarrassed by his father's occupation and finds himself in a gang of rustlers. In the Fugitive episode "Second Sight" freelance photographer who learns a temporarily blinded Richard Kimble is on the run and is tempted by the $10,000 reward for his capture. Tim Considine was an extremely talented actor who played a variety of roles throughout his career.

1 comment:

The Metzinger Sisters said...

How sad to hear this! I always had a soft spot for Tim Considine. He was not only good-looking but such a clean-cut role model. He loved racing cars and was a well-known racing historian as well.