The Invisible Minority: Native Americans on American Television Part Two

Native American Characters on American Television in the Sixties and Seventies
While today Native American characters are almost entirely absent from American network broadcast television, this was not always the case. In the Fifties and Sixties Native American characters appeared frequently in American television shows. In fact, Native American characters would even be the leads in a few shows. Sadly, the vast majority of Native American characters on American television during the period only appeared because of their place in the history of the United States. While they appeared frequently in Westerns of the period, Native American characters were a rarity in shows set in the present.

Not only did Native American characters appear more often on American television in the Fifties and Sixties than they do today, but one of the earliest major characters on a television show was Native. The Lone Ranger was created by Fran Striker and debuted as a radio show on January 30, 1933 on WXYZ radio; Detroit, Michigan. The show followed the adventures of a masked, former Texas Ranger who travelled the countryside righting wrongs, aided by his Native American companion Tonto. The story of how The Lone Ranger and Tonto met varied throughout the years, although the basics of the story would remain the same; at some point or another The Lone Ranger (either before or following his adoption of his identity as the Masked Man) saved Tonto's life, so Tonto returned the favour. The two became close friends. On the radio show Tonto was Potawatomi (whose homeland is in the upper Midwest, rather than Texas), although books about The Lone Ranger identified him as Apache. The television series never mentioned the tribe to which Tonto belonged.

The Lone Ranger proved to be an enormous success on radio, so that with the advent of network broadcasts in the United States a television adaptation was inevitable. The TV show debuted in 1949, featuring Clayton Moore as The Lone Ranger. In an era when most Native Americans in film were being played by individuals with no Native heritage whatsoever, Tonto was actually played by a Native American--Jay Siverheels was a Mohawk from Ontario who had been working in film since 1937. Tonto was then not only the first Native American character in a lead role on an American television series, but the first Native character to actually be played by a Native American.

On both the original radio show and the TV series, Tonto would prove to be a very popular character with the general public. As the years rolled by, however, he would be seen by many Native Americans as a degrading character. Notable, native writer Sherman Alexie has even gone on record as hating the character of Tonto. It cannot be denied that the character of Tonto drew heavily upon Native American stereotypes prevalent in the Depression Era United States. Tonto is perhaps the best known example of the faithful Native American companion in Anglo-American pop culture. Like many Native American characters in mid-20th century American pop culture, Tonto spoke few words and when he did it was always in the broken English common to Native American characters in film at the time. An example of this can be found in the second episode of the TV show, "The Lone Ranger Fights On," when The Lone Ranger and Tonto first saw the horse who would be named "Silver." Of the horse Tonto says, "Him a beauty. Like mountain with snow--silver-white." While Tonto's tribe was said to be Potawatomi on the radio show and Apache in books, it was never acknowledged in the TV series--Native culture played no real role in Tonto's character. In some respects he was a very shallow character, with no culture of his own and no life beyond being The Lone Ranger's companion.

While much of the character of Tonto's behaviour was extremely stereotypical, I must also point out that he also had many positive attributes. Although often termed The Lone Ranger's "sidekick," he was actually more of a companion or friend. The Lone Ranger certainly did not order him around as Batman might Robin or Captain America might Bucky. Indeed, in his own way Tonto was as effective at fighting crime on the Plains as The Lone Ranger. He was intelligent, resourceful, and brave. This was a stark contrast to many of the Native characters current at the time of his creation in 1933, who were either savages intent on killing "palefaces" or drunken buffoons played for comedy. Tonto can then be seen as a transitional character, one who has the attributes of a stereotype, yet also has positive characteristics that set him apart from those stereotypes. Here it should perhaps be pointed out that Jay Silverheels himself often poked fun at his most famous character, and would be one of the first actors to fight the stereotyping of Natives in the media.

It was in the 1955-1956 that four series (The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Gunsmoke, Cheyenne, and Brave Eagle) all debuted, beginning a massive cycle towards "adult Westerns (as opposed to the Western TV shows made for children, such as The Lone Ranger and The Cisco Kid)." Of the four series, Cheyenne and Brave Eagle would be significant in the portrayal of Natives on the small screen. The first hour long Western (Gunsmoke was only a half hour in length at the time), Cheyenne followed the adventures of drifter Cheyenne Brodie. Cheyenne's family had been massacred by Cheyenne (Clint Walker), who then reared him as one of their own. The series took a slightly more enlightened view of Natives at the time, portraying them sympathetically. Interestingly enough, while Cheyenne's ancestry was Northern European, actor Clint Walker himself is one quarter Cherokee in descent!

The last of the Western series to debut in the 1955-1956 season, Brave Eagle is even more pertinent in the history of Native Americans on American network broadcast television. Not only was the TV series told from the Native American viewpoint, but it was the first American television series in prime time to feature a Native American lead character. Brave Eagle followed the adventures of the title character, a Cheyenne chief fighting to defend his homeland against the encroachment of settlers. White Eagle himself was played by an actor with not one drop of Native blood--Keith Larsen was Norwegian in descent. Others in the cast, however, were Native Americans. Brave Eagle's romantic interest, Morning Star, was played by Kim Winona, who was Sioux. Keena, Brave Eagle's foster son, was played by Anthony Numkena, who is Hopi. Brave Eagle was a very daring show at the time, not simply in portraying the Cheyenne sympathetically, but in featuring them as the heroes of the series, fighting to defend their land against encroachment from settlers. It might have been too daring for the time. It only lasted one season.

The 1956-1957 season would see the debut of a syndicated series based on John Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans. Produced by ITC Entertainment in Britain and filmed in Canada with the cooperation of the Canadian Broadcasting Company, Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans followed the adventures of Hawkeye (John Hart) and Chingachgook (Lon Chaney Jr.) in New York's Hudson Valley in the 1750's. To a large degree the series took a sympathetic view of Native Americans, although at the same time it often featured Hawkeye and Chingachgook defending settlers against Huron raids. Sadly, the series seemed to indicate that "good" Native Americans cooperated with the settlers, while "bad" ones did not. IT was a trope often repeated on Western shows throughout the Fifties and Sixties.

A more remarkable series dealing with Native Americans debuted on ABC during the same season. In 1950 Jimmy Stewart and Jeff Chandler starred in the classic film Broken Arrow. Broken Arrow was one of the first movies to portray Native Americans sympathetically, centring on the historic relationship between Cochise and "Indian" agent Tom Jeffords. The TV series based on the movie also portrayed a fictionalised version of the relationship between Cochise (Michael Ansara) and Jeffords (John Lupton). Like Brave Eagle before it, the settlers were often the villains on Broken Arrow. Fortunately, it would meet with a bit more success than Brave Eagle. Broken Arrow ran two seasons on ABC, and was reran on Sunday afternoons in the 1959-1960 season and again in the summer of 1960.

The ongoing (and extremely prolific) cycle towards Western TV series in the Fifties insured that Native American characters would be seen on American network broadcast television each and every week. For the most part this would take the form of guest appearances with Native American characters as either friend or foe. Inevitably there would be shows which would feature Native American characters in lead roles. Among these was Yancy Derringer, which ran during the 1958-1959 season. Yancy Derringer was based on a Richard Sales short story and featured Jock Mahoney as the title character, an adventurer who owned a riverboat based in New Orleans. Yancy was assisted by his friend Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah (X Brands), a Pawnee. Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah was apparently mute, as he never spoke and communicated only with gestures. Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah was yet another manifestation of the loyal Native American companion.

A show which debuted in the following 1959-1960 season would prove to be one of the strangest series to feature a Native American character in the lead. Among the first season episodes of The Rifleman was an episode entitled The Indian, in which Michael Ansara played Deputy Marshall Sam Buckhart. Sam Buckhart was an Apache who as a youth saved the life of a Calvary officer. When the officer died he left Buckhart a large sum of money, which Buckhart used to attend private schools and Harvard. He then returned to New Mexico to become a Deputy U.S. Marshal. Buckhart would prove popular enough to appear again on The Rifleman, in the first season episode "The Raid." Buckhart then proved popular enough that he was given his own series, Law of the Plainsman, which debuted on October 1, 1959. While Natives were portrayed sympathetically on the series, there would be those odd times when Buckhart would actually have to deal with hostile Natives, then serving the interests of the United States rather than his fellow Native Americans. Law of the Plainsman only lasted one season.

The first cycle towards Western TV shows ended in 1960, after producing numerous series in the genre. This did not mean that Native Americans would cease to be seen on American network broadcast television. Some shows from the first cycle from the first cycle of Westerns, such as Gunsmoke and Bonanza, would remain on the air for years. In 1965 a new cycle towards Westerns would begin that would produce a new, if smaller, crop of Westerns. In fact, the Sixties would even see Native American characters featured in settings outside of frontier dramas and Westerns.

It was in the 1962-1963 season that Gunsmoke added a character who was part Native American to its cast. The character of blacksmith Quint Asper was born of a father of Northern European descent and a mother of Comanche descent. The character was played by a young Burt Reynolds, who is a quarter Cherokee in ancestry. As Dodge City's blacksmith, Quint was a very important character. In fact, he often assisted Marshal Matt Dillon as a deputy. Reynolds remained with Gunsmoke until the end of the 1964-1965 season.

Native Americans would play a large role in the frontier drama, Daniel Boone, which debuted in the 1964-1965 season. In fact, for the first of the series' six seasons, a Native American character numbered among its leads. Mingo was a half Cherokee who was educated at Oxford in England, but chose to return to North America to live in the ways of his people. Mingo was Daniel Boone's comrade in arms on the vast majority of the show's episodes, making him yet another manifestation of the faithful Native American companion. That having been said, Mingo was a far cry from such Native American companions as Tonto and Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah. He did not speak in broken English; in fact, he spoke very proper English with an English accent (he was educated at Oxford, after all). Mingo was not a man of few words and was actually more talkative than many of the settlers on the show. Mingo also had his own mind, actually disagreeing with Daniel Boone on occasion.

The character of Mingo can be criticised for a few reasons. The first is that he is yet another Native character helping the settlers. Unlike Tonto and Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah, Mingo did have a life of his own, but much of his time was spent aiding Daniel Boone. The second is that although Mingo is Cherokee, he displays very little in the way of the cultural traits of Cherokee. Indeed, I must point out that Mingo dresses like no Cherokee I have ever seen. The third reason is that Mingo is yet another example of what I call "redface"--an individual with no Native blood playing a Native American character. Ed Ames was one of singing artists The Ames Brothers, who were of Russian Jewish descent. Of course, it must be pointed out that like Michael Ansara and Ricardo Montalban in their portrayals of Natives, Ed Ames endowed Mingo with a dignity and respect that was sorely lacking in many Native American characters of the time.

Over all Daniel Boone offered a more balanced view of Native Americans than many series. Natives such as the Shawnee and Cherokee were most often portrayed sympathetically. That having been said, Daniel Boone could be wildly inaccurate in its portrayal of Native cultures. As I said, Mingo dressed like no Cherokee I have ever seen. And the Shawnee were often portrayed as living in tipis and dressing as Plains Natives like the Sioux. I must also point out that the show tended to oversimplify Daniel Boone's relations with the Natives (especially the Shawnee), which were considerably more complicated than portrayed on the show.

The 1965-1966 season saw the debut of a series which featured several Native American characters in lead roles. It would also become one of those series most often cited when mentioning offensive Native American stereotypes. The comedy F Troop followed the adventures of a fictional Cavalry unit of that name in the fictional Army post of Fort Dodge, Kansas. Its commanding officer was the incredibly inept, accident prone Captain Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry), whose command was complicated by the often illegal money making schemes of his NCOs, Sergeant O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker) and Corporal Agarn (Larry Storch). Sgt. O'Rourke and Cpl. Agarn were often assisted in their schemes by the local Native American tribe, the fictional Hekawis. In fact, the Hekawis were full partners in O'Rourke Enterprises, which produced such products as moonshine.

In some respects it is easy to see why some would be offended by F Troop. The Hekawis lived in tipis and dressed like Plains Natives, just as many of the generic Native American characters did in the 20th Century (of course, here it must be pointed out that the Hekawis appear to have been a Plains tribe anyway). The Hekawis generally spoke in the same broken English that Tonto and other Native characters did, although it is possible this was simply an act to fool the Cavalry and the settlers (in asides they often spoke very proper English). In its casting, F Troop is a perfect example of redface, as the vast majority of Native characters are played by Jewish comics (here one must wonder if this wasn't meant as a parody on the notion that Native Americans are the 13th, lost tribe of Israel).

That having been said, I must confess I find it difficult to be too offended by F Troop. The show was so broad and outlandish that it must be considered a fantasy similar to many other sitcoms of the era such as The Beverly Hillbillies, Gilligan's Island, and The Monkees. The characters on F Troop were no more meant to represent real people than Giligan or Elly Mae Clampett. And while the Hekawis do conform to some Native stereotypes (living in tipis, broken English, funny animal names, et. al.), they also depart from them in dramatic ways. Indeed, unlike many of the generic "Indians" appearing in American pop culture in the 20th Century, the Hekawis actually do have their own cultural identity, albeit one unlike any actual Naive tribe. Namely, the Hekawis are extreme capitalists, whose motto may well be "Make money, not love or war." Through the Hekawis, F Troop was more making fun of such capitalists as Thurston Howell III and Daddy Warbucks than anything else. In some respects, through the Hekawis, F Troop even parodied Native stereotypes themselves, among them the "wise elder" stereotype through the character of Chief Wild Eagle (Frank Dekova). Parmenter and O'Rourke often came to Wild Eagle for advice, whereupon he would utter some old Hekawi saying, of which he would often confess to not knowing the meaning. Here it must also be pointed out that the Hekawis were the most intelligent characters on the show, quite the opposite of many Westerns which portrayed Northern Europeans as superior in intellect to the "primitive" Natives.

The 1966-1967 season would see a very historic moment with regards to Native Americans on network broadcast television. On September 8, 1966 Hawk debuted on ABC. Like a few shows before it Hawk featured a lead character who was a Native; unlike any show before it, it was set in the present day. Hawk followed the adventure of Detective Lt. John Hawk, a half Iroquois serving on the New York City Police Department. Hawk was played by Burt Reynolds in his first lead role in a television show. While Hawk was the first American television show to feature a Native lead character set in the present day and while the character was played by someone of Native descent himself, the show generally did not explore Iroquois ethnicity, nor did it delve into Native American issues. Hawk only lasted 17 episodes.

During the 1966-1967 season, Hawk was not the only show to feature a Native American in a present day setting. In the episode "The Battle of Mayberry" of The Andy Griffith Show, Andy's son Opie stirs up trouble among the townsfolk of Mayberry when he researches an early battle settlers had with the Cherokee, including the town's only Native resident Tom Strongbow (played by Norman Alden). Sadly, Tom Strongbow would not become a recurring character on the series, only appearing in "The Battle of Mayberry."

Another series would feature a Native American character in a milieu other than the Old West or the present day. The Sixties would see a cycle towards war television shows that produced such series as Combat, Twelve O'Clock High, and Rat Patrol. Among these shows was Garrison's Gorillas, a series which sought to capitalise on the popularity of the film The Dirty Dozen. The show centred on a team of commandos gathered from stateside prisons and commanded by Lt. Craig Garrison (Ron Harper) during World War II . The team consisted of four men: Actor (Cesare Danova), the Italian American con man; Casino (Rudy Solari), the safecracker; Chief (Brendon Boone), a Native American proficient with switchblades; and Goniff (Christopher Cary), the Yiddish speaking cat burglar. Unfortunately Chief was a bit of a stereotype. He spoke very little, never laughed, and was very proficient with knives. Garrison's Gorillas lasted only one season.

At the end of the Sixties, Native American characters were still frequently seen on American network broadcast television. It would be last time that Native Americans would be seen in substantial numbers on American, prime time TV shows. While Native American characters would continue to appear in shows in the Seventies, the Eighties would see them all but disappear.

The Invisible Minority: Native Americans on American Television Part One

Foreword
It is a sad fact of the history of network broadcast television in the United States that minorities have not fared well on the small screen. For several years the Ralph J. Bunche Centre conducted a study, entitled Prime Time in Black and White, for African American Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Its findings for the 2002 television season alone were alarming. The presence of African Americans on television during that season was actually quite large--they accounted for 17% of all TV characters as compared to around 12% of the American population. The presence of Asian Americans on television had improved considerably from past years; at the time 3% of all television characters were Asian Americans, as compared to 4% of the population. That having been said, other minorities did not fare so well. While 13% of the American population at the time was Hispanic, only 3% of all characters on television were Hispanic. As to Native Americans, out of 3656 characters not one was Native American, despite the fact that 0.8% of the American population is Native (here I must stress that this does not count those who are part Native).

Sadly, in some respects the results of Prime Time in Black and White is not surprising given the history of minorities on American network broadcast television. African Americans were a rarity on network broadcast television in the Fifties and Sixties. Even when they became more commonplace in the Seventies, many African American characters were still outright stereotypes. After The Goldbergs left the air in 1956, Jewish characters were non-existent on American network broadcast television until the debut of Barney Miller in 1975. They are now much more common (Ziva David on NCIS, Lisa Cuddy and James Wilson on House, John Munch on Law and Order: SVU, and the entire Eppes family on Numb3rs, among others, are all Jewish). Sadly, Hispanic characters are still a rarity on American network television; in fact, the only ones that come to my mind are the characters on CSI: Miami. This is particularly disappointing given the fact that while Hispanics make up 48.5% of the total population of Los Angeles, I cannot think of any Hispanic characters currently on television set in that city. As to Native Americans, except for John Redcorn on King of the Hill (which was on the air in 2002--I guess Prime Time in Black and White must have missed him), there simply do not seem to be any.

While the underrepresentation of any minority on American network broadcast television disturbs me, I must confess to being particularly disturbed by the nearly total absence of Native Americans on American network television. Much of this is due to personal reasons on my part. A good number of the original settlers of my hometown in the 1820's were Cherokee. When I was growing up I would guess that, after African Americans, Native Americans comprised the largest minority in the county. Indeed, I myself am 1/8 Tsalagi (which is Cherokee for, well, "Cherokee"). The nearly total absence of Native Americans on American network broadcast television then strikes a very discordant chord with me.

Redface and Stereotypes in the Fifties and Sixties

Native Americans were not always a rarity on American network broadcast television. In fact, in the Fifties and Sixties Natives were very common on the small screen. Sadly, the vast majority of Native American characters during this time period did not appear in TV shows set in the present day, but instead on the various Westerns and frontier dramas which aired at the time. It was the year 1955 that saw the beginning of a cycle towards Western shows, what may have been the largest single cycle towards a particular genre in the history of American television. In the 1958-1959 season alone over 25 Western shows were on the air each week! While many shows (such as Gunsmoke and Bonanza) from television's first cycle towards Westerns were still on the air, a new cycle towards Westerns began in 1965. Although much, much smaller than the first cycle towards Westerns, this cycle still produced many shows. Given the prominent role played by Natives in the American West, Native American characters appeared frequently on many Westerns and they were sometimes even regulars.

Sadly, while Native American characters were frequently seen on American network broadcast television in the Fifties and Sixties, many times Native characters would be outright stereotypes and all too often Native characters would be played by actors who were not even Native in descent. In the Fifties and Sixties it was commonplace in American motion pictures and television for actors of Northern and Southern European descent to play any ethnicity (except for African Americans), both with and without makeup. Asian characters were played by actors ranging from Warner Oland to Marlo Thomas (a practice now termed "yellowface"). Hispanic characters were played by actors ranging from J. Carrol Naish to Natalie Wood (a practice Raquel of Out of the Past terms "brownface"). It was no different for Native American characters, who were more often than not played by actors who had no Native blood whatsoever. If the practice of actors of European playing Asian characters can be called "yellowface," then I suppose the practice of actors of European or Asian descent playing Natives could be termed "redface."

The practice of actors of purely European or Asian descent playing Native American characters was so prevalent on the small screen of the Sixties that certain actors played Native American on more than one occasion, despite the fact that they were not Native. While Ricardo Montalban was born in Mexico, his descent was purely Castilian--he had no Native blood whatsoever. Despite this, he played Native characters on such shows as The 20th Century Fox Hour, Bonanza, The Great Adventure, and Gunsmoke. Michael Ansara was born in Syria, yet he first came to fame playing Cochise in the TV show Broken Arrow. He would also play Native American characters on such shows as Wagon Train, Daniel Boone, Gunsmoke, and Here Come the Brides. Montalban and Ansara were not alone, as many other actors who were not Natives also played Native American characters more than once. Here I must point out that while I find the practice of "redface" objectionable, being the great actors that they were, both Ricardo Montalban and Michael Ansara endowed their Native American characters with dignity and respect, never playing them purely as stereotypes.

Not only were Native American characters in Fifties and Sixties TV shows often played by actors who were not Natives, but many times Natives were portrayed as outright stereotypes. Most of these stereotypes, were old by the time network television broadcasts began on a regular basis in the United States. Indeed, the hostile "Indian" was a fixture of many Western novels and movies over the years. Fortunately, by the Fifties Hollywood had become a bit more sophisticated in they stopped portraying Native Americans as one dimensional villains very on a frequent basis, but such portrayals still persisted to a small degree on American network television. Even more enlightened television shows could often be guilty of such offensive portrayals. Gunsmoke was usually much more sophisticated in its approach to Native Americans, yet it produced at least one episode in which Native Americans are portrayed in a very unsavoury light. "Hawk" centred on Phoebe Clifford (played by Louise Latham), a women bitter at life because her family was killed by Apaches and she was then subsequently captured by them and raped repeatedly. She must then reconcile with the half-Apache son she had from her time spent amongst the tribe. While the episode seeks to condemn racism, in many ways it simply reaffirms it. For the most part, the Apaches are portrayed as a malevolent force throughout the episode. While such simplistic portrayals of Natives as savages were rare in most of the television Westerns of the Fifties and Sixties, they did occur from time to time.

Much more common than the portrayal of Native Americans as the single minded savages was another offensive stereotype, that of the "drunken Indian." More often than not, the drunken Indian is treated purely as a source of comedy. A prime example of this was the premiere episode of the Sixties series Laredo, "Lazyfoot, Where Are You." In the episode Texas Rangers Bennett (Neville Brand), Cooper (Peter Brown), and Smith (Joe Riley) are sent out to capture the Native American Lazyfoot, more known for his boozing than his raiding settlements. Although generally played for laughs as in "Lazyfoot, Where Are You," drunken Native Americans were sometimes portrayed as malevolent savages as well. An example of this is the episode of Branded entitled "The Test," in which Jason McCord (Chuck Connors) saved a priest from an attack by whiskey loving Comanche.

Both the hostile Native savage and the drunk Native American are extremely offensive stereotypes, ones that are recognised as offensive by many people today. Another Native American stereotype, common to American television in the Fifties and Sixties, is in some ways even more offensive, but not often recognised as such. It is the stereotype that all Native Americans essentially share the same culture. Regardless of the tribe, television series in the Fifties and Sixties often showed Native Americans as living in tipis, wearing feathers, wearing war bonnets, riding horses, and so on. Essentially, some television shows of the time portrayed Native Americans as if they were all Sioux, regardless of the tribe to which they belonged. A perfect example of this was the frontier drama Daniel Boone, in which some episodes portrayed the Shawnee as living in tipis and dressing as if they were straight from the Great Plains. In truth, the Shawnee lived in wigwams and their traditional dress is very different than the Sioux. The stereotype of all Native Americans having the same culture is offensive in that it ignores the often vast cultural differences between Native peoples and as a result trivialises those differences. In truth, there is as much variety in Native cultures as there is in European cultures. Portraying all Native Americans as living in tipis is no more accurate than portraying all Europeans as living in Viking longhouses.

Other, more positive Native American stereotypes found on American network broadcast television in the Fifties and Sixties were actually much more common. In fact, some of the most common Native American stereotypes found on American television were those of the "noble savage," "the faithful Native American companion," and "the wise elder." Here I must point out that the noble savage stereotype has been applied to many different peoples besides Native Americans and is actually rather ancient. In Germania the Roman scholar Tacitus essentially portrayed the Germanic peoples (from whom the English, Dutch, Germans, and Scandinavian peoples descend) as noble savages. Eventually philosophers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau (who never actually used the phrase "noble savage") and Thomas Hobbes would fully develop the idea of the "noble savage," a romanticised ideal of an uncivilised human being, innately good by virtue of not having been corrupted by civilisation. Not only would the idea of the noble savage give rise to such characters as Mowgli of The Jungle Book and Tarzan, but it would result in stereotypes of Native Americans, African natives, Pacific Islanders and so on.

With regards to television, the portrayal of Native Americans as noble savages occurred extremely frequently on American television, so much so that it must be one of the most common stereotypes of Natives in the medium. Probably every Western aired on American network broadcast television has probably featured at least one Native noble savage. Examples are easy to find: the episode "The Intruders" of The Virginian (Black Feather, chief of the Sioux, wishing to make peace with the settlers); the episode "Day of Reckoning" of Bonanza (the Native Matsou saves Ben Cartwright and is rewarded with a parcel of land on the Ponderosa); the episode "Kioga" of Gunsmoke (a Pawnee named Kioga seeks to avenge his father's death); and so on.

The faithful Native American companion could be considered an extension of the noble savage stereotype. And like the noble savage stereotype, it was old when the television networks began regular broadcasts in the United States. It at least dates back to James Fenimore Cooper's Last of the Mohicans, first published in 1826, in which Natty Bumpo is accompanied by the Mohicans Chingachgook and Uncas. It was also one of the earliest Native stereotypes ever seen on television. The Lone Ranger had debuted on radio in 1933. It was in 1949 that the series made the move to television. Central to The Lone Ranger was Tonto, The Masked Man's loyal Native American companion. Tonto was portrayed as an intelligent character, one who was nearly the equal of The Lone Ranger. Unfortunately, he also spoke in the broken English typical of Native Americans in film, radio, and even television, for years. Tonto would not be the only faithful Native American companion on network television in the United States. He was followed by Pahoo-Ka-Ta-Wah on Yancy Derringer (who didn't speak broken English--in fact, he didn't speak at all), and Mingo of Daniel Boone (who actually spoke the King's English better than most of the settlers).

The wise elder can also be considered an extension of the noble savage stereotype. It can also be traced back to Last of the Mohicans in the form of Chingachgook. The wise elder occurs frequently not only in TV shows of the Fifties and Sixties, but even in shows up to the current day. The wise elder, usually in the form of a chief, was a fixture on Bonanza, most notably in the episode In the Defence of Honour. Another example of the wise elder can be found in the episode "The Ancient Warrior" from the Seventies series Kung Fu, in which Caine helps a elderly Native American seek the burial site of his people. In the Eighties and the Nineties the wise elder would give rise to the stereotype of the magical Native American--Natives with some sort of supernatural ability.

As mentioned above, most stereotypes of Native Americans were old by the time the networks began regular television broadcasts in the United States. These stereotypes had emerged from the politics and social movements in the United States in the 19th and 20th Centuries. It was perhaps the doctrine of manifest destiny that would result in the stereotype of the hostile Native American. Manifest destiny emerged in 1839 as the idea that it was the United States was destined to expand from the Atlantic to the Pacific. The expansion which resulted from this doctrine naturally resulted in conflicts with Native Americans, who quite expectedly did not wish to give up their land for settlers. The hostile Native American then emerged as a stereotype, often utilised as propaganda against the Natives themselves. In the 20th Century, when the United States became more enlightened about such things as racism and ethnicity, the stereotype of the hostile Native American would lose favour with society and would be replaced by more positive stereotypes: the noble savage, the faithful Native American companion, and the wise elder. Growing interest in Native American culture and the New Age movement would create the most recent stereotype, the magical Native American. The magical Native American emerged from an oversimplification of the myriad religious beliefs, rituals, and religions of the Native peoples (here I must point out that this was not unique to the Native Americans--the New Age movement oversimplified the beliefs of many peoples).

While Native Americans did not always fare well on American network television in the Fifties and Sixties, they were seen frequently in television shows of the time. In fact, in the Fifties and Sixties Native American characters were not only supporting characters in television shows, but would even appear as the lead characters in a few series.

Flappers and The Latest from Cheap Trick

This is going to be a short post. I am only slightly under the weather due to my allergies (I ran out of Zyrtec yesterday and couldn't pick up any until today). On top of that, I've been doing research for another series of articles in this blog, which should begin tomorrow (provided no one dies, that is). I will then leave you with two things.

I have mentioned my fellow blogger Kate Gabrielle and her blogs, Silents and Talkies and Flapperdoodle here before. Well, for those of you who enjoy Kate's Flapperdoodle drawings, I have good news. The blog Down and Out Chic is holding a giveaway where you may win a ll" by 14" print of any of the drawings in Kate's Flapperdoodle Shop. If you have never checked out Kate's Flapperdoodle drawings, please do. Her style reminds me a lot of Edward Gorey, but without the macabre angle.

I also want to mention that Thursday my second favourite band of all time (after The Beatles), Cheap Trick, released their latest album, appropriately titled The Latest. Here are two videos of songs from the album. This first one is a cover of Slade's When the Lights Are Out.



This second video is "Sick Man of Europe." For those of you trivia buffs, "Sick Man of Europe" was one of the names used by Cheap Trick before they became, well, "Cheap Trick.

Yellow Submarine Art Designer Heinz Edelmann & Brenda Joyce, Jane in Many Tarzan Movies

Heinz Edelmann

Graphic designer Heinz Edelmann, who served as art director on the animated film Yellow Submarine, passed yesterday at the age of 75.

Heinz Edelmann was born in Aussig in what was then Czechoslovakia. He attended the Dusseldorf Art Academy. His career as a graphic designer dates to 1958. Starting in 1961 he taught graphic design and illustration at various schools in both Holland and Germany. It was in the Sixties that he became known for his work on posters and magazine illustration. It was Edelmann, along with American contemporary Milton Glaser, who pioneered what would become known as the psychedelic style before even Peter Max.

It was in 1967 that Heinz Edelmann receive a call from Charlie Jenkins, the director of special effects on animated film based on the songs of The Beatles, Yellow Submarine. It was initially planned that Edelman would only work eight weeks during which he would design the look of the movie. In the end Edelmann worked an entire year on Yellow Submarine, often sleeping only four hours a night to complete the project. He was in charge of over 200 artists. In the end, Yellow Submarine would take a toll on Edelmann's health. It took him two years to recover from working on the film.

Although best known for his work on Yellow Submarine, Edelmann did much more . In the Sixties he did illustrations for the German magazine Twen. He also created illustrations for the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He designed many book covers for the publisher Klett-Cotta in Stuttgart. Among the book covers he designed was the first cover of the German edition of Lord of the Rings in 1971. He worked in advertising for ten years, much of his time spent at the ad agency Putz in Cologne. He did a great number of posters for public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk. Heinz Edelmann's style would drift away from the psychedelia he used Yellow Submarine after the Sixties.

As mentioned earlier, Edelmann taught at many schools through the years. Most recently Heinz Edelmann taught design at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts.

In the United States Heinz Edelmann is best known for Yellow Submarine and very little of his other art is recognised in here. That having been said, he should be recognised as one of the best graphic designers of the 20th Century. Indeed, his work in magazines and in advertising is often incredible. Of course, while most of his art is not well known in the United States, it can be certain that he will be remembered here through the incredible work he did on Yellow Submarine.

Brenda Joyce

Actress Brenda Joyce, best known for her role as Jane in many Tarzan movies, passed on July 4 at the age of 92. She was a student at UCLA and part time model when she was signed to 20th Century Fox. She made her film debut in the movie The Rains Came in 1939. She would go onto appear in eleven films, including the Alice Faye vehicle Little Old New York and the Milton Berle comedy Whispering Ghosts. It was in 1945 with the film Tarzan and the Amazons that Brenda Joyce became the second actress to play Jane and one of the few blondes to do so. She would be the only actress to Jane opposite two different actors as Tarzan, playing opposite Johnny Weissmuller for every movie but Tarzan's Magic Fountain in 1949, the first film to feature Lex Barker as Tarzan. She continued to appear in other films as well, including the family drama The Enchanted Forest and such B movie thrillers as The Spider Woman Strikes Back.

Brenda Joyce left acting following Tarzan's Magic Fountain. She moved to Washington D. C. where she worked in the immigration department. In 1971 Joyce appeared as herself in two episodes of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood.

Brenda Joyce was one of those many starlets who never achieved a good deal of success in Hollywood, despite having a good deal of talent. Her performance in The Rains Came was exceptional, and she did well in many other movies. Sadly, it may have been the Tarzan films which doomed her career. Before the Tarzan movies, Joyce played in a wide variety of film genres, including comedies, dramas, and musicals. Following Tarzan and the Amazons, Joyce increasingly appeared in B-movies. Quite simply, in playing Jane, Brenda Joyce may have become typecast. This is sad given her talent. She was a truly lovely and gifted actress who could have had a great career had she simply been given the chance.

Gordon Waller of Peter & Gordon R.I.P.

Gordon Waller, who with Peter Asher formed the Sixties rock duo Peter and Gordon, passed on July 17, 2009 at the age of 64. The cause of a severe heart attack. In 1964 Peter and Gordon had a hit with the Paul McCartney penned "A World Without Love," which went to #1 on both American and British singles charts. Including "A World Without Love," they had a total of nine top twenty hits in the United States.

Gordon Waller was born June 4, 1945 in Braemar, Scotland. It was while attending Westminster School in London that he met one time child actor Peter Asher. Both had an interest in music, although Gordon was more into rock 'n' roll while Peter was more into jazz. Eventually Gordon turned Peter into a rock 'n' roll fan, and the two of them both got guitars. It was not long before they were performing in pubs, coffeehouses, and smaller clubs as Gordon and Peter. It was while they were performing at the Pickwick Club in London that they were spotted by Norman Newell of EMI Records. They were signed to EMI right away.

Peter and Gordon sounded like a British version of the Everly Brothers and had a style that combined rock, blues, folk, and pop. It seems like that they would be successful no matter what. Peter and Gordon had an advantage that other, similar groups did not have in that starting in 1963 Paul McCartney was dating Peter's sister, Jane Asher. It was when they went in for their first recording session that they asked McCartney to finish a song fragment upon which he had been working. That song became "A World Without Love," which went to #1 on both sides of the Atlantic in early 1964. With success in both the United Kingdom and the United States, Peter and Gordon became part of the first wave of the British Invasion which swept the States in the wake of The Beatles. They toured the United Kingdom and appeared on Ready, Steady, Go, Top of the Pops, and Thank Your Lucky Stars. They also toured the United States and appeared on such shows as The Ed Sullivan Show and Where the Action Is. At the peak of their success they toured with The Beatles, Del Shannon, The Rolling Stones, and others.

Following "A World Without Love" Peter and Gordon had several hits on both sides of the Pond. In the United States they hit the top twenty with "Nobody I Know (1964--written by Paul McCartney)," "I Don't Want To See You Again (1964--written by Paul McCartney)," "I Go To Pieces (1964)," "True Love Ways (1965)," "Woman (1966--written by Paul McCartney)," "Lady Godiva (1966)," and "Knight In Rusty Armour (1966). In the United Kingdom they hit the top twenty with "Nobody I Know," "True Love Ways," "To Know You Is To Love You (1965)," "Baby I'm Yours (1965)," and "Lady Godiva."

Sadly by 1967 Peter and Gordon ceased having hits. After "Lady Godiva," none of their singles charted on either side of the Atlantic. In 1968 they parted ways. Peter Asher took over The Beatles' Apple Records A&R department. He signed James Taylor to the label and produced his first album. He would go onto produce albums for artists as diverse as Linda Rondstadt and 10,000 Maniacs. Gordon Waller played the role of Pharoah in a production of Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat at the Edinburgh Festival in 1971. He would go onto appear in the play in both London and Australia, as well as performing for the soundtrack album. Following his success Joseph and His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat, Gordon performed regularly in musical theatre. In 1972 he released a solo album and Gordon. Gordon later formed his own music publishing company. He also scored the television movie James Dean: Race with Destiny, which debuted in 1997.

It was in 2005 that Peter and Gordon reunited for a benefit for ailing Dave Clark Five drummer Mike Smith. They had continued to perform together since that time. Gordon would record the solo album Plays The Beatles in 2007 and Rebel Rider in 2008.

Although largely forgotten today or remembered only as a footnote in Beatles history, Peter and Gordon were not only successful in their day, but one of the best acts to emerge from the British Invasion. Their harmonies recalled The Everly Brothers, but they had a style all their own. It was a blend of rock, blues, and folk that seemed wholly unique to them. Peter Asher himself attributed Gordon Waller with most of their success, stating, "...Gordon was the heart and soul of our duo." While forgotten by many, there is every reason that both Peter Asher and Gordon Waller should be remembered. As for myself, "A World Without Love" and "Lady Godiva" will remain two of my favourite songs from the Sixties.

The 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon Landing

Foreword

It was forty years ago today that man first set foot on the moon. Today we tend to take space travel for granted. After all, we have been exploring space for nearly fifty years now. John Glenn first orbited the Earth in 1962. The space shuttle programme is over thirty years old now. Russia's MIR space station has existed for nearly twenty five years. Since 1998 construction on the the International Space Station has been taking place, a joint effort by several different nations. For many people space travel must nearly seem routine today.

This certainly was not the case on July 20, 1969. Both NASA and the Soviet Space Programme were only a little over ten years old. It was only in 1961 that President John F. Kennedy set the goal of reaching the moon by the end of the decade. That NASA actually accomplished this at all is a major accomplishment; that they did it in eight years is extraordinary.

The Apollo Programme Gets Underway

It was on October 4, 1957 that the Soviet Union launched the first man made satellite, a tiny object (only 23 inches in diameter) called Sputnik I. The Soviet's accomplishment spurred the United States into action with regards to space exploration. It was on July 29, 1956 that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA, was established when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act. It was in 1960 that NASA first conceived a programme that would ultimately take man to the moon. It was on September 1, 1960 that the Apollo Project Office was formed. On May 25, 1961, in a speech before a joint session of Congress, President John F. Kennedy set the goal of placing a man on the moon before the end of the decade. NASA's Apollo programme suddenly became the nation's top priority.

It was on January 10, 1962 that NASA announced plans to build the Saturn C-5 rocket (later renamed the Saturn V), a rocket that would be powerful enough to take man to the moon. By 1966 NASA felt ready to launch their first mission in the Apollo programme. Unfortunately, on January 27, 1967, during a test and training exercise, the command module of Apollo 1 caught fire and was destroyed, killing astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Ed White and Roger B. Chaffee. This resulted in an exensive redesign of the Apollo command module. Although the mission never left Earth, it remained "Apollo 1" at the request of the widows of the astronauts. Strangely enough, there would be no missions officially named "Apollo 2" or "Apollo 2." The next mission would be deemed "Apollo 4." Taking place on November 9, 1967, it was an unmanned flight and the first flight of the Saturn V rocket. Apollo 5, taking place on January 22, 1968, was an unmanned flight of the Lunar Module. Apollo 6, taking place on April 4, 1968, was the second test of the Saturn V rocket.

It was with Apollo 7 that NASA resumed manned Apollo flights. Launched on October 11, 1968, Apollo 7 was essentially a test flight. It was the first NASA mission in which three astronauts took part. It was also hoped that the mission would rebuild confidence in NASA after the Apollo 1 disaster. The mission of Apollo 7 was simple. It was to orbit the Earth for as long as there was enough oxygen and other consumables on board and for as long as it was safe. The mission ultimately lasted eleven days and proved the worthiness of the Apollo programme. Apollo 8 would be an even more daring mission. Launched on December 21, 1968, the mission would see the first time that a spacecraft achieved sufficient velocity to escape the Earth's orbit, the first to orbit another celestial body (the Moon), and the first to escape another celestial body's orbit to return to Earth. The historical significance of Apollo 8 was not lost on either NASA or the media. It became the most covered NASA mission since John Glenn had orbited Earth in 1962. Even the Soviets were impressed, with Boris Nikolaevich Petrov, head of the Soviet Intercosmos programme, describing the flight as "...outstanding achievement of American space sciences and technology." Guesstimates are that one fourth of the population of the Earth saw Apollo 8's Christmas Eve transmission during its ninth orbit around the Moon. Its most famous legacy may be the picture of the Earth rising over the Moon, taken on their forth orbit around the satellite.

The next two missions, Apollo 9 and Apollo 10, were manned missions that included the Lunar Module necessary for landing on the moon. With Apollo 9 and 10 successful, NASA determined that with Apollo 11 it was ready to attempt what would become its greatest achievement, and possibly the greatest achievement in the history of the man: landing on the moon.

The Apollo 11 Mission

With Apollo 11, NASA took no chances with Apollo 11. Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, and Lunar Module Pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. had flown in space missions before. It was only the second time that NASA used an all veteran crew, the first being Apollo 8. While he had served in the Navy, Neil Armstrong was no longer a military man when he joined NASA. With Gemini 8 he became the first American civilian in space. Michael Collins was an Air Force Major when he flew aboard Gemini 10. By Apollo 11 he was a Lieutenant Colonel. Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin was a Major in the Air Force when he took part in Gemini 12. By Apollo 11 he was a Colonel.

It was Michael Collins who designed the famous patch for the Apollo 11 mission. It was important to Collins that the patch represent a "...peaceful lunar landing by the United States." He then decided upon an eagle holding an olive branch in its beak landing upon the Moon. NASA worried that the eagle looked too much like a symbol of war because of its talons, so they moved the olive branch from its beak to its talons. They also changed the Roman numeral XI to the numeral 11, thinking this would be more universally understood by the nations of the world.

The command module of Apollo 11 bore the call sign of Columbia, a reference to the name of the United States of America used in poetry and song. The lunar module bore the call sign of Eagle, after the national bird of the United States of America. Apollo 11 was launched atop a Saturn V rocket on July 16, 1969 at 9:32 AM Eastern Time, 10:32 Central. It entered Earth's orbit only twelve minutes. It was on July 19, 1969 that Apollo 11 entered the Moon's orbit. It was after thirty orbits around the Moon that the crew of Apollo 11 finally spotted their landing site, the Sea of Tranquillity. It was then on July 20, 1969 that Eagle separated from Columbia and began the descent towards the Moon.

The descent did not take place without a hitch. The Lunar Module's navigation and guidance computer issued several alarms, which computer engineer Jack Garman at Mission Control in Houston determined were only "executive overflows" caused by the computer's inability to process all of its tasks in real time. Another problem arose when the computer was directing Eagle to land in an area filled with boulders. Neil Armstrong corrected took control and landed on the Moon at 4:18 PM Eastern, 3:18 PM Central. Unfortunately, Eagle only had about 25 seconds of fuel left after the landing.

It was Buzz Aldrin who speak the first words from the Moon's surface, "Mode control - -both auto. Descent engine command override off. Engine arm - off. 413 is in"--words related to the Lunar Module's navigation. It was afterwards that Neil Armstrong uttered the famous words, "Houston, Tranquillity Base here. The Eagle has landed." This caused momentary confusion at Mission Control, thrown off guard by Armstrong's shift from Eagle (the call sign while the Lunar Module was in flight) to Tranquillity Base (the call sign used after it had landed). Once Mission Control realised Eagle had landed, they were very relieved.

Aldrin and Armstrong had been scheduled to sleep for six hours after the landing, but thinking they would not be able to sleep they decided to forego it. They then made preparations to leave the Lunar Module. It was at 10:56 Eastern Time, 9:56 Central, that Neil Armstrong began his descent to the Moon's surface. As he was almost ready to step onto the Moon's surface, he described its dust as "...fine and almost like a powder." Upon stepping onto the surface of the Moon, Armstrong uttered the famous words, That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong then became the first man to set foot on the Moon. Aldrin followed Armstrong, describing the Moon's surface as "Magnificent desolation."

The astronauts observed that walking on the Moon was very easy, even easier than the simulations they had gone through in training. While on the Moon Armstrong took pictures of the Lunar Module so engineers could better judge its condition after landing on the Moon. He also collected soil samples and panned the Moon's surface with a television camera. Aldrin and Armstrong planted the American flag on the Lunar Surface and then spoke with President Richard M. Nixon through a radio/telephone transmission. Nixon referred to the phone call as "...the most historic phone call ever made from the White House."

While on the surface of the Moon, Aldrin and Armstrong were expected to complete many tasks. The astronauts performed what is called the Solar Wind Composition Experiment, an experiment meant to determine the chemicals composing solar winds. They also collected more soil samples as well as samples of lunar rocks. The astronauts set up Laser Ranging Retroreflector array, which would accurately measure the distance between the Earth and the Moon. They also set up the Passive Seismic Experiment, meant to monitor seismic activity on the Moon.

With the lunar mission a success, Aldrin and Armstrong's next concern would be to return to Earth. The astronauts once more boarded Eagle, along with the various samples they had collected. When entering Eagle, Aldrin accidentally broke the circuit breaker which the main engine used for lifting off from the Moon. NASA was worried that this might keep the engine from firing, effectively stranding the astronauts on the Moon. Fortunately, a felt tip pen was enough to flip the switch. The astronauts settle down to sleep, and after around seven hours they were awakened to leave the Moon. At 1:54 PM Eastern Time, 12:54 noon Central, that Eagle lifted off. They then rejoined Columbia and started their way back to Earth. It was on July 24, 1969 that Columbia splashed down east of Wake Island and south of Johnston Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

The Legacy of Apollo 11 in Pop Culture

It is difficult to determine the impact of Apollo 11 on Anglo-American pop culture. Much of this problem is due to the fact that well before 1969 the space programme had already had an enormous impact on pop culture in the United States. This can easily be seen in the television shows of the era. Many sitcoms of the time, from Gilligan's Island to Please Don't Eat the Daisies, had episodes which touched upon space in some way. At least two sitcoms dealt with space directly. The main character of My Favorite Martian, Uncle Martin (Ray Walston), was a space traveller from Mars. I Dream of Jeannie dealt directly with the space programme, the master of the genie named Jeannie (Barbara Eden) being Captain (later Major) Tony Nelson (Larry Hagman), an astronaut for NASA. In the mid-Sixties there were two space adventure shows, Star Trek and Lost in Space. In addition to television, the space programme would have an impact on everything from food (Pillsbury's "Space Food Sticks") to toys (Mattel's famous Major Matt Mason action figure). The movies were a bit slow to capitalise on the popularity of the space programme, probably due to the fact that there had been a substantial cycle towards sci-fi movies in the Fifties (which produced movies ranging from Destination Moon to Forbidden Planet). Eventually, even the movies would succumb to the popularity of the space programme. Doris Day's character in The Glass Bottom Boat worked for NASA. Planet of the Apes used a space mission as a means of tossing its characters forward in time. 2001: A Space Odyssey portrayed a world where space travel was part of every day life.

While it is hard to gauge the impact of Apollo 11 on pop culture because NASA had already had such a large impact on it, the lunar landing would have a few immediate effects on pop culture. David Bowie's song "Space Oddity" was rush released on July 11, 1969 to coincide with the Apollo 11 lunar mission. In the United Kingdom it would even be used in BBC's coverage of the moon landing. It gave Bowie his first hit in the United Kingdom, reaching #5 on the charts.

While there can be little doubt that Planet of the Apes and 2001: a Space Odyssey started a new cycle in film towards sci-fi that would last into the early Seventies, it seems possible that Apollo 11 may bear some responsibility in this too. On October 20, 1969, Hammer Films released the space western Moon Zero Two. While the movie was meant to capitalise on the popularity of 2001: a Space Odyssey, one must wonder if the timing if its release had to do with Apollo 11. Sadly, it did not do well at the box office. The film Marooned, based on the 1964 novel by Martin Caidin, was released on November 10, 1969, just four months after the Apollo 11 mission and four days before the launch of Apollo 12. Based in part on actual NASA sketches from the Apollo Applications Programme, the movie became a hit in a large part because of the missions. Released the following day was Dopplegänger (also known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun), which sought to capitalise on the first Moon Landing with the tagline, "Man has conquered the moon with the epic Apollo 11 flight! Now take another momentous journey!"

Another immediate effect of the Apollo Moon Landing would be on the drink Tang. Tang had first been used by NASA during the Gemini programme. It was not used on Apollo 11, but Tang would take advantage of the lunar missions nonetheless. The moon began figuring prominently in their adverts. In fact, Tang would even offer a toy Lunar Rover (first used on Apollo 15) in the early Seventies. The Apollo programme would also have an impact on other products as well. In 1970 Avon manufactured what they called Moon Flight: the Game, which was basically a bottle of shampoo in the shape of the Apollo Command module and Lunar module. AMT issued an Apollo 11 model kit that included both the Command Module and the Lunar Module. Several other toys capitalising on the success of Apollo 11 were also made during the period.

While it is difficult to determine the immediate impact of Apollo 11 on Anglo-American pop culture, its lasting impact is easier to see. On the Seventies sci-fi series Space 1999, the Eagle Transporters may owe their name to the Eagle lunar module. Based upon those conspiracy theorists who, against all reason, believe none of the Apollo missions ever happened, was the movie Capricorn One. Released in 1978, the movie dealt with a government conspiracy to fake the first landing on Mars.

More recently, Apollo 11 itself was dramatised in the 1996 television movie Apollo 11, the 1998 HBO mini-series From the Earth to the Moon, and the soon to be released film Moonshot. The 2008 animated movie Fly Me the Moon portrayed a highly fictionalised account of three flies who make it to the Moon with Apollo 11. The Apollo 11 mission has been referenced in everything from the movie Independence Day to the TV show Futurama to the TV show My Hero. Perhaps the most lasting effect of Apollo 11 may be the continued popularity of space oriented motion pictures. While much of this may be due to the success of 2001: A Space Odyssey, it is probably no coincidence that the past forty years have seen movies ranging from 1972's Silent Running to this year's Moon (directed by David Bowie's son, Duncan Jones).

Regardless of its impact on pop culture, the Apollo 11 Moon Landing has had a huge impact on history, one that we forty years later may not yet fully understand. The most immediate effect was that it was the Apollo 11 mission inspired many Baby Boomers and Gen Xers to pursue careers in science. Apollo 11 also provided a large number of contributions in science. Through the still operative Laser Ranging Retroreflector array we not only have precise measurements of the distance from the Earth to the Moon, but even in the Moon's orbit. Through the samples of soil and rocks taken from the Moon, we have not only learned a great deal about the Moon, but the Earth itself. The space programme which led to Apollo 11, the Apollo 11 mission itself, and the subsequent Apollo and space shuttle missions have led to advances in fields ranging from medicine to technology.

The most lasting impact of Apollo 11 may be the knowledge that we can explore beyond the Earth. While most of the past forty years NASA has occupied itself with space shuttle missions and robotic missions to Mars and elsewhere, NASA has plans to return to the Moon and even to set up a permanent base there. It is only next month that NASA will test the new Ares rocket, which will take astronauts back to the Moon. This could happen as soon as the next decade. Sometime after 2030 there are plans for man to land on Mars. While there are still those who maintain the Apollo programme was a big waste of money. I myself see it as only the beginning of man's exploration of space. In that case, Apollo 11 is truly one of the most pivotal events in human history.

Dal McKennon, Voice of Many Cartoons, Passes On

Dal McKennon, perhaps best known as innkeeper Cincinnatus on the Sixties show Daniel Boone and the voice of Gumby, passed on July 14. He was 89 years old.

Dal McKennon was born Dallas McKennon (under which he was sometimes billed) in La Grande, Oregon on July 19, 1919. He was a young child when his mother died and he was sent to a farm to live with an uncle and aunt. It was on the farm that he first started mastering the imitation of voices, practising imitating the animals there. While in high school he enrolled in drama classes. He was still in high school when his talent for voices led him to work at a local radio station. He attended the University of Washington for at time, before serving in the Army Signal Corps during World War II. He was stationed in Alaska.

Dal McKennon's first voice work was in the Walter Lantz cartoon Pigeon Patrol in 1942, where he provided the voice for Homer Pigeon. McKennon became one of Latz's favourite voice actors, voicing Buzz Buzzard, Wally Walrus, Homer Pigeon, Dapper Denver Dooley, and many incidental voices. Chances are extremely good that if one has seen a Woody Woodpecker or a Chilly Willy cartoon, then he has heard Dallas McKennon. Dal McKennon's talents were not used by Walter Lantz alone. He also provided the voice for the legendary comic strip characters Tintin and Professor Calculus in the movies De krab met de gulden scharen, De schat van scharlaken rackham, and Het geval Zonnebloem, all released in 1959. His vocal talents were also used by Disney, on such films as Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, Mary Poppins, and Bedknobs and Broomsticks.

Dal McKennon received his best known role in 1959 when he became the voice of Gumby. Created by Art Clokey, the clay animation character had debuted on The Howdy Doody Show in 1956 and received his own show in 1957. In the beginning female actors (including Norma MacMillan, beat known as Sweet Polly Purebred on Underdog) voiced Gumby, along with Dick Beals (the voice of Speedy Alka-Seltzer). In 1959 Dal McKennon took over as the voice of Gumby, providing the clay figure's voice until the series ended in 1964. He would provide the voice for Gumby in the Eighties series Gumby Adventures, which debuted in 1988, as well as the voice of Gumby in The Puppetoon Movie (released in 1987). Ultimately, Dal McKennon became the actor most identified with the role.

In the early Fifties Dal McKennon created and hosted his own local children's show, Space Funnies, which aired on KNXT-TV (now KCBS) in Los Angeles. On the show McKennon played the host Captain Jet. He made his live action, feature film debut playing a miner in Bend of the River, released in 1952. His national television debut was a guest appearance the following year on Dragnet. He would have small roles in Good Day for a Hanging, Let No Man Write My Epitaph, Twist Around the Clock, Son of Flubber, The Wheeler Dealers, The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao, Clambake, The Cat from Outer Space, Hot Lead and Cold Feet, and Frozen Assets. He would have larger roles in House of the Damned and The Misadventures of Merlin Jones. He guest starred on such TV shows as The Tall Man, The Untouchables, Gunsmoke, The Virginian, The Rifleman, My Favorite Martian, Wagon Train, The Andy Griffith Show, and Bonanza. McKennon's most famous live action role may be that of Cincinnatus on Daniel Boone. Cincinnatus was a bit of a jack of all trades, filling the role of comic relief, innkeeper, doctor, fisherman, hunter, storekeeper, and trapper in the small village of Boonesborough.

Although he appeared in many live action movies and TV shows, McKennon's meat and potatoes would remain his voice work in animation. He provided the voice of both Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse on the TV show Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse. He also provided the voice for Q. T Rush in the animated series of the same name. On the various TV shows based on the Archie comic books, he voiced Archie Andrews, Hot Dog, Mr. Weatherbee, Pop, and Mr. Cleats. Starting with The Archie Show, the shows included The Archie Comedy Hour, Archie's Fun House, Archie's TV Funnies, The U.S. of Archie, The New Archie/Sabrina Hour, and Archie's Bang-Shang Lalapalooza Show. He also provided voices for the animated features Oliver Twist, Journey Back to Oz, and The Adventures of Mark Twain.

McKennon did voice work for more than animated feature films and TV shows. He was the voices of various characters in commercials for Kellogg's cereals in the Fifties, including Cornelius the Rooster and Snap, Crackle, and Pop. He also provided the voice for animatronics figures in attractions at Disney's theme parks. Among them are Ben Franklin in The American Adventure, Andrew Jackson in The Hall of Presidents, and Zeke in The Country Bear Jubilee. It is McKennon's voice which gives the safety speech on The Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, advising riders to hold onto their hats and glasses.

Although not quite as well known as fellow voice artists Mel Blanc or Alan Reed, there is every reason Dallas McKennon should be. The versatility of his voice can be seen in the range of characters he voiced, from the high pitched tones of Gumby to the lower tones of the Owl in Sleeping Beauty. On the various Archie TV shows alone he played seven different characters. He could be just as versatile as a live action actor. Not only did he play the friendly and funny innkeeper Cincinnatus on Daniel Boone, but several different heavies in Western TV shows (he once joked to an interviewer, "I specialised in barn burnings." Dallas McKennon was both a great voice artist and a great character actor. There is every reason he should be remembered.