The Late Great Beverly Cleary

Short of Dr. Seuss, Beverly Cleary may well be the most influential children's author of the 20th Century. She certainly influenced multiple generations over her long writing career. Indeed, she was a successful writer before I was even born. She created several beloved characters, including Henry Huggins, Beezus Quimby, Ramona Quimby, and Ralph S. Mouse. It is a mark of her success that her books have remained in print, decades after they were first published. Beverly Cleary died on March 25 2021 at the age of 104.

Beverly Cleary was born Beverly Bunn on April 12 1916 in McMinnville, Oregon. She spent her early years on her family farm, and when she was six years old her family moved to Portland, Oregon. While she would later become a very successful author, in first grade she had difficulty learning to read, primarily due to a series of illnesses she had throughout the year (chickenpox, tonsillitis, and smallpox).  Fortunately, her reading improved, but she found many of the books for children at the time rather dull. As she once said in an interview, "So many books in those days, back in the 1920s, had been published in England," she says, "and the children had nannies and pony carts. They seemed like a bunch of sissies to me." It was in third grade that she discovered the book The Dutch Twins by Lucy Fitch Perkins, which unlike many other books at the time was about ordinary children. It was in sixth grade that her teacher, based on her writing assignments, suggested that she become a children's author.

Beverly Cleary attended Chaffey Junior College in Ontario, California and later the University of California, Berkeley. She graduated in 1938 with a degree in English. It was during this period that she met Clarence Cleary, who would become her husband. She earned another bachelor's degree, this one in the library science, at the University of Washington. In 1940 she married Clarence Cleary and the two remained married until his death in 2004.

Mrs. Cleary worked as a children's librarian and noticed that they were often unimpressed by the books available to them. She was asked once by a little boy, "Where are the books about kids like us?" Beverly Cleary sympathized with her young patrons, and as a result wrote her first book, Henry Huggins. It was published in 1950 and proved to be an immediate success. It would be followed by several more chapter books staring Henry Huggins, his dog Ribsy, his friend Beezus (given name Beatrice), and her little sister Ramona. Beezus and Ramona would be featured in their own book, Beezus and Ramona, published in 1955.

While Beverly Cleary's chapter books about Henry Huggins proved successful, she also wrote books for older readers. These included Fifteen (1956), The Luckiest Girl (1958), Jean and Johnny (1959), Sister of the Bride (1963), and others. She also wrote three novels based on the sitcom Leave It to Beaver: Leave It to Beaver (1960), Beaver and Wally (1961), and Here's Beaver! (1961).

Beverly Cleary would follow the success of her Henry Huggins books with books about Ralph S. Mouse. Ralph was a mouse who can talk to humans (although he generally only speaks to children) and lives in a rundown inn. In The Mouse and the Motorcycle (1965) he is given a toy motorcycle by one of the young visitors to the inn, and learns he can ride it. Ralph was featured in two more books: Runaway Ralph (1970) and Ralph S. Mouse (1982).

What may well be Beverly Cleary's most successful series of books was a spinoff of the Henry Huggins books. Ramona Quimby originated as a supporting character as Beezus's little sister in the Henry Huggins books. In Beezus and Ramona she was given a larger role. The Ramona series originated after a publisher had asked her to write a book about a kindergarten student. Having never attended kindergarten, Mrs. Cleary initially resisted, but decided to go ahead and write a book about a kindergarten student after the birth of her twins. Ramona the Pest (1968) gave Ramona a starring role. It was followed by six more books.

Beverly Cleary wrote several books outside of her series, including Otis Spofford (about a precocious fourth grader), Emily's Runaway Imagination (set in the 1920s), and Socks (about a cat who runs away from home after his family have a new baby).  She also wrote two memoirs, A Girl from Yamhill (1988) and On My Own Two Feet (1995).

Beverly Cleary's works have been adapted to other media. In the late Eighties and early Nineties, the Ralph S. Mouse books were adapted as three episodes of the ABC Weekend Specials. The Ramons series was adapted as a ten episode Canadian TV series in 1980. The books Ramona Forever and Ramona's World were adapted as the feature film Ramona and Beezus (2010).

Beverly Cleary's success came from more than being a skilled writer with an incredible wit. Much of it came from the fact that she filled a niche. Prior to Beverly Cleary, there were few books that featured ordinary, American children. Until the publication of Henry Huggins, there were very few characters in books that American, 20th Century children could relate to. In contrast, Beverly Cleary's characters were entirely relatable. What is more, she had a gift for writing about the minutiae of children's lives, whether it's Henry Huggins's attempts to earn money for a new book or Beezus having to put up with her younger sister Ramona's antics. Even in the Ralph S. Mouse books, Mrs. Cleary dealt with topics of importance to children (longing for a more exciting life, getting aggravated at one's family, and so on). While Socks is about a cat and written from the cat's point of view, many children might be able to identify with Socks's jealousy of his family's new baby.

Beverly Cleary has been among one of my favourite authors since childhood. I read the Henry Huggins books and the Ralph S. Mouse books, and I enjoyed them immensely. Beverly Cleary's career lasted so long and she was so successful, that my older sister read some of her books and my nieces as well. She wrote for nearly fifty years, producing an oeuvre that remains in print to this day. Given how relatable her characters were and how universal the themes in her books, Beverly Cleary's books will likely be in print 100 years from now.

The Late Great Jessica Walter

Actress Jessica Walter died in her sleep at age 80 yesterday, March 24 2021. She played a deranged stalker in Play Misty for Me (1971). On television she played Lucille on the sitcom Arrested Development and the voices of Fran Sinclair on Dinosaurs and Malory Archer on Archer.

Jessica Walter was born on January 31 1941 in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Astoria, Queens. Her father, David Walter, was a violinist who played with the NBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York City Ballet Orchestra. Her mother, Esther, was a Russian immigrant. Her brother, Richard Walter, became a writer and chairman of the graduate program in screenwriting.

Jessica Walter studied acting at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts and later the Neighbourhood Playhouse. In 1960 she made her debut on Broadway in Advise and Consent. That same year she made her television debut in an episode of Diagnosis: Unknown.

In the Sixties Jessica Walter played the regular role of Phyllis Koster, wife of assistant district attorney David Koster (William Shatner) on the short-lived series For the People. She was also a regular on the soap opera Love of Life from 1962 to 1965. She guest starred on Naked City, Route 66, East Side/West Side, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Ben Casey, Flipper, The Nurses, The Reporter, The Rouges, The Defenders, The Trials of O'Brien, The F.B.I., The Fugitive, Preview Tonight, It Takes a Thief, The Immortal, Then Came Bronson, Mission: Impossible, and The Most Deadly Game. She made her film debut in Lilith in 1964. She appeared in the movies The Group (1966), Grand Prix (1966), Bye Bye Braverman (1968), and Number One (1969). Miss Walter appeared on Broadway in Night Life, Photo Finish, and A Severed Head.

In the Seventies Jessica Walter played deranged stalker Evelyn Draper in Play Misty for Me (1971). She also appeared in the movies Goldengirl (1979) and Concorde...Airport '79 (1979). On television she played the lead of the title in the short-lived series Amy Prentiss. She guest starred on Storefront Lawyers; The Name of the Game; Alias Smith and Jones; The Sixth Sense; Banyon; Cannon; Marcus Welby, M.D.; Banacek; Mannix; Tenafly; Medical Center; Love, American Style; Columbo; The Magician; Ironside; Barnaby Jones; Hawaii Five-O; McCloud; The Streets of San Francisco; Visions; All That Glitters; Wonder Woman; What Really Happened to the Class of '65; Gibbsville; Quincy, M.E. She appeared in several TV movies, including playing Morgan Le Fay in Dr. Strange.

In the Eighties Jessica Walter was a regular on the nighttime soap opera Bare Essence, the sitcom Three's a Crowd, and the family drama Aaron's Way. She played the recurring role of the title character's ex-wife on Trapper John, M.D. She was a voice on the animated series Wildfire. She guest starred on the shows Love Boat, Aloha Paradise, Knot's Landing, Joanie Loves Chachi, Matt Houston, Hotel, Magnum P.I., and J. J. Starbuck. Miss Walter appeared in the movies Going Ape! (1981), Spring Fever (1982), The Flamingo Kid (1984), and Tapeheads (1988). She appeared on Broadway in Rumors.

In the Nineties Jessica Walter was the voice of Earl Sinclair's long-suffering wife Fran Sinclair on the sitcom Dinosaurs. She was a regular on the sitcom Oh Baby. She had a recurring role on the sitcoms Coach and Jack & Jill, as well as the soap opera One Life to Live. She guest starred on the shows The Round Table; Murder, She Wrote; Babylon 5; Law & Order; You Wish; Poltergeist: The Legacy; and Just Shoot Me!. Miss Walter appeared in the movies Ghost in the Machine (1993), PCU (1994), Temptress (1995), and Slums of Beverly Hills (1998).

In the Naughts Jessica Walter played Lucille Bluth on the sitcom Arrested Development. She was a regular on 90120 for the first half of its first season. She began her long run as the voice of Malory Archer on the animated series Archer. She had recurring roles on Saving Grace and Gravity. She guest starred on Touched by An Angel, Rules of Engagement, The Wedding Bells, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Happy Hour, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Make It or Break It. She appeared in the movies My Best Friend's Wife (2001), Dummy (2002), and Unaccompanied Minors (2006).

In the Teens she continued to voice Malory Archer on Archer. She reprised her role as Lucille on Arrested Development. She was a regular on Retired at 35 and Jennifer Falls. She guest starred on The Big Bang Theory, The Odd Couple (2016), NCIS, Difficult People, At Home with Amy Sedaris, Good Girls, and American Housewife. She was a regular voice on the animated series Star vs. the Forces of Evil, and provided guest voices on the animated shows Justice League Action and Harley Quinn. She appeared on Broadway in Anything Goes. She appeared in the movies Bending the Rules (2012), Keep the Change (2017), Undercover Grandpa (2017), and The Mimic (2020).

I cannot begin to describe my admiration for Jessica Walter. She was simply an incredible actress. I have only seen a few episodes of Arrested Development (it was always opposite one of my regularly watched shows during its original run), but I know many will always remember her as Lucille Bluth, the domineering matriarch of the Bluth family. Even for those who have only seen a few episodes of Arrested Development or none at all, there are a number of other roles they will probably remember Miss Walter for. For me, it will perhaps be two voice roles. The first was the voice of Fran Sinclair on Dinosaurs, the level headed, sensible, always patient wife of Earl Sinclair. She was truly Alice Kramden to Earl's Ralph. Malory Archer was about as far from Fran as one could get. She was the former head of spy agency ISIS and Archer's mother. She was also an utterly ruthless alcoholic who generally thinks of no one but herself. Although it is not well-remembered today, Jessica Walter played the title role on the short-lived Seventies series Amy Prentiss. Amy Prentiss was San Francisco's first chief of detectives. Miss Walter excelled in the role, winning the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series.

Jessica Walter was prolific. She somehow found time to be a regular on several TV shows, guest star on many more, and appear in movies and on Broadway to boot. What is more, she never gave a bad performance. As far as movies go, she will always remembered as the mentally disturbed stalker in Play Misty for Me. She also gave impressive turns as a racecar driver's wife in Grand Prix, the ambitious Libby in The Group, and widow Inez Braverman in Bye Bye Braverman. While Jessica Walter may be particularly remembered for her work in comedy, she was equally adept at drama. She excelled in both drama and comedy in playing complex, intelligent women. She did it so well that few actresses could ever match her. If Jessica Walter was prolific, if she had a career in television, in movies, and on Broadway, it was because she was so extraordinarily talented.

The Late Great George Segal

George Segal, the actor who starred in such films as King Rat (1965) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), died yesterday, March 23 2021, from complications from bypass surgery. He was 87 years old.

George Segal was born on February 13 1934 in Great Neck, New York. He was nine years old when he saw the movie This Gun for Hire (1942), starring Alan Ladd, and then decided to become an actor. He graduated from the George School, a private Quaker boarding school, in Newtown, Pennsylvania in 1951. He then attended Haverford College in Philadelphia. There he played banjo in Bruno Lynch and His Imperial Jazz Band. He was drafted into the United States Army and was stationed on Staten Island. He received his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in New York City in 1955.

George Segal made his stage debut off-Broadway in Moliere's Don Juan in 1956. The production also included Peter Falk. He later appeared in a production of The Iceman Cometh with Jason Robards and Leave it to Jane. For a time he was a member of the New York Shakespeare Festival Company. In the early Sixties he formed the comedy troupe The Premise.

He was working with The Premise when he was discovered by producer Larry Thurman. He was then cast in the role of Dr. Howard in the movie The Young Doctors (1961). In the Sixties he appeared in such notable films as Ship of Fools (1965), King Rat (1965), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966), and The Owl and the Pussycat (1970). He also appeared in the movies The Longest Day (1962), Act One (1963), The New Interns (1964), Invitation to a Gunfighter (1964), Lost Command (1966), The Quiller Memorandum (1966), The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967), Bye Bye Braverman (1968), No Way to Treat a Lady (1968), Tenderly (1968), The Southern Star (1969), The Bridge of Regmagen (1969), Loving (1970), Where's Poppa? (1970), and The Owl and the Pussycat (1970).  On television he guest starred on the shows Play of the Week, The United States Steel Hour, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Naked City, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Channing, The Robert Taylor Show, The Nurses, and Arrest and Trial. He appeared on Broadway in the productions Gideon and Rattle of a Simple Man.

The Seventies saw George Segal as a leading man in several movies, including such films as The Hot Rock (1972), Blume in Love (1973), California Split (1974), and Fun with Dick and Jane (1977). He also appeared in the movies Born to Win (1971), A Touch of Class (1973), The Terminal Man (1974), Russian Roulette (1975), The Black Bird (1975), The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox (1976), Rollercoaster (1977), Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), Lost and Found (1979), and The Last Married Couple of America (1980).

In the Eighties he starred on the short-lived TV shows Take Five and Murphy's Law. He appeared in such TV movies as The Deadly Game, The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood, and Many Happy Returns. He appeared in the mini-series The Endless Game. He appeared in the movies Carbon Copy (1981), Killing 'em Softly (1982), Stick (1985), Run for Your Life (1988), All's Fair (1989), and Look Who's Talking (1989).  He appeared on Broadway in Requiem for a Heavyweight.

In the Nineties George Segal began a seven season run on the sitcom Just Shoot Me!. He also appeared on the short-lived shows High Tide and The Naked Truth. He had a recurring role on the show Tracey Takes On and provided the voice of Dr. Benton Quest on the animated series The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest. He guest starred on the show Murder, She Wrote; Burke's Law; Picture Windows; The Larry Sanders Show; Caroline in the City; and Bette. He appeared on Broadway in Art. He appeared in the movies For the Boys (1991), Feofaniya, risuyushchaya smert (1991), Un orso chiamato Arturo (1992), Me, Myself and I (1992), Look Who's Talking Now (1993), Joshua Tree (1993), Deep Down (1994), The Babysitter (1995), It's My Party (1996), Flirting with Disaster (1996), The Cable Guy (1996), and The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996).

In the Naughts Mr. Segal continued to appear on television in Just Shoot Me!. He guest starred on The War at Home, Private Practice, Boston Legal, Pushing Daisies, and Entourage. He appeared in the movies Heights (2005), Three Days to Vegas (2007), Made for Each Other (2009), 2012 (2009), and Love & Other Drugs (2010). In the Teens he was a regular on the TV shows Retired at 35 and The Goldbergs. He appeared in the movie Elsa & Fred.

George Segal is probably best known for his light comedies, but he was a versatile actor who performed equally well in drama. I remember him best from the classic caper movie The Hot Rock, in which he played Andy Kelp, the eternally optimistic brother-in-law of professional thief John Dortmunder (Robert Redford). While Mr. Segal excelled in this comedy, he also did well in the war film King Rat, which he played Corporal King, the wheeler-dealer who survives life in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp through various less than honest enterprises. In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf he played Nick, one half of a young couple who become entangled in the constant fighting in which an older couple engage. He played a police detective who is a bit too close to his mother in No Way to Treat a Lady, a hairdresser who has become addicted to drugs in Born to Win, a book clerk and would-be novelist in The Owl and the Pussycat, and a card shark in The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox. George Segal played a wide variety of roles throughout his career. What is more, he did all of them well.

The 2021 TCM Classic Film Festival

On March 10 2021 (which also happens to be my birthday), Turner Classic Movies announced the 12th Annual  TCM Classic Film Festival. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this year's festival will unfold virtually on both Turner Classic Movies and, for the first time, on the streaming service HBO Max. It runs from May 6 2021 to May 9 2021.

The 12th Annual TCM Classic Film Festival will open with a 60th anniversary screening of West Side Story (1961). New interviews with Rita Moreno, George Chakris, and Russ Tamblyn will air alongside the screening on TCM and will also be available on the Classics Curated by TCM hub on HBO Max. While TCM has yet to release the schedule, the 2021 TCM Classic Film Festival will include introductions by such directors as Rob Reiner and Mira Nair and tributes to Danny Glover and Ali McGraw.

I am certainly looking forward to this year's TCM Classic Film Festival. I thoroughly enjoyed last year's virtual version of the event. I hope that I am able to host a TCMParty during this year's festival. Last year I hosted a TCMParty for A Hard Day's Night. I only have one caveat about this year's festival. That is that apparently there be content exclusive tto HBO Max. Sadly, HBO Max is rather expensive for a streaming service at $14.99 a month. That places it out of the price range of those of us living on rather limited budgets. That means many TCM fans will be missing out on any content that is exclusive to HBO Max. While I appreciate that WarnerMedia wants to promote HBO Max, I don't think this is quite the best way to do it.

Regardless, last year's virtual film festival was a lot of fun. I thin I watched more movies during those four days that I did entire months of last year. I don't think this year's festival will be any different.

Thanks for a Successful Blogathon

Thank you to those who contributed for making the 7th Annual Favourite TV Show Blogathon a success! This year I think we had much more variety than any year before, with every decade from the Fifties to the Eighties represented. And there really wasn't any genre that dominated over the others (I can remember one year where everyone seemed to be writing about Westerns). Shows covered in blog posts ranged from anthology series to sitcoms. Anyway, the Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon will return next year, so stay tuned for the announcement around January 2 2022!

The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Murderous Spring"

During the Sixties, both the United Kingdom and the United States were swept up in a spy craze. Starting with shows such as Danger Man and The Avengers in Britain, the first James Bond movie Dr. No (1962) brought the spy craze to the United States. At around the same time the success of the TV shows Bonanza and The Virginian sparked a new cycle of Westerns on American television. It was then perhaps inevitable that someone would think to combine the two. That someone was Michael Garrison, who came up with the idea of a show that would be "James Bond in the Wild West." Of course, that show was The Wild Wild Wild West.

The Wild Wild West followed the adventures of Secret Service agents James West (Robert Conrad) and Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), who were assigned to the United States west of the Mississippi. West and Gordon were equipped with the latest in gadgets, from James West's sleeve gun to the knife hidden in his shoe.  Artemus Gordon was a master of disguise and even had his own disguise kit. What is more they regularly faced Bondian villains. For the most part West and Gordon's opponents only appeared once, never to return to the show again. There were two exceptions to this rule. One was Count Manzeppi (Victor Buono), who appeared in two episodes of the second season. The more notable exception was Dr. Miguelito Loveless (Michael Dunn), who returned to plague West and Gordon no less than ten times during the show's run. Dr. Loveless was to James West and Artemus Gordon what The Joker is to Batman or Blofeld is to James Bond. Quite simply, he was their archenemy.

Dr. Miguelito Loveless was created by creator Michael Garrison, producer Fred Freiberger, and writer John Kneubuhl and first appeared in the first season episode "The Night the Wizard Shook the Earth." It occurred to them that actor Michael Dunn would make a great villain on the show. Suffering from medical dwarfism, Mr. Dunn was an established actor who had appeared in the movie Ship of Fools (1965), for which he had been nominated for the Oscar for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, as well as several TV shows.

Inspiration for Miguelito Loveless came from a play that John Kneubuhl had seen,  Here Come the Clowns by Phillip Barry. In the play there is a scene in which a dwarf complains to a rather devilish looking magician, "If there is a God, why did he make people like me?" The magician simply looks down at him and smiles, then says, "Would you deny him a sense of humour?" While it was never mentioned on the show, Dr. Loveless's backstory was that he was the son of a Mexican woman descended from Spanish dons and an American man who ultimately robbed Miguelito of his rightful inheritance. Robbed of what was rightfully his and diminutive in stature, Dr. Loveless was then angry at the whole world. While Dr. Loveless was filled with existential rage, at the same time he had a lighter side. He had a mischievous sense of humour that often manifested itself in his encounters with West and Gordon. He also had a taste for the finer things in life, particularly music. Many of his early appearances featured scenes of Dr. Loveless and his companion Antoinette (Phoebe Dorin)  singing. Phoebe Dorin was a close friend of Michael Dunn, and together they had a nightclub consisting of singing and light banter. While Dr. Loveless was small in size, he was a skilled combatant, in one episode taking on several men much bigger than himself and winning.

Dr. Loveless also had a brilliant intellect, one capable of developing technology far in advance of the Victorian Era. Of course, rather than using this technology to help humanity, the not-so-good doctor chose to use his technological achievements to take over part of the United States or the entire country. This is the case in "The Night of the Murderous Spring." In "The Night of the Murderous Spring," Dr. Loveless has developed a powerful, hallucinogenic powder that he plans to use to take over the United States. Given when "The Night of the Murderous Spring" was made, some might think that writer John Kneubuhl was inspired by such psychedelic drugs as LSD, but he wasn't. By his own admission, Mr. Kneubuhl was rather naive about drugs at the time, and simply thought of the episode's hallucinogenic powder as one of Dr. Loveless's many inventions.

"The Night of the Murderous Spring" was Miguelito Loveless's fourth appearance on The Wild Wild West and the penultimate episode of the first season. What sets it apart from some of Miguelito's other appearances (as well as other Wild Wild West episodes) is that Jim West is even more at Dr. Loveless's mercy than he ever was or would be. In "The Night of the Murderous Spring," it is fairly clear that Dr. Loveless could have killed James West any time he wanted. As to why he didn't, one can only assume that Dr. Loveless had found no other opponents who had challenged him as much as West and Gordon had. For Miguelito Loveless, it seems likely trying to take over the world was as much a game as it was anything else.

Of course, much of what also sets "The Night of the Murderous Spring" apart from other episodes of The Wild Wild West is its direction. "The Night of the Murderous Spring" features some of the best shots of any episode of the show, with scenes that look as if they could come from some thriller movie or a Victorian film noir. If the direction of "The Night of the Murderous Spring" is superior, it is perhaps because it was directed by Richard Donner. Richard Donner directed three episodes of The Wild Wild West and would go onto direct such movies as The Omen (1976), Superman (1978), Ladyhawke (1985), and Lethal Weapon (1987).

While "The Night of the Murderous Spring" had great direction, much of its success must be chalked up to Michael Dunn. He was an enormously talented actor, and he brought all of his talent to bear in playing Dr. Miguelito Loveless. What is more, he did his own stunts. While his mobility was limited to some degree because of his disability, he was athletic and a very skilled swimmer. In fact, it was during the shooting of "The Night of the Murderous Spring" that Michael Dunn's swimming skill came to good use. A scene shot at what was also used as the lagoon on Gilligan's Island involved the sinking of a boat containing Michael Dunn, Phoebe Dorin, and guest star Jenie Jackson. Unfortunately, Miss Dorin's costume got caught in the machinery used to sink the boat and she was in danger of drowning. Michael Dunn swiftly swam underwater to tear her free.

While Robert Conrad and Michael Dunn played opponents on screen, in reality the two men had great affection for each other. In fact, according to Phoebe Dorin in various interviews, Robert Conrad absolutely adored Michael Dunn. Quite simply, Mr. Conrad treated Mr. Dunn and anyone with him as if they were royalty. He had enormous admiration for Michael Dunn as both an actor and a person, to the point that Mr. Conrad would still talk about Mr. Dunn at length in interviews years after his death. Robert Conrad was not alone in his affection for Michael Dunn. Ross Martin also got along very well with both Michael Dunn and Phoebe Dorin. 

Dr. Miguelito Loveless appeared six more times on The Wild Wild West. Although the show was still getting respectable ratings, it was cancelled in 1969 as a scapegoat in the moral panic over television violence. Michael Dunn continued to appear frequently on television, in such shows as Bonanza and Night Gallery, as well as several TV movies and feature films. Sadly he died on August 30 1973 at the age of 38. An autopsy performed by a physician at St. George's Hospital in London at the time determined the cause of death to be pulmonary heart disease. While Mr. Dunn had a rich career, from appearing on stage in The Ballad of the Sad Café to his performance in Ship of Fools, it is safe to say many still remember him best as Dr. Miguelito Loveless on The Wild Wild West.

American television in the Sixties had no shortage of villains with grandiose plots, from the THRUSH agents faced by Solo and Khuryakin on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. to Batman's rogue's gallery on Batman. Few were as brilliant, as outrageous, or as threatening as Dr. Miguelito Loveless. He was the one villain West and Gordon faced more than twice, and perhaps the villain who came closest to succeeding in his plans. Perhaps no other villain on The Wild Wild West could have conceived a scheme as grand as drugging the entire United States with a hallucinogen. And what made Dr. Loveless so convincing, no matter how outlandish his schemes, was the sheer talent of Michael Dunn. Perhaps no other actor could have ever played him.

The 7th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon

The 7th Annual Favourite TV Show Episode Blogathon has arrived. This year's blogathon spans several decades worth of classic television, as well as several different genres.

For those of you who are participating in the blogathon, I ask that you link to this page. I will be updating this page with links to the various blog posts that are part of this blogathon throughout the weekend. If you want a graphic for your post, I have several on the announcement page here.

Anyhow, without further ado, here are the blog posts!

Realweegiemidget Reviews: Hammer House of Horror TV Series, "Visitor from the Grave" (1980)

Caftan Woman: Barney Miller, "Fog"

John V's Eclectic Avenue: Thriller's Uncanny "The Grim Reaper"

The Very Special Blog: Boy Meets World: B& B's B 'n' B

Another Old Movie Blog: TV's Decoy - "Fiesta at Midnight" episode, 1958

Films From Beyond the Time Barrier: The Outer Limits of Spying: O.B.I.T.

Taking Up Room: Be Kind, Rewind

A Shroud of Thoughts: The Wild Wild West, "The Night of the Murderous Spring"

Elisabeth Grace Foley: Stagecoach West, "The Remounts"

Watching Forever: When Murder, She Wrote brilliantly became a sequel to a 1949 film

Hamlette's Soliloquy: "The Haunted House" (The Andy Griffith Show)(1963)

Crítica Retrô:Alfred Hitchcock Presents Patricia Hitchcock in "Into Thin Air"

Silver Scenes: I Love Lucy - Lucy's Night in Town

Dubsism: Sports Analogies Hidden In Classic Movies – Volume 104: "The Rockford Files – Drought at Indianhead River"

Moon in Gemini: Mork & Mindy: "Mork Runs Away"

A Scunner Darkly: 7th Annual Favourite TV Show Blogathon – Dark Shadows – Episode 702 (1969, dir. Henry Kaplan)

18 Cinema Lane: Sally Watches…Kids Incorporated!

Smoke in the Library: The Adventures of Superman: "The Stolen Costume"

MovieRob: Amazing Stories, "The Mission"

MovieRob: China Beach, "China Beach (pilot)"

MovieRob: Playhouse 90, "Bomber's Moon"