Jack Kelly: TV's Reluctant Top Gun Sounds Off - Pt. I :)

Howdy All!

Just a few posts back, we saw Jack Kelly dubbed one of "TV's Top Guns" by the writer of a 1962 magazine article about television westerns.

However, JK actually shunned the title of top gun on Maverick. The following 1960 TV Weekly story explains why:

"'Don't call me a top gun,' asks Jack 'Maverick' Kelly

Being a 'top gun' can have its disadvantages--even if it's only in a TV series.

Which is why Jack Kelly, who inherited all rights to that title on ABC's Maverick show when Jim Garner decided to go looking for greener ranges, says 'It's something I can do without.'
The handsome, happy-go-lucky Kelly learned the hard way what it means to play second fiddle, or gun, to a co-star. For at least the first two years of Maverick it was commonly regarded as Garner's show, even though they alternated in the starring roles and shared equally high ratings.
He doesn't want his new co-star, Roger Moore, who was introduced in the series this season as long-lost [cousin] Beau Maverick, to have the same problems.
'I know from personal experience that it's terribly discouraging,' Kelly said, shaking his head. 'My problem was that Jim starred in the first six shows before I got on the air. So naturally, all the promotion was about him. The show came with a built-in star. When people thought of Maverick, they thought of Jim."
Don't miss Pt. II - plus, a TV Weekly reader's reaction to Maverick's newly discovered relative - next time in TDS. :->