Let's Celebrate! :)

Hello Everyone!

As we celebrate the 91st anniversary of Jack Kelly's birth today, let's look back 40 years to another celebration:

 

I'm sure we've all seen this photo. It's sometimes identified as being from When the West Was Fun, the reunion of TV western stars which originally aired in 1979. However, this gallery of greats (L-R Hugh O'Brian, Chuck Connors, Clint Walker, John Wayne, David Carradine, Clayton Moore, Michael Ansara and JK) was actually gathered for the ABC television network's celebration of its 25th anniversary in 1978.

 

 

Here's a photo you may not have seen before. It's the same group in more contemporary garb:

 

 

The caption on the reverse of the photo reads: "The Old West lives again when eight great Western stars join the party on 'ABC's Silver Anniversary Celebration', a four-hour gala, airing on the ABC Television Network, Sunday, Feb. 5 (7:00-11:00 pm ET). The classic Westerners from ABC's past and present are (foreground, 1. to r.) Hugh O'Brian, Chuck Connors, John Wayne, Clayton Moore, (background, l. to r.) Clint Walker, David Carradine, Michael Ansara and Jack Kelly."

 

I found a remarkable clip with "the Duke" from the ABC anniversary special which features scenes from the network's most popular westerns and ends by showing how the preceding photos came to be:

 

 



And, here are a couple of close-ups of our birthday boy:

Happy Birthday, JK!

"And don't forget your carrot cake!" :)