"Young Billy Young" and Bad John Behan

Hi!

Some rare color promo slides from the 1969 feature film Young Billy Young recently joined the Kellection. This western stars Robert Mitchum as deputy marshal "Ben Kane" and Angie Dickinson as dance-hall gal "Lily Beloit".

 

Jack Kelly plays a natty but nasty supporting character named "John Behan" in Young Billy Young. Behan owns the Gaslight Saloon where Lily dances and considers Lily his property as well.

In reality, John Harris (or "Johnny") Behan was the sheriff of Cochise County, Arizona, when the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral occurred in Tombstone in 1881.

The John Behan whom JK portrays in Young Billy Young also differs from the historical Behan in other ways. In addition to serving as a lawman, the real Behan was a prison warden (among various other occupations) and died of natural causes at age 67, whereas JK's fictionalized version is shot dead in the film.

And, while the historical Behan was a known womanizer who had a common-law relationship with a "soiled dove" named Josephine (a.k.a "Sada", "Sadie" or "Sarah") Marcus, it's doubtful he treated her like JK's version treats Lily in the film. 

 

After the fictionalized Behan accuses Lily of cheating on him with Kane, he savagely beats her.

As I've said before, this Behan is a very bad guy, but JK does a very good job of portraying him.

Please stay tuned for more about JK and his many roles  in TDS!

JK Sunday Funnies: Lunch at the Drive-In! :)

 

(Original 1969 still from "The Civilized Men" episode of "The Name of the Game"; speech bubble effects courtesy of SuperLame.com)

"Sale" Away With Jack Kelly Part II! :)

More fun with JK and Sale of the Century:

Newspaper ad from Syracuse, NY

 

Was it difficult getting a 1970 Pontiac Le Mans automobile into the show's eighth-floor studio so it could be offered as a prize? You don't know the "half" of it:

 

Image of 1970 Pontiac Le Mans courtesy ClassicCarCatalogue.com

 

 

And, here's a heart-warming article about a special yuletide segment of Sale which aired on 12/25/1970. Some very lucky kids got to "join Jack Kelly at a grand piano for Christmas songs":

 



"Sale" Away With Jack Kelly! :)

Hello!

On September 29, 1969, a new quiz show premiered on the NBC television network. Titled Sale of the Century, its ebullient emcee was none other than Jack Kelly.

An actual admission ticket for Sale of the Century

 

A typical publicity blurb for the show read: "Jack Kelly (remembered as TV's Bart Maverick), is the star and host of NBC Television Network's new daytime game show, Sale of the Century, which tests the general knowledge, reflexes and shopping savvy of three contestants each day." The game "...was designed for every housewife who has ever succumbed to the temptation to pick up an irresistible 'bargain'."

 

I'm sure we've all seen the many Sale promo photos (like this one) of JK hamming it up with grocery items:

 

 

This 1969 photo was inexplicably used to illustrate

 a 2015 article about investing on the Financial Times website!

 

 

Well, here's a pic of our favorite quizmaster actually hosting the show:

 

Items up for "Sale" include

a Hoover vacuum cleaner, Samsonite luggage...and a mynah bird!?

MORE ABOUT Sale of the Century NEXT TIME! :)







A Blast From the Pages of the Past :)

Hello Everyone,

I love delving into vintage magazines and books to learn more about Jack Kelly. I've also enjoyed countless hours scrolling through various newspaper archives to research posts such "All the World's A Stage With JK".

While wandering around these archives, I've also found some great, rare pictures of JK to share. They're PDF images scanned from old newspapers, so they're not the clearest pictures, but I'm sure you'll enjoy them, nonetheless.

Remember my 2009 post about "JK Goes To Rodeo", with photos from a Japanese magazine showing JK at a rodeo? For years, the date and location of this rodeo was a mystery (at least to me--I don't read Japanese). Then, I finally learned that JK was the grand marshal of the annual Palm Springs Rodeo parade on January 28, 1961. The "queen" of the rodeo was actress Barbara Nichols, who'd co-starred with JK in "The Third Rider" episode of Maverick.

But, Ms. Nichols was actually a replacement rodeo queen! Thanks to a newspaper archive, I discovered that the original 1961 queen was none other than Bart Maverick's Charleston partner, Dorothy Provine, pictured here with JK putting a rodeo bumper sticker on a vehicle at the Warner Bros. studio:

Ms. Provine had to abdicate at the last minute due to an eye ailment. So, Ms. Nichols assumed the crown--er, cowboy hat. Below, she's clowning with JK. (He's plugging his ear because she's pretending to shoot at the photographer.) The newspaper story says that "thousands" of spectators were on hand to watch the Palm Springs parade and rodeo.

Now, here's a cute shot of JK getting a friendly smooch from one of his poodles in 1958:

I'd read that JK was a guest at Sammy Davis Jr.'s November 1960 wedding to Swedish actress May Britt. What I didn't know was that JK and James Garner had presented a humanitarian award from the Los Angeles chapter of the Shriner's organization to Davis earlier that same year. (That's JK second from right with his hand on Sammy's shoulder; singer Arthur Lee Simpkins is next to JG.) Strangely, the photo caption IDs JG as "Bart" and JK as "Bret"!

Finally, here's JK (at right) in 1969 presenting another award, this time to an amateur actor in Akron, Ohio. JK was appearing at the Canal Fulton Summer Arena at the time.

  
Coming up in TDS:

• Forget "Black Friday". You don't want to miss "Black Tuesday"! :)
• Part III of "All the World's a Stage With JK".
• And more--stay tuned!

Breaking News: "Young Billy Young" Coming to Blu-Ray in September!

Young Billy Young, the 1969 western where Jack Kelly plays a slick villain, is being released on Blu-ray on September 29. It can be pre-ordered from Amazon for only $15.49 (shipping is free on orders over $35).

JK's character, "John Behan", is like Bart Maverick's evil twin. He beats up poor Angie Dickinson and then gets his clock cleaned by Robert Mitchum. It's a different kind of role for JK, but he does very well with it.