Jack Kelly's Universal Appeal :)

Hello!

Jack Kelly and his pals definitely aren't practicing social distancing in the photo below. But, they have a good excuse--this pic was snapped in 1953:

The info on the back of the photo reads: "THEY"RE INTERNATIONAL--WITH A UNIVERSAL APPEAL! - It's a young people's movie world at Universal-International Studios, noted for development of young talent for the screen. Herewith is a mixed group of Hollywood hopefuls and winners of the second annual 'Miss Universe' bathing beauty contest, now under contract to U-I. Left to right: Lisa Gaye; Brad Jackson; Maxine Morgan ('Miss Australia'); Lance Fuller (currently in Taza, Son of Cochise); Alicia Ibanez ('Miss Uruguay'); William Leslie; Christiane Martel ('Miss Universe' and in costume for her first movie, Yankee Pascha); Jack Kelly; and Emita Arosemena ('Miss Panama')."

A close-up of Hollywood hopeful JK:

 

Of the other U-I contract players pictured above, few besides JK went onto notable careers, although Lance Fuller did appear in "The Island in the Swamp" and "The Cats of Paradise" episodes of Maverick, portraying a character ("Faro Jack Norcross") in the latter episode which spoofed Richard Boone's "Paladin" from Have Gun--Will Travel.

 

And, Lisa Gaye (sister of actress Debra Paget) appeared with JK in the 1961 Maverick episode "State of Siege", which also guest-starred Ray Danton:



Caption: "Bart Maverick (Jack Kelly, left), Soledad (Lisa Gaye), and Don Felipe (Ray Danton) make up a happy household before 'A State of Siege' hits their Spanish hacienda, forcing them to fight for their lives on MAVERICK."


Incidentally, JK was part of another line-up of talent in 1975, this time to publicize an episode of the Ellery Queen series in which he guest-starred:

 

Well, "hopefully" this post "appealed" to you. Please stay tuned for more fun with JK in TDS and please stay well. :)

 

Christie's Got A New Boss... :)

Hey!

I just found a very interesting and unusual newspaper ad for Get Christie Love! from January 1975, when the freshman TV series was tweaked by "a new creative team headed by producer Glen Larson" to give it "a whole new approach and style with delightful humor and lots of action..."

This new approach also meant that sassy policewoman Christie (played by Teresa Graves) got a new, no-nonsense supervisor, "Arthur P. Ryan", played by Jack Kelly ("...of MAVERICK fame.") In the ad below, he tells Christie "I'm Captain Ryan, your new boss. I don't like women cops!":   

Unfortunately, not even JK could save Get Christie Love!. Viewers didn't love the "new" version any better than the old one and the show was canceled after only one season.

However, a reboot of GCL! was recently announced in The Hollywood Reporter. According to THR, the reboot is described as "an action-packed, music-driven drama that centers on Christie Love, an African-American female CIA agent who leads an elite ops unit. She transforms into whomever she needs to be to get the job done, especially when it’s down to the wire and the stakes are life and death. The high-adrenaline missions of the series are anchored by an emotional mystery about Christie’s first love — unearthing the truth about this relationship will be the biggest mission impossible of her life."

If you want to read more about JK, you know what to do: get TDS! :)

JK Steps Out With The Queen...

...Ellery Queen, that is! :)

JK and his fellow guest stars (Anne Francis, Ida Lupino, Susan Strasberg, Don Ameche and Craig Stevens) stay in step with Ellery Queen stars Jim Hutton and David Wayne.

Yep, that's Jack Kelly smiling on the right in a star-studded cast portrait for "The Adventure of The Lover's Leap", an episode of the short-lived but fondly remembered Ellery Queen TV series which originally aired on Thursday, September 18, 1975. JK played lawyer and suspect "J. T. Latimer". He was reunited with two former co-stars, Anne Francis (from Forbidden Planet) and Don Ameche (from The Story of Alexander Graham Bell and A Fever in the Blood).

Yikes! It's hard to believe this photo and the show are over 40 years old now. I recall watching Ellery Queen. I especially liked the classy Elmer Bernstein theme music, and Ellery (Jim Hutton) playfully breaking the fourth wall to ask the viewer, "Have you figured it out yet?" The complete series was released on DVD in 2010 and is already out-of-print.

Well, Ellery Queen is timeless and so is JK. Here's a close-up of our guy in the 1970's rockin' that 1940's look: