A Pair Of Jacks--Kelly and Klugman! :)

Hi Everyone,

Jack Kelly worked with a lot of great actors. One of them was Jack Klugman, born this day, April 27, in 1922.

In honor of Mr. Klugman's birth anniversary, I'd like to share these fabulous stills of JK--and JK!--from "Time Of Flight", an episode of Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre which originally aired on September 21, 1966. 

"Time Of Flight", written by prolific screenwriter and author Richard Matheson, was a far-out installment of the anthology series. Directed by Joseph Sargent and produced by Stanley Chase, "Time of Flight" was also an unsold pilot for a series which would have starred Jack Kelly. A review in the Dover, OH Daily Reporter described it as "Another suspense story...Jack Kelly guest-stars as Al Packer, a private eye down on his luck who accepts as a client one Buddy Markos (Jack Klugman), a small-time hood. When Markos is cornered and killed in Packer's apartment, Packer calls the police--only to have Markos come alive again. The story is full of resurrected corpses, and the whole thing is saved from incredibility by the fine performance of its leads, particularly Klugman. Juliet Mills stars as Packer's girl, Mary."

The original "snipe" on the back of this tense photo says, "PAIR OF JACKS...Jack Klugman (l) and Jack Kelly (r) are paired in a suspense drama about 'murder' victims who won't stay dead in 'Time Of Flight' for 'Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre', on Wednesday, September 21 (9:00-10:00 pm ET) in color over NBC-TV. Juliet Mills also stars in the murder mystery with a twist of science fiction." (Hmm, sounds like a case for "Quincy" ;>)

Everyone looks pretty tense in this pic, too, especially Mr. Klugman. The snipe says, "DOORWAYS TO TROUBLE...Jack Klugman, Juliet Mills and Jack Kelly star in a drama about 'murder' victims who won't stay dead in 'Time Of Flight', the first science fiction offering from 'Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theatre'."

 

Mr. Kelly and Ms. Mills look much happier (and cozier) here. Incidentally, Ms. Mills (daughter of Sir John Mills and sister of Hayley Mills) would later co-star in the sitcom Nanny and The Professor with Richard Long, JK's old pal from Maverick.

More trivia: Jack Klugman is, of course, fondly remembered as "Oscar Madison" in the original TV version of The Odd Couple. Jack Kelly also played Oscar in various stage productions.

The "Decades" nostalgia network is saluting Mr. Klugman by airing some of his TV performances today. (I hope they'll do the same for the other Mr. K when September 16th rolls around.) :)

Come Fly Away With JK! - Pt I :)

Hi!

I hope everyone's recovered from the party. :)

Now, fasten your seatbelts...because we're going flying with Jack Kelly!

An amazing article about JK finally landed (pun intended) in the Kellection the other day after I'd diligently searched for it for several years. When you read it, you'll agree it was worth the wait!

Published in an aviation magazine, this profile from the mid-1960s offers a fascinating look at JK's interest in flying. It also reveals information about his military service and about some of his appearances as an actor which involved aviation. Above all, it provides a different perspective on JK than the usual "fan" magazine story. It proves once again that he was far more than just a handsome face.

As an introduction, let's watch this clip from "Double Jeopardy", a 1965 episode of Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater in which JK starred as detective Fred Piper. The article explains how the flight scenes in this clip were filmed:

And, away we go:

"A Pilot, On Stage And Off
Written and photographed by
 Don Downie (c) The AOPA Pilot

Actor Jack Kelly enjoys flying as an avocation,
but he'd also like to be more closely involved with aviation in his television and screen activities.

"While filming a special television show for Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater, actor Jack Kelly shares the cockpit of a Piper Aztec with Fullerton, CA,  pilot J. Tom Brody." (Photo by Don Downie)
 

"It was quiet on the soundstage at Universal Studios near Hollywood, CA. In front of the cameras was a meticulous 'mock-up' of a new Aztec C. Actually, the motion picture prop was a production Piper fuselage from nose to baggage compartment, opened up like a sliced orange for proper camera angles.

"In the pilot's seat was Zsa Zsa Gabor, but her co-pilot knew a great deal more about flying than the Hungarian glamour girl. Flying right seat for Zsa Zsa was actor Jack (John A.) Kelly (AOPA 133779) who starred in the Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater TV film titled 'Double Jeopardy'. In addition to Kelly and Miss Gabor, the film included Lauren Bacall and Tom Poston.

"It would have been much more practical from a flying standpoint to have the roles in the cockpit reversed. Actor Kelly is an eager and active member of the Sky Roamers Flying Club of Burbank, CA, and an expert meteorologist.

"While he's working in Hollywood, Jack Kelly finds the Sky Roamers an ideal flying club for his purposes. 'There's everything a new pilot needs, including a Link trainer and lots of instruction,' he explained between takes of 'Double Jeopardy'.

"In this particular scene, which took 12 retakes, Kelly had to have a makeup artist remove Miss Gabor's lipstick each time. But Kelly is a professional actor who can switch quickly from camera capers to hangar flying.

"'I use the Sky Roamers' Cessna 172's and 175's to go golfing at Palm Springs or Borrego Springs, but I like to fly pretty high through Banning Pass,' he said.

"The basic idea for the script and lead character for 'Double Jeopardy' was Jack Kelly's.

"'I feel if we can keep private flying in the foreground of entertainment, we can influence more people to try it themselves,' he explained. 'At first, we kicked around the idea of having the lead character have the capability to fly himself. However, there seemed to be better plot opportunities to have him as an interested passenger involved with a great deal of flying and, of course, a great number of most attractive gals.'

"Even with his relatively brief experience in flying, Kelly doubled in brass as technical director on the set.

"'But what am I supposed to do, darlink,' asked Zsa Zsa, 'when I'm supposed to be piloting zis machine?' (Her on-camera accent is for real.)

"Kelly explained what the control movements would be to correspond with the rear projection color background that showed a landing at the Monterey, CA, Airport."

STAY TUNED FOR PART II and learn about JK's adventures (and misadventures) with military airplanes and some of his high-flying film roles!