More Bart Art :)

Hello!

As promised, here's more "Bart Art":

A drawing of Jack Kelly as Bart Maverick from a 1950's "Eras-O-Picture" coloring book:



Next, here's some very interesting artwork! It's not only Bart art, but Matt Dillon (James Arness), Lucas McCain (Chuck Connors), Chris Hale (John McIntire) and Paladin (Richard Boone) art, too! It's from the cover of a 1962 newspaper TV supplement:

A close-up of a somewhat disheveled Paladin glancing warily at Matt Dillon's gun while holding a card with Bart on it (and, yes, the card is a jack! :>):

 I believe the portrait of Bart on the card is based on the 1958 drawing done to promote the United Appeal tour, which appeared in the previous "Bart Art" post.

Finally, here's a wonderful sketch of JK as Bart created in 1986 by Armand Polverari (1944-2015), an artist known for his pen-and-ink portraits of Roy Rogers and other western stars. Mr. Polverari signed his work as "Mondo", which can be seen on Bart's left lapel:

Well, that's all for right now, but there'll be more "Bart Art" in a future TDS. In the meantime, please stay tuned for more about JK, stay well and please "Love one another" (John 13:34).

All Dressed Up! :)

Howdy!

Here's a pic from a 1959 movie magazine of Jack Kelly and some famous friends, all dressed up:

As the caption says, "It's not often you see so many Western heroes all duded up at the same time. Left to right, the TV cowboys are Ty Hardin, Peter Brown, Chuck Connors, Jack Kelly and John Russell. The occasion for the fancy dress was a ball held at the Hollywood Palladium."

Of course, this is how we usually saw JK, Hardin, Brown and Russell (along with some other cowboy pals):

It's interesting to glimpse these TV westerners in tuxes, and especially to see Russell ("Marshal Dan Troop" in Lawman) without his signature mustache.

I think JK looks great in a tux or in a buckskin jacket. Please stay tuned for more of his "looks" in TDS. :)

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!" :)