As you may have noticed after nearly 10 years and over 500 posts here in TDS, I have a nose for nostalgia. And last evening, I decided to stop and smell the roses by enjoying a vintage video on YouTube when...whaaaat?! Here's the video I was watching (yes, that's Groucho's favorite foil, George Fenneman):
It's simply a string of mostly local commercials shown on Los Angeles station KTTV back in 1974. Lots of fun stuff here, including an original Kentucky Fried Chicken ad with the real Colonel Sanders.
But, it was right after the KFC commercial--at about 3:49 minutes into the video--when my ears perked up. A young couple is shown teaching their child how to ride a bike. Then, the announcer starts talking about caring, and beauty and: a mortuary?
And, I suddenly realized that the announcer sounded awfully familiar...
Yes, I'm certain that's Jack Kelly doing the voiceover for the Rose Hills Memorial Park ad. Take a listen to the ad in the video above and compare the voiceover to other commercials featuring JK's voice here and here.
I'm amazed to have discovered what's apparently a long-lost and/or long-forgotten regional example of JK's considerable vocal talents. You'll discover some other neat ads in the KTTV video, too. (Just don't mess with "Lady Kung Fu" or you might end up in Rose Hills Memorial Park.) ;>
Time to discuss another great Jack Kelly flick--1955's Double Jeopardy.
This neat little noir could also be titled "Double Cross", because that's what some of the characters do to each other, including slick used car salesman "Jeff Calder" (JK) and his scheming girlfriend "Marge Baggott" (Gale Robbins), who, in their first scene, are unaware they're being observed by Marge's drunken husband, "Sam" (Robert Armstrong).
Sam is blackmailing a former business partner. After Marge shows Calder some of the money, he decides he wants a piece of the action:
Marge convinces Sam to squeeze more money out of his victim so (unbeknownst to Sam) she and Jeff can run off to Mexico. But, unbeknownst to Marge, Jeff actually has other plans. He trails Sam to the blackmail site:
Sam's blackmail gravy train suddenly derails and he ends up empty-handed. Jeff doesn't know this and tries to shake Sam down:
Things go downhill--literally--from there:
Soon, Calder is visited by the blackmail victim's attorney (Rod Cameron), who questions him about Sam and Marge while his unhappy boss "Happy Harry" (Dick Elliott) looks on:
As the noose tightens around Calder and Marge, he assures her that everything will be okay:
But, maybe not for her, it turns out:
I won't give away the ending, but I will say that JK is excellent as the double-crossing Calder in Double Jeopardy.
Hey! As you may remember, in an earlier "TDS" post I explored Jack Kelly's career as a voiceover artist and spotlighted some YouTube videos featuring JK's mellifluous tones. For your listening pleasure, here are two more classic examples of JK's voiceover work, this time for General Tire:
I found an unusual version of the Maverick theme song on YouTube. Performed by Johnny Gregory & his orchestra with the Michael Sammes Singers, this 1960 recording includes audio "cameos" from Bart and Bret, and even Dandy Jim Buckley! Plus, there are some mighty nice scenes of our boys in the video. Enjoy! :)
And speaking of enjoying, I listened to the "On the Grid" broadcast featuring Linda Alexander discussing A Maverick Life: The Jack Kelly Story. It was great to hear Linda, and the voices of the JK fans who called in (including Janet T. and "Prof. Plum"). It was also a special treat to hear JK's widow, Jo, and his daughter, Nicole Garner, who is celebrating her birthday this weekend. (Happy Birthday, Nicole!)
Plus, wonderful news: A Maverick Life is set to be released around the end of this month and is now available for pre-order on the BearManor Media site! :)
It's the opening of "Fly Me If You Can Find Me", the episode of Banacek where Jack Kelly plays "Lou Wayne", the owner of a chartered flight service whose airplane mysteriously goes missing. JK shows up at about 5:33 into the clip. I love it when he suddenly yells "WHOOOA!" when he's talking to the pilot on the phone. And, throughout the rest of the episode when he refers to the airplane as an "aeraplane". (Must of been that New York accent sneaking in.) Enjoy! :)
I'm a teetotaler, so why am I featuring a Lowenbrau ad from YouTube on this blog? You guessed it...that's the velvet voice of Jack Kelly coming in at about :19:
Here's another Lowenbrau ad with JK's voice from YouTube. It's mashed in on one video with some movie credits and other commercials, so you'll have to fast-forward a little. JK comes in about 1:20 (and some of these other ads are fun, too):
Jack Kelly has quite a presence on eBay. There are usually dozens of JK photos, magazines, autographs and DVDs up for bid each day.
This has to be the most unusual Kelly-related item I've seen on eBay yet. It's good to see that someone has finally corrected Hartland's omission--I guess I'll have to save up my pennies for this one. ;->
UPDATE (7/16/09) - This item sold with "Buy it Now/Best Offer" for $125. Oh well, maybe they'll make another one someday. ;->
Howdy! A bunch of memorabilia from Jack Kelly's 1954 feature film Drive A Crooked Road has trickled into the Kellection lately, includi...
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Welcome!
Welcome to The Tall Dark Stranger There, a fun and informative blog about that Maverick man, Jack Kelly! You'll find lots of rare photos in TDS. And that's not all--you'll also get in-depth info about the pictures and so much more. Plus, TDS is the exclusive showcase for the Kellection--an ever-expanding treasure trove of Jack Kelly memorabilia "kellected" by the author, La Bartista! So, spend some quality time with the tall, dark stranger here--and don't forget to invite your amigos, too! :)
One thing I respectfully ask, however: If sharing TDS, PLEASE share a link to (http://jackkellytribute.blogspot.com) or to a complete specific post rather than copying/pasting or hotlinking to individual images to share on sites such as Facebook. I'm aware that images from this blog have been copied, altered, and posted elsewhere. I've even seen videos with photos nicked from TDS. It saddens me when TDS is treatedas just a convenient source for "Throwback Thursday" pictures after I've worked so hard to research and write it. I'm all for "sharing"; however, the photos on TDS are meant to enhance the text and vice-versa. I've tried very diligently to discover the factual story behind each image. So, when one of these photos is copied and plopped down on another site without linking back to TDS, people may not get the whole "picture". Thank you for your consideration. :)
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