Jack Kelly's Other Job - Pt II :)

Continuing with our Labor Day look at Jack Kelly's role in Huntington Beach politics:

In November 1983, JK was elected to a one-year term as HB's mayor by the city council. The position was largely ceremonial and pretty much a given because JK had served as vice-mayor since April of that year.
But, JK was thrilled. He told the LA Times, "I always thought that old actors just faded away, but my peers have given me the chance to re-debut in what may prove to be the finest act of my career." 

An unusual memento of JK's term as mayor now resides in the Kellection:

I know very little about this beautifully-crafted badge--which is actually miniature-sized--except that the seller remembered buying it at a badge collector's show in the 1990's and at the time didn't connect the name on the badge to the actor in Maverick. They suggested I e-mail the manufacturer for more info. (I did, but never received a response.)

So, I don't know if JK actually wore this badge or if it was created as a keepsake. If anyone out there knows the facts behind the badge, please let me know! :)


COMING SOON: Some incredible autographed items and the story behind them--the story of a very gracious man and mayor named Jack Kelly. Please stay tuned--you will not want to miss this! :) 

Jack Kelly's Other Job - Pt. I :)

Hello Everyone!


In honor of Labor Day, I'm sharing some extra special items from the Kellection which relate to Jack Kelly's tenure (1980-1992) as a local politician in Huntington Beach, California.


First, here's how JK's involvement in HB politics came about, straight from the man himself. He told a Los Angeles Times reporter in 1984 that he had been asked to run for city council in the late 1970's after working on the campaign of David Baker, who ultimately lost his bid for county supervisor. JK said that he was "flattered" but also "flabbergasted" by the request. Nevertheless, he accepted the challenge.


"I said 'yes' before I knew it," JK explained. "I had never thought of doing something like that. I had never been active in politics, except the usual thing in Hollywood in those days--like supporting Adlai Stevenson and John Kennedy."


Not surprisingly, JK attracted a lot of attention when he tossed his Stetson into the ring. And, he ruffled some political feathers when he insisted on being listed on the ballot as "Jack Kelly - Businessman/Actor (Maverick)". His opponents didn't mind the businessman/actor part, but groused that the Maverick designation would give him an unfair advantage publicity-wise.


The association with Maverick certainly didn't hurt: JK's candidacy was heralded by headlines such as "JACK KELLY GAMBLES ON BALLOT LISTING" which played off of his role as poker-playing Bart. In April 1980, he breezed onto the HB city council with nearly 7000 votes.


On 6/2/1980, only two months after being elected, JK penned a note to a man named Bob. Whether Bob was an educator or a youth club leader, I don't know. But, JK demonstrated his civil-mindedness and concern for the future of the local electorate when he wrote:

"Dear Bob - Try to get your young men and women interested in local politics! Best Wishes, Jack Kelly"


Yes, you've seen this note pictured elsewhere, but I am honored to now own the original, the piece of paper which was handled, written on and signed by Jack Kelly himself. :)


COMING NEXT: A golden reminder of Jack Kelly's time as mayor of Huntington Beach--please stay tuned! :)

All the World's A Stage With JK - Pt III

Once Upon A Time In Toronto

The current hit film Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is set in 1969 and climaxes with a fictional riff on the horrifically real murders of starlet Sharon Tate and other victims by the Charles Manson "family".

However, this isn't the first time the killings have been viewed through a prism of make-believe. Only five years after the actual murders occurred, a play premiered in Toronto which cast Sal Mineo as a Manson-like cult leader, with Jack Kelly portraying one of his victims.

And, the opening night audience was outraged.

Here's how this curious chapter of JK's stage career began:

In March 1974, syndicated newspaper columnist Dorothy Manners reported that Janet Leigh and Mineo would star in Sugar and Spice, penned by Arthur Marx, son of Groucho and a successful author in his own right. The play was set to tour during the summer before premiering on Broadway in the fall.

Things had changed by that September, though, when Ms. Manners announced that Ms. Leigh had bowed out of the play because she didn't wish to spend an extended length of time away from her family. 

However, another reason Ms. Leigh bailed was revealed years later by author Michael Gregg Michaud in his biography of Sal Mineo. Ms. Leigh told Michaud that although she was keen to do theater and the play had originally been pitched to her as an Alfred Hitchcock-type thriller, she found she couldn't even finish reading the script because it was "beyond awful".

Indeed, the play had a shocking plot: A wealthy Texas couple assumes custody of the wife's troubled teenage daughter after she participates in a mass-murder orchestrated by Mineo's character. The parents try to rehabilitate the girl, but soon realize she's more sociopath than "sugar and spice". She tries to seduce her stepfather, and when the cult leader she betrayed pays a vengeful visit, all hell breaks loose. The parents end up being slaughtered by the girl and her murderous guru.

Sugar and Spice was then slated to premiere in November 1974 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto, Canada. Michaud wrote that by the time Mineo arrived to start rehearsals in mid-October, the production was "in shambles", with constant rewrites, bickering and a director who would be fired by the time the play premiered.

Veteran character actress Virginia Gregg was hired to replace Ms. Leigh. John Ireland was to play opposite Ms. Gregg, but he was quickly let go. Ireland was replaced by Jack Kelly, who arrived in Toronto for rehearsals on October 28, 1974.

I don't know how JK reacted to the chaos, but Michaud noted that Mineo was so distraught over the situation that he became physically ill. He tried to quit the play, claiming he had hepatitis. A doctor diagnosed Mineo with simply a case of the flu, however, and the show went on.

Sugar and Spice opened on November 11, 1974, after being advertised in Toronto newspapers with a rare "parental guidance" advisory. That should have been the audience's first clue about what was in store for them.

According to theatre critic Urjo Kareda, who reviewed the play for the Toronto Star, "A kind of history was made: a play was last night booed off the stage of the Royal Alexandra Theatre. A steady line of fleeing patrons filled the aisles during the final quarter-hour of the piece, there were hisses and catcalls, and in the final curtain call, there was a wall of 'boos' for all the actors. Had the author and director appeared onstage as well, there might have been bloodshed. Mind you, it'll be a long time before a play and its author more unreservedly deserve this kind of loathing than did Sugar and Spice, which opened last night, and its author, Arthur Marx, who seems to have closed some time ago."

Kareda continued, "One wouldn't want to say that Sugar and Spice was beneath contempt; above all, one wouldn't want to spare it contempt. A dim-witted, foul-mouthed piece of work, it pretended to be making some sort of statement about fanatical violence while it disgustingly took every opportunity to exploit that same violence...Arthur Marx, this peculiar playwright, uses the background of the Charles Manson 'family' and the Sharon Tate murders to work up our sense of dread.

"In his story, Amanda, a former member of the cult family who was in fact responsible for turning in the leader, comes to live on parole with her mother and stepfather on a luxurious Texas ranch...Things do not go well. Amanda's mother (Virginia Gregg, understandably twitchy) suggests needlepoint and clean thinking as therapy; whereas the girl is much more inclined...toward 'kinky habits' [including] stunningly unsuccessful seductions of [a] farmhand...and her stepfather, the now tubby Jack Kelly.

"...Relief comes for Amanda in the form of 'Gloves' Gibson, played by Sal Mineo in two-inch lifts which still leave him looking about four feet tall. Gloves is, you guessed it, from Amanda's other 'family'...[and is] itching for revenge. It's when that revenge is finally demanded on the stage of the Royal Alexandra Theatre that this great first-night audience felt it had been pushed to its limits."

Kareda reported that an angry patron yelled "[Theatre owner Ed] Mirvish is desperate for money!". The reviewer concluded, "Given the nature of Sugar and Spice, and given the guidelines provided by the audience, the only moral thing left for Ed Mirvish to do is to close the show as soon as possible."

However, Mirvish wouldn't budge. Quoted in a UPI news story about the controversy, he insisted that Sugar and Spice would complete its scheduled three-week run, though possibly with some tweaks.

"I feel very sorry," Mirvish explained. "[The play is] very offensive and we have to be much more careful in the future. But, I can't demand changes. It's a new play and they can be dangerous. But sometimes it's more dangerous to suggest changes."

He added, "Personally, it's not my taste. I prefer Lawrence Welk."

The same article stated that producer Michael McAloney and Jack Kelly both angrily disputed Kareda's claim that the opening night audience had booed the play off the stage. McAloney said, "There were some boos, admittedly. And, some people walked out. But, the large majority were there to the end, when many cries of 'Bravo' were heard."

Whatever actually happened that night, Sugar and Spice finished its brief run and was quickly forgotten. Tragically and ironically, Sal Mineo's own life would come to a violent end less than two years later when he was stabbed to death in Los Angeles.

And, Sugar and Spice would be one of Jack Kelly's final stage roles. The venues where he'd romped in frothy comedies, such as the Summer Arena in Canal Fulton, Ohio, had begun fading away by the mid-1970's. JK moved on to different stages for the rest of his performing life, focusing on TV guest roles, his business interests and politics.

Where's Jack? :)

Can you find a young Jack Kelly in this photo? (No, he's not under the sheet.)

I'm sure you can...and you can no doubt name the film, as well. (Hint: its French title is On Murmure Dans La Ville.) Bonus points if you can identify the movie's stars, who are also in the pic.

Please stay tuned for more fun with JK in TDS!

Happy Fourth of July 2019! :)

Vintage clipart courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

Can You Spare Me a Rib, JK? :)

Howdy Everyone!

The 4th of July is almost here, which means it's time for fireworks and firing up the grill.

As I've noted before here in TDS, Jack Kelly got a real kick out of cooking. And, I found a vintage newspaper story which tells of his love for barbecuing. (Love that goofy pic of JK with wife Donna Kelly/May Wynn!):

"Jack is great at cooking meats either at the barbecue or in the kitchen," Donna told the reporter.

Jack added, "Our barbecue is a popular place. Even in the winter or rainy season we cook things out there and bring the food in and sit on the living room floor at the fireplace to eat it."

The story even includes JK's special recipe for glazed spareribs:

Unfortunately, I don't have a grill, but if anyone else is able (and brave enough) to fix these mouth-watering ribs, let me know and you can tell us all about it in a guest post in TDS! So, toss on your toque and "Kiss the Cook" apron and get grillin'! :)

More Scraps of "Maverick" :)

Happy Monday Everyone!

A one-of-a-kind English artifact recently joined the Kellection. On the outside, it looks like an ordinary composition book:

But, on the inside are pages and pages of neatly arranged 1950's newspaper and magazine clippings about the American west--both the historical and the TV versions.

I wish I could post every page of this amazing scrapbook here, but there are simply too many. So, I'll just concentrate on the pages which feature pix of Jack Kelly and James Garner in Maverick. 

First, here's a group of clippings of JK and some of his fellow TV westerners--Peter Graves and Bobby Diamond in Fury and Ty Hardin in Bronco: 

A close-up of JK:

A more formal view of Bart:

The caption for the pic of JK and JG on this page is interesting because it says, "Jack (Bart Maverick) Kelly (right) with his TV brother Bret (James Garner)"--it's usually the other way around! And, notice the pic for Gunsmoke. That's the radio version of the series--the TV version was called Gun Law when it was first imported to British screens:

A closer look at the Maverick brothers:

Another page of western favorites. Aside from JK, there's Clint Eastwood and Sheb Wooley from Rawhide and Ty "Bronco" Hardin again. And, another ad for the radio version of Gunsmoke, with William Conrad as Marshal Dillon and Parley Baer as Chester Proudfoot (who, of course, was called Chester Goode and played by Dennis Weaver in the TV version):

Love that smile! :)

 

Finally, one last page with the Maverick boys (upper right), plus John Russell of Lawman and Peter Graves (this time in Whiplash, an Australian western):

Unfortunately, there are no clues to the identity of the devoted western fan who painstakingly clipped and then pasted all of these images into a simple spiral notebook. But, whoever they were, I'm glad they took the time and effort to preserve this wealth of ephemera from the era when westerns rode the airwaves--even in England. :)