Jack Kelly - 'Tis a Puzzlement :)

Hello Everybody,

We've all seen a "tie-in". This is a book, toy, game, etc., that's based on a movie or TV show.

The original Maverick series generated plenty of tie-ins, some of which (e.g. comic books) you've seen on this blog. There were also Maverick vests, string ties, cowboy hats, cap guns and holsters, wallets, school-bags, coloring books, plastic figurines, phonograph records, paint-by-number sets, and even Halloween costumes.

Most Maverick merchandise was popular--and profitable. Reportedly, at least a million dollars worth of Maverick-themed items had been sold by the end of 1958.

Jigsaw puzzles were another tie-in. I've seen a few Maverick puzzles, including a couple printed with photos of JK and James Garner as Bart and Bret. I've also seen one with a painting of Bart riding a wildly bucking black bronco.

Here's another jigsaw puzzle I hadn't seen before. It's now part of the Kellection:

It depicts Bart on a leopard Appaloosa (where's Goldie?) galloping through the hinterland, with Cousin Beau following closely behind on a bay.

A label on the puzzle says it's "For Developing Coordination and Motor Control". Gee, I'd better practice putting it together several times a day, then! ;-> No, I'll just stare at it instead. :)

JK on TV - You're My Inspiration :)

Howdy!

Well, it looks like winter may be loosening its grip a little. Yesterday, the thermometer hit 40 degrees. The carpet of white on the lawn has shrunk a bit. The huge piles of snow the plows pushed to the curb are slowly shriveling into sooty mounds of slush.

This morning, I thought I saw a crocus trying to poke through the frost in the garden. And, the weatherman said it's supposed to be 50 by the end of the week! :->

Another day brightener: I got to see a tiny bit of Maverick today before I left for work. I noticed Bart was wearing his dotted vest. The vest and JK's curly hair reminded me of a photo in the Kellection, one of my favs:

When I first saw that pic, it looked very familiar. That's because I had this Maverick newspaper ad from 1960:

Here's a closer look at Bart:

It's clear where the artist got the inspiration for the ad. :)

But, that's not surprising...JK is always inspiring my work, too. ;->

More about the Maverick ad here.

Jack Kelly on TV - White Snow, Endless Ice :)

Okay, I give up.

It snowed all day yesterday. I drove home from work on unplowed streets, feeling like I was in an episode of Ice Road Truckers.

It snowed all last night. I was awakened this morning by the repetitive scraaaaape, scraaaaape of a neighbor shoveling their driveway.

I thought all the snow we've had would be a melted memory by now. But, no.

I'm resigned to the fact that I probably won't see anything green until St. Patrick's Day. So, I'm embracing winter by taking a look at Jack Kelly in "White Snow, Red Ice", an episode of Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater which originally aired on March 13, 1964.

JK is"Fred Piper" (a private eye character he would portray three times on the Chrysler Theater) in what the St. Petersburg Times described as "a sophisticated, tongue-in-cheek spy story in the James Bond manner."

Piper pretends to be a skiing stuntman in order to help lovely jewel thief Senta Berger defect. He also works to free an American businessman who's been kidnapped by Communists.

One of JK's other curvy co-stars in the episode was Grace Lee Whitney, who would shortly become well-known in a little show called Star Trek. She revealed in her autobiography (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy) that "White Snow, Red Ice" was actually an unsold pilot for a JK/Fred Piper series. It was filmed in the Mammoth ski resort area in California's Sierra Nevada mountain range.

Ms. Whitney played a ski instructor, but didn't enjoy her role very much because she'd injured her neck during a previous acting job. She was still in extreme pain and wearing a neck brace that she removed to film her scenes. And, Senta Berger became temporarily snow-blind during filming.

With everything they went through, it's a shame "White Snow, Red Ice" didn't launch a JK series. Well, maybe it will show up on Retro TV or some other nostalgic network some day.

In the meantime, here's a peek at Piper:

"I ordered steak but they Senta Berger instead!" ;->

A video clip of JK in another Piper episode of The Chrysler Theater can be seen here.

The Kelly Pages - Look What I Found Today :)

Hi Everyone!

An unfamiliar orb appeared in the sky today. After squinting through the icicles for a better look, I suddenly realized it was the sun. So, I tunneled out of my igloo and mushed my sled to an antiques show. :->

Here's what I found:

Okay, not very JK-ish, but I couldn't resist such an authentic old-time horse print. (And, hey, this could be Goldie's great-grandpa!) ;->

Look what else I found:

Yep, a Maverick comic book, for only $10! The cover's a little rough, but the inside is fine. I guess kids liked to write their name on comic covers back in the day (one of the other Maverick comic books I have is "autographed" like that, too). The seller told me he'll probably bring more Maverick comic books to a future show, so I'll be watching for him.

Now, here's the best thing I found:

I stopped at a booth that had some newer-looking magazines. Since I'm into the vintage stuff, these didn't seem too interesting at first. Until I noticed they were all Memories, "The Magazine of Then and Now". The "Then" part sounded promising, so I thumbed through the stack.

Jackpot! Or should I say, "Jack Kelly pot!" :) One of the magazines had an article titled, "Whither the TV Western?" It was about the rise and fall of television "rope operas". Not only did it have a couple of nice 1950's black & white Maverick stills of JK and JG, it also had brief present-day (1989) updates about JK & JG with color pics, including the one of JK above. (Note the famous gold chain peeking out of his shirt.)

Needless to say, this magazine instantly joined the Kellection. And, guess what--it was only $1.00!

Anyway, here's what the update said about JK:

"'We had a certain panache that allowed us to get away with things that most guys only wished they could,' says Jack Kelly, who as Bart Maverick alternated leads with James Garner (who played his brother) on Maverick.

"Poking fun at other TV westerns, the two antiheroes gambled and gamboled their way through the West, talking their way out of trouble with wit and a wry sense of humor.

"'If there were too many bad guys around,' Kelly remembers, 'I'd say to the girl, 'Let's get outta here!'

"Kelly stuck with the show after Garner departed in 1960. After its demise, he played cameos in other television series, but he says his 'lightning bolt was never rekindled'.

"Today Kelly, 66 [B27 -???], does voice-overs for TV commercials and occasionally takes an acting role. He recently stepped down after eight years as a councilman of Huntington Beach, CA, where he lives with Jo, his wife of 20 years, and their 17 year-old daughter, Nicole. As new owner and columnist for the Huntington Beach News, Kelly now hopes to 'kick up some dust as a journalist'."

(By Delphine Taylor in Memories - December 1989-January 1990 issue)

Nice write-up! (And even nicer pic!!!) However, I think JK was actually 62 in 1989, he was also mayor of HB for a while, and most of the guest shots he did after Maverick were a bit more substantial than "cameos" (which usually means walk-ons).

But, it was refreshing to see James Garner referred to as the Maverick brother for once! ;->

Happy Valentine's Day from JK :)

"This card always brings me luck

...especially on Valentine's Day."

Jack Kelly on TV: Fully Kraeusened?

Howdy!

I found another velvety Jack Kelly voiceover, this time for Heileman's Old Style Beer:

And, if you want to know exactly what "Kraeusening" is, here's the Old Style story.

JK on Screen - Around the World With Jack Kelly II

Hello Everybody!

And, welcome to The Tall Dark Stranger There--deemed a "link to avoid" by Wikipedia!* Oh well, who needs Wikipedia, when Jack Kelly already has some of the most knowledgeble (and nicest) fans around! :->

Anyway, it's time to continue our travels with JK. Since I was awakened by the roar of snow blowers this morning (yep, we received quite a few inches of the white stuff overnight), I thought we should journey somewhere warm and sunny.

How about Southern California? Er, actually, it's pretty rainy there right now, so let's set the Wayback Machine to May 1960. The place: the Yorba Linda Country Club. 

As we know, JK loved to play golf. He was good enough to compete in tournaments, often for charities. One of these charity games was "The World Entertainment Golf Championship", which benefited the Motion Picture Relief Fund. JK was joined on the green by scores of other celebrity golfers, including James Garner, Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis. Here's a peek at JK and JG from a TV Guide story about the tournament:

A closer look at JK: Although JK came in 14th, that's really not bad, considering there were 120 players in the tournament. And speaking of "bad", the winner of the tournament was an actor named Robert "Bob" Wilke, who almost always played the villain in films and TV shows--including Maverick! In fact, Wilke had just filmed the episode "Hadley's Hunters", where the menacing character he portrayed ("McCabe") memorably received his comeuppance from Bart Maverick.

Now, the tables were turned, as reporter Harold Heffernan wrote in the Ottawa Citizen: "'There must be a moral here somewhere,' grumbled Jack [Kelly], who had shot an 82, the best round of his life. 'Only last week, I gave this fellow Wilke the worst whipping of his life--on screen. And now he humiliates me before all my fellow golfers!'" Well, I'm sure there were no hard feelings between JK and RW. They went on to do another Maverick episode, "Epitaph for a Gambler", where Wilke portrayed a more sympathetic character ("Malone").

Hmm...I wonder if JK used his mink golf club covers when he played in this tournament?

Keep watchin'--more travels with JK comin' up! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Wikipedia won't accept most blogs or fansites as "external links" anymore, calling them "links to avoid". Apparently these personal sites aren't "accurate" enough and just anyone is allowed to write them. (And, this is different from Wikipedia how?) :0