Happy Halloween From TDS! :)

"That's some snake costume, but
the Halloween party

ended three hours ago--now scram!"

Flashback Friday--With a Twist! :)

Back in 1962, everyone was doin' it--the Twist, that is!

Even Jack and Donna Kelly. Here they are, twistin' the night away in Hollywood:

 

Now, let's twist into the weekend with Sam Cooke:

 

Flashback Friday: "He Wasn't The Man I Wanted to Marry...I Was Sure of It..." :)

 

I hope you enjoyed this Friday flashback from 1961 in which Donna explains how she first met "Kelly" but didn't think he was "the one" for her. (Um, looking at that top photo of JK, I don't think I'd have any doubts whatsoever... ;>)

 

The rest of the article is pretty long but here are a few highlights:

 

• Sometimes, when JK came to the door for a date, Donna would pretend she wasn't home. So, he left little notes on her door. He wrote messages like 'Hi Kook, the Tiger was here' and drew little tiger paw prints at the bottom of the page!
• 
  Donna admits, 'But from the beginning, I felt so comfortable with Kelly. That's why I had to call him 'Kelly'. He was like an old shoe. Yet he had so much spring in his step...I could never call him 'Jack'. He's just Kelly. It's the right tag for him. His name should be Kelly-something. Kelly expresses his personality. It tells all about him."
• And in conclusion: "Maybe now you've got an idea of what Jack Kelly's really like--even when the shades are drawn...This isn't saying that Kelly doesn't have his faults. He much too real not to have any. But don't try to prove them to me. As he can tell you, I have a lousy memory."

 

Now, don't you forget to come back to TDS for more kewl stories from the Kellection. By the way, I am still working on "All the World's a Stage With JK"--I just keep finding more research material! But, it will be worth the wait, I promise you. Have a great weekend! :) 

Hot Dog, It's Friday! :)

 

Here's a fun way to kick off Columbus Day weekend: a pic of JK and Donna enjoying hot dogs at Marineland in California. The caption says the two starlets at right just happened to "bump into" the Kellys. When a photographer was present, yet. Sounds kind of "fishy" to me. Oh well, have a happy and safe weekend! :)

JK's Sunday Funnies :)

Hello!

I'm sure we're all familiar with the Maverick comic books which were published during the show's run. I've even featured some of them in this blog. What you might not know, however, is that Jack Kelly also "appeared" in other comic books.

Like, the May 1960 issue of Archie's Girls: Betty and Veronica.

Archie, of course, is that red-headed high school kid and Betty and Veronica are his girlfriends (he apparently can't decide which one he likes the best). The girls--blonde Betty and brunette Veronica--were popular enough to get their own spin-off comic. And, Veronica must have very good taste because she picked JK as "Star of the Month", complete with a small black and white photo and a full-page biography.

Incidentally, in one of the comic's stories, Betty describes Veronica as her "frenemy" ("a combination of a friend and an enemy"), a word which I thought was coined fairly recently. I Googled it and one source said "frenemy" originated in 1977 and was added to the  Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2009. So, if any etymologists see this post, they may want to revise that origin date! :)

Okay, so this next comic is a Maverick comic, but it's more than that. It's also a science-fiction comic book! No, Bart and Bret don't wander into Westworld. However, there are sci-fi stories in this early 1960's Spanish-language comic, which also has one of the coolest Maverick covers (inside and out) I've ever seen.

Also published in Spanish, this Mexican photo-novelization of JK's 1963 feature film FBI Code 98 (Operacion F.B.I. En Cabo Canaveral) features actual scenes from the film:

Unfortunately, most of the photos inside are pretty grainy, but here's one of the pages with JK:

"Fotonovelas" were and still are popular in Latin America. As with FBI Code 98, the content of these photo-illustrated comics isn't always kids' stuff. For example, I own several vintage fotonovelas based on Breaking Point, the 1963-'64 psychiatric drama series starring Paul Richards.

Well, I hope these JK "funnies" have put a smile on your face. Keep watching for more JK goodies in TDS! :)

Come Fly Away With JK! - Pt III

Hi Everyone!

Here's the third and final part of "A Pilot, On Stage and Off":

"For the past several years, Kelly has been playing in summer stock companies throughout the Midwest. Since many of these stops are off-airlines, he will frequently charter a plane for his wife*, himself and the large wardrobe that is required even when playing a 'modern' role.

"'I'll need at least five complete changes of suits on the road," he said, "in addition to what I wear offstage. You never know when or where you'll have a chance for cleaning and pressing. So, there's usually just room for a pilot, the two of us and our baggage when we charter a four-place. However, these short cross-country trips in various areas that are new to me give an excellent background for my own vacation flights.'

"Some of the actor's sensitivity to surroundings came to light when he was asked why he liked to fly. "I get a fantastic reaction to being off the ground. My mind crystalizes into clarity when I'm in the air and the earthbound problems disappear.

"Just as almost everyone else in the nation, I was glued to the TV set for two days after President Kennedy's assassination. Finally I became so depressed that I drove to the airport and took a Cessna up for two-and-a-half hours. For the short time I was in the air, the whole national tragedy seemed lifted from my shoulders.'

"Although he was born in New York City, Kelly is no stranger to southern California. He has spent a large part of his time there for the past several years, working in motion pictures, on TV and on the stage.

"Kelly had a clause in his contract that provided the option to drop out of a Broadway** show if the TV aviation film he was working on proved to be a success and was continued as a regular series.

'While I look forward to the Broadway assignment,' he said before leaving for the East, 'it would be most enjoyable to do a regular TV series patterned around aviation. In the trial film, 'Double Jeopardy', I play a happy-go-lucky, girl-chasing executive who uses a light aircraft for business transportation. In the original script, the author came up with a name for the proposed series--Pay the Piper.'

"'Naturally, the lead character's name in 'Double Jeopardy' is 'Mr. Piper'.

"And naturally, the aircraft used in 'Double Jeopardy' just happened to be a brand-new Piper Aztec C."

Bonus photo: JK not as a pilot, but as a passenger, along with wife Donna (May). The snipe on the back of this fabulous late 1950's TWA publicity photo says: "Idlewild Airport, N.Y. May 24--TV Star of Maverick, Jack Kelly and his attractive wife, actress May Wynn, look lovey-dovey on their arrival from Los Angeles. They will be with us a few days on business."  Incidentally, the book Donna is holding says "The Mainstream of America Series". This was a series of 20 books published by Doubleday between 1953 and 1966 which focused on American history.



Where will TDS and JK fly to next? Stay tuned and find out! :)
_______________________________
*This interview apparently took place in 1964 when JK was still married to May Wynn.

**Probably a reference to The Family Way, which opened and quickly closed on Broadway in early 1965. Unfortunately, "Double Jeopardy" wasn't a hit, either, and Pay The Piper didn't become a regular series, although JK would play Fred Piper again in "One Embezzlement and Two Margaritas" on Bob Hope Presents The Chrysler Theater in 1966.

Come Fly Away With JK! Pt. II

"A Pilot, On Stage and Off" continues:

JK waits as technicians check the light (that's co-star
Lauren Bacall in the foreground)

"As a mechanical malfunction in the sound recording system shut down filming temporarily, Kelly explained, 'The first flight I ever made was as an enlisted weather forecaster for the USAAF toward the end of World War II. We were to go from Great Falls, MT, to Anchorage, AK, as passengers in a C-46. Some of my buddies were also making their first flight and were admittedly scared. But when you've done professional acting, there's always the challenge of making the part believable. So, I lied like a trooper and told my fellow passengers that I'd been flying for 15 years and that there was nothing to worry about.'

"'Actually, I'm afraid of heights--close to the ground--and a 10-foot diving board gives me the shakes. However, I never have a bit of trouble in the air.'

"For an amateur light plane pilot, actor Kelly has had more than his share of misadventures as a passenger.

"'I was riding in a C-47 one day on a landing at Cold Bay--that's out on the Aleutian Chain--when the pilot ground-looped because of extreme surface winds. We finally slid to a stop off the runway in about six feet of icy water. However, we could walk ashore by climbing up the wing before the cabin filled with water.'

"The actor's military background for flying included riding and occasionally piloting C-47s on 'buzz-jobs' of Alaskan moose. 'In looking back, I guess the experience was a blessing in disguise, since we lived through it,' Kelly said. 'It called for a type of precision flying that you don't especially need in the traffic pattern at Burbank.'

"Kelly completed his military service as a non-commissioned officer in charge of the weather station at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. 'I can still read a synoptic chart,' he said, 'and I've found the early training I had in weather has been a great help since I've had a chance to begin to learn to fly.'

"While Kelly is probably best known for working with one-horse-power films (he played the part of 'Bart' in the Maverick series on TV for several years), he has had the opportunity to portray a pilot or co-pilot in productions other than 'Double Jeopardy'. During the filming of FBI Code 98 for theater release, there was a North American 'Sabreliner' used for a 'set-dressing' and two Hughes 269A helicopters used on location. Kelly was able to fast-talk long enough and fast enough to get a Hughes pilot to give him 11 hours of dual [instruction] and he then spent 45 minutes solo in the helicopter.

"During the filming of Julie nine years ago, Kelly portrayed an airline [co-pilot] and was able to spend several hours in the United DC-6 simulator at Oakland. 'If you are going through the motions of operating a transport, you want to know which levers work the throttles and which work the props.'

[Bartista here: JK also appeared in the aviation-related feature film The Wild Blue Yonder in 1951.]

"It wasn't until the Maverick series came along that Kelly was able to stay in one place long enough to learn how to fly. He went to several instructor before B. G. O'Hara, a Flying Tiger Lines captain who worked with the Sky Roamers between the Pacific flights, took over and helped the actor smooth out his pre-solo problems.

"'Good instruction is important in everything you try to do, whether it's golf, swimming, flying or what', said Kelly. 'That ability to teach the right psychological approach makes all the difference in the world between just an airplane driver and a good instructor.'

"'After I'd shot just one landing with O'Hara, he pointed out that I was coming in with my left wing a little low because I was handling the wheel of the Cessna 150 by the hub instead of the outside. After a few minutes of practice, my landings improved 100%.'

"Jack Kelly looks upon flying as something active. 'My idea of flying isn't just to go out on a long cross-country trip where you climb to an altitude, turn on the autopilot and turn off your mind. I love to navigate by dead reckoning and, actually, I'm looking forward to the day when the omni goes out.'

"Kelly's other avocations are golf and fishing. 'Someday I hope to produce a 'home movie' on the fishing grounds of the Southwest because it's going to be a long time before they're fished out. I hope to take aerial footage of each of the locations and then follow up with scenes of actual fishing from the surface.'

"While he's an enthusiastic angler, Kelly admits that there's one species of fish that he honestly doesn't like to catch: the multicolored dolphin* that are found in great numbers in waters off both sides of the peninsula of Baja California. Dolphins are brilliantly-hued fish while in the water but lose much of their color once they're landed.

""I really hate to catch a dolphin,' he said quietly. 'When it's possible, I'll unhook them and put them back in the water.'

[*Bartista again: I think JK is actually referring to "dolphin fish", also known as "mahi mahi" or "dorado". They are fish and not dolphins like Flipper, which are mammals. A notable attribute of dolphinfish is their multi-hued iridescent coloring which fades when they're removed from the water.]

STAY TUNED FOR PART III and learn the main reason JK liked to fly.