I was especially interested in talking to Gene Evans who had played the father on My Friend Flicka, one of my favorite TV westerns as a kid. The show was in syndication when I saw it in the late 50s early 60s. I was able to bother him for about 15 minutes and, of course, tell him how I liked him in the show. He became reflective and talked a bit about Anita Louise, another of my favorites, who played the mother on the show. He had nothing but high praise for her acting and off-screen life. I remember his words clearly, "She was a lovely, beautiful woman." Johnny Washbrook, his TV son, Ken, was a good kid he said. That "good kid" is 67 years old today.
Here I am with Gene Evans on set. Why didn't I smile? |
Walker Edmiston, me and Jack Elam. |
Along with My Friend Flicka, my other favorite TV westerns were Fury, The Rifleman and The Roy Rogers Show. As a tween, I loved to imagine myself being a character on the shows as either a brother or best friend of the juvenile leads on the shows: Johnny Washbrook (67), Bobby Diamond (68), and Johnny Crawford (66 on Mar. 26). I waisted many a happy hour in those pursuits. Whenever I saw children on television shows or in movies, I would want to be a child actor or at least one of the Mouseketeers. At age ten, I wrote a letter to Roy Rogers telling him all the great things I could do and what a good actor I would make and asking if he could put me on his show. My mother never mailed the letter. I thought Roy had snubbed me. My fantasy acting was as close as I came to my childhood career dream.
I have collected a few of Johnny Crawford's songs from his early recording career in the age of the "Golden Oldies." This is one of the best. I probably sang this song to myself after Susan Josephs turned me down when I asked her out on a movie date in 1963. I didn't ask another girl out again until senior prom in '65.
Of course, I was always a sap for the old teenie-bopper ballads. And I took the message of the following song to heart and did just that.
He is still singing with his orchestra: The Johnny Crawford Dance Orchestra.
My 2012 goal, lose 65 pounds by age 65, report: I have lost 18 pounds since January 1st. Seven months and 47 pounds to go!
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