BoxRec

Chuck1052 wrote:No one would say that Ernest Tubb was that good of a singer in a technical sense, but I must say that I enjoy his records. Unlike many of the more recent Country singers, Tubb had very distinctive singing style and performed in a straight-from-the-shoulder manner. In addition, I have read Tubb had quite a bit of stage presence and had a tremendous relationship with his fans, who were very devoted to him and vis-versa.

- Chuck Johnston

bennie wrote:York Hall, for those of you who don't know, is our Olympic. It's based in Bethnal Green in East London, a stone's throw from where the Krays were raised, and has a great arched entrance and a great balcony and there really isn't a bad seat in the house.
I know one thing, though, it is bloody warm in there.

Rick Farris wrote:

Randyman wrote:

kikibalt wrote:I bet that Rick can tell us some stories about Conrad


Robert Conrad recalls his 'Wild Wild West' pal, and his favorite villains, as the series becomes a DVD set.

By Susan King

In the mid-1960s, there seemed to be plenty of guys named James running around blowing things up, foiling dastardly plans and making the planet -- and galaxy -- a safer place for Western-style democracies. And they all achieved this with a distinctive style.

British secret agent James Bond did it shaken, not stirred. Starship Capt. James T. Kirk did it with his middle initial. And U.S. Secret Service agent James West did it in very, very tight pants.

Fans of “The Wild Wild West," which originally aired on CBS from 1965-69, can revisit the fashion and the adventures of West with today's release of a 27-disc set that includes the entire series plus two made-for-television movies.

For Robert Conrad, who famously played West, the rugged federal agent charged with guarding President Ulysses S. Grant, it's a case of better late than never. Even though single-season sets are already out on DVD, the 73-year-old Thousand Oaks resident has seen only a handful. He said he was so busy shooting his series that he never had a chance to watch.

"I never really remembered them," said Conrad. "It's campy. It's fun."

Along with "The Man From U.N.C.L.E.," and "Get Smart," "The Wild West West" capitalized on the James Bond craze of the 1960s. In fact, when the show was originally pitched to the networks, it was described as "James Bond on horseback."

Like Bond, West -- and his adversaries -- had a cache of secret gadgets that audiences loved. There were guns concealed in his shoes and sleeves, exploding billiard tables, not to mention sci-fi torpedoes disguised as dragons with radio homing devices. And like Bond, West was a bachelor who rarely seemed far from a beautiful woman. Unlike Bond, West enjoyed male companionship as well with his sidekick Artemus Gordon (Ross Martin), a master of technology and disguises.

Just as Robert Vaughn and David McCallum had perfect chemistry on "U.N.C.L.E.," so did Conrad and Martin. The two had never met before the show.

"I knew he was quadruple bilingual and had a law degree," said Conrad. "I got to know him on the show. We had fun."

The series was hurt toward the last season when Martin suffered a heart attack and had to take a sabbatical. Several were brought in to be West's foil, but the chemistry "wasn't the same," said Conrad.

Another hallmark of the show was its villains, none more infamous than the brilliant, demonic Miguelito Loveless -- played by Michael Dunn, who was less than 4 feet tall.

"He stayed at my house when he came to town," said Conrad. "He came from New York and we were personal friends. On Saturday we had a touch football game. We played different studios and he was the referee. He refereed on a golf cart."

Dunn even had a drink named after him at a watering hole across the street from the studio. "It was real powerful drink," said Conrad. "He was real proud of it."

Conrad also remembered Boris Karloff guest-starring. "He was an icon. I watched him when I was a little boy and here he was playing one of the bad guys."

The show also attracted Peter Lawford and Sammy Davis Jr. -- "nobody turned down the show because they all liked it," added Conrad.

Bad ratings did not ultimately do in the show. Rather, it was a pledge by CBS' president to Congress to reduce violence on television.

These days, Conrad is officially retired from acting.

"For 20 years I made movies for television," said the actor, who is the father of eight. "I had my dog, my children, my grandchildren and friends of mine in the movies."

And that's not counting his TV series. "I had 'Hawaiian Eye' when I was a young man. I did 'West' when I was in my 30s and in my 40s, and I did 'The Black Sheep Squadron.' So what else was there?"

For the last year, he has had his own radio show, which airs on CRN Digital Talk Radio at 4 p.m. Thursdays.

"It's entertainment," he said. "The show is a blast."

Susan King is a Times staff writer.

[email protected]

It's kind of dated now but when it was still fresh, during the 1960's, my father and I were big fans. I always enjoyed the fight scenes, which utilized (somewhat) boxing, as well as martial arts. I'm disappointed to hear that Conrad had a heart "the size of a pea".

Randy. . . Conrad doesn't have to great a rep in the film business. Like a lot of actors, he has a big ego, which is fine, however, Conrad was the kind of guy who became tougher when he was surrounded by his own group of stuntmen buddies. While managing Frankie Crawford, he would go out with the fighter and instigate fights in bars, etc. Conrad never would fight himself, but have his gang fight for him. In one such situation, he almost got Frankie killed. I have a lot of first hand info on this, he wasn't the kind of guy I imagine the men on this board would respect. This isn't gossip or my own personal opinion, it's fact to those of us who were around him. He wasn't the smallest man in the world, but he had a Napoleonic complex. I'm not here to trash Bob Conrad, but those who know him from TV have a quite different opinion about him than those who know him up close and personal.

-Rick

Randyman wrote:I just had my once a week Italian meal today. It was a delicious meatball sandwich with peppers, tomato sauce and mozzarella, on good Italian bread. On the side I had marinated mushrooms and artichokes. Jeri and I ate at Lascari's in Whittier. All their food is good, but the ravioli, lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs are my favorites, along with the sandwiches. When it comes to sandwiches, no one does it better than the Italians. Although, a torta, when done right comes pretty close.

dagosd2000 wrote:

Randyman wrote:I just had my once a week Italian meal today. It was a delicious meatball sandwich with peppers, tomato sauce and mozzarella, on good Italian bread. On the side I had marinated mushrooms and artichokes. Jeri and I ate at Lascari's in Whittier. All their food is good, but the ravioli, lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs are my favorites, along with the sandwiches. When it comes to sandwiches, no one does it better than the Italians. Although, a torta, when done right comes pretty close.

Yep Randy 'Ol Pal I know what you mean. When my parents were alive there was always pasta around. I'd come in and my mother would say something like, we have hamburgers,meat loaf,chicken wings,or spaghetti. I'd mull it over thinking,"Gee I haven't had chicken wings in a while. And sure love chicken wings. And then I'd say,'I'll have spaghetti.' "

One time in my wife's hometown in Mexico I almost went back on the plane to San Diego because I was having withdrawls from not having spaghetti. So my wife made it for me down there.

Many years ago my father sent me , my mother and sisters, and my grandmother to California on a vacation. We went to the Brown Derby Restaurant. We looked at the menu and there's no spaghetti. So my grandmother tells the waiter she wants spaghetti anyway. The waiter says we don't have spaghetti. My grandmother,being real grease ball,insists on having spaghetti. The waiter goes to the kitchen with the order. 30 minutes later he comes back with our food and spaghetti for my grandmother.

About 40 years later after the Derby closed they were talking to the former head chef on a talk show. He said he knew how to cook anything but spaghetti.
"If someone came in and ordered it,"he said. "I wouldn't have known how to make it."
He must of had a can of Chef Boy R Dee laying around that night when we came in.

dagosd2000 wrote:

Randyman wrote:I just had my once a week Italian meal today. It was a delicious meatball sandwich with peppers, tomato sauce and mozzarella, on good Italian bread. On the side I had marinated mushrooms and artichokes. Jeri and I ate at Lascari's in Whittier. All their food is good, but the ravioli, lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs are my favorites, along with the sandwiches. When it comes to sandwiches, no one does it better than the Italians. Although, a torta, when done right comes pretty close.

Yep Randy 'Ol Pal I know what you mean. When my parents were alive there was always pasta around. I'd come in and my mother would say something like, we have hamburgers,meat loaf,chicken wings,or spaghetti. I'd mull it over thinking,"Gee I haven't had chicken wings in a while. And sure love chicken wings. And then I'd say,'I'll have spaghetti.' "

One time in my wife's hometown in Mexico I almost went back on the plane to San Diego because I was having withdrawls from not having spaghetti. So my wife made it for me down there.

Many years ago my father sent me , my mother and sisters, and my grandmother to California on a vacation. We went to the Brown Derby Restaurant. We looked at the menu and there's no spaghetti. So my grandmother tells the waiter she wants spaghetti anyway. The waiter says we don't have spaghetti. My grandmother,being real grease ball,insists on having spaghetti. The waiter goes to the kitchen with the order. 30 minutes later he comes back with our food and spaghetti for my grandmother.

About 40 years later after the Derby closed they were talking to the former head chef on a talk show. He said he knew how to cook anything but spaghetti.
"If someone came in and ordered it,"he said. "I wouldn't have known how to make it."
He must of had a can of Chef Boy R Dee laying around that night when we came in.

dagosd2000 wrote:Is Frank OK? What's going on? Did I miss something?

Randyman wrote:

bennie wrote:York Hall, for those of you who don't know, is our Olympic. It's based in Bethnal Green in East London, a stone's throw from where the Krays were raised, and has a great arched entrance and a great balcony and there really isn't a bad seat in the house.
I know one thing, though, it is bloody warm in there.

Classy looking joint Bennie. Even at it's best, our Olympic Auditorium never looked quite this good. Still, it had it's own charm.

Randy

raylawpc wrote:Frank's a good guy. I hope and pray he'll be able to make it. He hasn't been on the board since yesterday morning.

Randyman wrote:

bennie wrote:York Hall, for those of you who don't know, is our Olympic. It's based in Bethnal Green in East London, a stone's throw from where the Krays were raised, and has a great arched entrance and a great balcony and there really isn't a bad seat in the house.
I know one thing, though, it is bloody warm in there.

Classy looking joint Bennie. Even at it's best, our Olympic Auditorium never looked quite this good. Still, it had it's own charm.

Randy

Rick Farris wrote:

Randyman wrote:

bennie wrote:York Hall, for those of you who don't know, is our Olympic. It's based in Bethnal Green in East London, a stone's throw from where the Krays were raised, and has a great arched entrance and a great balcony and there really isn't a bad seat in the house.
I know one thing, though, it is bloody warm in there.

Classy looking joint Bennie. Even at it's best, our Olympic Auditorium never looked quite this good. Still, it had it's own charm.

Randy

Bennie, thanks for sharing York Hall with us. This is the kind of information that I truly enjoy. Today, the featured actor in the TV production I'm involved with, Johnnie Lee Miller, and I talked boxing during a break. Johnny's from the U.K. and a boxing fan, so I asked him if he was familiar with York Hall, and his eyes lit up. "Yes, very much so, in Bethnal Green in East London. My father and I attended many a fight there when I was growing up." I showed him your post and photos on my lap top and he smiled, then shared a memory from his youth that had taken place there.

Bennie, your British boxing experience and knowledge is really appreciated here on the West Coast.


-Rick

Bennie, your British boxing experience and knowledge is really appreciated here on the West Coast.


-Rick