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| 1940-2022 |
Actor, director, writer, singer, songwriter--Stuart Margolin was certainly a very creative person, which he talks about in the following video, aptly titled, "The Creative Process":
Margolin comes across as very thoughtful, and a bit refined, very different from the hapless lowlifes he so often and so expertly played, including one of the greatest hapless lowlifes in TV history. Not that he couldn't also play hapless middle-of-the-road characters, as he frequently did as a cast member of this early 1970's series:
An hour-long comedy anthology series that guest-starred well-known TV actors of the day, each episode usually consisted of three ten-minute stories of romantic ridiculousness. As filler there was a series of blackout sketches enacted by an in-house reparatory company, one of the members of which was Margolin. You'll spot him easily:
Even though he was basically unknown at this point in his career, Margolin must have impressed at least somebody with a bit of influence (probably his brother Arnold, who coproduced Love American Style) because he got a chance to work alongside a former Catwoman and a beatnik-turned-castaway in one of those ten-minute stories, a slice of now-dated foolishness titled "Love and the Cake":
Bob Denver, reduced to playing straight man? Where is Alan Hale Jr. when you need him? I don't know if it was "Love and the Cake" or one of those ten-minute segments, but a TV star-turned-movie star-now-segueing-back-into-a-TV-star by the name of James Garner caught LAS one night and was impressed enough with Margolin's acting to invite him on his new Western series Nichols. That show only lasted a single season. However, Garner's next series...
Sherlock Holmes and Watson, by way of 1970s LA. Instead of foggy Baskervilles moors, sun-bleached strip malls.
Finally...
Hey! What's he doing here?
Have a listen:
If I close my eyes, I can almost see Angel Martin doing a duckwalk.
Wow. I didn’t know he sang.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know either, Mitchell. The things you come across on the internet.
DeleteLove, American Style,
ReplyDeleteTruer than the Red, White and Blue.
Love, American Style,
That's me and you.
Hi, Kirk!
I remember him well, Stuart Margolin, but not in the role for which he is best known according to your tribute. I didn't know Stuart as Angel Martin because I didn't particularly like James Garner and didn't watch Rockford, even though the detective drama was broadcast on NBC and I worked at an NBC affiliate during its entire run. I dated the woman who worked in the promotions department. Along with promotional materials from hundreds of NBC series that aired in the 60s, 70s and 80s, she gave me a bunch of production stills from Rockford Files. I was grateful to receive them, but did not watch the show.
Although Stuart played Shallow Hal characters, he appeared to be intelligent, sensitive and self-aware. I best remember him from all those sketches on Love, American Style, a series that I did watch faithfully through its entire run. However, I must admit that I watched LAS primarily to get glimpses of sketch company regular Phyllis Elizabeth Davis from Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls. It was fun seeing Bob Denver and Julie Newmar in that vignette with Stuart.
I love the song "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man" as covered by Johnny Rivers on one of his Live at the Whisky albums, and Stuart did a pretty neat job on his cover as well.
Thank you for paying tribute to actor and good guy Stuart Margolin who died this week just shy of his 83rd birthday. Enjoy the rest of your week, good buddy Kirk!
"I didn't particularly like James Garner"
DeleteI guess this would be a bad time to bring up Maverick or The Americanization of Emily.
As for Phyllis Davis, Shady, did'ja ever see Vegas starring Robert Urich? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't (I much prefer Urich in Soap and Spenser for Hire) but Phyllis played private eye Dan Tanna's showgirl secretary Beatrice. I see she died in 2013 at age 73. If she were still alive, she'd be 82. So she was pushing 40 when she did Vegas. She sure didn't look it.
Hi, Kirk!
DeleteI am aware that Phyllis Davis co-starred in Vegas. I watched a few episodes, but was not a regular viewer.
As for James Garner, I do not like Westerns in general, and he did several. I also became overdosed on TV detectives after awhile. However, I did enjoy Garner in some of his roles, including his pairings with Doris Day in The Thrill Of It All and Move Over, Darling. I also enjoyed Blake Edwards's Victor/Victoria. And who doesn't love The Notebook? Who, I ask you? I also enjoyed his stint on John Ritter's 8 Simple Rules, the sitcom that famously yielded Penny, a main character on Big Bang.
Enjoy the rest of your week, good buddy Kirk!
Oh, I recognize that face! Never knew his name though. RIP
ReplyDeleteDebra, that's why I made this one an "Under the Radar" post, for those folks who have face, but not name recognition.
DeleteI can't say I know too much about him, but I read of his passing and it mentioned The Rockford Files, which I enjoyed - I was a fan of James Garner too.
ReplyDeleteI don't expect you to know too much about him, Ananka. As I told Debra, that's why he's "Under the Radar."
ReplyDeleteMy parents loved "Love American Style". I can remember their laughing loudly...and of course they loved Rockford Files. I believe they still catch Rockford Files on one of those channels--like TBS, AMC, Lifetime maybe?
ReplyDeleteJM, I've caught it on a digital channel.
Delete