Monday, September 07, 2015

Actor Martin Milner has died at the age of 83.  Most of us will always remember him this way:



Some of us who have been around longer may well remember him best for this show instead:



He's remembered primarily as a television actor and his credits include guest roles on Murder She Wrote, MacGyver, Airwolf, The Rat Patrol (one of my personal faves), The Virginian, 12 O'Clock High and many more.  But his career began in movies.  Small roles in Life With Father and The Wreck of the Hesperus were followed up with this small but significant part in the John Wayne classic Sands of Iwo Jima.


In 1951 he had a role in Halls of Montezuma and that's where he met Jack Webb.  Webb brought him into the radio version of Dragnet first, following that into the TV version.  That connection ultimately led to his plum role in Adam-12.  He would go on to a part in Francis in Navy, which features the first credited role for some guy named Clint Eastwood.



The 1957 version of the Wyatt Earp tale, Gunfight at the O.K. Corral found Milner portraying James Earp.


One of his last film roles was in 1967's Valley of the Dolls, which remains a cult classic to this day.  It was the next to last film of Sharon Tate's to be released before her brutal murder at the hands of the Manson "Family."

He also appeared in Mister Roberts, Operation Pacific and Sweet Smell of Success.  RIP.