Interviews: 1960s Celebrities of TV, Film at ‘The Hollywood Show’

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StarRobert Colbert, Dr. Doug Phillips on “The Time Tunnel”

Robert Colbert
Good Timing: Robert Colbert at at ‘The Hollywood Show,’ March of 2012
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

“The Time Tunnel” was a two season series in the 1960s, that afterward developed a cultish, second-life popularity in reruns. Robert Colbert was a journeyman TV series actor who landed his first regular part on the sci-fi program. He worked until the mid-1990s, making his final appearance on “Baywatch.”

HollywoodChicago.com: According to your bio, you were “discovered” while in the army. What is the background of that story?

Robert Colbert: I wasn’t discovered in the army, while I was in the army I was assigned to Military Police in Okinawa. Due to the fact that I was making a fast $35 a month, I needed some extra income. There was an opening at a local radio station for an announcer, disc jockey and news reader. So four hours a night I would go off the base to the station, and I made $2 an hour. That was $8 a night when I made $35 all month. So I started in radio.

There was a lady from South Dakota who heard my voice, and she was from special services and they were putting on a play on the island, ‘The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial,’ and wanted me to audition. I went reluctantly, because I didn’t want to lose my job, but when I read the part of Greenwald it was so stimulating that I really wanted to do it. So I started acting there on Okinawa. When I was discharged, I had the bug, and started studying and being in repertory theater in Portland. [Character actor] Mickey Shaughnessy saw me, and brought me down to Hollywood. I signed with his agent, and worked for the next 50 years.

HollywoodChicago.com: You co-starred with The Three Stooges in the late 1950s in ‘Have Rocket-Will Travel’ – called their best feature film. Were you a fan of their short films as a kid, and what do you remember from your first meeting with them?

Colbert: I was a fan, but I would call myself a confused fan – I didn’t know how to quite react to their comedy, but I was hypnotized by their nuttiness. I did do that film, and let me give you a story on how it lives on. Recently a fellow from Barcelona called me because they were having a big show there having to do with The Three Stooges. He made a request to me via email, and I went to my beach house because I had a poster from The Three Stooges. I held it up and a picture was taken, and two minutes later he had the picture in Spain. He emailed me back thanking me profusely.

HollywoodChicago.com: You ran into a controversy on the TV show ‘Maverick’ in the early 1960s. Once the decision was made to use you as a James Garner replacement, how do you remember the feeling on the set during those episodes?

Robert Colbert
Robert Colbert in the ‘Maverick’ Costume
Photo credit: Warner Home Video

Colbert: Once I was on the set it didn’t bother me at all, I was working. But I didn’t want to do it. When wardrobe started putting me in Jim’s clothes [Garner was in a contract stalemate with Warner Bros.] I said, ‘…don’t do this, put me in a dress and call me Brenda.’ [laughs]

HollywoodChicago.com: Was it something that they threw at you because you were under contract?

Colbert: Well, I thought I was going to wardrobe for a movie I was doing called ‘Black Gold.’ Then they started putting me in Maverick’s familiar cowboy outfit, and it didn’t take long for me to figure it out. I started walking on the Warner’s lot, and everybody was hanging out the window because they thought Jim was back. It’s just part of my life story.

HollywoodChicago.com: Which director, either film or television, made the most impact on you in working with them and why?

Colbert: Richard Donner, because he was very creative and imaginative in the way he would structure his scenes. I did a TV pilot for him called ‘The Mayor,’ and he had one scene that encompassed five different rooms filled with people, all in one dolly shot. He always did creative things that were really interesting. I won’t say he was the most interesting director I ever worked with, I will just say he was the best.

HollywoodChicago.com: Finally, which famous star, either in working with them or encountering them, did you most want to meet when you worked in show business, and what do you remember when you finally did meet them?

Colbert: Probably Rita Hayworth. I belonged to Riviera Country Club, I’m a golfer. One day I was scheduled to play, and they asked me if I minded joining a foursome, and I said no. Walking toward me was Rita Hayworth, and the Italian singer Vic Damone. So Vic Damone, Rita Hayworth and I played Riviera together. I just was happy I was with her, even though it was later. She was starting to suffer from Alzheimer’s at the time. It was an on and off kind of day for her, but I sure did love that afternoon.

“The Hollywood Show” comes to Chicagoland on September 7th, 8th and 9th, 2012 (Saturday 9/8 and Sunday 9/9 are celebrity appearance days), at The Hilton Rosemont, 5500 N. River Road, Rosemont, Ill. For complete details, click here.

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2011 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

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