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'Wild Wild West' Star Robert Conrad Dead at 84 (Original Post) catbyte Feb 2020 OP
RIP jpak Feb 2020 #1
That was a fun show. lunatica Feb 2020 #2
It's still on in reruns. Different Drummer Feb 2020 #54
I loved when Ross Martin would be in disguise. CaptYossarian Feb 2020 #67
Ross was the better actor but Robert had lead man written all over him Kaleva Feb 2020 #70
oh my bdamomma Feb 2020 #3
That makes three. Sneederbunk Feb 2020 #4
I loved Baa Baa Black Sheep .... RIP OnDoutside Feb 2020 #5
Same as me, even thou I was in the Army. imanamerican63 Feb 2020 #29
The Godfather of Steampunk Cirque du So-What Feb 2020 #6
His show did give birth safeinOhio Feb 2020 #27
It was the highlight of my youth ChazII Feb 2020 #62
Tighest pants in the west! RIP! eleny Feb 2020 #7
I knew I was weird as a kid when I decided I liked Artemis Gordon better than him, lol. catbyte Feb 2020 #12
Artie was the best part of the show jg10003 Feb 2020 #14
I was the same kind of weird! n/t TygrBright Feb 2020 #31
Awlright! catbyte Feb 2020 #38
I liked Artemis Gordon better also, pazzyanne Feb 2020 #46
Another kindred spirit! catbyte Feb 2020 #52
Nice to learn that I am not ChazII Feb 2020 #64
It was always George eleny Feb 2020 #50
So handsome KT2000 Feb 2020 #8
Baa Baa Blacksheep underpants Feb 2020 #9
Pappy Boyington trof Feb 2020 #49
I still have some videotapes of some "Black Sheep" episodes...... lastlib Feb 2020 #75
That's sad ... always liked that dude ... WWW (syndicated) was a fave when I was a little kid ... mr_lebowski Feb 2020 #10
I remember "Hawaiian Eye". Walleye Feb 2020 #11
The Shows with Dr Loveless were remarkable PCIntern Feb 2020 #13
The show was ahead of its time. As a kid, I just thought it was a cool show. catbyte Feb 2020 #15
That was the Golden Era of CBS tv. PCIntern Feb 2020 #22
Consider how unique it was back then Haggis for Breakfast Feb 2020 #44
Yep. The Dr. Loveless episodes were good. Different Drummer Feb 2020 #56
Yes! Brilliant tv PCIntern Feb 2020 #57
I think Route 66 is still on in reruns, but I don't remember the network. Different Drummer Feb 2020 #60
My parents knew Dr. Loveless at the University of Miami Awsi Dooger Feb 2020 #76
One of my fave shows as a kid nuxvomica Feb 2020 #16
Cross gently, Pappy... Dennis Donovan Feb 2020 #17
I loved that show! GoCubsGo Feb 2020 #20
Yeah, Hutch dying in the air raid seemed gratuitous. But they had to elevate Sgt Andy Micklin Dennis Donovan Feb 2020 #25
RIP Just_Vote_Dem Feb 2020 #18
Everready Batteries OnlinePoker Feb 2020 #40
That's it-thanks n/t Just_Vote_Dem Feb 2020 #42
I remember him as Pasquinel from the Centennial miniseries. lpbk2713 Feb 2020 #19
Oddly enough... Harker Feb 2020 #53
Robert Conrad wore lifts in The Wild Wild West, and was mostly positioned between... Brother Buzz Feb 2020 #21
I always found short guys to be the cutest. SunSeeker Feb 2020 #28
Me too. I always found shorter guys good looking. IrishEyes Feb 2020 #33
Me, too, but I'm a little over 5'1" so finding someone taller wasn't too difficult. catbyte Feb 2020 #43
LOL !! SunSeeker Feb 2020 #74
Loved WWW reruns as a kid. Also one of my favorite Columbo episodes JDC Feb 2020 #23
Battle of the Network Stars Dagstead Bumwood Feb 2020 #24
Yeah, that was some great entertainment back then... PoliticAverse Feb 2020 #65
I used to serve him drinks fairly regularly at a restaurant in LA. He was a good actor, but a lousy ashredux Feb 2020 #26
I heard that often at the time DFW Feb 2020 #78
RIP...I used to watch WWW Sancho Feb 2020 #30
Watched the Wild West with with my grandma - one of her favorite shows. RIP Bob Conrad. nt iluvtennis Feb 2020 #32
Great show. Innovative and fun mountain grammy Feb 2020 #34
I loved Wild Wild West as a kid! jls4561 Feb 2020 #35
I loved that program. H2O Man Feb 2020 #36
RIP, I used to watch that show when I was a kid, and still watch the reruns Perseus Feb 2020 #37
Godfather of Steampunk. Iggo Feb 2020 #39
I hadn't heard much about him recently and was wondering how he was doing. RIP . CentralMass Feb 2020 #41
so handsome Skittles Feb 2020 #45
Big fan of show growing up. The title sequence was awesome. Dr. Mikolito Loveless was my favorite zonkers Feb 2020 #47
RIP Dr. Strange Feb 2020 #48
Loved the show (WWW) as a kid Red Mountain Feb 2020 #51
Man, he was handsome. Lunabell Feb 2020 #55
How sad Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Feb 2020 #58
RIP Thomas Jefferson Lopaka of "Hawaiian Eye"... VOX Feb 2020 #59
F Troop intentionally used actors with Bronx accents to play Native Americans CaptYossarian Feb 2020 #71
So crazy in retrospect that it's laughable. VOX Feb 2020 #80
But Star Trek had a Japanese and a Russian character. CaptYossarian Feb 2020 #85
Huge fan of Baa Baa, back in the day! Not sure what I liked more, the F4U Corsair planes, or FailureToCommunicate Feb 2020 #61
I was a secretary at Studio Center where WWW filmed. SleeplessinSoCal Feb 2020 #63
Wow! I would have loved to have worked at Studio Center in those days! Different Drummer Feb 2020 #68
I also worked at TV City. SleeplessinSoCal Feb 2020 #77
He made a friend of mine realize that he might be gay. He was so handsome Dream Girl Feb 2020 #66
He was short. And so good looking. leftyladyfrommo Feb 2020 #79
RIP Robert. I remember those old episodes. PatrickforO Feb 2020 #69
I thought he died years ago Roland99 Feb 2020 #72
Maybe you're thinking of William Conrad. I always got the two mixed up. catbyte Feb 2020 #83
When I was a kid I'd kinda mix up William and Robert (and Robert Blake) Roland99 Feb 2020 #84
Enjoyed his shows growing up. RIP Mr. Conrad. Liberal In Texas Feb 2020 #73
Kirk Douglas then Robert Conrad Tactical Progressive Feb 2020 #81
*Sigh MerryBlooms Feb 2020 #82

Different Drummer

(7,615 posts)
54. It's still on in reruns.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:23 PM
Feb 2020

Family Entertainment Television (FETV) shows two back-to-back episodes each weekday afternoon.

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
67. I loved when Ross Martin would be in disguise.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 10:02 PM
Feb 2020

He even played an Arab oil sheik on Sanford & Son. Martin was a much better actor than Conrad. More depth and versatility.

ChazII

(6,205 posts)
62. It was the highlight of my youth
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:31 PM
Feb 2020

as well. I had a crush on him the first year and then I liked Ross Martin's character and his great inventions for Jim to use.

catbyte

(34,386 posts)
12. I knew I was weird as a kid when I decided I liked Artemis Gordon better than him, lol.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:20 PM
Feb 2020

But then I had a crush on George instead of Paul.

I was 10 when the show first aired so I was a little young to notice the tight pants. But by the time the series ended, they did catch my eye.

ChazII

(6,205 posts)
64. Nice to learn that I am not
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:33 PM
Feb 2020

alone with Artemis as their favorite character and George as their favorite Beetle.

eleny

(46,166 posts)
50. It was always George
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:08 PM
Feb 2020

And I was definitely old enough to notice how tight those pants were. My brother and I always joked about how many pair they went through each episode.

Btw, Artemis Gordon rocked the show. They hit the casting mark just right with those two opposites.

KT2000

(20,577 posts)
8. So handsome
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:16 PM
Feb 2020

Growing up any show he was on was hit in my household. My Mom appreciated handsome actors - something about eating crackers??!

lastlib

(23,233 posts)
75. I still have some videotapes of some "Black Sheep" episodes......
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 12:24 AM
Feb 2020

Not sure I could get a machine to play 'em, tho.

I remember Linda Scruggs Bogart on one episode. She was HOT! (imho!)

PCIntern

(25,544 posts)
13. The Shows with Dr Loveless were remarkable
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:21 PM
Feb 2020

Surrealistic.

Clever show and he played it perfectly.

One of my ten favorite shows of my youth Hawaiian Eye was also engaging, along with Surfside 6 and 77 Sunset Strip.

RIP.

catbyte

(34,386 posts)
15. The show was ahead of its time. As a kid, I just thought it was a cool show.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:25 PM
Feb 2020

Now when I watch reruns on Me TV I realize just how imaginative it was.

PCIntern

(25,544 posts)
22. That was the Golden Era of CBS tv.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:42 PM
Feb 2020

That and Mission: Impossible were must see for me.

I had a very lonely childhood and those shows were critical for my development in many ways.

Haggis for Breakfast

(6,831 posts)
44. Consider how unique it was back then
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:01 PM
Feb 2020

to cast little people in a series. Michael Dunn was the perfect foil to Jim and Artie.

Different Drummer

(7,615 posts)
56. Yep. The Dr. Loveless episodes were good.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:26 PM
Feb 2020

Another episode I liked was "Night of the Eccentrics" in which Victor Buono co-starred.

 

Awsi Dooger

(14,565 posts)
76. My parents knew Dr. Loveless at the University of Miami
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 01:33 AM
Feb 2020

My dad was in theater with him. Both of them said he was a big deal on campus.

I remember watching Wild Wild West with them. They didn't recognize his name. In those days it wasn't easy to look up a name change. But it wasn't as if they were doubting it could be anyone else.

Wild Wild West was one of my favorites, especially the split screen aspect. And as others have mentioned that Columbo episode was one of the best.

Robert Conrad played the macho role with some tongue in cheek wherever he went. During college at USC I remember attending a filming of The Tonight Show. Conrad was not only great during the filming but he also came out to help warm up the audience beforehand, doing a terrific job.

nuxvomica

(12,424 posts)
16. One of my fave shows as a kid
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:29 PM
Feb 2020

I can smell hot, buttered popcorn just thinking about it because that's what my mom made on Friday nights as we gathered around the TV watching WWW. Someday someone will make a decent movie version of it.

GoCubsGo

(32,083 posts)
20. I loved that show!
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:38 PM
Feb 2020

Never missed it, even after it jumped the shark in its last couple of seasons. (I will be forever pissed that they killed off Hutch.)

Dennis Donovan

(18,770 posts)
25. Yeah, Hutch dying in the air raid seemed gratuitous. But they had to elevate Sgt Andy Micklin
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:49 PM
Feb 2020

...since Red West needed a new gig, post-Elvis.

Just_Vote_Dem

(2,808 posts)
18. RIP
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:34 PM
Feb 2020

I believe he did a popular commercial where he balanced a battery on his shoulder and dared you to knock it off. He also played a very slimy owner of fitness studios on a episode of "Columbo". His character was so nasty Columbo actually snapped at him, one of the few times he showed that kind of emotion.

Harker

(14,018 posts)
53. Oddly enough...
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:20 PM
Feb 2020

as I come upon this thread, I'm wearing a red voyageur cap I asked Mrs. Harker to knit for me.

Brother Buzz

(36,431 posts)
21. Robert Conrad wore lifts in The Wild Wild West, and was mostly positioned between...
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:40 PM
Feb 2020

the camera and short actresses under 5'6"; he was 5? 8?.

SunSeeker

(51,555 posts)
28. I always found short guys to be the cutest.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:57 PM
Feb 2020

Which made things tough since I am a tall woman and guys want their woman to be shorter. But not all men are insecure about having a taller woman; my husband is 2 inches shorter than me.

Tall guys remind me of my dad, a huge turnoff. LOL.

I guess my height would have disqualified me to be in a WWW episode with Robert Concrad. Damn. Another fantasy shot to Hell.

catbyte

(34,386 posts)
43. Me, too, but I'm a little over 5'1" so finding someone taller wasn't too difficult.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 08:45 PM
Feb 2020

I remember me dating a guy in high school who was 6'4"--we looked like Mutt and Jeff. My late husband was about 5'7" and that was just right.

My husband and I used to have season tickets to the Detroit Pistons in the mid-late 1980s (Bad Boys era). I remember walking out after a game and running smack dab into John Salley. That was embarrassing enough, but my forehead banged right into his crotch. Awful, just awful. He was very nice about it, though and actually apologized to me. I guess I was too short to see.

Dagstead Bumwood

(3,630 posts)
24. Battle of the Network Stars
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:44 PM
Feb 2020

was a staple in our house, and he always seemed to captain the NBC team. He was such a fierce competitor, especially during the tug-of-war event. That's the first thing I think of with him. RIP.

ashredux

(2,605 posts)
26. I used to serve him drinks fairly regularly at a restaurant in LA. He was a good actor, but a lousy
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 07:52 PM
Feb 2020

Tipper...😊

DFW

(54,378 posts)
78. I heard that often at the time
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 04:30 AM
Feb 2020

Great actor, not a very nice guy. I remember being so disappointed, since as a kid, you want the actors to be as nice as as the characters they portray. I once met Sidney Poitier in 1967, and he WAS every bit as nice as the people he portrayed.

jls4561

(1,257 posts)
35. I loved Wild Wild West as a kid!
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 08:20 PM
Feb 2020

I really, really wanted that train car.

Rest In Peace, Robert Conrad. You made us smile.

H2O Man

(73,537 posts)
36. I loved that program.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 08:28 PM
Feb 2020

And I respected that Conrad gave boxing a try. He was a tough guy.

Recommended.

 

Perseus

(4,341 posts)
37. RIP, I used to watch that show when I was a kid, and still watch the reruns
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 08:30 PM
Feb 2020

One of my favourite cowboy shows ever, I always loved the science and the make-ups that Gordon used as well, it was the "Mission Impossible" of the Wild West.

CentralMass

(15,265 posts)
41. I hadn't heard much about him recently and was wondering how he was doing. RIP .
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 08:44 PM
Feb 2020

A year or two back CometTv was running Wild Wild West on Staurday nights.

A 1966 episode with Dr Miguelito Loveless..

Red Mountain

(1,733 posts)
51. Loved the show (WWW) as a kid
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:11 PM
Feb 2020

....introduced my wife as an adult.

She liked it......she's a Brit. I enjoyed Dr. Who about the same time.

There's something about both.......

Watched Baa Baa Black Sheep over the air as an original. Dad was formerly in the Air Force and made sure to turn in.





VOX

(22,976 posts)
59. RIP Thomas Jefferson Lopaka of "Hawaiian Eye"...
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:29 PM
Feb 2020

The character was supposed to be half Polynesian, but TV in the ‘50s-‘60s didn’t concern itself too much with verisimilitude.

When Hawaii became the 50th state, there was a spate of South Seas-themed TV shows.

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
71. F Troop intentionally used actors with Bronx accents to play Native Americans
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 10:27 PM
Feb 2020

to add to the bizarre humor of the show. Gilligan's Island did the same for the "Headhunters", but in one episode used 3 LA Dodgers.

Of course, Hogan's Heroes used all Jewish actors to play Nazis.

I can't speak for why the other shows skipped over legitimate Polynesians.

VOX

(22,976 posts)
80. So crazy in retrospect that it's laughable.
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 10:06 AM
Feb 2020

Took Hollywood awhile to actually get things (almost) right.

CaptYossarian

(6,448 posts)
85. But Star Trek had a Japanese and a Russian character.
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 10:46 PM
Feb 2020

And Lt. Uhura. That was right around Julia with Diahann Carroll. Also groundbreaking--and both on NBC.

FailureToCommunicate

(14,014 posts)
61. Huge fan of Baa Baa, back in the day! Not sure what I liked more, the F4U Corsair planes, or
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:31 PM
Feb 2020

Conrad and his co-stars.

Okay, maybe the Corsairs.

RIP Robert Conrad.

SleeplessinSoCal

(9,120 posts)
63. I was a secretary at Studio Center where WWW filmed.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 09:33 PM
Feb 2020

I recall Conrad as being a compact cutie. He'd come to my office to talk to my boss, Mort Stevens, music supervisor. Conrad was very involved in the show's creative process. Though I was only there for their last season, 1969 I thought it odd that Gunsmoke (down the hall) went til 1975 and WWW only 1969.

The music was always cool:


SleeplessinSoCal

(9,120 posts)
77. I also worked at TV City.
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 04:06 AM
Feb 2020

The Smothers Brothers did their show there. Also Carol Burnett. I would go to rehearsals and heard so many great bands and musicians rehearsing at my lunch hour.

Very cool 9 to 5 job.

 

Dream Girl

(5,111 posts)
66. He made a friend of mine realize that he might be gay. He was so handsome
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 10:00 PM
Feb 2020

But I think he was kind of tiny. Not that that matters...so don’t jump on me.

leftyladyfrommo

(18,868 posts)
79. He was short. And so good looking.
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 07:50 AM
Feb 2020

A lot of men entertainers are not tall. Mostly doesn't matter.

But Tom Cruz trying to play Jack Reacher was ridiculous. Jack Reacher was about 6'7 and blonde and blue eyed.

PatrickforO

(14,574 posts)
69. RIP Robert. I remember those old episodes.
Sat Feb 8, 2020, 10:11 PM
Feb 2020

I also hope we can keep in mind through his example that none of us should ever, ever get behind the wheel after drinking anything.

catbyte

(34,386 posts)
83. Maybe you're thinking of William Conrad. I always got the two mixed up.
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 11:05 AM
Feb 2020

Not that they looked anything alike, lol.

Tactical Progressive

(2,850 posts)
81. Kirk Douglas then Robert Conrad
Sun Feb 9, 2020, 10:31 AM
Feb 2020

RIP to two compact Hollywood tough guys.

They did make a movie. Will Smith played Jim West.
I like Will, but it was a miscast from the get.
Jim West wasn't tall and he wasn't a funny boy.

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