Robert Conrad, who starred in the 1960s' ''The Wild Wild West'' and many other TV series, has passed away at 84.
''The Wild Wild West'' was a childhood favorite of mine, so I was thrilled that I got to do a phone interview with Conrad in 1998. TNT was rerunning his TV classic, which featured him as a dashing version of James Bond as a cowboy. He said of his spy show's formula: ''I'd take off my shirt every episode, Ross [Martin] would be in drag, and then we'd have an elephant and a villain. Hey, it was escapist fare at its best.''
Conrad studied theater arts at Northwestern, and many years ago, there was a TV special celebrating its alumni. On it, Conrad recited Tom Wingfield's closing monologue from Tennessee Williams' ''The Glass Menagerie'' (''Blow out your candles, Laura'').
I read somewhere that Conrad, who loved to sing, once played John Adams in ''1776'' during the Bicentennial.
Could anyone have seen that? Was it summer stock? I've Googled, but couldn't find anything. Thanks! |
