A picture may be "worth a thousand words", as the saying goes. A picture can bring back memories from fifty-four years ago, too, but so can a diary. And a diary can bring back those words verbatim. Fifty-four years ago was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years in high school.
It was a summer of dressing more than eighty chickens to put in our new deep freeze in the basement. It was the summer we got our new horse, Josephine - a much taller horse than old Queenie and not so apt to nip at us as we tried to put the bridle on her. It was another summer of swimming lessons about which I wrote: "Went down to Tranbarger's right after we got home (from swimming) and got our new little puppie [sic]. 'Ginger' is Leslie's name for it. It's real cute."
Looking at this freshman school picture makes me realize how little my hair style has changed. That lock sticking out the side of my neck at the back still bugs me. I always thought of a 'cowlick' as unruly hair above the forehead or at the crown - maybe the 'cow licked' me on my neck?
That end of July, 1958 diary entry relates something else I had completely forgotten about: "Got my pictures I sent for. R. Burr, R. Horton, G. Williams and J. Darren." I was forever forming crushes - boys in my class, boys I met from another town, friends of my older brother - even TV and movie stars. Apparently these were favorites enough that I wrote away for publicity photos:
Guy Williams - better known as "The man who wears the mask of Zorro!" I had forgotten this was a Walt Disney Production, which explains why Annette Funicello was given a part as a birthday present in one episode. Zorro's 'real' name was Don Diego de la Vega, an intellectual Spaniard completely inept with a sword. Don Diego's manservant, the mute, Bernardo (Gene Sheldon), pretends to be deaf as well as mute in order to listen in on the plans of Zorro/Diego's enemies.
So, what young romantic girl wouldn't fall for Zorro and want a picture of him? Remember the uptick in the Z's carved in desks and picnic tables and painted on sidewalks and walls?
So, Zorro, Si; Professor John Robinson, nada. I must not have watched Lost in Space with Williams as the head of the Robinson family and June Lockhart as his wife. Or, if I did, he looked and acted so completely different I did not recognize him. Williams also appeared on some Bonanza episodes as Ben Cartwright's nephew, Will Cartwright. Oh, those Cartwright's - I think I had a crush on all of them at one time or another, especially Adam and Little Joe. Guy Williams died in 1989.
Raymond Burr, the man with the steely blue eyes, was the actor who brought to life Erle Stanley Gardner's Perry Mason. I would not miss an episode of Perry Mason. I had always wanted to be a secretary so of course I imagined myself as Della Street. I didn't necessarily think Raymond Burr was handsome, but he was charismatic. And he was always on the side of justice.
By the time Raymond Burr played wheel-chair-bound, Chief Detective Robert T. Ironside, I was over developing crushes on actors. Well, almost over it. But I did think Perry Mason had aged well and made a good-looking Ironside. Raymond Burr died in 1993.
My crush on James Darren must have resulted from his singing career rather than acting as he wasn't Moondoggie in the Gidget movies until 1959. Or perhaps I saw him in one of his earlier movies, Rumble on the Docks, Operation Mad Ball or The Brothers Rico.
It was always so easy to confuse James Darren and Bobby Darin. James Darren acted with Sandra Dee. Bobby Darin was married to Sandra Dee. James and Bobby were both singers as well as actors.
From this 1999 album cover, I would say I could probably still get a crush on James Darren. He has aged very well. I should listen to some songs from this album, Night and Day, I'll Be Seeing You, Just In Time, The Way You Look Tonight and many other old standards to see if I remember his voice. Darren was born in 1936.
Possibly the least known of the four I requested photos of was Robert Horton. He played frontier scout Flint McCullough on the television series Wagon Train from 1957 to 1962. I remember wishing the shows highlighted him more than they did the Wagon master, played by Ward Bond. Flint was always being sent ahead to scout the trail while Wagon master Major Seth Adams dealt with that episode's problems. Horton was often confused with Robert Fuller, the actor who replaced him when he left the series to pursue a career in musical theater.
I think this is how I remember Robert Horton looking when he appeared on a Murder, She Wrote episode - another actor who has aged well. Or maybe they all just still look good to me because I've aged, too? Robert Horton was born in 1924.
No comments:
Post a Comment