A Quinn Martin Production: '60s & '70s TV Series Quiz

Answer: Leslie Nielsen

"The New Breed" starring Leslie Nielsen, was about the LAPD's Metro Squad. It ran for 36 episodes between October 1961 and June 1962. Unfortunately it was up against The Red Skelton Show on CBS and The Dick Powell Show on NBC, and "The New Breed" was canceled after one season. Among many guest stars were, Eddie Albert, Charles Bronson, Peter Falk, Ron Howard, Jack Klugman, Cloris Leachman, Nehemiah Persoff, Robert Redford and Telly Savalas.

Leslie Nielsen was born Leslie William Nielsen in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1926. He made his TV debut on an episode of "Studio One" in 1948 in which another young actor named Charlton Heston also appeared. His most successful movie in the '50s was the Sci-Fi movie "Forbidden Planet" in which he played the Commander of the starship C-57D. His later comedy career took of with the movie "Airplane!" (1980) and the TV series "Police Squad" (1982). Leslie Nielsen died of pneumonia in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA, in 2010 aged 84.

The producer of all the TV programmes in this quiz was Quinn Martin who was born Irwin Martin Cohn in New York City, New York, USA, in 1922. He started his career in television as a film editor at MGM, later in the '50s he became an executive producer for Desilu Studios. He started his own production company, QM Productions in 1960, he later sold it in 1978.

Answer: Richard

David Janssen starred as Dr. Richard Kimble in "The Fugitive" which ran for 120 episodes from 1963 to 1967. Kimble was sentenced to death for the murder of his wife but escaped when the train taking him to prison was derailed. He then embarks on a cross country search for the real murderer, a one armed man played by Bill Raisch. He was of course pursued by the authorities but mainly by the dogged policeman, Lt. Philip Gerard played by Barry Morse.

David Janssen was born David Harold Meyer in Naponee, Nebraska, USA, in 1931. As well as many guest appearances on TV he starred in four TV series of his own. He played Richard Diamond in "Richard Diamond, Private Detective" (1957-1960), Dr. Richard Kimble in "The Fugitive" (1963-1967), James O'Hara in "O'Hara, United States Treasury" (1971-1972) and Harry Orwell in "Harry O" (1974-1976). Among his many movies were "The Green Berets" with John Wayne (1968) and "The Shoes Of The Fisherman" with Anthony Quinn (1968). David Janssen died of a heart attack in Malibu, California, USA, in 1980 aged 48.

Answer: The F.B.I.

"The F.B.I.", starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as Inspector Lewis Erskine, ran for 241 episodes from 1965 to 1974. Stephen Brooks played Inspector Erskine's assistant, Special Agent Jim Rhodes, for the first two seasons. He was replaced by William Reynolds, who played Special Agent Tom Colby until 1973. In the final season, Shelly Novack played Special Agent Chris Daniels.

Efrem Zimbalist Jr. was born in New York City, New York, USA in 1918. He served in the United States Army for five years during World War II and was awarded the Purple Heart for a leg wound received during the battle of Hurtgen Forest in Germany. In 1957 he made numerous appearances as Dandy Jim Buckley on the TV show "Maverick", opposite James Garner. In 1958 he starred as Stuart Bailey in the detective series "77 Sunset Strip", (1958-1964). Efrem Zimbalist Jr. died of natural causes in Solvang, California, USA, in 2014 aged 95.

Answer: The Invaders

"The Invaders" starred Roy Thinnes as architect David Vincent. It ran for 43 episodes from January 1967 to March 1968.

Roy Thinnes was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1938. He appeared in some early TV shows such as "Peter Gunn", The Untouchables", "Gunsmoke" and "The Fugitive". "The Invaders" story starts with architect David Vincent being the only human to have seen the aliens, who look like us except that they have no pulse and do not bleed. Some of them also have a deformed finger. He follows them from place to place trying to stop their scheme to take over the world and at the same time trying to convince people that they are here.

The aliens have to regenerate to maintain their human form and burn up with a red glow and leave a shadow like mark on the ground when they die. As well as laser type weapons they have two hand held devices, the first one is like a spinning crystal that hypnotizes the subject and the second one when pressed to the back of the neck causes the victim to die from what appears to be a heart attack. As of 2016 the series is enjoying another re-run on UK TV but I thought it was on TV longer the first time around and that there were more than 43 episodes.

Answer: Dan August

Burt Reynolds starred as Lt. Dan August in 26 episodes of the eponymous series, which ran from September 1970 to April 1971.

Burt Reynolds was born Burton Leon Reynolds in Lansing, Michigan, USA, in 1936. In 1959 he made his TV debut in "M Squad" starring Lee Marvin. From 1962 to 1965 he played Quint Asper in 50 episodes of "Gunsmoke" starring James Arness. In 1966 he played police lieutenant John Hawk in "Hawk" which ran for 17 episodes.

Lieutenant Dan August investigated homicide cases in the fictional town of Santa Luisa, California, USA. Also starring were stalwarts of US TV & movies Richard Anderson, as Chief George Untermeyer and Norman Fell, as Sergeant Charles Wilentz. Guest stars included veteran actors as well as future stars such as Mickey Rooney, Richard Basehart, Martin Sheen and Harrison Ford among many. The series was cancelled after one season but Burt Reynolds was about to make his big breakthrough in movies, starring as Lewis Medlock in the 1972 movie "Deliverance". He may have become a big star earlier in the '60s but was turned down for the role that went to James Coburn in "Our Man Flint" (1966) and then he turned down the role as James Bond that went to George Lazenby in "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969).

Answer: Frank

William Conrad played private detective Frank Cannon. The series ran for 124 episodes from September 1971 to March 1976.

William Conrad was born John William Cann Jr. in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, in 1920. His career spanned five decades in radio, film, and television. He served as a fighter pilot in World War II and left the United States Army Air Corps with the rank of captain. His first credited film role was as Max in the 1947 movie "The Killers" starring Burt Lancaster. Although James Arness played the role of Matt Dillon in the TV western series "Gunsmoke" for 20 years it was created by Conrad on radio in 1952.

After retiring from the Los Angeles Police Department, Frank Cannon became a private detective. His operating area was mostly in southern California but he did venture further afield occasionally. For a big man he could move quite fast and sometimes used his weight to subdue suspects. He did carry a backup though, a Colt .38 special. Cannon appeared in two crossover stories with "Barnaby Jones", "Requiem for a Son" was the first and "The Deadly Conspiracy" (a two-part episode) was the second.

Answer: Mike Stone

Karl Malden starred as Lt. Mike Stone in "The Streets of San Francisco". The series ran for 121 episodes from September 1972 to June 1977.

Karl Malden was born Malden George Sekulovich, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1912. He made his movie debut in "They Knew What They Wanted" (1940). His movie career was interrupted by WWII in which he served as a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army Air Corps. After the war he resumed his career and played Harold "Mitch" Mitchell opposite Marlon Brando in "A Street Car Named Desire". For this role he won the 1951 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played opposite Marlon Brand again in 1954 as Father Barry in "On The Waterfront".

In 1962 he played prison warden Harvey Shoemaker in "The Birdman Of Alcatraz" starring Burt Lancaster. In 1970 he played General Omar N. Bradley in "Patton" starring George C. Scott. In 1972 came "The Streets Of San Francisco" with Michael Douglas who Malden once described as the son he never had. Douglas left the show during the final series after producing the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" starring Jack Nicholson. He was replaced on the show by Richard Hatch as Insp. Dan Robbins. Hatch later went on to play Captain Apollo in "Battlestar Galactica ". "The Streets Of San Francisco" was cancelled in 1977 due to low ratings. Karl Malden died of Natural causes after being ill for sometime in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 2009 aged 97.

Answer: Buddy Ebsen

Buddy Ebsen starred as the private detective Barnaby Jones in the eponymous TV series which ran for 178 episodes from 1973 to 1980. Barnaby Jones was the milk-drinking detective who came out of retirement to investigate the death of his son. His assistant/secretary and daughter-in-law was Miss America 1955 Lee Meriwether, who had played Catwoman in the movie "Batman" (1966).

Author/dancer/movie & TV actor/singer, Buddy Ebsen was born Christian Ludolf Ebsen, Jr. in Belleville, Illinois, USA, in 1908. He made his movie debut in "Broadway Melody of 1936" (1935). He danced with child star Shirley Temple in "Captain January" (1936). He was signed up to play the Tin Man in "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) but fell ill due to the aluminum dust in his makeup and was forced to drop out of the role. During WWII he was turned down for an officers commission in the navy but was accepted into the US Coast Guard. He was honorably discharged as a lieutenant in 1946.

In the '50s he starred as George Russel, side kick to Davy Crockett played by Fess Parker in TV miniseries Davy Crockett (1954-1955). Buddy Ebsen will probably be best remembered as Jed Clampett in the TV series "The Beverley Hillbillies" which ran for 274 episodes, 1962-1971. He died of respiratory failure in Torrance Memorial Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA, in 2003, aged 95.

Answer: Most Wanted

Robert Stack starred as Captain Linc Evers in "Most Wanted", it ran for 21 episodes from October 1976 to August 1977. Captain Linc Evers headed a task force set up by the Mayor of Los Angeles Dan Stoddard, played by Hari Rhodes. The small task force included Sergeant Charlie Benson, played by Shelly Novack and Officer Kate Manners, played by Jo Ann Harris. The original pilot for the show, featured a fourth member of Evers' squad played by Tom Selleck but his character was dropped for the series.

Robert Stack was born Charles Langford Modini Stack, in Los Angeles, California, USA, in 1919. His first credited part in a movie was as the love interest of the then top singing star Deanna Durbin in "First Love" (1939). Some years earlier he had appeared with another top female singing star in "Bright Eyes" (1934), starring Shirley Temple. He played an uncredited man on a plane. During WWII Stack served as a gunnery instructor in the United States Navy. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for "Written on the Wind" (1956) but lost out to Anthony Quinn who played Paul Gauguin in "Lust For Life" (1956).

He did win a Best Actor Emmy Award in 1960 for his portrayal of Eliot Ness in the TV series "The Untouchables". Although many episodes were fictionalised he may be best remembered for his performances as the real life character Eliot Ness. Robert Stack died of a heart attack in Beverly Hills, California, USA, in 2003 aged 84.

Answer: Robert Conrad

Robert Conrad was born Conrad Robert Falk in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in 1935. His first US TV series was "Hawaiian Eye". He portrayed private investigator Tom Lopaka which ran for 134 episodes from 1959 to 1963.

"A Man Called Sloane" ran for 12 episodes between 1979 and 1980. It starred Robert Conrad as Thomas R. Sloane III, a freelance spy who takes on occasional work for UNIT. UNIT was a secret American intelligence operation run by the Director, played by Dan O'Herlihy. There was a secret entrance to UNIT headquarters, which was through a toy store. UNIT's nemesis was the evil secret organization KARTEL. Sloane was assisted by his sidekick Torque, played by Ji-Tu Cumbuka. "A Man Called Sloane" was cancelled after 12 episodes as it failed to gain an audience.

"The Wild Wild West" ran for 104 episodes from 1965 to 1969. It starred Robert Conrad as James West and Ross Martin as Artemus Gordon. They were Secret Service agents during the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant (1869-77). The series was cancelled during it's fourth season after being rated as one of the most violent series on TV. Also a Senate communications subcommittee had the CBS network presidents in for a dressing down on TV violence.