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Now in our eighth calendar year! PCR #354. (Vol. 8, No. 1) This edition is for the week of January 1--7, 2007.
WHAT A SWINGER SO DOES BILLY PRESTON OWN "GET BACK?" DON DOHLER INDY 4 WHATEVER HAPPENED TO...? CHAPTER 1: TIM McINTIRE As I noted in last week's issue, this year I am going to try and highlight some of my favorite performers that you may or may not be familiar with. Some have passed on, some have faded away and some are still working but may not have that big "star" recognition factor. For chapter one I decided to take a brief look at one of my earliest "favorites," Tim McIntire.TIM McINTIRE AWARDS: None Though I watched the mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man," I really didn't become aware of Tim McIntire until I saw a film called "The Choirboys." Based on the novel by Joseph Wambaugh, the film told the story of a group of LA cops who constantly party after work to relieve some of the pressures of the job. McIntire played officer Roscoe Rules, the resident bad ass cop. He reminded me a lot of my friend Dusty Hess, a former policeman who was given the nickname "Roscoe" by his coworkers who had read Wambaugh's book. My favorite scene concerns McIntire and his partner harassing a Mexican gentleman. Roscoe tells the man if he doesn't cooperate that he is going to rip his mustache off. He then proceeds to do it. In researching McIntire's career, I discovered that he was one of the busiest actors working on television in the 1960s. The son of actors John McIntire ("Psycho," "Wagon Train") and Jeanette Nolan, Tim and his sister, Holly, would often find work on some of the shows their parents were appearing on. McIntire appeared in most of the popular television western series, including "Gunsmoke," "The Big Valley," "Rawhide" and "Bonanza." He also made multiple appearances in such law dramas as "The FBI," "Longstreet" and "Harry O." In 1968 he appeared in one of the pilots shot for "All In The Family," though by the time the show was picked up by CBS the role had gone to Rob Reiner. McIntire's best performance comes in 1978s rock and roll film, "American Hot Wax." Based on the life of Cleveland radio disc jockey Alan Freed (who coined the term "rock and roll"), the film follows Freed through his early career behind the microphone up until he is sadly brought down by participating in the record scandal known as "payola," paying to have the records of certain musical groups played more frequently to get the public to buy them. Not only did he make Freed a sympathetic character, but he also had to share top billing with Fran Drescher and Jay Leno (!) Sadly, In the early 1980s McIntire began abusing alcohol and drugs. He passed away on April 15, 1986 from congestive heart failure. Next week I'll shed some light on the career of Barry Miller. Well, that's all for now. Have a great week. See ya!
"Mike's Rant" is ©2007 by Michael A. Smith. Webpage design and all graphics herein are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2007 by Nolan B. Canova.
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