Scroll down and you'll see the pilot episode for a proposed 1958 TV series based on the Cool & Lam novels by A. A. Fair (Erle Stanley Gardner, who introduces the pilot). I watched it yesterday, and it seems pretty true to the books as I remember them, but I haven't read one lately. Bertha's a little less acerbic, maybe.Billy Pearson plays Lam, and Benay Venuta plays Cool. Not exactly household names. Pearson had only a few small roles, two of them as a jockey. Venuta was in a few more things, but not many, and not in major roles. Too bad the pilot didn't go to series. They'd have been better known if it had.
Hat tip to Bill Page, who linked this on his Facebook page.
6 comments:
I enjoyed reading the first half dozen Cool and Lam mysteries. I'll have to check this out!
I always thought Ellen Nehr would have made the perfect Bertha Cool. I like the early books too.
Jeff
She was my image of Bertha, all right. When it came to "brash," Ellen had it covered.
The things you remember ...
Billy Pearson was a jockey; he'd became famous as a contestant on The $64,000 Question, answering questions about art and winning the big money. He came across so well on camera that CBS signed him to a development deal. One guest spot he did was a Perry Mason, and when Erle Stanley Gardner saw him, he reportedly said aloud "That's Donald Lam!", much as he had said a few years earlier about another of his characters.
As to Benay Venuta, her career was mainly on the stage; she was known as "the road-company Ethel Merman", playing her roles in national touring companies.
Had Cool And Lam sold, both these worthies might have become big TV names, but 'twas not to be.
Benay Venuta stayed on stage, while Billy Pearson went into art dealership full-time after his riding days.
Such is TV life.
Now that you mention it, I remember seeing Pearson on THE $64,000 QUESTION. Venuta comes a cross a little like Merman lite in this pilot.
I enjoyed the pilot and especially liked seeing Pearson facing off against Megowan. Maybe a different vehicle with the two of them teamed up as private eyes might have worked. (I'm picturing Richard Boone and Michael Dunn in "Goodnight My Love" now....) With his size and easy going nature, I'm surprised Billy Pearson at least didn't go on to do more guest roles in other dramas......
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