Craig Zablo

Clu Gulager passed away last night from natural causes.  He was 93 years old.

After a two year stint in the US Marine Corp, Mr. Gulager attended Northeastern State University in Oklahoma.  He later transferred to Baylor University where he graduated.

Mr. Gulager’s career began with guest appearance on the television series Omnibus.  He would continue with tv guest appearances until he landed a co-starring role as Billy the Kid in The Tall Man series which ran for 75 episodes.  Mr. Gulager’s first feature film appearance was a co-starring role in The Killers with Lee Marvin.  Mr. Gulager spent the rest of his career alternating between television and feature film roles.

Television appearances included: Wanted Dead or Alive; Have Gun – Will Travel; The Untouchables; Alfred Hitchcock Presents; Wagon Train; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; Dr. Kildare; The Name of the Game; The F.B.I.; The Glass House (movie); Medical Center; Bonanza; Mannix; The Wonderful World of Disney; Kung Fu; Ironside; McCloud; Cannon; The Streets of San Francisco; Police Story; Hawaii 5-0; Knight Rider; Magnum PI; The Fall Guy; and Walker, Texas Ranger.

Some Clu Gulager’s feature films include: The Killers; The Last Picture Show; McQ; Shaft; Get Christie Love; A Force of One; The Return of the Living Dead; A Nightmare on Elm Street 2; The Hidden; I’m Gonna Git You Sucka; Vic and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

I am a Clu Gulager fan.  He would pop up in many, many of the television shows I watched as a kid.  Mr. Gulager also co-starred in The Glass House a television movie that was ahead of it’s time for the portrayal of life in a prison.  Clu Gulager also starred in Vic, a short directed by Sage Stallone.  Mr. Gulager continued to appear in television shows and movies throughout his career making everything that he appeared in better.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Clu Gulager’s family, friends and fans.

Nichelle Nichols passed away last night from natural causes.  She was 89 years old.

Although best known for her role as Nyota Uhura on the original Star Trek television series, Ms. Nichols first became famous for her role in the play Kicks and Co.  This led to roles in a Chicago production of Carmen Jones and later a New York production of Porgy and Bess.  Nichelle Nichols also did singing and modeling jobs.

Prior to her groundbreaking role on Star Trek, Ms. Nichols began getting roles on television (The Lieutenant; CBS Repertoire Workshop; Payton Place; Tarzan) and theatrical films (Made in Paris; Mister Buddwing; Doctor, You’ve Got to be Kidding).  With her role on Star Trek, Nichelle Nichols became one of the first African-American women to be featured in such a prominent co-starring role on a television series.

When she was offered a role on Broadway, Ms. Nichols planned to leave the series.  However Martin Luther King, Jr. convinced her by saying, “…you cannot, you cannot (leave the show)…for the first time on television, we will be seen as we should be seen every day, as intelligent, quality, beautiful, people.”   Not only did Nichelle Nichols stay for the entire series, she voiced Nyota Uhura on Star Trek: The Animated Series, and returned for the Star Trek feature films (Star Trek; The Motion Picture; Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Star Trek III: The Search for Spock; Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; Star Trek V: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).

When Star Trek the series ended, and when she wasn’t making Star Trek feature films, Nichelle Nichols continued to act on television and feature films, worked with NASA to recruit minority and females, released two albums and did voice work for animation! Talk about multi-talented!

My first exposure to Nichelle Nichols was her role on Star Trek.  I can remember the controversy when she and William Shatner had one of the first interracial kisses on television.  I was just a kid, but thought, “What’s the big deal?  She’s a beautiful, smart women.  Kirk would be a fool not to kiss her.”  By all accounts Nichelle Nichols was as beautiful a person inside as out.  I’ve never heard a bad story about her.  Fans love her and rightly so.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Nichelle Nichols family, friends and fans.

Burt Metcalfe died on Wednesday, July 27th at the age of 87.  Mr. Metcalfe was an actor, writer, director and producer.

Burt Metcalfe began his career as an actor with an uncredited role in The Bridges at Toko-Ri.  That was followed by roles on the tv series The Man Behind the Badge and General Electric Theater.  Mr. Metcalfe was then drafted and spent two years in the Navy.  Burt Metcalfe then resumed his acting career.  Some of his roles included parts on Gidget; Have Gun, Will Travel; Death Valley Days; The Twilight Zone; The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis; The Outer Limits; Perry Mason; The Fugitive and the James Bond film Diamonds are Forever.

Burt Metcalfe was recruited to serve as the casting agent for the television series M*A*S*H.  He was given the title Associate Producer.  Mr. Metcalfe would go on to serve as a writer, Associate Producer, Line Producer and Executive Producer of M*A*S*H.  In fact Burt Metcalfe was the only Producer to stay with the series for its entire run.  Mr. Metcalfe was nominated 13 times for Primetime Emmy Awards for his work as a writer on the series!  He even returned to serve as the executive producer for the M*A*S*H 30th Anniversary Reunion Special in 2002.

It’s interesting that Burt Metcalfe  was a successful actor but then transitioned to behind the camera work where he experienced even more success.  Mr. Metcalfe appears in one of my favorite Twilight Zone episodes, The Monsters are Due on Maple Street!

Ken Levine, who worked with Mr. Metcalfe as a writer on M*A*S*H has a nice write-up about him.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Burt Metcalfe’s family, friends and fans.