Can you guess today's bit player?
Here he is as trailhand Roy Grant in a 1960 episode of The Lawman.
In 1962, Patricia Barry tries to ward off the advances of "gay lothario" Eddie Cano on
The Millionaire.
Finally, a ranch hand named Warren on
The Rifleman starring Chuck Connors.
Give up? It's Hall of Fame Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale. I'm fortunate to own three cards of Big D.
In 1961 Drysdale was suspended for five games for throwing at Frank Robinson of the Cincinnati Redlegs. It was during this unpaid vacation that he showed up on the set of his former Dodger buddy Chuck Connors on
The Rifleman, and made his brief appearance on the show.
While Drysdale had only a few appearances playing other characters, perhaps no other ballplayer made as many different appearances as himself. Some highlights:
The Brady Bunch
The Donna Reed Show (Four different appearances. Weird seeing a color photo from that show.)
The Flying Nun
The Joey Bishop Show
Leave it to Beaver
Then Came Bronson
The Greatest American Hero (custom card from
The Writers Journey blog)
Man, that picture of Drysdale and Mays on the Donna Reed show is fabulous.
ReplyDeleteHis sixth consecutive shut-out in '68 occurred just a few hours before RFK was shot - both in L.A.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize he'd been on so many things. I think I've only seen his Brady Bunch and Greatest American Hero appearances
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