Van Williams
You could shoehorn actor Van Williams right in there between the other tall, dark and drop-jaw gorgeous heartthrobs Tom Tryon and John Gavin of the late 1950s/early 1960s who conveyed a similar bland, heroic image. All three were too often given colorless heroes to play on film and/or TV -- roles that played off their charm but seldom tested their talent. Born on February 27, 1934 as Van Zandt Jarvis Williams, he was the son of a cattle rancher. He majored in animal husbandry and business at Texas Christian University but moved to Hawaii which changed the course of his life. While operating a salvage company and a skin-diving school during the mid-1950s, he was approached by Elizabeth Taylor and husband/producer Mike Todd, who were filming there. Encouraged by Todd to try his luck, Van arrived in Hollywood with no experience. Todd perished in a plane crash before he was able to help Van, but the young hopeful ventured on anyway, taking some acting/voice lessons, and was almost immediately cast in dramatic TV roles. Warner Brothers had a keen eye for this type of photogenic hunk and smartly signed Van. Fitting in perfectly, he was soon showing just how irresistible he was as a clean-cut private eye on the series "Bourbon Street Beat (1959)". Although the show lasted only one season, Warners carried his Kenny Madison character into the more popular adventure drama Surfside 6 (1960) opposite fellow pin-up / blond beefcake bookend Troy Donahue. Series-wise, Van tried ...
Batman
(1966)
The Dynamic Duo faces four super-villains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people. (more)
The Dynamic Duo faces four super-villains who plan to hold the world for ransom with the help of a secret invention that instantly dehydrates people. (more)
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story
(1993)
Red Nightmare (1962)
A man takes his American freedoms for granted, until he wakes up one morning to find out that the United States Government has been replaced with a Communist system. The basis for this short film, narrated by Jack Webb, is the alleged Soviet re-creation of US ... (more)
A man takes his American freedoms for granted, until he wakes up one morning to find out that the United States Government has been replaced with a Communist system. The basis for this short film, narrated by Jack Webb, is the alleged Soviet re-creation of US ... (more)
The Caretakers (1963)
This movie chronicles the trials of the mentally ill and their care-givers in an over-crowded ward of a hospital. (more)
This movie chronicles the trials of the mentally ill and their care-givers in an over-crowded ward of a hospital. (more)
The Runaways (1975)
A story about a teenage boy who runs away from his foster home after wrongly being accused of theft and soon crosses paths with a young leopard which has escaped from a wild-animal compound during a lightning storm. (more)
A story about a teenage boy who runs away from his foster home after wrongly being accused of theft and soon crosses paths with a young leopard which has escaped from a wild-animal compound during a lightning storm. (more)
The Green Hornet (1974)
After the superstardom and early death of Bruce Lee, 20th Century Fox decided to cobble together a couple of theatrical feature films from this property, of which this 1974 effort is the first. The bulk of the film consists of four episodes crudely spliced together ... (more)
After the superstardom and early death of Bruce Lee, 20th Century Fox decided to cobble together a couple of theatrical feature films from this property, of which this 1974 effort is the first. The bulk of the film consists of four episodes crudely spliced together ... (more)
The Night Rider (1979)
"The Mark of Zorro" was updated for this pilot for a prospective series that tells of a New Orleans gentleman who turns masked rider to fight for law and order and avenge his family's killing by four men who wanted their silver mine. (more)
"The Mark of Zorro" was updated for this pilot for a prospective series that tells of a New Orleans gentleman who turns masked rider to fight for law and order and avenge his family's killing by four men who wanted their silver mine. (more)
Fury of the Dragon (1976)
Several episodes of the 1966 TV series "The Green Hornet" edited together and released as a feature. (more)
Several episodes of the 1966 TV series "The Green Hornet" edited together and released as a feature. (more)
Colorado C.I. (1978)
Mark and Pete Gunnison, members of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Colorado State Police, seek to crack a multi-million dollar real estate swindle. (more)
Mark and Pete Gunnison, members of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Colorado State Police, seek to crack a multi-million dollar real estate swindle. (more)
