Friday, November 8, 2024

Going Conway (Again!)

It's been fifteen years since I put up a post on Gary Conway. I don't typically do many repeats, but way back then my posts tended to be more abbreviated than they later became. While I was poking around the WWW, I stumbled upon some pics that had not been shared here before and so I thought I'd present them to you as something of a supplement to that long ago post. Conway is surely best known for essaying the male lead on Irwin Allen's 1968-1970 fantasy series Land of the Giants, as seen here in his Captain Steve Burton guise.

Conway's angular looks and fit physique provided a strong sense of heroism and looked terrific when placed against the sultry Deanna Lund.

Those angular looks could sometimes come off as quite severe...

...ya see what I mean, Dorothy?

Giants was a show I wasn't able to see in its initial run. In my area, it was NEVER repeated or aired in syndication, so it became almost mythic to me when I was a young man. I recall a manager of mine (at Red Lobster in the 1980s) telling me that it had been his favorite show, yet I had no way on earth of seeing it! Finally with the advent of widespread cable and, I think, the SciFi Channel, it was run again and I was able to take it in.

"This'll put some lead in your pencil..." Ha ha! By the time I finally got to watch Giants, I was already familiar with Conway from another project he'd worked on. How that came to me is a hoot in an of itself...!

Seen here is Conway in the 1975 hot mess Once Is Not Enough. His part in the movie is negligible and near pointless, but I wasn't just going to forget those legs... But how and why did I see Enough before ever getting the chance to watch Giants?

It's because I was the biggest Dynasty fan on the planet's surface. I lived and breathed everything about that show. So when its breakout star, Miss Joan Collins, came out with a home video collection in 1985, I naturally HAD to rent each of the movies featured in it. I knew nothing about these movies, but they each had a videotaped introduction from her prior to viewing and those I had to see. So it was off to Blockbuster to rent them, one after the other.

This is what La Collins had to say on the back of the box for Enough. The movie is actually quite rotten, but that doesn't mean I don't utterly adore it! I did a whole tribute to it right here.

This collection would ultimately be expanded with a few other titles like Alfie (1966), This Property is Condemned (1966) and Lifeguard (1976!) Now, some of you tykes might be thinking, "Why did people rent movies from a video store...??!" since such things scarcely exist anymore. To that point I say look at the price of these VHS cassettes. $59.95 each. Does that sound like a lot? How 'bout when adjusted for inflation to today's staggering equivalent -- $175.00!!!!

Anyhoo, that was my very first exposure to Conway and only made me that more interested in seeing Land of the Giants.

But first, amazingly enough, came reruns of his show prior to that... Burke's Law. (I'm not looking this up, but if memory serves, it was TNT which began showing it.)

Burke's Law was a sort of all-star variation on Perry Mason, but with a private eye instead of a defense attorney. Gene Barry played Amos Burke, with young Conway as his aide. It was a longstanding TV trope to have an older, established name costarring with a fresh, new face. Sometimes the actors got on famously as in the case of Raymond Massey and Richard Chamberlain on Dr. Kildare. Sometimes the teamings were a disaster, in the case of Riverboat with Darren McGavin and Burt Reynolds. With Hawaii 5-O, Jack Lord and James MacArthur were amiable, though there was never a question as to who called the shots. With Law, Conway found his lead actor Barry selfish and he was not displeased to be rid of the show after two years when it was re-tooled (and then flopped.)

Conway did flounder a bit for three TV seasons before Giants came along to provide steady work once more. He'd had some rough going prior to that, though.

His very first movie, I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) had his face completely covered for much of its running time! At least the makers had the good sense to show us his torso.

It was a well-defined torso which he had already shown to good effect in a number of physique portraits prior to landing that initial movie gig.

Check out those diamond-cutters...! Ha ha!

His other 1957 movie can be read about in great detail here. Then it was back to the well for more Frankenstein-y antics with How to Make a Monster (1958.) The film concerned a studio makeup artist who loses his job and seeks revenge on the studio.

He uses mind control to get a young actor (Conway) who's playing the Teenage Frankenstein to fulfill his plan. So you had Conway playing an actor playing a role that he'd actually played himself the prior year! Unusual and confusing!

Gary Conway, who'd portrayed the Teenage Frankenstein, playing Tony Mantell, who's been cast as Teenage Frankenstein...! Whaat??

Fortunately, before long, he was able to show his face (and more) as a guest on shows like Surfside 6 and Hawaiian Eye.




The now Warner Brothers contractee popped up on many of their shows from Bourbon Street Beat to Colt .45 to Lawman to 77 Sunset Strip before landing the lead in Land of the Giants. In that capacity, he was subject to a wealth of now-campy publicity shots.

"Take two of these and call me in the morning..."

"Gary want a cracker?"

"Is this the party to whom I am speaking...?"

"Eggs are HOW MUCH a dozen...?!"

"I preferred the trapeze in my bedroom back home."

"Screw you..."

"Plug it in, plug it in..."

"Yes, is this my agent?" (By the way, there once was a blog called Dialing the Phone with a Pencil that I enjoyed a lot.)

"Hang in there bud, you'll be remembered forever for this show."

"Koochie-koo!"

As you might guess, serious and/or significant acting gigs proved hard to come by after the antics of Land of the Giants. He did land roles in a couple of TV movies and some guest roles such as on Ghost Story and, as depicted here, Columbo (the one in which Donald Pleasance was the guest killer.)

That same year (1973), he startled some fans by agreeing to pose for Playgirl magazine, though it was in its earliest days, when there was no frontal nudity called for.

This was about as risque as it got.

Two years after Once Is Not Enough, he produced and starred in the revenge flick The Farmer (1977), but it had little impact.

Apart from a 1981 shot on The Love Boat, it was a decade before his next appearance. He acted in American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987.) By this point, he'd turned his attention to wine-making with a successful venture in California.

His last stab at show business was when he wrote and directed a 2000 project called Woman's Story, which starred Erin Gray and Kent McCord. All about a marriage torn apart by adultery (and venereal disease!), it remains an elusive item to view.

His character, appropriately enough, works with figure models (female.) It was a realm he knew something about from his own days in the posing strap. Conway is still among us today at age 88.

The End - Part I

The End - Part II

The End - Part III

7 comments:

Dan said...

Don’t recall ever watching “Giants” - in fact, though I know the name, the only thing I know I’ve seen him in is “How to Make a Monster”. Has some fun moments in it, but overall it’s a bit tepid.
He strikes me as one of those good looking guys who just didn’t have that “something” to really stand out. In fact, in many of these pics, he reminds me of other good looking guys, mostly Stephen Boyd, Keith Andes, and, in those beach shots, Fabian.
So what’s with those unfortunate bowl cuts in his later years?
That balcony shot is mighty nice, though. Guess it’s those shoulders.

hsc said...

I remember watching LAND OF THE GIANTS when it was on TV, but strangely enough, Gary Conway didn't make much of an impression on me at the time-- other than that I knew he'd been AIP's "Teenage Frankenstein" in two movies about ten years earlier.

I do recall thinking Deanna Lund was beautiful, rolling my eyes at "special guest star" Kurt Kasznar's scenery-chewing (giving LOST IN SPACE "special guest star" Jonathan Harris a run for his money), and for reasons I no longer remember, absolutely *loathing* Stefan Arngrim and wishing every episode that something would finally squash him.

(I later used to hate his sister Allison when she played Nellie Oleson on LITTLE HOUSE, but not only did Nellie get a somewhat redeeming character arc, Allison turned out to be an awesome person in real life and I absolutely love her now.)

I even had the Aurora model kit they did for LOTG, which featured the teeny-tiny cast battling a rattlesnake. Once assembled, though, it was just basically a plastic sculpture of a rattler, with tiny little nondescript figures in the grass tufts jabbing at it with a plastic safety pin. I guess the one holding the pin was Conway.

I was also aware that Conway had previously been in BURKE'S LAW, but the only thing from that show that I remember was the opening credits, which had the title card accompanied with a sultry saxophone sting and a breathy female voice cooing "It's BURKE'S *LAW*!" as OTT as a drag queen would've delivered that line.

Seeing those promo pictures of Conway in a bathing suit with a surfboard makes me surprised that he never wound up in the "beach" movies, since a good number of the "young" actors in those weren't any younger than he was and he looked great in a swimsuit.

One final note: your mention of the pricing on the tapes in "The Joan Collins Video Selection" reminds me that by the mid-80s, the industry was marketing everything as "priced to rent" on first release-- about $59.95 to $99.95 for big titles-- with an eventual drop to "priced to own" reduced to about $19.95 to $29.95.

By that point, a film had not only been in theaters, then in video stores, but had made the rounds of cable and sometiimes even network showings. It was the final squeeze on the udders of a well-milked cash cow. (And BTW, video stores got a substantial break on the "priced to rent" pricing by making bulk orders-- either multiple copies of a hit title or a large number of different titles from the same distributor.)
--

This re-visit to Gary Conway was a lot of fun, Poseidon! Thanks for posting it, and for all you do!

Love to all, and be safe and well, everyone!

hsc said...

Oh, yeah-- one other thing: It was nice to see Allison Hayes' hand from ATTACK OF THE 50 FT. WOMAN still getting guest work in TV a decade later. (Its scene with Gary Conway was a *touching* teaming of late '50s B-movie performers.)

Gingerguy said...

Gary Conway is handsome but looks like one of the marionnettes from "Thunderbirds" I think it's the nose and deep set eyes. I have watched "Giants" and while fun, Irwin Allen shows get repetitive. Hilarious captions! I never would have remembered him from "Once is Not Enough" actually watching it once was enough. I had the bad taste to read it too. Hot physique photos though, bad boy, although the Playgirl pics are actually very sexy too. I loved all those baby boom horror films. I guess puberty was scaring everyone in the 50's. I love when you dig these sexy guys up, men look so different now but I can definitely appreciate this charismatic actor in his prime.

Christopher Simons said...

Thanks for another witty and wonderful post, Poseidon. We love those granite-jawed 50's and 60's TV stars. Regarding Gary's relationship with Gene Barry, all accounts of co-stars' relationships with him have been negative. He always came off as extremely smug, but the 2nd version of Burke's Law was a campfest.

Bee's Knees said...

"Gary want a cracker?" HAHAHA!

I just loves me a man with hairy legs and thighs! Gives me something to pet while I watch tv. OMG! His bush must be massive! I remember watching LOTG when it came on. As a child, Gary gave me "fever!" So did Lost In Space's Prof. Robinson (Guy Williams).

In Once Is Not Enough, my least favorite movie based on a J. Susanne book, Gary Conway's character was an ex-football player and "good friend" of David Jansen's character. The only thing he added to the story is he owned a beach house that Jansen's character like to crash at.

Having read her books and seen the movies, Susanne always seemed to have a gay subplot(s) to her books. (She had an abusive love affair with Ethel Merman - the abuser). Besides Alexis Smith's character having a lesbian affair, IIRC I think in her book it was implied that Conway and Jansen's characters had a brief "passing of their ship's in the night" under the covers. Jansen's character's self-hatred was reflected in both his heavy drinking and impotence. It was a pretty sh!tty book and, except for Brenda Vaccaro, lousy movie!

Speaking of Jansen, did you know Clark Gable was his real father? Thank you Poseidon for some new posts. Always enjoy them and your twisted sense of humor. Stay well!



Poseidon3 said...

Dan, I have to assume that Dorothy Hamill had much more influence that we realized...! Ha ha!! I pretty much agree with you. He was amiable and appealing, but didn't seem to have any tremendous aspect that would generate a big following and help forge a lengthy TV career. Thanks!

hsc, Irwin Allen loved to have those sort of characters on hand... Dr. Smith and Kaznar's Fitzhugh. It's not that they were bad, but Christ... after a while you just want some relief. Something else! For my. own part, I could never understand how someone like Heather Young could land a part on a weekly series! WTH? Zzzzzz. I always thought Stefan looked like such a geek, especially as he grew and yet was kept in the same little boy outfits. As a kid, I DESPISED Allison on LHOTP, but now I adore her obnoxious selfishness and villainy! LOL I read her book, as I imagine you have, too, and was so appalled at Stefan's behavior with her during their childhoods. My God... Oh, and oddly enough, the first time I ever bought "Once Is Not Enough" it was in a "Previously Viewed" bargain bin at Blockbuster!!! $5.00! And I was happy to spend it. A thousand years ago, there was a Meijer's Square (now just Meijer) and they had a video rental area, but also movies for sale. I used to go in there and just STARE at the VHS box for "Airport '77" which was $29.95 (!) but couldn't justify that expense... Thank GOD things are better on that front nowadays. Ha ha ha about Allison's hand...! Thanks!

Gingerguy...OMG! "Thunderbirds!" :::howling!::: Glad you liked the captions. :-)

Christopher Simons, I agree... Mr. Barry had a bit of a reputation. I wonder how Peter Barton got on with him in the re-do. I loved that show because it clung to the "all-star" guest format. I recall the very first episode had an appearance by Ruta Lee and that made my evening! LOL

Bee's Knees, I'm glad you liked that. I've been watching Season 2 of "Lost in Space" and I agree that Guy Williams is pretty dreamy. I read the book OSNE and I thought FOR SURE that Conway's character would be gay, but I don't remember any (definite, anyway) confirmation of that. But he should have been if he wasn't! Ha ha! I had heard rumors about Janssen and Gable, but that seems to have been either disproven or at least fallen into the realm of conjecture... Thanks!