Fond Farewell: Cutie Callan

We rarely, if ever, do we present two Fond Farewells in a row. We wouldn't ever want to have to! But, after writing about Dame Angela Lansbury and discovering that scarcely a day prior to her passing we also lost another person whose work we've enjoyed, I felt that I had to mark the occasion the best I could. Martin Harris Calinieff entered the world on November 22nd, 1935 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Before reaching his twenties, he'd begun dancing and performing comedy as "Mickey Calin." But soon enough the world would soon come to know him as Michael Callan. 

Still in his teens, Callan moved to The Big Apple and secured employment as a dancer in Julie Andrews' Broadway hit, The Boyfriend. This was followed by the comedy-musical revue Catch a Star.

He and a female partner took part in an early TV talent show called Chance of a Lifetime and were even given a guest spot on The Ed Sullivan Show. But still greater things were on the horizon...

At age 21, he auditioned for the groundbreaking 1957 Jerome Robbins Broadway musical West Side Story and won the role of Riff, a key member of The Jets gang. While winning raves in this part, a Colombia Pictures talent scout - Joyce Selznick - took notice. She'd previously discovered Tony Curtis and James Darren and thought he'd be another great addition to the young males leads to the studio.

Callan was only interested in signing for two years, but Selznick convinced him to sign for seven, feeling that the weight of Columbia Studios publicity build-up would prove beneficial to him and his career. He left West Side Story in 1959 and was soon being groomed for a film career in Hollywood.

His first film featured two long-time stars, Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth, along with another handsome young man, Tab Hunter, but They Came to Cordura (1959) was not exactly a smash at the box office with its downbeat story line.

From there, he swung into a starring role as a trapeze artist.

The Flying Fontaines (1959) paired him with Evy Norlund, a Danish beauty who would soon wed James Darren.

It was early in his career, but he was already beginning to fit a certain mold, that of a troubled youth who was either misunderstood or had a chip on his shoulder, often accompanied by a crooked smirk. He costarred (as a character named "Griff!") with Tuesday Weld and Dick Clark in Because They're Young (1960), about a school principal who aims to work with dysfunctional juveniles.

In a cruel twist of fate, the very contract which was helping to make him a known commodity in the movies prevented him from reprising his role of Riff in the movie West Side Story (1961.) Russ Tamblyn inherited the part. Callan had to make due with a WSS-inspired dance routine (with switchblade in hand!) in the movie Pepe (1960)

Next came Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961), which helped kick off a string of appearances in which he wore either a swimsuit or less. Which is, to our way of thinking, the way it should be!

In this installment, Gidget was played by Deborah Walley, who got to frolic in the sand with a glistening, wet Callan. James Darren, by the way, played his rival for Walley's affection.

One of Callan's most memorable movies, and rightly so, was Mysterious Island (1961), in which he played one of several Civil War era men stranded after a shipwreck.

In time, two  women are on hand, too, and after the halfway point of the movie, Callan and Beth Rogan go sort of Adam & Eve on us in abbreviated clothing.

One of the most memorable scenes has Callan and Rogan discovering a gigantic honeycomb inside a cliff. Which is fun and all until the humongous bee returns...!

Callan stays in his short-shorts for the remainder of the film and by that time all the other men (including hunky Michael Craig) have opted to go shirtless, too.

13 West Street (1962) had Callan back in punk mode, menacing a dissipated Alan Ladd.

But he was no common street thug. He was actually quite wealthy! Here Rod Steiger questions him just as he's come out of the family pool.

The estate pool, with its distinctive patterned floor, was used in countless movies and TV shows and was the home of The Colbys. (We saw Charlton Heston, John James and Maxwell Caulfield come out of this same pool!)

1962's Bon Voyage! re-teamed him with Deborah Walley. Check out his white bucks!

Sadly, he kept his clothes on in this one. But someone forgot to tell me that in this innocuous Disney movie (starring Fred MacMurray and Jane Wyman), with later scenes set in the south of France, there are background extras crawling out of the woodwork in skimpy, barely-there suits! 

He was one of The Interns (1962) alongside Haya Harareet (remember her from Ben Hur, 1959?) The movie was a hit, inspiring a sequel two years later called The New Interns. He was one of only a couple of cast members to return for that.

As the early 1960s progressed, Callan was balancing film work (such as The Victors, 1963) with appearances on television, including Arrest and Trial, Dr. Kildare, Twelve o' Clock High and even Hazel.

Cat Ballou (1965), in which he played Jane Fonda's love interest, was a smash hit and ought to have led to other things, but the lion's share of the applause went to costar Lee Marvin, who won an Oscar for his work in the comedy western.

That same year, he starred in the British scavenger hunt comedy You Must Be Joking!, in which he was practically the only American performer.

He had a blurry, blink-and-you'll-miss-it, bit in which he's shot at by a child with a pea shooter while attempting to pilfer some clothing from a line during the madcap escapades. These two films would be the last features Callan appeared in until 1972! It's not that he would be out of work, just exploring a new avenue.

Callan had been wed since 1960 to wife Carlyn and they had two daughters. Now he was about to portray a swinging bachelor on TV who had need of a "pretend" wife in order to aid him in the business community and career-wise.

In 1966, Callan made the cover of TV Guide as the star of Occasional Wife. He lived in an apartment building with faux spouse Patricia Harty installed two-floors above. She'd pop in via the fire escape if his boss called upon him at home, etc... The series was popular at first, but then leveled off, being canceled after one season. However, Callan and Harty wound up marrying for real, his own marriage having sunk under the long separations caused by the show. Harty, however, lived up to the series title, and their union was ended by 1970.

Now Callan emerged as a frequent guest star on many hit series of the time, including Ironside, The Name of the Game, The F.B.I. and Marcus Welby, M.D.

Those dramatic appearances were balanced by plenty of comedy turns as well, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, That Girl and (as seen here with Mary Ann Mobley) multiple episodes of Love, American Style.

The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972) represented a return to movie screens, though by this time there weren't many of the famed 7 around, nor much of the lustre from the original movie.

There was no career upswing to be found with the light sex comedy Fraser, the Sensuous Lion (1972) which had Callan receiving virility tips from a talking maned beast...

In 1974, he starred in The Photographer, a low-budget thriller in which he took seminude photos of models before doing them in.

Lepke (1975) had him in support of Tony Curtis, who'd once been discovered by the same agent as he. A marginal success, it did nothing substantial to further his big screen career. he remained very active on TV, however, with work on Police Story, Medical Center, Barnaby Jones, S.W.A.T., Switch and The Bionic Woman, among others.

In 1977 came Record City, an ensemble comedy about the whack-a-doodle goings on at a popular music store.

The following year, he joined an all-star cast for The Cat and the Canary (1978), a whodunnit with Carol Lynley, Honor Blackman, James Fox and Wendy Hiller among other names. Chiefly, he appeared on TV at this time, though, in miniseries like Scruples or on Fantasy Island.

He produced his own next movie, Double Exposure (1983), which was similar in story line to The Photographer. Now pushing 50, he nonetheless performed seminude love scenes.

He also frolicked on the beach with Joanna Pettet in a pair of cutoffs, recalling those long ago Mysterious Island days. Well-cast as his brother was disabled actor James Stacy. This was followed by a role in the Linda Blair prison howler Chained Heat (1984.)

Seen here with third wife Karen (1975-1984), Callan remained busy on TV through the 1980s and early-1990s. He often popped up on action shows such as The Fall Guy, T. J. Hooker, Hardcastle and McCormick, Knight Rider and Superboy, along with the occasional telefilm (and a few episodes of Murder, She Wrote.)

Nevertheless, when he showed up in the 2003 Matt Damon-Greg Kinnear comedy Stuck on You, it is unlikely that anyone realized who he was or who he'd once been. The trademark smirky grin was still in place, though. Callan made one more small film appearance in 2006 before retiring. 

One interesting trivia tidbit. When Glenn Gordon Caron was preparing what would soon become a smash hit TV show, Moonlighting, he sought an actor who had the same cocksure attitude and crooked grin as Michael Callan. Thus, Bruce Willis can almost thank Callan for the career that stemmed from his being cast in that role. Callan was 86 when he passed away from pneumonia on October 10th.

The End!

Tis the (Swimsuit!) Season

Finally! Though it isn't officially "summer" yet according to the calendar, it's good enough for me. Memorial Day weekend signifies the start of swimming pool season in there here parts and we always mark the occasion with a parade. A parade of male celebs wearing swimming attire, Speedos if we can manage it!  Our cover boy this time is Ken Clark, better known to most of us as Stewpot from South Pacific (1958) during an on-location wardrobe test. (In my opinion, he passed the test with flying colors!) You can read more about him (and see him even better) right here! Now, let's get the pool party started...

This article will tell you a little bit more about the movies' most famous Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller, as well as present him to you in a suit versus the usual loincloth.

Another Olympian who played Tarzan (in a 1933 serial) is yummy Buster Crabbe, seen here flanked by two galpals.

One of the early sound cinema's rather unsung hunks, Chester Morris, giving a punching bag a nice going-over.

1940s & '50s leading man John Payne.

We don't see too much of screen villain David Brian (un)dressed this way. Swimsuits have changed a lot since the 1940s!

Almost unrecognizable in his island-flavored garb is none other than Robert Preston! This was during Typhoon (1940.)

Between set-ups of From Here to Eternity's (1953) famed love scene on the beach is Mr. Burt Lancaster.

A fairly scarce color photo of Farley Granger in some trunks.

Esther Williams with then-costar and then-lover hunky Jeff Chandler (during A Raw Wind in Eden, 1958), who she later accused of cross-dressing in her suspect autobiography.

Mercy! Take in the bronze, rippled glory of physique model turned actor Ed Fury 

Fury, seen horsing around here with an equine friend, was also in South Pacific, but not dressed like this. (Wonder if this horse was jealous?)

Richard Burton taking in the sun, sand & surf.

We've all seen the other picture of John Bromfield and Tab Hunter, but here's another angle (double! - so to speak, with the angling of the rod & reel and the angle that Tab is leaning!)

Here's another young gent who isn't that easy to readily identify. It's Gig Young in an early piece of "beefcake" publicity. (Methinks he didn't go around in shorts too often.)

William Holden models a trim physique (and a trim swimsuit!)

The young man seen canoodling here on the beach is one Mark Damon, 1960s actor turned producer.

Look out! John Saxon is making a splash in his summer suit.

I know that many of my readers have a fondness for Mr. Saxon, so I'm providing a whole little section of this post to him today.

Mmmm... We like him with next to nothing on.

And he seems rather eager to please in this last one.

Two of the young men from A Private's Affair (1959), Barry Coe and Sal Mineo. I think "A Private Affair" would have sounded more promising!

You lucky dog...! Getting to romp on the beach (and in the air!) with hunky Rod Taylor.

Hmmmm.... Looks like handsome John Gavin's got ahold of one of his balls.  :::snort:::

Last year we showed two pics of young Warren Beatty in the TV show Suspicion, a very early appearance by him, but here's one more we found.

This is a rather unusual shot of Tony Curtis and pal George Hamilton, enjoying the sun.

Here we find a bit more sullen Curtis on the deck of a boat.

Hey, if you caught those semi-nude black & white pics of Steve McQueen that surfaced a few years ago, now you can finally see what color his clingy swimsuit was before he undid it and tossed it away!  ;-)

This little strip of photos from a magazine are of Tom Jones and his family.

One of the all-time hunks as far as we're concerned, John F. Kennedy Jr.

Mr. Tom Selleck

Jack Scalia

David Hasselhoff aside a bubbling jacuzzi.

Always adorable Gregory Harrison.

It still surprises us that we don't hate Zac Efron! I'm even considering seeing his new film Baywatch (2017)...!

This is Darren Criss (once of Glee) who'll be portraying a famous killer in season three of the FX series American Crime Story.

The season's storyline will be "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" and Criss is portraying Versace's dangerous boy toy Andrew Cunanan.

This battered (and bulging) personage is Michael Fassbender in the 2015 adaptation of Macbeth. Hmmm... almost makes it worth giving Shakespeare another try.

And now a few of our infamous movie-specific photo essays. This first one features an unlikely actor to be wearing a rather unbecoming one-piece.

It's movie tough guy Lyle Bettger in Carnival Story (1954.)

He plays a daring high diver who climbs a tall ladder before hurling himself into a tiny pool below.

The suit is particularly revealing from behind... that's a lot of  ass flank for 1954!  LOL

And in case you're wondering, yes, he did think it was a humiliating costume according to his costar Anne Baxter, who said he'd belt back a drink or two between takes in the dreaded thing.

On to other things, we visit the college swimming pool of the movie High Time (1960.)

The Bing Crosby vehicle has the aging crooner heading back to school to earn his degree and rooming in the dorms with the younger guys.

In the foreground is Crosby's costar, the yummy li'l Fabian (but don't forget to check out the guys in the red swimsuits either!)

This is what Fabian looked like at the time. Hmmm... maybe I need to go back and get my degree, too!

And here we see Fabian emerging from the water himself.

In the 1966 spy flick Agent Joe Walker: Operation Far East, known in its U.S. release as "So Darling, So Deadly," star Tony Kendall is looking really good in his own flimsy swimsuit.

He's got a burly sidekick played by Brad Harris, whom he works pretty closely with and who also looks great in his trunks, too!

We've featured Bekim Fehmiu and his abbreviated trunks from The Adventurers (1970) before, but here are some new ones.

This hoot of a movie is a must-see, and not only for Fehmiu's teensy, clingy trunks.

Football hero turned actor Fred Williamson sure never played the game professionally dressed like this!

However, in the Blaxploitation flick Black Eye (1974), he romps on the beach with girlfriend Teresa Graves in this skimpy Speedo.

Williamson was in terrific shape (I mean, you can't exactly hide anything in this get-up!)

Sorry that the caps aren't clearer, but he was in motion and we do the best we can.

During our April Showers post this spring, we showed some shots of John Allen Nelson from Hunk (1987.) Here he is again, fulfilling the needs of another category.

The bronze, blond, buff actor struts around the beach, attracting the attention of practically everyone around (but, if you'll look behind him in the picture at far right, another bather has a Speedo on. They were rather commonplace for a time.)

Of course, not everyone looked as chiseled in their suits as Nelson did.

The (cheesy, if we're being honest) movie even treats us to a close-up!

Moving on to some TV for a moment, we find 1960s teen actor Michael Callan guest-starring on a 1974 installment of the detective series Barnaby Jones. As Penny Fuller darts to the pool to speak with him, he's emerging in a scant blue bikini bottom.

Barnaby Jones was hardly a hot series for showing off beefcake, so this was a startling sight! Callan is pitching a pup tent as he reaches for his nearby robe.

Look seriously at just how abbreviated this swimsuit is!

It seems a bit much for even Fuller to take in and she's playing his lover in the teleplay! Callan's wet arms have notable trouble sliding into the terry cloth robe, for which we're grateful.

I mean, seriously... CRACK on Barnaby Jones!  LOL  Incidentally, this third season episode is presented in its full, uncut glory while most, if not all, of the rest have been edited by a few minutes for syndication. It makes me wonder if this one was deliberately held back from reruns due to the scanty swimsuit and the fact that the show would likely be seen earlier in the day than when first aired.

By the way, I also have this little collage of Callan from the 1962 teen crime drama 13 West Street. The pool he's swimming in this time is the distinctive one that was used multiple times on The Colbys and in many other movies and TV programs.

Next we turn to Dallas, where star Patrick Duffy is taking a dip in the Ewing swimming pool with his almost-relative Kristin Shepard (played at this juncture by Colleen Camp, not the more notable Mary Crosby.)

As the two emerge from the pool, we find that Mr. Duffy is wearing a snug little red Speedo.

Make that a clingy, butt-hugging, Speedo. Duffy was still rather fresh off his cancelled sci-fi series The Man from Atlantis and, thus, was still in pretty decent shape from all the swimming he did in that!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, we come to the big finish. The pièce de résistance! As far as I'm concerned this is excavation research on par with King Tut's tomb and Al Capone's vault! I give you the television debut of one Gil Gerard (and what a day it was!)

Known to us more for Airport '77 (1977) and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, these shots are from Mr. Gerard's very first day on the job of the daytime soap opera The Doctors in 1973.

Gerard played a surgeon who'd previously been a P.O.W. and was living in Hawaii with his controlling wife, but who was then offered a spot at the show's Hope Memorial Hospital.

I guess the producers wanted to make sure that viewers were drawn to him right away. His first three appearances on the show were shirtless!

Gerard (who'd only made one scant appearance in a low-budget movie previously) was bound to be nervous enough for the taped-live program, but then to have to do the whole scene wearing next to nothing...!

Anyway...we were thrilled to land upon this historical documentation of one of our beloved TV hunks, who was probably never leaner in his life than at this exact moment. We hope you enjoyed him, too!

So, with that, we (and Johnny Mack Brown) announce:  The End!