A Day of Remembrance

July 23, 1982

A day I don't even remember. I was in transition between Jr High and High School (we had 3-year schools, elementary included 6th grade), going from being the top of the class to being nothing at all. I worked at the movie theater that summer, the same one my Dad and two of my brothers worked at. Lots of popcorn to be had. And there was a cute boy too, but I no longer remember his name.

This is the day that Vic Morrow lost his life. He was the star of the first segment of The Twilight Zone movie. The director decided to do this really stupid stunt with the real actors instead of stunt people. Vic and the two children he was carrying were killed by a helicopter in a tragic accident.



Why is this important to me now? Well, Vic Morrow was one of the two stars of Combat! which is my current focus. In trying to find out everything I could about the show, I found out a lot about its two stars, Vic and Rick Jason (I had an earlier post about Rick). I somehow managed to fall for this guy who was always the underdog, always cast as the villain. Except for in Combat! where he got to be the guy everyone turned to whenever they needed something.

His fellow actors always described him as a very generous, giving actor. They all loved to work with him. The producers of the show not so much, since Vic had a tendency to do what needed to be done on the episodes he directed, no matter how long it took. He was apparently quite difficult for the management to handle. But he watched out for his fellow actors and used his power for good. (I got most of this from the combatfan.com website, but there are articles and commentaries on the DVD's and other things out there too.)

It's probably a very idealistic fantasy that I've produced about him, romanticising someone who can't defend himself anymore.



It just makes me sad that I missed out on many of the Combat! actors--at least three of them are gone now--just because it took me so long to find them. Not that I even knew what I was missing.


And the movie Vic died for wasn't even that good.


But 5 seasons of Combat! surely were. Love you, Vic, wherever you might be.