Friday 4/26/24
The other night I was watching an episode of Cannon. It was a show that ran from 1971 to 1976, starring William Conrad. The show was produced by Quinn Martin, who did two of the most enjoyable shows in the 1960s in The Fugitive and The Invaders.
122 episodes of Cannon were made, and it was fairly popular, finishing in the top twenty in the Nielsen ratings for its first three seasons. Conrad played Frank Cannon, a Korean War vet and former LA cop who becomes a detective/fixer-of-things. His character was highly educated, a multi-lingual, and had lost his wife and his son in a bomb attack back when he was on the force.
William Conrad has brought a lot to my life. He was, of course, Marshal Dillon in the radio version of Gunsmoke, and was also in so many other excellent radio productions across various genres and series. He had a big part in a lot of radio art. When the word came down that there was going to be a TV version of Gunsmoke, Conrad was hopeful he'd carry on in his role in front of the cameras, but it was determined that he didn't look the part as it was envisioned.
Conrad was a big guy, who'd later become a much bigger guy. Early on in Cannon, for instance, there are jokes about his weight. Conrad was always good-natured about this (we've seen evidence of this in that commercial he did). He was a gourmand who enjoyed preparing meals for friends, but he was very disappointed that he didn't get to be Matt Dillon onscreen. The role went to James Arness, who was excellent in it, but as great as Gunsmoke the TV show was, it's not at the level of the radio version, which represents the single greatest radio program ever made in this country. That's a big deal that people overlook because people overlook radio as an art form.
That was back in the mid-1950s. I don't think Conrad put a lot of time in the intervening years in working on his physical fitness. He kept getting heavier. But the thing about Cannon is that in the show, Conrad is like this action hero. Well, sort of. They don't shy away from having him doing action hero things, and I thought that was pretty neat for Conrad. People liked the show, they "bought it."
That must have given him some measure of satisfaction. The episode I was watching had this scene early on where Cannon is on a plane and the flight attendant--which everyone called a stewardess at the time--asked him to put on his seatbelt. Conrad smiles, and tells her it's already on--she couldn't tell because of his bulk. It's this sweet exchange. He's almost paternal with her. Gentle. Gives you an idea about the character, even if it was your first time watching.
Later there's another scene where Cannon is at a restaurant with this college coed who has given him some information, and they're checking up on something. The restaurant owner says to Cannon at his table that it'd be easier to talk in the kitchen. Clearly an attack is going to be made on him back there.
He says, sure, see you in the kitchen, then give his keys to the young lady and tells her to bring his car around the back because he's probably going to have to get out of there very fast, and he goes back to the kitchen, no problem, gets attacked by a bunch of guys including one with a cleaver, weaponizes a pot of soup, and skedaddles out the side door and into the waiting car.
And I thought, huh, good for you, William Conrad.
