Web Page No 2522

27th October 2018

1^st Picture. Mr Ed with Alan Young 

2nd Picture. Lassie

3^rd Picture. Champion the Wonder Horse and Ricky North

4^th Picture. Johnny Morris

Animals on TV

Looking back how many animal TV stars can you remember from the 1950s and 60s? Here are a few to jog your memory.

Mr. Ed the talking horse was derived from a series of short stories by Walter R. Brooks in 1937. The well-known comedian George Burns financed the original pilot for Mister Ed which was shot at his McCadden Studio in Hollywood at a cost of $70,000. Jack Benny was also involved behind the scenes. The title role of Mister Ed, a talking palomino, was played by gelding Bamboo Harvester and voiced by former Western film actor Allan Lane. The role of Ed's owner, a genial but somewhat strange architect named Wilbur Post, was played by Alan Young. The other main character throughout the series is Wilbur's generally tolerant young wife, Carol played by Connie Hines.

Ed's ability to talk was never explained on the show. The show was first broadcast in the UK in 1962 and lasted for six series.

Lassie this American television series that followed the adventures of a female Rough Collie dog named Lassie and her companions, both human and animal, we all remember. The show was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd Weatherwax and was televised from September 12, 1954, to March 25, 1973. Initially filmed in black and white, the show transitioned to colour in 1965.

The show's first 10 seasons follow Lassie's adventures in a farming community. Eleven-year-old Jeff Miller, his mother, and his grandfather are Lassie's first human companions until seven-year-old Timmy Martin and his adoptive parents take over in the fourth season. When Lassie's exploits on the farm end in the eleventh season, she finds new adventures in the wilderness alongside United States Forest Service Rangers. After traveling on her own for a year, Lassie finally settles at a children's home for her final two seasons.

The Adventures of Champion the Wonder Horse  was an American children's Western series that aired from 1955 to 1956 for 26 episodes on CBS. In the United Kingdom, the series was re-broadcast under the title Champion the Wonder Horse. Unusually for a black and white show, the series was still being repeated in the UK during school holidays as late as the early 1980s. The series starred Barry Curtis as 12-year-old Ricky North, who lived on his uncle's ranch in the American Southwest. Ricky's uncle, Sandy North, was played by Jim Bannon. Ricky's companions were a wild Mustang stallion, Champion, and a German Shepherd, Rebel, played by Blaze. In real life, the Wonder Horse, Champion, was owned by Gene Autry who over many years owned a succession of celebrity horses bearing the same name. The horse starring in The Adventures of Champion was known as Television Champion, or TV Champ, for short. He was distinguished by his chestnut coat, blond mane and tail, four white stockings and broad white facial blaze. TV Champ made frequent appearances with Gene Autry in films and television during the 1950s. Unlike his fictional namesake, TV Champ was a gelding.

The horse that played Champion was bred in the United Kingdom. The mare rejected the foal then called Dawn that was hand reared by Mr Walter Ellams and his Daughter Patricia. Due to the foal being hand reared it was extremely tame and was then later sold to play Champion.

Although uncredited, the title song was sung by Mike Stewart, and later recorded by Frankie Laine: Do you remember it?

"Champion the Wonder Horse! Champion the Wonder Horse!
Like a streak of lightnin' flashin' cross the sky,
Like the swiftest arrow whistlin' from a bow,
Like a mighty cannonball he seems to fly.
You'll hear about him everywhere you go.
The time'll come when everyone will know
The name of Champion the Wonder Horse!"

In 1991, the song was re-issued on Frankie Laine's album On the Trail Again.

I cannot write a page about animal stars without mentioning Animal Magic which ran from 1962 to 1983 from BBC Bristol. It began fortnightly and was transmitted weekly from 1964. The presenter was Johnny Morris and his charismatic style and genuine fondness for animals made the show an instant hit with children and adults alike. The show combined jovial voiceovers applied to various animals from Bristol Zoo with some basic educational features.

His co-presenters over the years were:  Gerald Durrell, Tony Soper, Keith Shackleton, Roger Tabor, Sheila Young, David Taylor and Terry Nutkins. Joe Henson and Desmond Morris also appeared on the show. Dotty the ring-tailed lemur appeared as a regular guest for eight years in the 1970s. Other animal stars included the sea lion Gemini, and 2 parrots, Cocky (a sulphur-crested cockatoo) and Brolly (an umbrella cockatoo). Much to Johnny Morris' anger, the show was discontinued in 1983 when the programme's style fell out of fashion.

The 100th edition was transmitted on 4 January 1967. Many editions of the show were junked by the BBC in the early 1990s when they were assumed to be of no further use.

The signature tune, "Las Vegas", was performed by Group Forty Orchestra, was written by Laurie Johnson in 1960. It recently featured as the theme music for BBC Two comedy W1A. Around 1980, the original orchestral version was replaced by a funk arrangment (featuring an electric guitar with a wah wah pedal).

The programme ran for 21 years with more than 400 editions. Johnny Morris died in May 1999.

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Peter

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On this Day 27^th October 1960-1965

On 27/10/1960 the number one single was Only the Lonely - Roy Orbison and the number one album was South Pacific Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Bootsie & Snudge and the box office smash was Psycho. A pound of today's money was worth £13.68 and Tottenham Hotspur were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 27/10/1961 the number one single was Walkin' Back to Happiness - Helen Shapiro and the number one album was The Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was One Hundred and One Dalmations. A pound of today's money was worth £13.25 and Ipswich Town were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.The big news story of the day was Stalin removed from Lenin's tomb.

On 27/10/1962 the number one single was Telstar - The Tornadoes and the number one album was Out of the Shadows - Shadows. The top rated TV show was The Royal Variety Performance and the box office smash was Lawrence of Arabia. A pound of today's money was worth £12.89 and Everton were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 27/10/1963 the number one single was Do You Love Me? - Brian Poole & the Tremoloes and the number one album was Please Please Me - The Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was The Great Escape. A pound of today's money was worth £12.64 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 27/10/1964 the number one single was (There's) Always Something There to Remind Me - Sandy Shaw and the number one album was A Hard Day's Night - Beatles. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was Dr Strangelove. A pound of today's money was worth £12.24 and Manchester United were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.

On 27/10/1965 the number one single was Tears - Ken Dodd and the number one album was The Sound of Music Soundtrack. The top rated TV show was Coronation Street and the box office smash was The Sound of Music. A pound of today's money was worth £11.69 and Liverpool were on the way to becoming the Season's Division 1 champions.