NORMAN JOLLEY P. 2
Q: What did you think of the Space Patrol tapes I sent?
A: First of all: we are loving the tapes. It's been years since I saw any of them. It
was fun seeing Agent X again. He was only 34 at the time. Next month -- Feb. 21 (2001),
he'll be 85!
Watching the tapes reminded me how much I liked the background music. It's fantastic!
Can't imagine how it could have been put together in such short time. Seeing the other
cast members reminded me of a couple of things. Yes, there was an affair going on within
the cast: Happy and Carol had a thing going for a while. It didn't amount to anything
permanent, but, it was fun while it lasted, I heard. And there was some friendly
association among the cast members. Not a lot -- and not often, but, I remember one time
when I invited all of the cast to my house (in Manhattan Beach). I pulled a little Tom
Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn deal. I had just had a new redwood fence built around my lot and
it needed painting. I bought a few gallons of paint, and booze and some steaks. We put
them all together and the five of us finished the fence job in 45 minutes!
Also, I had had a new patio built, including a big brick fireplace and barbecue. Nina
Bara had brought her date along and he was watching me cook the steaks. He asked me,
"Have you ever done this before?" I admitted I hadn't. He informed me that his
father was an expert on the subject, had written books on it -- and he offered to help. I
accepted gladly. He told me to get the fire hot, turn it to medium -- cut up a big onion
into chunks and spread it all over the fire. Not the grill -- right on the coals. Do the
same thing with a whole bud of garlic -- put the steaks on the grill, and immediately put
a couple of bay leaves under each steak. Then, baste the steaks with a mixture of soy
sauce and gin (half and half). Fill a cup with it and use it frequently on the steaks.
When the steaks are turned, re-do the bay leaf bit (they burn up quickly). Of course you
ask your customers how they like them cooked -- and the well done ones you put on the
grill about five minutes before the medium rare ones. When done, and, if you have any of
the basting soy sauce and gin left, just pour it over all the steaks and let
it flame up in the fire. You'll never have a better barbecued steak in your life! I've
been doing this for fifty years -- and, I guarantee, it works! Wish I remembered that
man's name but I don't. Never saw him after that day.
Q: Was there any clowning around on the set?
A: Oh, yes! Cadet Happy was a real clown. He used to cut up all the time. None of the other cast members objected -- they went right along with his gags. It was kind of like the character was on the show. He'd joke with Buzz -- but, the second Buzz got serious and told him to do something, he obeyed immediately.
Q: Watching the old shows, one gets the feeling of a warn, fuzzy family. Was that actually the case?
A: Your suggestion of a "very warm, fuzzy, extended family," was absolutely
right. Once we got rid of Kit, there was never any suggestion of animosity among any of
the people involved -- cast, crew, anybody. The only exception might have
occurred once over a salary dispute. One of the top executives at ABC (a friend of mine)
told me how much Mike was making every week on SP. It was amazing. My friends in the cast
and I discussed it and felt we were being underpaid. I was the only one who had an agent,
so I arranged for the whole regular cast to be represented by the same one:
'GoldstoneTobias' talent agency. The cast's salaries went up! Mike took me to lunch and we
discussed mine. I told him that I felt, under the circumstances, that I should get no less
than the star (Ed Kemmer). Before lunch was over, we made the deal. The whole thing never
really got into a fight. The negotiations took only a couple of days. And, everything was
back to normal: a friendly "family", all working happily together. And, Mike was
still getting rich! This was the only 'conflict' that I remember in the five years of the
show.
Q: What was it like writing for Wagon Train?
A: From a writer's standpoint, that was my favorite series. Why? Because it was not controlled by it's stars. The scripts were about people, particularly about the guest star. I used the wagon master, the cook and the scouts only when I needed them. The guest was the star, the center of the story -- and I had the freedom to use them anyway I wanted. That would be impossible, now. The TV stars control their series. Even the titles were about the guest star, i.e., "The Sarah Drummond Story," the Sam Spicer Story," etc. This is undoubtedly why Wagon Train was the number one show in this country, in Europe and Australia for over three years. I think I did somewhere around fifty of the scripts.
Q: That's a pretty fancy motor home you have. I assume your wife is wholly supportive of this life style.
A: It's our third one -- a Vogue 40 foot, wide body, driven by a Detroit Diesel.
We got our first one in l981 just before we put "Barnaby Jones" to bed and I
retired. I had always planned, when I retired, to write a novel. But, it can't be done in
a motor home. We were living in it full time (still have our condo in Studio City, but we
only average about five nights a year in it) and, when one is writing, a locked office is
needed. Ain't no such thing in a motor home! What the heck - I've written enough as it is.
Lois and I really love the life. We spend five months here in the Indian Wells RV Park
where we have a lot of friends (about 50 percent of them from Canada). Then, in April we
go to San Diego. A couple of months later, we take off for, usually, five to ten thousand
miles traveling, seeing friends and relatives in the States and Canada. You're right about
one very important thing: you and your wife must both love the life style, and you must
be, among other things, friends. You live extremely close to one another. What do we think
about houses? Well -- we've had quite a few of them and, now, only have a l400 square foot
condominium. If somebody were to give me a house today -- I'd sell it tomorrow!
Q: When you were writing for The FBI, the Mafia put pressure on the networks not to use
Italian names in the scripts. You spoke out against that at some risk to yourself.
How worried were you?
A: Yeah - the Mafia. My only real concern was Frank Sinatra. He was well known for making a pass at a girl in a bar, getting resisted by her husband, who was immediately worked over by the two Mafiosi who were always behind him. I had met Sinatra many years ago. I was living in Palm Springs in a house on the golf course at the Canyon Country Club. The manager, Jack Quigley, was a man who used to work at the Miami Fontainbleu owned and operated by Joe and Rocco Fishetti who grew up with Sinatra and were his buddies. In fact Joe, Rocco and Frank took 3 million dollars cash on an airplane to Cuba for Lucky Luciano who had been kicked out of the USA. That is recorded in Sinatra's FBI file. I've seen it. At the Beverly Hills Hotel, several years ago, the above mentioned routine was pulled on a Nebraska heir to a huge fortune (can't remember his name), who was mentally out if it the rest of his life from the beating Sinatra's Mafia guard gave him. My point is, I had sent a copy of my speech to Sinatra and to Judge Ross J. DiLorenzo, pres. of the AIALeague. Also, Sinatra was a fairly regular golfer at my Country club, being friendly with Quigley. And, his Mafia guards were always with him. My concern was that he might pull the same routine on my wife and, then, his guards, on me. I knew that, if he did, he would probably never sing again. Why? Because I would have cut him down before his Mafiosi got to me. I'm an ex-Marine and I know how to do it. They taught me. I was particularly concerned about it because, one day, shortly after I had made the speech, Lois and her friend, having just finished a game of golf were at the "19th hole" about to have a drink. She looked up the bar just in time to see Sinatra sitting with Jack Quigley, who was pointing at her, saying, "That's Norman Jolley's wife." She never touched her drink -- just forced her friend to leave with her, immediately. A few days later, at a Club party, I was standing at the same bar. I felt eyes on me, turned abruptly, to see Sinatra staring at me. I glared back at him. He quickly looked away and left. That was the end of it. I made the speech one more time in L.A. but never saw Sinatra again.