Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (Edited to add: NYT obit.)
I was five months old when it first aired, and nine years old when it went off the air, so the show is kind of at the fringes of my memory. But I remember thinking “The F.B.I.” was a swell show.
And, of course, it was a Quinn Martin production.
Great episode. One of the very first, if not the first. Jeffrey Hunter played a psychotic with issues concerning women, and Estelle Winwood chewed the scenery as his mother. Dina Merrill just wanted to get into Lew Erskine’s pants. During the first season QM toyed with providing relationships for Erskine and Agent Jim Rhodes, played by Stephen Brooks, but that idea was quickly dropped and the emphasis placed on the criminals, who were far more interesting.
A great many actors still in their salad days paid their dues on QM productions, including “The FBI”. One of the best “FBI” outings is an episode called “The Dynasty” from the third season. Ed Asner plays the older of two kidnapper brothers; he’s got a strong mean streak and truly wants to simply murder his captive. Martin Sheen played his not-too-bright younger brother, who realized a little too late just how nasty his older sibling really was.
Ford sponsored every season, with the exception of the first season, which they shared with Alcoa. I’ve seen old episodes that still had Marvin Miller announcing that “Ford Motor Company presents The FBI”.
Zimbalist was apparently in decent health right up to his death. My wife and I have enjoyed viewing “The FBI” as the successive seasons are released on DVD, and I wrote a fan letter to him a few months ago. He responded very promptly, with some of the cleanest, most precise handwriting I’ve ever seen. Judging by the response I received he was still in complete control of his faculties and seemed in good health. I was saddened to wake up this morning and see that he’d died. He was 95, so this wasn’t a big shock, but I’ve been watching him portray an FBI Agent in his 40’s, so there was some shock to see that he died of old age.
He’ll be missed.
Forgot to mention that Stephen Brooks played Agent Jim Rhodes for the first two seasons and then left the show. I asked Zimbalist what had really happened to Brooks, as I had read various explanations for his departure. Zimbalist was polite but blunt; said Brooks saw no future in playing a second banana. Zimbalist had a good point; the second bills on QM shows seldom had much to do or say.
Star Trek fans will remember that Brooks played Ensign Garrovick in “Obsession”, one of the better episodes in “TOS”, in my opinion. Brooks died at the age of 57, in 1999. He didn’t do much after “The FBI”, although Zimbalist stated in his response to me that Brooks was enormously talented. He never heard from Brooks again after he left.
Oh, forgot to mention “Caesar’s Wife” from Season 4. Erskine and his various assistants spent a fairish amount of time fighting Communism. In this episode Michael Rennie was a spymaster, and one of his minions was Russell Johnson, who got to beat the whey out of Harrison Ford in a fight scene. Watching The Professor put a beatdown on Hans Solo was truly a surreal moment for this Boomer.