Another day, another damn.
Joseph Wambaugh. THR. I don’t see anything in the LATimes yet.
The story I’ve heard is that, as a working cop, he went to interview a robbery victim. The guy had blood streaming down his head, and Det. Wambaugh asked him if he could describe the suspect. The victim responded by asking him what George C. Scott was like. He quit shortly after, because he realized his fame was getting in the way of doing his job.
…
I tell people I read The Blue Knight at a very inappropriate age. Because I try to be family friendly here, I won’t describe the scene I most vividly remember. I got pretty far behind in Wambaugh’s fiction, but I think I’ve read all his non-fiction books. Obviously, The Onion Field had a huge impact on me, but The Blooding and Fire Lover are pretty good, too.
I kind of wish I’d met him.
(Is it just me, or does he look a little like Nicholas Cage in those photos from the 1970s?)
Boris Spassky, of Fischer-Spassky fame.
When they played the first match, in Reykjavik, Iceland, Mr. Fischer, with his brash personality, was something of a folk hero in the West. He was widely portrayed as a lone gunslinger boldly taking on the might of the Soviet chess machine, with Mr. Spassky representing the repressive Soviet empire.
The reality could not have been further from the truth. Mr. Fischer was a spoiled 29-year-old man-child, often irascible and difficult. Mr. Spassky, at 35, was urbane, laid back and good-natured, acceding to Mr. Fischer’s many demands leading up to and during the match.
The match almost did not happen. It was supposed to start on July 2, but Mr. Fischer was still in New York, demanding more money for both players. A British promoter, James Slater, added $125,000 to the prize fund, which doubled it to $250,000 (about $1.9 million today), and Mr. Fischer arrived on July 4.
The match was a best-of-24 series, with each win counting as one point, each draw as a half point and each loss as zero. The first player to 12.5 points would be the winner.
In Game 1, on July 11, Mr. Fischer blundered and lost. Afterward, he refused to play Game 2 unless the television cameras recording the match were turned off. When they were not, Mr. Fischer forfeited the game.
The match seemed in doubt, but a compromise was worked out to move the match to a tiny, closed playing area behind the main hall.
Mr. Fischer won Game 3, his first victory ever against Mr. Spassky, and proceeded to steamroll him, winning the match 12.5 to 8.5.
Mr. Spassky’s sportsmanship was on full display in Game 6 of the match, which by then had been moved back into the main hall. When Mr. Fischer won the game, taking the lead for the first time in the match, Mr. Spassky joined with the spectators in standing and applauding his victory.
Pilar Del Rey, actress. Other credits include “Police Story” (which, as you know, Bob, was a Joseph Wambaugh creation), the “Travis McGee” TV movie, “The Forbidden Dance”, the 1960s “Dragnet”…
…and “Mannix”. (“Bird of Prey”, parts 1 and 2, season 8, episodes 20 and 21. She played “Marquesa”.)
Michael Preece, prominent TV director. Other credits include “Stingray”, “B.J. and the Bear”, “Renegade”, “Jake and the Fatman”…
…and, as a script supervisor before being a director, “Mitchell”, “The Getaway”, and “Mannix”. (“Another Final Exit”, season 1, episode 20. “Eight to Five, It’s a Miracle”, season 1, episode 21.)
I too read Joseph Wambaugh’s books at an early age. I was probably in Jr. High, so maybe 12 years old. I remember reading The Blue Knight, but one that I read that you didn’t mention was The New Centurions. It was similar in tone to the first book but perhaps a bit harsher in some of the pages.
I was a very avid reader when I was younger, and if I could find the book in our school or public library, I would grab it and read it. The two Wambaugh books however, I recall having them at home and while I don’t remember where I picked them up, both in paperback, I know that I owned them and didn’t borrow them. I would go back and read books that I had read before, sometimes over and over again. The Blue Knight was one of them, but The New Centurions did not seem to make as big of a impression on me so I suspect that I only read it once or twice.
I do recall knowing that Wambaugh was a rascally character, so I might have seen him on a talk show, perhaps the old Tom Snyder one. I did see an interview with Charles Manson on his show, on June 26, 1981. I know the date as it was my 21st birthday, and I had walked home from the local bar after meeting my twin brother for “a” drink. Little did I know that some of our friends including school teachers, would be there and want to buy me shots. After about 5 or 6, I left being a lightweight and not a drinker.
The thing I remember most about the Manson interview was when he said, “why are you people so afraid of me? You should be afraid of the people out there like the politicians and the criminals in corporations”.
That was paraphrased as best as I can remember but at the time it struck me as the one thing that he said that actually sounded sane. I don’t see much reason to change my thoughts on that, actually.
Have a great weekend, and stay safe.
I went to High School with Hettinger’s Kids in the 1980’s.
Nice kids. It wasn’t until I was much older that I found out who their father was.