Wayne Rogers Gets "The Big Kick"

Back in 2020 I posted an item about the 1959 crime film Odds Against Tomorrow which has a couple of Alabama connections, one of them tenuous. The other Alabama connection appears about midway through the movie. Robert Ryan's character goes into a bar for a drink, and a soldier and his girl are horsing around. Ryan takes offense and the final result is a fight in which the soldier ends up on the floor. The soldier is played by none other than Wayne Rogers. 

He was born in Birmingham on April 7, 1933. After graduating from Princeton in 1954 and a stint in the U.S. Navy until 1956, Rogers began appearing in small roles in Hollywood. 

His IMDB credits begin with one listing in 1958 and several in  1959, when he made appearances on the TV soap opera Search for Tomorrow and as that guy in the bar in Odds. In the 1960's he had numerous roles in TV shows ranging from Have Gun Will Travel to Gunsmoke and Honey West. He even appeared with fellow Alabama native Jim Nabors on Gomer Pyle USMC. 

Of course, Rogers went on to great fame in the popular M*A*S*H TV show where 
he was a regular for three seasons 1972-1975. He also starred with Lynn Redgrave in the medical comedy House Calls [1979-1982]. He continued acting in
films and TV movies and shows until 2003. In one of those roles he played Alabama native and attorney Morris Dees in the 1996 film Ghosts of Mississippi. 
Rogers died on New Year's Eve 2015.

Of course, Rogers went on to great fame in the popular M*A*S*H TV show where he as a regular for three seasons 1972-1975. 

Recently I happened to watch an episode of the TV show Alfred Hitchcock Presents as one does on hot summer days and it turned out to be the only appearance of Rogers on that program. The 37th episode of season 7, first broadcast 19 June 1962, is "The Big Kick" and one of ten written by suspense master Robert Bloch. His short story was published in 1959.  You know Robert Bloch, the guy who wrote the novel that served as inspiration for Hitchcock's movie Psycho. 

Rogers is joined in this episode by Brian Hutton [1935-2014] an actor who moved into directing such films as Where Eagles Dare and Kelly's Heroes. Anne Helm [b. 1938] had an acting career that lasted 45 years and included Broadway, film and numerous television performances. In "The Big Kick" these two play a pair of beatnik lovers always on the make for some dough to pay the bills. In the episode we get to see a poetry performance in a coffee shop and a party where the beatniks get together and share their wealth.

A straight-laced society type named Kenny [Rogers] shows up at the party, and Mitch tells Judy he likes hanging with the beatniks and always brings wine as his entrance fee. Mitch soon tells Judy to start making nice to Kenny, and she starts getting money from him. But Kenny is playing a different game, and since this story is from Robert Bloch you can imagine what that might be.

I'm going to leave the story at this point; you can read a longer piece on the episode here. 

Mitch and Judy listen to "Diagnosis" the poem recited in the coffee house.

Mitch introduces Judy to Kenny, the society cat. 

Kenny wines and dines poor Judy several times after they meet. 

And here comes Kenny's big kick. 

Warren Oates and Wayne Rogers in the "Angela" episode of Steve McQueen's series Wanted Dead or Alive  first broadcast January 9, 1960

Chamber of Horrors

Rogers as police sergeant Jim Albertson in this 1966 film

Richard Boone, Gale Garnett, and Wayne Rogers in "The Debutante" episode of Have Gun--Will Travel first broadcast 19 January 1963

 

Chloroform in Montevallo in 1848

General anesthesia using gases for surgery is one of America's great nineteenth century medical achievements. In early 1845 dentist Horace Wells used nitrous oxide to painlessly extract a tooth. In October 1846 dentist William T.G. Morton successfully demonstrated ether anesthesia in Boston during an operation by John Collins Warren. The Morton/Warren event soon made it's way around the world. The Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology outside Chicago maintains an extensive timeline that covers all sorts of anesthesia developments worldwide from ancient times until today. 

After a long search for an anesthetic without ether's smell and other side effects and lasting longer than nitrous oxide, Dr. James Young Simpson and colleagues in Edinburgh, Scotland, discovered chloroform in November, 1847. The following May, Dr. Andrews of Montevallo reported that he had used chloroform to amputate "a negro boy's leg, "immediately below the knee", while under the influence of this powerful agent. "[H]e declared he did not feel or know anything of the operation."

I have mentioned this event in Shelby County on a previous blog post about general anesthesia in Alabama and in an article I published in 1986. I found the Montevallo demonstration covered in a Montgomery newspaper item reprinted from the Tuscaloosa Observer, and I wanted to discuss it more here.

Since the "negro boy" patient is not named, I only had a "Dr. Andrews" in Montevallo to research. Luckily, I think I've tracked him down.

David Andrews is listed in the 1850 U.S. Census and living in Shelby County. He was a physician, 30 years old, and born in North Carolina. He was married to Harriet F. Embrey [b. 9 July 1823] and they had 5 children at that time, 3 daughters and 2 sons. She died on July 31, 1855, age 32 and is buried in the Montevallo Cemetery. According to an inventory of that cemetery, an infant son is buried there also. 

Also according to the 1850 U.S. Census--Slave Schedules Andrews was a slave owner. He had 5 slaves at that time, 2 adult males, a boy of 7 and 2 adult females. Thus Andrews was probably also a farmer; many physicians in the 19th century, especially in rural areas, needed additional income beyond what their practices could provide.

I have been unable to locate any more information on David Andrews, despite searches of census and cemetery records and American physician directories covering the period. Perhaps he left Alabama after his wife died. 

FURTHER READING

Wright AJ. Early Use of General Anesthesia in Alabama, 1847-1853. Ala J Med Sci 1986 July; 23(3):333-335

Montgomery Tri-Weekly and Flag Advertiser 30 May 1848

Source: Gale Historical Collections. 19th Century U.S. Newspapers database

The current Montgomery Advertiser was published under this title from January 1, 1847 until December 7, 1848.

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama