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.
