Daktari TV Show

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Adorable video tribute to Jack and Paula

Published on February 25, 2018February 25, 2018 by susanwbailey12 Comments

There are Daktari tribute videos popping up all over the place on YouTube! Here’s a particularly cute one honoring the chemistry between Jack and Paula (Why didn’t the writers see this through??):

One of the nicest couples on television. If only …

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What happened to Africa U.S.A.? Details on the flooding which destroyed the compound

Published on May 26, 2015October 5, 2015 by susanwbailey2 Comments

Recently a reader known as “squeapler” left a series of lengthy comments on the post about Africa U.S.A. (The story of Africa, U.S.A. and its proprietors, animal trainer Ralph Helfer and Daktari producer Ivan Tors) regarding the floods which destroyed the compound. I decided to create a blog post to highlight these comments as they give a full story as to what happened.

My thanks to “squeapler” for this wonderful information!

Hello again. I found a little more information about the floods at Africa USA in doing my research for “Gentle Ben”, based on California newspapers from the 1960s I accessed through Newspapers.com. It seems like there were indeed two major floods. The first one, which is the one discussed in the Cleveland Amory TV Guide article, happened in Dec. 1965 and is the one that caused Bruno the bear (later the main actor in “Gentle Ben”) to be swept away. He returned on his own a few days later. Several other animals were also mentioned as missing but perhaps not drowned as the news articles mention that the chewed carcass of a cow was found, giving the impression that one of the big cats had eaten it.

The second flood occurred in January 1969 and seems to have been much worse. Prior to this flood, Tors was planning to open the compound to the public for tours and had sought a zoning variance to do so. However, when the flood occurred the water rose so quickly that apparently not all the animals could be rescued from their cages in time, and were shot to prevent them from drowning. The animals that were shot included 3 lions, a jaguar, two tigers, and one or two bears (not Bruno as he went on to appear in 1970s films).

Then on Feb. 25, 1969, there was apparently more flooding (the news article talks about there being two 100-year floods in 30 days) and two alligators and two hippos broke loose and were seen going down the flood-swollen Santa Clarita river. A spokesman for Africa USA was quoted as saying the animals were extremely dangerous and once the flood subsided, “big game hunters would attempt to destroy them from helicopters.”

Shortly thereafter, there was a $50,000 fire also at the complex, although no animals were hurt.

Animal affection trainer Ralph Helfer in the 1960s

After this, Tors decided to concentrate on his planned “Torsland” park in Florida (which I understand from the documentary on him, never happened, although he did have a number of his animals at the Homosassa Springs Attraction in Florida through the 70s) and Helfer decided to abandon the Africa USA complex and move the operation to a new location near Fillmore in Ventura County.

It seems like in the “Beauty of the Beasts” account, Helfer (or some editor) conflated the two floods as the article talks about shooting “Gentle Ben” and then having Bruno wash away. “Gentle Ben” and “Gentle Giant” did not come out until 1967 which to me would mean that they were probably filmed during 1966 at the earliest (possibly even early 1967) so it seems unlikely that they were shooting “Gentle Ben” in 1965.

Here are some of the newspaper sources I used. There are lots more than this on Newspapers.com – the local California papers covered all of this in pretty good detail.
“All you need is a Coke and stout heart”, Redlands Daily Facts, Dec. 31, 1965, p. 2.
“Wild Animals on Loose – Swept away by Los Angeles Floods,” Eureka Humboldt Standard, Jan. 18, 1966, p. 2.
“Three Dead Lions Reported Stolen From Africa, U.S.A.,” Redlands Daily Facts, Jan. 31, 1969, p. 3.
“6 More Victims of South State Storm,” San Mateo Times, Feb. 26, 1969, p. 12.
“Africa U.S.A. Fire,” Long Beach Independent, Mar. 4, 1969, p. A-7.
“Tors Will Abandon Flood-Damaged Africa U.S.A.,” Fresno Bee, Apr. 13, 1969, p. 12-A.
“HELP – They Don’t Quit,” San Bernarndino County Sun, Feb. 20, 1970, p. B-5.
” ‘Africa’ Opening,” Long Beach Independent, Jan. 26, 1971, p. A-8.

Check out this post for the exact location of Africa U.S.A: Just where was Africa U.S.A.?? Now we know …

Yale Summers binge fest!

Published on June 17, 2022 by susanwbailey2 Comments

Fans of Yale Summers, get ready! Thanks to the great detective work of our friend Ken, we now have a pretty comprehensive list of guest appearances by Yale Summers on various TV shows.

YALE SUMMERS TV AND FILM APPEARANCES

CHEYENNE Johnny Brassbuttons (3 Dec 1962
https://www.solie.org/alibrary/Cheyenne_711JohnnyBrassbuttons.html

THE LIEUTENANT The Two Star Giant (5 Oct 1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djXfWftzbz4

THE LIEUTENANT A Touching of Hands (26 Oct 1963)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BqBn43v3KE

MY FAVORITE MARTIAN RX for a Martian (19 Jan 1964)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7yt2s3

12 O’CLOCK HIGH Appointment at Liege (20 Nov 1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BcitDpH_QU

THE OUTER LIMITS Second Chance (2 Mar 1964)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smFGTPDPmY0

THE FARMER’S DAUGHTER The Mismatch Maker (20 May 1964)
https://archive.org/details/20220204_20220204_1021/The+Farmers+Daughter+-+Season+1/The+Farmer’s+Daughter+-+1×35+-+Mismatch+Maker.avi

MY THREE SONS Robbie and the Chorus Girl (14 Oct 1965)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZx00vje1gY

MY THREE SONS Tea for Three (23 Nov 1968)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAMGs1W1rsM

THE BOLD ONES – THE NEW DOCTORS One Small Step for Man (23 Nov 1969)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JXKmIIU5C0

LAND OF THE GIANTS Nightmare (4 Jan 1970)
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6v8tno

MY THREE SONS You Can’t Go Home (7 Feb 1970)
https://www.solie.org/alibrary/My3Sons_1018YouCantGoHome.html

THE SMITH FAMILY Cindy (20 Jan 1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lONtS2Ay2mw&list=PL6VS9hLxLf3BGwmAxedGDNKOKG_fqcmTJ&index=1

McMILLAN & WIFE The Easy Sunday Murder Case (20 Oct 1971)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0nVRlDgngE

MY THREE SONS Lonesome Katie (30 Mar 1972
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZARXRKv3io

SWITCH Butterfly Mourning (6 Feb 1977)
https://www.solie.org/alibrary/Switch_217ButterflyMourning.html

IF YOU LOVED ME (1977)
https://vimeo.com/105264611

THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN NEMO (1978)
https://archive.org/details/the.-return.of.-captain.-nemo.

FANTASY ISLAND I Want to get Married (21 Oct 1978
https://archive.org/details/PDTV0138/Fantasy+Island+-+S02E05+-+I+Want+to+Get+Married+-+The+Jewel+Thief.mp4

Thank you Ken!

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Cheryl Miller makes her second guest appearance on season 4 of “Love, American Style.”

Published on May 24, 2022 by susanwbaileyLeave a comment

Here is Cheryl’ second appearance on “Love, American Style.” Lots of screen time with this one. Again, our thanks to Ken!

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Yale Summers’ first post-“Daktari” appearance on “The Bold Ones: The New Doctors”

Published on May 24, 2022 by susanwbailey1 Comment

Here’s a great find from our friend, Ken: Yale Summers’ first appearance since leaving Daktari as an astronaut going to the moon.

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Cheryl Miller on Season 3 of “Love, American Style”

Published on May 24, 2022 by susanwbaileyLeave a comment

Here is the first of two appearances by Cheryl Miller on “Love, American Style.” This is from season 3. Thanks to our friend, Ken!

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Cheryl Miller as the Dodge Girl: comprehensive video

Published on April 16, 2022 by susanwbailey2 Comments

My thanks to Walter for this great find – a comprehensive look at Cheryl’s commercials as the Dodge Girl.

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Rare Cheryl Miller television appearance

Published on March 30, 2022 by susanwbailey2 Comments

Here’s a great find thanks to our friend, Ken! Cheryl guest-starred on a short-lived series, “David Cassidy Man Undercover” in 1978.

Watch for four fleeting appearances (with dialogue) at 14:24,17:54, 31:30, and 37:22.

DAVID CASSIDY: MAN UNDERCOVER
Episode 6 RX for Dying (Originally aired on 21 December 1978)

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One of Cheryl Miller’s last TV appearances

Published on February 21, 2022 by susanwbailey1 Comment

And this one is goofy! Our friend Ken writes, ” It’s Cheryl Miller’s sixth last (and pretty outlandish) appearance which aired in November 1976. It was also probably the start of her realization that her film/TV career was close to ending. ”