For all of us "baby boomers" from back in da day.... Originally written in the early 1990s for a local MD newspaper column.
I'm a baby boomer. This fact began making me wonder, more and more as I got older, whatever happened to those people from the TV, music, and film world whom I adored as a teenager.
Like the Mod Squad. Remember them? Those of us who now watch Twin Peaks know what happened to Peggy Lipton. She played "Julie" and, once again she graces the TV screen, now as the owner of Twin Peaks' diner.
But how many know that she stopped her TV appearances after marrying Quincy Jones, the musical genius, and lived many years as a dutiful wife and mother of two children? It is only now that her kids have grown--and unfortunately, her marriage to Jones has gone the way of Divorce Court--that she again treats us to her acting talents.
And Captain Greer? Tige Andrews, veteran of many TV appearances, now builds $3 million homes up in the Topanga Canyon Mountains in the suburbs of Los Angeles. These mansions, when complete, come with tennis courts, saunas, pools, and--what every homeowner needs--fully-equipped TV and music studios. Does that tell you who his clientele are?
Linc, or Clarence Williams III, is guest-starring here and there on different TV shows, as well as working in grade B films.
But my personal favorite, the man I've been in love with since I was 12, was always "Pete Cochran" or, in real life, Michael Cole. I interviewed Michael at his home outside of Los Angeles and discovered that my "love" was not unfounded. That mystique he held on camera was there in person. He's a gentle, thoughtful, deep man who mentally dissects everything he does--or ever did--and decides how he should try to do it better.
Cole went through a bad time after The Mod Squad left the air. He had become too popular too fast, and the high school-educated actor freely admitted that it all went to his head. He began drinking heavily and his marriage and family--he has one daughter--died a slow death.
It's been a hard road for him but now he's back on track and beginning to once again guest star on TV shows and made-for-TV movies. He's actively working to return to the public eye. He has definitely aged. The lines are deeply imbedded in his face, and his skin is rough and sun-bronzed, but his appeal has not diminished. He is fit, and that slow, rare smile of his which caused many teenage girls to sigh in the early 1970s is still there. Before I had left his home, he tried to cook me spaghetti, had driven me down the mountain to get batteries for my tape recorder, and constantly refilled my soda glass.
I'm ready to see them all back on screen but, especially, Michael Cole. Anyone for a "Resurrect The Mod Squad" campaign? After all, isn't this the age of TV comebacks? If The Brady Bunch can do it, anyone can.
Readers who would like to know how to contact any of these people can write me here in care of the paper.
[PHOTO: Tige Andrews, posing on his property in the Topanga Canyons of Los Angeles ... a wonderful man in his element!]
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I do remember Twin Peaks as one of the most intriguing TV shows, ever. Unfortunately, it either went to HBO or disappeared forever after one season, I believe. I really hate it when that happens.
Ron