Wesley Britton's Blog - Posts Tagged "mark-ellis"
Remembering The Wild Wild West and Classic ‘60s “Spy-Fi”
From September 17, 1965 – April 4, 1969, millions of TV viewers were fascinated by a very innovative entry in the very popular genre of “Spy-Fi”—The Wild Wild West. It fused the equally popular genres of Westerns and spy adventures and was distinguished by clever sci fi-type anacronisms. Each week we saw everything from fake aliens to hypnotic movie viewers to steam-powered robots running around in the 19th century.
To celebrate the anniversary of that premiere, I have two items for you. First is a link to my interview with Robert Conrad that was first published in the fanzine, Back to The Wild Wild West (Issue #109, 2002). Later, I posted a revised version with new photos at:
http://www.spywise.net/robertConrad.html
Second, at the same website I posted an interview with Mark Ellis called “A Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and The Wild Wild West.” That’s because Mark was the main motor behind comic-book adaptations for each of those classic series.
I won’t repost the full interview here, but here is the section about Mark’s Wild Wild West story called “The Night of the Iron Tyrants.” You’ll not only hear how the comic-books came about, but gain some insights into the relationship between the two stars, Robert Conrad and Ross Martin.
----
Mark Ellis was the man behind returning the Wild Wild West as a comic book series. In early 1990, he contacted Viacom and got the ball rolling for the rights.
During production of “The Night of the Iron Tyrants,” Mark recalls, “a movie producer optioned the storyline in an attempt to get a WWW feature film bankrolled. He felt showing the issues of mini-series around was a more effective marketing tool than a script or a treatment. If I do say so myself, `The Night of the Iron Tyrants’ would have made a better film than what was finally released.”
On this point, Mark doesn’t speak alone. “Overall, it was pretty good,” spy expert Bill Koenig says of the comic, “and, yes, better than the 1999 feature movie that later developed.” Bill remembers the Wild Wild West comic’s use of the likenesses of Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, and Michael Dunn. “However, there were other characters in the comic mini-series from the TV series – Voltaire (a huge lackey of Dr. Loveless, played by Richard Kiel in the first two or three Dr. Loveless episodes) and Col. Richmond, a recurring character played by, I think, Douglas Henderson. They were not drawn to resemble either actor.”
According to Ellis, “The explanation for that is pretty simple – we didn’t have the rights to use their likenesses. Viacom was pretty clear that we could only ‘suggest’ the likenesses of Mr. Kiel or any other actor/actress who was not a contracted part of the regular cast. As it was, I recall the guy at Viacom had reservations about us using Michael Dunn’s likeness, too, but I pointed out that if any member of his estate wanted to object, they could simply do so on the grounds that we presented Dr. Loveless as a dwarf because Mr. Dunn was a dwarf. The Viacom liaison never brought it up again.”
Koenig also recalled the storyline to “Iron Tyrant,” saying,”There was a plot twist where Col. Richmond was part of the conspiracy that West and Gordon are investigating. From what I remember, all the robber barons of the 1870s era were collaborating on some plot. They ‘hired’ Dr. Loveless, not realizing Loveless had his own plans. I think it was also set a little bit later than the TV series – 1876, tying into the U.S. centennial.”
Mark confirmed Bill’s recollections. “Yeah . . . a third season episode of the series established the date as 1874, so I figured the fourth and final season was set in 1875. Also, 1876 was the last year of President Grant’s term and by implication, the last year that West and Gordon would hold their positions, inasmuch as it was part of the series canon they reported directly to President Grant.”
When Millennium was publishing the Wild Wild West comic, the widow of Ross Martin (the actor who’d played Artemus Gordon on TV) contacted Ellis. “I chatted with her for a couple of hours. She was a lovely person and had some great anecdotes. Like Mr. Conrad said [in the interview you had with him], she said that Mr. Martin and he got along very well. They rarely socialized except when they were doing publicity for the series, but she said they nevertheless were always respectful of each other.”
“When Mr. Martin passed away,” Mark added, “she claimed that Mr. Conrad was very broken up at the service, apologizing that he had never told Mr. Martin just how much he had admired him and enjoyed working with him for so many years. She said she was very touched by the degree of emotion he showed.”
Another recollection about the WWW comic Mark has is that “the Gene Autry Western Heritage museum supposedly has the issues on display as part of their WWW exhibit.”
The full article is still available at:
http://www.spywise.net/markEllis.html
To celebrate the anniversary of that premiere, I have two items for you. First is a link to my interview with Robert Conrad that was first published in the fanzine, Back to The Wild Wild West (Issue #109, 2002). Later, I posted a revised version with new photos at:
http://www.spywise.net/robertConrad.html
Second, at the same website I posted an interview with Mark Ellis called “A Man From U.N.C.L.E., I Spy, and The Wild Wild West.” That’s because Mark was the main motor behind comic-book adaptations for each of those classic series.
I won’t repost the full interview here, but here is the section about Mark’s Wild Wild West story called “The Night of the Iron Tyrants.” You’ll not only hear how the comic-books came about, but gain some insights into the relationship between the two stars, Robert Conrad and Ross Martin.
----
Mark Ellis was the man behind returning the Wild Wild West as a comic book series. In early 1990, he contacted Viacom and got the ball rolling for the rights.
During production of “The Night of the Iron Tyrants,” Mark recalls, “a movie producer optioned the storyline in an attempt to get a WWW feature film bankrolled. He felt showing the issues of mini-series around was a more effective marketing tool than a script or a treatment. If I do say so myself, `The Night of the Iron Tyrants’ would have made a better film than what was finally released.”
On this point, Mark doesn’t speak alone. “Overall, it was pretty good,” spy expert Bill Koenig says of the comic, “and, yes, better than the 1999 feature movie that later developed.” Bill remembers the Wild Wild West comic’s use of the likenesses of Robert Conrad, Ross Martin, and Michael Dunn. “However, there were other characters in the comic mini-series from the TV series – Voltaire (a huge lackey of Dr. Loveless, played by Richard Kiel in the first two or three Dr. Loveless episodes) and Col. Richmond, a recurring character played by, I think, Douglas Henderson. They were not drawn to resemble either actor.”
According to Ellis, “The explanation for that is pretty simple – we didn’t have the rights to use their likenesses. Viacom was pretty clear that we could only ‘suggest’ the likenesses of Mr. Kiel or any other actor/actress who was not a contracted part of the regular cast. As it was, I recall the guy at Viacom had reservations about us using Michael Dunn’s likeness, too, but I pointed out that if any member of his estate wanted to object, they could simply do so on the grounds that we presented Dr. Loveless as a dwarf because Mr. Dunn was a dwarf. The Viacom liaison never brought it up again.”
Koenig also recalled the storyline to “Iron Tyrant,” saying,”There was a plot twist where Col. Richmond was part of the conspiracy that West and Gordon are investigating. From what I remember, all the robber barons of the 1870s era were collaborating on some plot. They ‘hired’ Dr. Loveless, not realizing Loveless had his own plans. I think it was also set a little bit later than the TV series – 1876, tying into the U.S. centennial.”
Mark confirmed Bill’s recollections. “Yeah . . . a third season episode of the series established the date as 1874, so I figured the fourth and final season was set in 1875. Also, 1876 was the last year of President Grant’s term and by implication, the last year that West and Gordon would hold their positions, inasmuch as it was part of the series canon they reported directly to President Grant.”
When Millennium was publishing the Wild Wild West comic, the widow of Ross Martin (the actor who’d played Artemus Gordon on TV) contacted Ellis. “I chatted with her for a couple of hours. She was a lovely person and had some great anecdotes. Like Mr. Conrad said [in the interview you had with him], she said that Mr. Martin and he got along very well. They rarely socialized except when they were doing publicity for the series, but she said they nevertheless were always respectful of each other.”
“When Mr. Martin passed away,” Mark added, “she claimed that Mr. Conrad was very broken up at the service, apologizing that he had never told Mr. Martin just how much he had admired him and enjoyed working with him for so many years. She said she was very touched by the degree of emotion he showed.”
Another recollection about the WWW comic Mark has is that “the Gene Autry Western Heritage museum supposedly has the issues on display as part of their WWW exhibit.”
The full article is still available at:
http://www.spywise.net/markEllis.html
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“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
“The Blind Alien is a story with a highly original concept, fascinating characters, and not-too-subtle but truthful allegories. Don’t let the ...more
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