If the Hardy Boys series from the 1970’s didn’t exude that timeless 1970’s feel, I would find it pretty difficult to sit through. Most of my memories of the show are relegated to seeing the cast routinely featured in the teen magazies of the era, the one’s I was purchasing because they featured KISS. Truth be told, I actually prefer the Hardy Boys serials from the Mickey Mouse Club that starred Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk. In all, there were five series that featured our favorite (well, YOUR favorite) mystery-solvers. But the one I’m going to focus on is the second most recent, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries that ran for three seasons from 1977-1979, right in the thick of the disco era.
Even if I wasn’t the biggest fan of the series, I recognized the iconicity of it a long time ago, and thusly had had my friend Bob pick me up a signed photo of Pamela Sue Martin in the late 1990’s. She had portrayed Nancy Drew in the show for the first two seasons. I subsequently got the chance to meet her in 2008 and recorded my encounter with her here.
I assumed at that point that my association with the celebrities of this series was probably done (although I would go on to pick up the first two season of the show on DVD). But on April 28, 2012, I had reason for my interest to resurface. Parker Stevenson, who had been best known for his role as Frank Hardy, made his first celebrity show appearance at the Chiller Theatre Show in Parsippany, New Jersey.
He was a very friendly and down-to-earth guy. I didn’t have a whole lot of interest in many of his other works, but he had kept quite busy over the years with featured or recurring roles in Baywatch, Melrose Place, and Falcon Crest. And as a Cheers fan, I most note that he was married to Kirstine Allie for the entire duration that she was on the show.
My friend Peter however was quite interested in talking to him about his first film called A Separate Peace. Both Peter and Parker (not to be confused with Spider-Man Peter Parker), were distraught about the film’s unavailability on DVD. Peter had hoped that Parker might be there selling the DVD, but alas he didn’t even own a digital copy of his own. Both lamented that the remakes that were made of the film were sub-par and Parker said, “They just didn’t get it.”
They also discussed the fact that Parker Stevenson had attended a public school near Bronxville – since it was a city near and dear to both of their hearts. Stevenson would then go on to a good private school, which helped him in his characterization of Gene, a student at Phillips Exeter in New Hampshire, in his first film.
The photo I chose (as seen at the top of the posting) was of all three members of the main cast of The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, although I didn’t have much real hope of getting Sean Cassidy (Joe Hardy), as he had attended a Hollywood Show that I didn’t attend and ended up leaving after about an hour (or so I heard). Pamela Sue Martin was another story. Since I had met her before, I had every reason to believe that I’d see her again one day. In fact, I told Parker that it was a shame she hadn’t been there with him, and he agreed, commenting on what a beautiful demeanor she had.
In a stroke of good fortune, she showed up at the very next Chiller Theatre show on October 27, 2012. Still beautiful, she signed my photo for $20 and I went ahead and shelled out another $5 just to get an updated photo with her. By this time, the line-up for the January Hollywood Show had begun to be posted and I saw that Parker Stevenson was going to be in attendance, so I recommended that she attend as well so that they could finally be in the same place at the same time for the fans.
Sure enough they both ended up at the Hollywood Show that I attended on January 12, 2013. By this time of course, I had no need for any further autographs or photo ops from them, but there were two additional co-stars from the show present as well: William Schallert, who had been Nancy’s father on the show, and Jean Rasey, who had been Nancy’s close friend George in many episodes of the show. (She would be replaced by Susan Buckner for three episodes). I had met Schallert before and would have likely tried to greet him again had his line not been so excessively long.
I had not met Jean Rasey, and frankly I hadn’t even remembered her, having not seen all that much of the series. But my friend Ashleigh Heath had been hyper-excited about her being there, so I made it a point to grab a signed photo and get a picture with her as well.
And that’s the end of my eyewitness account of these detective boys and girls. The real mystery is why Shawn Cassidy couldn’t manage to sit through one signing, which pretty much ensures that he’ll never come back to one again. Perhaps we could get a new incarnation of the Hardy Boys on the case so that I can add that all-important third signature to my photo.
Celebrity encounters of the Spring 2012 Chiller Theatre will continue…
Celebrity encounters of the Fall 2012 Chiller Theatre will continue…
Celebrity encounters of the Winter 2013 Hollywood Show will continue…
Great posting and thank you very much for allowing me to chat it up with Parker Stevenson. I firmly believe that the version of “A Separate Peace” in which he stars is the best one. It was released by Paramount, but it feels like an independent film. It’s pure fantasy on my part, I know, but Paramount should get “A Separate Peace” out remastered on Blu-Ray, complete with Special Edition extras!
Peter
February 21st, 2013