For years, Ray Walston tried to shed the image of Martin the Martian that he had obtained in his most popular series My Favorite Martian. This had nearly typecast him out of any serious roles for years. In my case, I have never seen a single episode of that show so I associate him with two entirely different characters.
The first was as Mr. Hand in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the grumpy teacher in which Jeff Spicoli finally met his match. It was this part that finally broke the curse of the Martian. He was happy to finally have fans see him on the street and call him Mr. Hand rather than Uncle Martin. Parenthetically, the next year he starred in another raunchy teen flick called Private School, which was another 80’s ‘classic’ in my eyes.
But unquestionably, the best role that he ever had was in Picket Fences, where he played the curmudgeon, yet s0ft-hearted, Judge Henry Bone. This part garnered him his only Emmy nomination. That show was one of my favorites of the early 90’s and I always savored every scene in which he appeared.
The story of my autograph isn’t nearly as interesting as that of my friend Steve Cox, who actually showed up at his house on trick or treat in order to obtain some signatures. I merely sent him a photo that I had obtained from the Martian-era and sent it to him in November 1997, which he signed and returned to me.
Autographs of 1997 will continue…
You’ve never seen “My Favorite Martian”? It was actually one of the better “gimmick” sitcoms of the ’60s, of which there were too many. “My Mother the Car” had Ann Sothern reincarnated as a “1928 Porter,” “My Living Doll” had Bob Cummings married to robot Julie Newmar, “Captain Nice” and “Mr. Terrific” were superhero parodies… but “MFM” actually had some wit and charm to it, and Bill Bixby and Ray Walston had a definite chemistry. You should seek it out. Pamela Britton and Alan Hewitt were wonderful as landlady Mrs. Brown and suspicious Detective Brennan. I think the first season was the best; Rhino’s put out the whole shebang on DVD.
Randy Skretvedt
March 10th, 2009
I agree with Randy, growing up “My Favorite Martian” was one of my favorites. I loved Ray in “Damn Yankees’ too as the devil, Jerry Lewis ruined the role when he took the play on tour some years ago. One of the celebrities I always wanted to meet and never got the chance was Ray Walston. He had a great career!
Bob
April 3rd, 2009