Stage and Television Star
Tucker was cast as "Professor" Harold Hill by director Da Costa in the national production of The Music Man and played the role 2,008 times over the next five years, including a 56- week run at the Shubert Theatre in Chicago. Following his Music Man run, Tucker starred in the Broadway production of Fair Game for Lovers (1964) and then turned to television for his most famous role, starring as frontier capitalist Sgt. Morgan O'Rourke in F Troop (1965–1967). Though F Troop lasted only two seasons on ABC, the series has been in constant syndication since, reaching three generations of viewers. (Ironically, two of his Gunsmoke episodes feature Tucker in his cavalry uniform again, as the comic "Sergeant Holly," (1970) who in one scene "marries" and spends a hectic night with Miss Kitty.) He appeared in many television series, including CBS's Appointment with Adventure in the 1956 series finale entitled "Two Falls for Satan, ABC's Channing a drama about college life which aired during the 1963-1964 season. In 1961, Tucker appeared on NBC in Audie Murphy's short-lived western series Whispering Smith.
Following F Troop, Tucker returned to films in character parts (Barquero and Chisum, both 1970) and occasional leads (1975's The Wild McCullochs). On television, Tucker was a frequent guest star, including a total of six appearances on Gunsmoke and the recurring role of Jarvis Castleberry, Flo's estranged father on the 1976-1985 TV series, Alice and its spinoff, Flo. Tucker was a regular on three series after F Troop: Dusty's Trail (1973) with Bob Denver; The Ghost Busters (1975–76) which reunited him with F Troop co-star Larry Storch; and Filthy Rich playing the second Big Guy Beck. (1982–83). He continued to be active on stage as well, starring in the national productions of Plaza Suite, Show Boat, and That Championship Season.
Tucker suffered from severe alcoholism in his final years, but returned to the big screen after an absence of several years, in the Cannon Films action film Thunder Run (1986), playing the hero, trucker Charlie Morrison. His final film appearance was Outtakes, a low-budget imitation of The Groove Tube.
Read more about this topic: Forrest Tucker
Famous quotes containing the words stage and, stage, television and/or star:
“She does not realize that the only difference between us is that she is on one stage and I on another. I feel that I am acting just as much as she is.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“In Manhattan, every flat surface is a potential stage and every inattentive waiter an unemployed, possibly unemployable, actor.”
—Quentin Crisp (b. 1908)
“Laughter on American television has taken the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy.... In other countries, the business of laughing is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone with your consternation.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)
“You know when there’s a star, like in show business, the star has her name in lights on the marquee! Right? And the star gets the money because the people come to see the star, right? Well, I’m the star, and all of you are in the chorus.”
—Babe Didrikson Zaharias (1911–1956)