Career
Signed to Warner Bros. as an actor, Conrad took advantage of Warner's recording division. He eventually released several recordings issued on a variety of LPs, EPs, and SPs 33 and a third and 45 rpm records during the late 1950s and early 1960s. He had a minor Billboard hit song in "Bye Bye Baby" which reached #113.
Before The Wild Wild West, Conrad played Tom Lopaka in ABC's Hawaiian Eye, opposite Anthony Eisley and Connie Stevens. The show was a hit, lasting four seasons, 1959-63. In the 1970s, he played such roles as prosecuting attorney Paul Ryan in a short-lived 1971 TV series, The D.A., and American spy Jake Webster in the series Assignment Vienna. He also starred in a third season episode of Mannix called "The Playground". With his muscular build and cigarette-induced gravelly voice, Conrad found ratings success playing legendary tough-guy World War II fighter ace Pappy Boyington in Baa Baa Black Sheep on NBC (retitled for its second season and in later syndication as Black Sheep Squadron), from 1976 to 1978. In 1980 he played a paraplegic coach in Coach of the Year. In the late 1970s, he served as the captain of the NBC team for six editions of Battle of the Network Stars. He played a modern-day variation of James West in the short-lived series A Man Called Sloane in 1979, which was around the same time that he reprised the role of West in a pair of made-for-TV films. He also starred in the 1978 TV miniseries Centennial on NBC.
Conrad was widely identified in the late 1970s for his television commercials for Eveready batteries, particularly his placing of the battery on his shoulder and prompting the viewer to challenge its long-lasting power: "Come on, I dare ya". The commercial was frequently parodied on Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show and The Carol Burnett Show. In 1988, Conrad starred in a short-lived TV series called High Mountain Rangers with two of his sons later starring in that show's one season spin-off Jesse Hawkes. In 1990 he starred in the made for television adventure film Anything to Survive alongside Matt LeBlanc and Emily Perkins. In 1992, Conrad played the role of the sheriff in Richard Marx's "Hazard" music video.
He took over hosting The History Channel's Weapons At War (later Tech Force) in 2000, succeeding George C. Scott (who died in 1999). In 2006, Conrad recorded audio introductions for every episode of the first season of The Wild Wild West for its North American DVD release on June 6. The DVD set also included one of Conrad's Eveready battery commercials; in his introduction, Conrad stated that he was flattered to be parodied by Carson. He was inducted into the Stuntman's Hall of Fame for his work on The Wild, Wild West series. He appeared in the documentary film, Pappy Boyington Field, where he recounted his personal insights about the legendary Marine Corps Aviator that he portrayed in the television series. Conrad hosts a weekly radio talk show on CRN Digital Talk Radio.
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