Martin Milner Biography

Martin Sam Milner (December 28, 1931 - September 6, 2015) was an American film, stage, radio, and television actor. Milner is known for his performances on two television series: Route 66, which aired on CBS from 1960 to 1964, and Adam-12, which aired on NBC from 1968 to 1975.

Early years

Milner was born on December 28, 1931 in Detroit, Michigan, the son of Mildred (ne Martin), a Paramount Theater circuit dancer, and Sam Gordon Milner, who worked as a construction hand and later a film distributor. His father was a Polish Jewish immigrant. The family left Detroit when he was a young child and moved frequently before settling in Seattle, Washington, by the time he was nine. There he became involved in acting, first in school, and then in a children's theater group at the Cornish Playhouse.

When Milner was a teenager, he moved with his family to Los Angeles where his parents hired an acting coach and later an agent for him. Milner had his first screen test and began his film career with his debut in the film Life with Father (1947) in the role of John Day, the second oldest son of Clarence Day played by William Powell. Less than two weeks after filming for that film ended in August 1946, Milner contracted poliomyelitis. He recovered within a year and had bit parts in two more films before graduating from North Hollywood High School in 1949. He immediately landed a minor role in the film Sands of Iwo Jima starring John Wayne.

Career

Milner attended the University of Southern California where he studied theater. He dropped out after a year in the fall of 1950 to concentrate on acting. He made his first television appearance in 1950 as a guest star in episode 28 titled "Pay Dirt" on The Lone Ranger. That same year, he began a recurring role as "Drexel Potter" on the ABC sitcom The Stu Erwin Show.

He had several more roles, both minor and major, in war films in the 1950s, including another John Wayne picture called Operation Pacific (1951) and Mister Roberts (1955) with Henry Fonda, James Cagney and Jack Lemmon. On the set of Halls of Montezuma (1950), he met and befriended actor Jack Webb. Soon thereafter, he began intermittent work on Webb's radio series Dragnet.

In 1952, Milner began a two-year stint in the United States Army. He was assigned to Special Services at Fort Ord on California's Monterey Bay Peninsula, where he directed training films. He also emceed and performed in skits in a touring unit show to entertain the soldiers. Milner was encouraged by fellow soldier David Janssen to pursue an acting career when his time in the Army ended. He also served at Ft Ord at the same time as future actors Clint Eastwood and Richard Long. While in the Army, Milner continued working for Jack Webb, playing "Officer Bill Lockwood" (briefly the partner of "Sgt. Friday") and other characters on the Dragnet radio series on weekends. He also appeared on six episodes of Webb's Dragnet television series between 1952-1955.

After his military service ended, Milner had a recurring role on The Life of Riley from 1953 to 1958. He also made guest appearances on numerous television shows including episodes of The Bigelow Theatre, The Great Gildersleeve, TV Reader's Digest, Science Fiction Theatre, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, NBC Matinee Theater, The West Point Story, The Twilight Zone (episode: "Mirror Image"), and Rawhide.

Milner was under contract at Burt Lancaster"?s production company, Hecht-Lancaster. He also acted in films, the most notable of which are The Long Gray Line (1955), Mister Roberts (1955), Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957), as jazz guitarist Steve Dallas in Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Marjorie Morningstar (1958), Compulsion (1959) and 13 Ghosts (1960). He was one of the stars of Valley of the Dolls (1967), based on the Jacqueline Susann best-seller.

Route 66

In 1960, Milner won the role of Tod Stiles on the CBS television series, Route 66, which ran from 1960 to 1964. Created by Stirling Silliphant, Route 66 is about two regular but distinctly different young men in a car touring the United States.

After the sudden death of his father left him penniless, Milner's character, Tod, travels across the United States in a Chevrolet Corvette, taking a variety of odd jobs along the way and getting involved in other people's problems. Tod's traveling partner on his escapades is his friend Buz Murdock, a former employee of his father's (played by George Maharis). During the series' third season, Milner got a new co-star, Glenn Corbett, who was brought in to replace Maharis - Tod's new traveling partner was Lincoln "Linc" Case, an Army veteran who had a dark past, and Corbett remained in the role for the remaining season and a half.

Route 66 was a different sort of television program, as the travels of Tod and his traveling partners were shot on location. Thus, Milner spent nearly four years traveling the country for the series, sometimes taking his wife and children along.

Milner appeared on Broadway once in a short-lived comedy, The Ninety Day Mistress, in 1967, opposite Dyan Cannon.

Adam-12

Milner and Webb had a long-established working relationship by the time it came to cast Adam-12. Milner appeared in numerous episodes of both the radio and television versions of the seminal Jack Webb series Dragnet. Milner had also worked with Webb in the films Halls of Montezuma (1950) and Pete Kelly's Blues (1955). This led to the role for which Milner is best known.

In 1968, Milner returned to television as seven-year LAPD veteran uniform patrol Officer Peter Joseph "Pete" Malloy in the Webb-produced police drama, Adam-12. Kent McCord played his partner, rookie Officer James A. "Jim" Reed. The [NBC]] series ran from 1968 to 1975. Like Webb's Dragnet, it was based on real Los Angeles Police Department procedures and cases.

Milner was Webb's choice for "cop behind the wheel" Pete Malloy in part because his relative youth and prior acting credits and because of his on-camera driving experience from his days on Route 66. He guest starred in three episodes of Emergency! between 1972 and 1976, during and after Adam-12s run on NBC, the best known and first of which was the pilot episode The Wedsworth-Townsend Act.

Later career

After Adam-12, Milner starred as Karl Robinson in a television series version of The Swiss Family Robinson (1975-1976), produced by Irwin Allen. Most of his following work was as a television guest star, including action-adventure series MacGyver (as James MacGyver, MacGyver's father), Airwolf, Murder, She Wrote and RoboCop: The Series. In 1983, Milner hosted a morning radio wake-up show on AM 600 KOGO, San Diego.

Milner also portrayed the victim in the premiere episode of Columbo titled "Murder by the Book". In 1990, Milner teamed up again with Kent McCord in the cable TV-movie Nashville Beat (1990), originally shown on the now-defunct The Nashville Network. The story, partly written by McCord, had McCord as an LAPD detective who teams up with his old partner, Milner, in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1992, he guest-starred on five episodes of ABC's Life Goes On. After retiring from acting, Milner co-hosted a radio show about fishing called "Let's Talk Hook-Up" on San Diego-area sports station XETRA AM 690 (now XEWW). In 1998, Milner decided to pay an homage of sorts to the series which made him a star, Route 66, with the documentary film Route 66: Return to the Road With Martin Milner, which featured Milner in a 1961 Corvette on a journey from Chicago to Santa Monica on the highway.

Personal life and death

In May 1956, Milner met singer and actress Judith Bess Jones at a Hollywood dinner party. They were married on February 23, 1957, in Waukegan, Illinois. They had four children.

In February 2003, Milner's eldest daughter Amy, who appeared in an episode of Adam 12, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She died in December 2004.

On September 6, 2015, Milner died of heart failure at his home in Carlsbad, California, at age 83. Milner's remains were cremated by Eternal Hills Memorial Park's mortuary in Oceanside, California.. His memorial service was held by law enforcement and community members six days later.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1947	Life with Father	John Day
1948	The Wreck of the Hesperus	Nathaniel
1949	The Green Promise	Joe - 4H Club Member	Uncredited
1949	Sands of Iwo Jima	Pvt. Mike McHugh
1950	Louisa	Bob Stewart
1950	Our Very Own	Bert
1951	Halls of Montezuma	Whitney
1951	Operation Pacific	Ens. Caldwell
1951	Fighting Coast Guard	Al Prescott
1951	I Want You	George Kress Jr.
1952	The Captive City	Phil Harding
1952	Belles on Their Toes	Al Lynch	Uncredited
1952	My Wife's Best Friend	Buddy Chamberlain
1952	Springfield Rifle	Pvt. Olie Larsen
1952	Battle Zone	Corp. Andy Sayer
1952	Torpedo Alley	Undetermined Role	Unconfirmed / Uncredited
1953	Last of the Comanches	Billy Creel
1953	Destination Gobi	Elwood Halsey
1954	Dial M for Murder	Policeman Outside Wendice Flat	Uncredited
1955	The Long Gray Line	Jim O'Carberry	Uncredited
1955	Mister Roberts	Shore Patrol Officer
1955	Francis in the Navy	W.T. 'Rick' Rickson
1955	Pete Kelly's Blues	Joey Firestone
1956	On the Threshold of Space	Lt. Mort Glenn
1956	Navy Wife
1956	Screaming Eagles	Pvt. Corliss
1956	Pillars of the Sky	Waco
1957	Man Afraid	Shep Hamilton
1957	Desk Set	Bit Part	Uncredited
1957	Gunfight at the O.K. Corral	James Earp
1957	Sweet Smell of Success	Steve Dallas	Credited as Marty Milner
1958	Too Much, Too Soon	Lincoln Forrester
1958	Marjorie Morningstar	Wally Wronkin
1959	Compulsion	Sid Brooks
1960	The Private Lives of Adam and Eve	Ad Simms / Adam
1960	13 Ghosts	Benjamen Rush
1960	Sex Kittens Go to College	George Barton	Associate producer
1965	Zebra in the Kitchen	Dr. Del Hartwood
1966	Ski Fever	Brian Davis
1967	Valley of the Dolls	Mel Anderson
1968	Three Guns for Texas	Const. Clendon MacMillan
1975	The Swiss Family Robinson	Karl Robinson
1998	Route 66: Return to the Road with Martin Milner	Himself	Video Documentary

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	The Lone Ranger	Dick McHenry	"Pay Dirt"
1950-1951	The Stu Erwin Show	Drexel Potter	8 episodes
1951	The Bigelow Theatre	T.K.O.	Episode: "T.K.O."
1952-1955	Dragnet	Stephen Banner	6 episodes
1953-1957	The Life of Riley	Bruce Don Marshall	4 episodes
1954-1955	Schlitz Playhouse of Stars	Various roles	2 episodes
1955	The Great Gildersleeve	Brick	Episode: "Water Commissioner's Water Color"
1956	NBC Matinee Theater	Various roles	2 episodes
1956	TV Reader's Digest	US Army Recruit	Episode: "The Old, Old Story"
1956	The Charles Farrell Show		Episode: "Love and Kisses"
1956	Telephone Time		Episode: "The Churchill Club"
1956	Science Fiction Theatre	Britt	Episode: "Three Minute Mile"
1956	Crossroads	Charles Mitchell	2 episodes
1956	Navy Log	Monk Jacob	"Incident at Formosa"
1956-1957	The West Point Story	Various roles	2 episodes
1958	Wagon Train	Matt Trumbell	Episode: "The Sally Potter Story"
1958-1959	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse	Various roles	2 episodes
1958-1959	The Millionaire	Various roles	2 episodes
1959	Rawhide	Johnny Doan	Episode: "Incident with an Executioner"
1959	Playhouse 90		Episode: "Judgment at Nuremberg"
1959	Steve Canyon	Sgt. Ernest Bigelow	Episode: "Operation Firebee"
1959	Hotel de Paree	Pat Williams	Episode: "Vein of Ore"
1959	U.S. Marshal	Deputy Bob Baxter	Episode: "Trigger Happy"
1960	The Twilight Zone	Paul Grinstead	Episode: "Mirror Image"
1960-1964	Route 66	Tod Stiles	116 episodes
1965	Memorandum for a Spy		Television film
1965	Starr, First Baseman	Joe Starr	Television film
1965	Slattery's People	State Representative Scott Fleming	Episode: "Question: What's a Requiem for a Loser?"
1965	Gidget	Kahuna	Episode: "The Great Kahuna"
1965	Laredo	Clendon MacMillan	Episode: "Yahoo"
1965-1966	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Various roles	3 episodes
1965-1966	The Virginian	Various roles	2 episodes
1966	A Man Called Shenandoah	Neal Henderson	Episode: "Requiem for the Second"
1966	12 O'Clock High	Maj. Dimscek	Episode: "Six Feet Under"
1967	The Rat Patrol	Sgt. Roberts	Episode: "The Wild Goose Raid"
1967	Run for Your Life	Various roles	2 episodes
1967	Felony Squad	Thomas Glynn	Episode: "Hit and Run, Run, Run"
1967	Insight	Sherm	Episode: "Fat Hands and a Diamond Ring"
1968	Land's End	Eric	Television film
1968	Dragnet	Officer Pete Malloy	Episode: "Internal Affairs: DR-20"
1968-1975	Adam-12	Officer Pete Malloy	174 episodes
1971	Columbo	Jim Ferris	Episode: "Murder by the Book"
1971	The D.A.	Officer Pete Malloy	Episode: "The People vs. Saydo"
1972-1976	Emergency!	Officer Pete Malloy	3 episodes
1973	Runaway!	John Shedd	Television film
1974	Hurricane	Maj. Hymie Stoddard	Television film
1975-1976	The Swiss Family Robinson	Karl Robinson	20 episodes
1976	Flood!	Paul Burke	Television film
1977	SST: Death Flight	Lyle Kingman	Television film
1977	Police Story	Grady Dolin	Episode: "Stigma"
1978	Black Beauty	Tom Gray	Miniseries
1978	Little Mo	Wilbur Folsom	Television film
1979	Crisis in Mid-Air	Dr. Denvers	Television film
1979	The Last Convertible	Sergeant Dabric	Miniseries
1979	The Seekers	Philip Kent	Television film
1980	The Littlest Hobo	Don Porter	Episode: "Sailing Away"
1981	Fantasy Island	Various roles	2 episodes
1981	The Ordeal of Bill Carney	Peter Belton	Television movie
1984	Masquerade		Episode: "Winnings"
1985	Airwolf	Arthur Barnes	Episode: "Severance Pay"
1985-1996	Murder, She Wrote	Various roles	5 episodes
1988	MacGyver	Coach Turk Donner	Episode: "Thin Ice"
1989	Nashville Beat	Captain Brian O'Neal	Television movie
1990	MacGyver	James MacGyver	Episode: "Passages"
1992	Life Goes On	Harris Cassidy	5 episodes
1994	RoboCop: The Series	Russell Murphy	2 episodes
1997	Diagnosis: Murder	Detective Halloran	Episode: "Murder Blues", (final appearance)