The name of Dwayne Hickman won’t mean much to British TV
viewers, but in America Dwayne was a superstar, thanks to his role as the title
character in The Many Loves of Dobie
Gillis.
Running from 1959 until 1963 (but available in syndication ever
since), Dobie Gillis was the first American television programme from a
major network to feature teenagers as leading characters; previously, teenagers
were only ever portrayed as supporting characters in a family story. Dobie
Gillis also broke new ground by depicting the rising teenage
counterculture, although even then many of the portrayals were highly stereotypical,
the teenage tough, the long-haired beatnik and so on. Still, the show was a
huge hit, and co-star Bob Denver, who played Dobie’s best friend, Maynard Krebs,
would go on to play Gilligan on the phenomenally successful Gilligan’s Island. It did not matter
that the actor playing the teenage Dobie was 25 when the series started, and
close on 30 when it finished.
Before landing the starring role in Dobie Gillis, Dwayne had featured (as Chuck) in another hit sitcom,
The Bob Cummings Show. Chuck was the
break-out character of the series (much like Maynard Krebs would prove to be),
and a big hit with the younger viewers. So what do you do when you have a hit
on your hands? Why, you drag him (or her) in to a TV studio to cut some
recordings, of course!
Dwayne’s first brush with pop fame came courtesy of the faux-rock
n’ roll 45 School Dance, backed with
Pretty Baby-O. It’s not the worse
cash-in you’ll ever hear, but it is fairly appalling. The horrible, screeching
backing vocalist do their best to drown Dwayne out, but his flat delivery wins
through. Reviewed by Billboard in
March 1958, they thought it would be a hit. Sadly, it wasn’t.
Not that that would upset Dwayne much, for within a year of
issuing his first disc he was a bone fide star with his own television show.
And what do you do when you’re the producer of a hit TV show with a popular and
attractive young man in the starring role on your hands? Why, you drag him in
to a TV studio to cut some more recordings, of course! The resultant album, Dobie, finds our Dwayne strolling
through a few ineffectual slices of pre-beat boom pop, nothing great and nothing
too offensive. Nothing that reached the heights (or plumbs the depths) of his
debut.
After Dobie Gillis,
Dwayne went on to star in the cult movies How to Stuff a Wild Bikini and Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine
with Frankie Avalon and Vincent Price. More recently he popped up as a
guest star on episodes of shows including Sister,
Sister and Murder She Wrote. Dwayne
is also a talented artist, and had been offering his own paintings for sale on
his website, although sadly that does not appear to have been updated for a
number of years.
Enjoy!
Download SCHOOL here
Download PRETTY here
Hickman talks about this in his bio; he was fairly horrified by having to record this stuff....there are a couple episodes of Dobie that push his singing, and he looks embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis was a very funny show --well-written, smart. Very ahead of its time.
ReplyDeleteTuesday Weld and Warren Beatty had recurring supporting roles.
the singing is pretty awful... seemes so contrived and pandering to the young audience . but really bad music and the lyrics are ridiculous. perhaps it could have been better ..bu i guess it was 1960 and before the beatles and all the britich invasion ... really be bop ish but way too corney ...lol i love the show and it was way ahead of it time and very well written and the acting is so good ... in most cases . some great people .. tuesday was out of this world .. not just her looks but so great in her acting .. beyond good .. her acting was great ... well for some weird reason she was let go .. i heard it was that shr was a little too good and sexy .. for sponsers .. well today she woulg be tame .. bur she did go on to better things .. warren also went on too .but i believe she was exceptional .
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