Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 8, 1994 TAG: 9401210009
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACKIE HYMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
In the crime drama, shot in the streets where he grew up, Conrad plays a man he might have been - a steelworker. Part of the movie was shot inside a nearby steel mill that Conrad jokingly calls ``Carnegie Tech.''
``It was kind of interesting for me as an actor, and as a human being,'' said Conrad, known for playing feisty characters in such series as ``Wild, Wild West'' and ``Hawaiian Eye.''
The movie, airing Friday (at 9 p.m. on WSLS-Channel 10), is a sequel to 1985's ``Two Fathers' Justice,'' in which Conrad and George Hamilton played fathers whose children became engaged, only to be murdered on the eve of their wedding.
Hamilton's wealthy businessman and Conrad's scrappy ex-Marine joined forces to catch the killer. In the sequel, the killer escapes from prison and the two must track him again.
``Two Fathers: Justice For the Innocent'' highlights the contrast between the suave Hamilton and the blue-collar Conrad, a difference that Conrad said exists in real life, as well as on screen.
``The writers should follow us and write what we do off-camera,'' Conrad said. ``Even down to where we stayed in Chicago. I stayed at a nice hotel, and George stayed at the suite penthouse at the Ritz-Carlton.
``And when my elevator malfuctioned and I happened to be caught in it, so it made the local newspaper, George's remark was, `It figures. He's in a hotel that can't even do maintenance on the elevator.'''
Conrad, 58, who has nine children ranging in age from 6 to 40, ran into a former girlfriend who tends bar near the shooting location.
``She came up and said, `So Duke, hey, do you remember me?' We reminisced in front of her two very married older daughters. ... I looked at them kiddingly and I said, `Which is the older one? Because, you know, you're mine.' There was that moment of shock - it couldn't have been, I wasn't even in town then. ... Then everyone was counting on their fingers and realized that Mom was safe, that Duke was out of town - very out of town.''
The onetime amateur boxer worked as a laborer in Chicago, then moved to Hollywood and became a stuntman before landing parts on television.
One of his favorite roles was Col. Greg ``Pappy'' Boyington, whose World War II flying exploits were brought to life in the series ``Black Sheep Squadron.''
The late Boyington, who served as adviser to the show, became Conrad's role model. The actor developed an interest in flying and earned an advanced pilot's license that permits him to fly on instruments.
``I never visited the gravesite of anyone - my father and grandmother accidentally because they're buried next to a golf course and I hit into it - except Gregory Boyington at Arlington,'' Conrad said.
Conrad attributes the longevity of his acting career to developing his own projects.
During 1993, he also filmed a two-hour movie ``Search and Rescue,'' which may become an NBC series. He plays a helicopter pilot in a small Sierra town who helps rescue people stranded in the mountains.
``The bottom line is I'm a hustler,'' Conrad said. ``When the alarm goes off, my feet hit the floor. It's Round One. Round 10 isn't over until my head hits the pillow.''
Although he's had opportunities to play more offbeat, artistic roles, he has chosen to stick with the macho image his audience expects.
He recalled a TV pilot in which he played a policeman who cries after accidentally killing a child.
``It was tested. The needle went almost down to zero when I played this scene,'' he said. ``My daughter, Joan, she said, `Dad, it just isn't working. Not your performance - they just don't like to see you so vulnerable.'
``So I've kept my pain restrained when I offer it to the public in a performance. I feel that my obligation is to entertain the public. If they don't want me to cry, I won't cry.''
But Conrad is ready to explore new avenues in his personal life - learning to play the piano, taking college courses in finance, and spending more time with his younger children and six grandchildren (a seventh is due this month).
``I'm the Pied Piper,'' he said. ``I let them talk in the theater and I let them eat in the car. I've got M&Ms between the seats.''
by CNB