Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, December 24, 1994 TAG: 9412290034
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: 7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUSAN KING LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Medium
Hickman became part of pop culture playing the typical girl-crazy teen in the 1958-63 comedy series ``The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis.'' Audiences adored the zany escapades of Dobie; his good friend, the far-out beatnik Maynard G. Krebs (Bob Denver); and Zelda Gilroy (Sheila James Kuehl, recently elected to the California State Assembly), the brainy, rather plain teen-ager who wanted to marry Dobie.
``The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis'' was introduced to a new generation recently when Nick at Nite aired the series.
In Hickman's new anecdote-laden autobiography ``Forever Dobie: The Many Lives of Dwayne Hickman'' (Birch Lance Press, $20), which he co-wrote with his wife, Joan Roberts Hickman, fans will discover there's a lot more to the actor than Dobie Gillis. In fact, he's almost had as many lives as a cat.
Hickman, 60, the younger brother of actor Darryl Hickman, began his career 54 years ago as an extra in the John Ford classic ``The Grapes of Wrath.''
``I started as a 6-year-old,'' says Hickman, who comes across just as nice as Dobie Gillis. ``I think I worked two days. I know I made $21. I don't remember it very well. My brother had a big role in that, he played one of the Joads. I was always growing up around the studios.''
In the '50s he became a teen idol, thanks to his roles as Chuck in the sitcom ``The Bob Cummings Show'' and his debut as ``Dobie Gillis.''
After ``Dobie'' left the air, Hickman went into motion pictures, appearing in ``Cat Ballou'' and low-budget flicks such as ``Ski Party.'' When roles began to dwindle in the '70s, Hickman gave up acting and managed a Las Vegas resort; he also spent several years as a CBS executive. Recently, he has been a director and has written scripts with his wife. Hickman, who has a 30-year-old son, is also the proud dad of a 2-year-old son.
Hickman has plenty of stories to tell in his book, such as the time he accidentally used John Wayne's dressing room on the set of the 1944 movie ``Tall in the Saddle''; his ill-fated attempt to ask Tuesday Weld, who played the beautiful Thalia on ``Dobie Gillis,'' out on a date; his working relationship with the rather quirky Bob Cummings and why the network dyed his hair blond for the first season of ``Dobie.''
Hickman also talks about the state of television today, laying out his opinion that TV was superior in the '50s and '60s.
``It sounds like I'm prejudiced to the old days, but each show had its own individual personality. Today it is, like, all the same. There is so much input from the networks and studios. The scripts on `Dobie' and on `Bob Cummings' were tight. They had been thought about and worked on. Changes were really minor. A staff of 12 writers [today] is often not as good as one writer.''
by CNB