Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 22, 1995 TAG: 9504260015
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB THOMAS ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
But nearly 30 years since ``Burke's Law'' left the air, it comes to life again in another fashion - as a new television series.
While the other vintage series returned with new casts. ``Burke's Law'' is back with the original star, Gene Barry. At 73, he seems little changed as the millionaire L.A. cop who customarily is chauffeured to crime scenes in his Rolls-Royce.
A few lines on Barry's broad, handsome face, perhaps. But his sturdy presence and robust, Broadway-trained voice remain the same.
Barry stopped by for lunch at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel en route to Rancho Mirage. He and his wife Betty, whom he married when both were New York actors, have a desert home there in addition to their Beverly Hills residence.
Over Chinese chicken salad, Barry reminisced about his early years as a Paramount contract player. He remembered an 80th birthday party for company founder Adolph Zukor, at which Paramount President Barney Balaban expounded: ``We will never go into television.'' Barry added: ``And they didn't, not for years.''
Born Eugene Klass in New York City, Barry had a successful career in plays and musicals on Broadway before he signed a contract with Paramount in 1952. He appeared in six films, including the western musical ``Red Garters'' and the science fiction classic, ``The War of the Worlds.''
Unfortunately, Barry had arrived in Hollywood at the decline of the big studios, and he was cast adrift to free-lance. He did well, appearing with Clark Gable and Susan Hayward in ``Soldier of Fortune'' and ``Thunder Road'' with Robert Mitchum.
When a TV series ``Bat Masterson'' was offered, Barry was reluctant, believing the craze for westerns had faded. But he decided he could put a new twist on a legendary hero. He played Masterson much like Amos Burke: a lawman with a dandy's clothes and a gold-tipped cane who solved problems more with his wits than his gun.
``In those days [1959], if you went into television, that's where you stayed,'' he remarked. ``It was a generation later that actors were able to move from TV to movies. `Bat Masterson' changed my life in the way of fame and public acceptance. But after four seasons in TV, I had to go to England to find any movies.''
``Burke's Law'' (1963-1966) began as a segment of ``Dick Powell Theater,'' with Powell himself playing the role. When Powell became ill, Barry was offered the series.
Was Barry skeptical about the notion of a millionaire working as an LAPD detective?
``I had to believe it,'' he replied. ``I had to say, `Yes, why not? He's a bright man, he knows about stocks and bonds, and his grandmother died and left him a million dollars.' It again put me into the category of being a well-dressed guy. Bat Masterson was a dude. Burke was an elegant guy.''
To hype its last season in 1966, the show became ``Amos Burke, Secret Agent,'' the hero working for a U.S. intelligence agency. Afterward, Barry moved on to ``The Name of the Game'' (1968-1971), alternating with Tony Franciosa and Robert Stack. Barry made a British series, ``The Adventurer,'' and did a lot of theater, including ``La Cage Aux Folles'' on Broadway.
Two years ago, Barry received a call from TV tycoon Aaron Spelling, who had produced the original ``Burke's Law'' at Four Star.
``Aaron always loved the show; it literally started his career in television,'' Barry related. ``He said, `Gene, how would you like to do `Burke's Law' again?' I wasn't going to let another actor do the role, was I?''
Barry recounted the tortuous path of ``Burke's Law'' reborn: midseason replacement on CBS last year on Friday at 9 p.m, winning the time period; missing from the 1994-1995 schedule; finally in February scheduled in the Tuesday suicide slot at 10 opposite ``NYPD Blue''; back on Fridays this month.
``We have 13 shows that CBS hasn't aired yet,'' Barry said, ``and nine scripts that had been ordered, so that's a good sign.
``My son Michael and I have written some of the scripts. I was able to bring back some of the old flavor and feeling of the show. My scripts are a little funnier than the others; I think it's important for the quality of the show.''
Barry has filmed 27 hours of the series, and the role requires him to be in most of the scenes. Is that a little more work than he would like to undertake at this point in his life?
``Right now we're on hiatus,'' he said. ``If you had asked me this a couple of months ago, I would have said yeah, absolutely. You've got to realize that I thought I was going into a two-hour movie a couple of times a year. Now I'm back in a series again.''
by CNB