To Absent Friends: Book 'em, Danno!

October has not been kind to the, dare I say it, "iconic" TV stars of a bygone era. Earlier this month, we said good-bye to Barbara Billingsley of "Leave It To Beaver" fame, and, just a few days later, "Happy Days'"Tom Bosley. Today I open the obit page in the PG and see that the Grim Reaper has now claimed James MacArthur who played second banana Danny Williams to Jack Lord's Steve McGarrett on "Hawaii Five-O."

MacArther was the last surviving major cast member of the original Five-O troop, and I had read that the producers of the new version of the series wanted very badly to get him to do a cameo role of some kind on the show. Alas, that won't happen now.

While I am sure it wasn't intended to happen this way, the terse line of Steve McGarrett at the end of each show, "Book 'em, Danno", become a national catch phrase that stayed in the lexicon long after the show went off the air in 1980. Hey, it is one on Mike Lange's many famous catch phrases when a Penguin scores a goal. In trying to forge a new identity for the new show, the current producers struggled with whether or not Alex O'Laughlin's McGarrett should tell Scott Caan's Williams to "book 'em, Danno." In the end, they knew that they just HAD to have McGarrett utter these lines in the new series, but they are doing with a bit of a comic twist that I rather enjoy when watching the new Five-O.

It is also fairly well know, and it was noted in the obit, that MacArthur comes from famous adoptive parents: playwright Charles MacArthur and the legendary Helen Hayes. What the obit did not note was that James MacArthur was also married (not sure if the marriage was still in tact) to an actress from a short-lived but rather legendary sitcom of the 1960's. anyone care to tell the reading audience who that was and what role she played?

So, Rest in Peace, James McArthur, and always remember to Book 'em, Danno!