Space Cadet
Briefing:

Space Reports II

Chuck Lassen at W.F.F. '99	Space Ranger On Leave	Return to Part I

A Meeting with JAN MERLIN

Williamsburg, VA Western Film Festival

February 25 - 27, 1999

Chuck Lassen

When I learned about Jan Merlin's upcoming appearance at this film festival, I made up my mind to attend, since it was only a short plane trip for me, and I wanted to meet the friendly man with whom I had been corresponding, exchanging "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet" memories. (Several others and I had been keeping him briefed on the development of the "Tom Corbett" sections on the "Roaring Rockets" and "Solar Guard" web sites for quite some time.) My SpacE-mail friends Ed Pippin and Jack McKirgan II agreed it would be fun to meet each other, as well as Jan, face to face, and so it was done.

I first met Jan on the morning of the first day of the Festival at breakfast in the hotel. I heard his unmistakable voice as he entered the dining room with his wife, Barbara, and as he passed my table, he smiled and said hello, not knowing that I was his "pen pal." What a warm reception he gave me when I introduced myself! I thought he would never let go of my hand! We exchanged pleasantries for a while, and then he invited me to his table to meet Barbara, who is a gracious and friendly lady. She told me that they had recently purchased an iMac computer and were struggling through the beginning stages of learning how to use it. I was pleasantly surprised, because Jan had said several times that he had been fighting the technological age by refusing to own a computer. They don't have an Internet connection yet, but I'm hoping they will soon, after they feel more comfortable with operating the computer. It would be great to have him participating in the Space Opera sites that we regularly haunt.

This was a western film festival, and Jan was appearing because of his hundreds of "bad guy" roles in a wide variety of cowboy films and TV shows. Other western stars appearing were John Mitchum, Peter Boone (son of Richard Boone), Ben Cooper, James Best (Dukes of Hazzard), and Peter Breck (The Big Valley).

When not appearing in scheduled activities, Jan spent most of his time at his table in the dealers' room, signing autographs and visiting with "cowboys" and "space cadets" alike. It was obvious from his friendly enthusiasm that he really enjoyed interacting with the fans. He autographed the "Tom Corbett" memorabilia that we had brought with us, including a great "Aw, go blow your jets!" inscription on my original old Tom Corbett binoculars!

It was most enjoyable to attend the several panel discussions, where all the stars informally recalled memories of early broadcast and film-making days, old friendships with other stars, the "fun" of doing live TV drama, and answered questions from the floor.

Several audio clips of radio shows were played, including a "Tom Corbett" script, where Jan as "Roger Manning" was having a disagreement with the other cadets, ending in his classic "Aw, go blow your jets!" retort. That brought a hardy round of applause and laughter from the entire audience, cowboy fans included-- it appeared that they were all familiar with Jan's "Space Cadet" role that preceded his work in western films.

Someone asked how Jan felt about playing mostly villain roles-- he "died" on screen probably more times than any other actor-- and he said he loved it. It gave him a chance to "stir the plot and the emotions" of the audience. He felt that playing the straight hero role was the least fun of all, for it is the villain that brings excitement and interest to the story.

Toward the end of the last panel discussion, Jan thanked all his fans in a most wonderful way, telling us how much it meant to him to have so many people with him who remember and appreciate his career. He said the most enjoyable part of his job was the pleasure of entertaining people, and the relationships he established in the process. "There are even some guys here who remember old 'Roger Manning' from the 'Space Cadet' shows-- they're all grown-up men now-- but why they liked and still remember that character, I'm not sure. He was kind of nasty. Maybe it was the way he would always get away with pulling a 'fast one,' but even at that, when the trouble got serious, Roger was loyal to his teammates and they always pulled together in that tight bond of friendship." It was a nice, "feel good" speech-- Jan was given a heartfelt round of applause from everyone in the room.

We were sitting with our wives in the lobby, waiting for the closing banquet to start. Jan came along, all smiles, shook our hands, patted us on our backs, and gave Ed Pippin a big bear hug! I thought he was about to lift poor Ed a foot off the ground!

I'll never forget his parting words-- "You guys revived it! You revived it!!!"

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ROGER AT WILLIAMSURG (Click on a star to see the image.)

Jan Merlin meets an old fan--Chuck Lassen.

Jan Merlin proudly displays his multi-colored courderoy Western-style trousers.

The "Polaris II Crew" with crew hats made especially for this meeting--L to R, Chuck Lassen, Jack McKirgan II, Jan Merlin, and Ed Pippin.

One of the daily panel discussions-- L to R-- Jan Merlin, Peter Boone, James Best, John Mitchum.

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SPACE RANGER ON LEAVE

[Space Ranger Mike Elmo and Spousal Sidekick took off for the summer of 2001 on a dream trip to California, where he met old friend and famous collector Bob Burns and took a tour of Burns' incredible museum of movie- and TV-related props, models, art and what have you (see the recent book IT CAME FROM BOB'S BASEMENT), then went in Space Ranger uniform to Griffith Park Observatory, familiar to anyone who has ever seen serials like PHANTOM EMPIRE or TV programs like (what else?) ROCKY JONES, SPACE RANGER, and furthermore got to meet for a long lunch with Jan Merlin and Frankie Thomas. Here's his breathless account of this amazing voyage. Wish we had been there! Mike's enthusiasm is quite contagious, as you can see from this punctuation!!!!!!]

Greetings, Cadets!

For our 25th Wedding Anniversary, I and my wife Kim took a trip to Las Vegas for a week. But, the best part of our trip was, we took a two-day side trip to Burbank, Ca. to visit our dear friends, Bob and Kathy Burns. While at the Burns', we were joined by our chum, Dan Roebuck, of U.S. MARSHALS fame, and the five of us took a short trip to the Griffith Observatory, where many of the outdoor shots were made for the ROCKY JONES SPACE RANGER series. I wore my two Space Ranger uniforms and we posed for many fun and exciting pictures! We all had a real rocket blast of a time there, running all over the Observatory taking photos and getting into trouble! What FUN!! Some Japanese tourists even wanted their pictures taken with me, go figure!?!? Afterwards, we were musing that this may have been the first time that a Space Ranger was seen at the Observatory since the R.J. Series was filmed! It must have given the Old Timers a real start!

Later, we were back at Bob and Katy's Museum where I was treated to a thrill and a half. Bob let me wear Richard Crane's actual dress tunic! WOW!! I was blown away!! But, what really surprised me was that I am larger then Dick Crane! I am 5 foot, 9 inches and about 195 lbs. Mr. Crane was about 5 foot, 6 or 7 inches and only about 155 lbs. So, I really had to control my breathing, so not to split Dick's Dress Tunic right down the center of the back! But still, a real thrill, to put on one of your childhood Hero's uniforms! Also, Bob let me try on one of the Space Patrol Space Suits! Another blast!! But, Bob and Kim said I looked best in the Robot Monster Helmet! What Fun!! To be able to pretend I was a real Space Hero!! Or maybe Robot Monster.... "Not Hu-Man, but Ro-Man!"

On Wednesday, we were invited to Jan and Barbara Merlin's for a nice light lunch! There, we were also joined by Frankie Thomas. Talk about an "A" List! WOW!! Kim and I were treated to hours of wonderful conversations!! Bob, Frankie and Jan were chatting away about all aspects of the business, both in Hollywood and New York. Talk about being a bug on the wall!! We were treated to the real skinny on lots of Celebs in Tinsel Town!! Makes you wonder how some of these people ever became "Stars" without tripping over their giant egos and hurting themselves! But, you can't say that about our Heroes!! They are good, down-to-Earth folks, despite their years in the far reaches of space! It's just too bad that we all live so far apart! Kim and I could hang with these wonderful people all the time!! But, we were very, very grateful for the time that we did spend with them! Kim and I can't wait 'til February 2002 rolls around, so we can, once again, be re-united with our Space Cadet Friends at the Williamsburg convention.

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SPACE RANGER MIKE ELMO MEETS HIS HEROES. (Click on a star to see the image.)

Bob Burns (7/2001).

Jan Merlin (7/2001).

Frankie Thomas (7/2001).

Jan, Bob and Frankie in Jan's back yard.

Space Ranger Mike Elmo in one of the space suits and helmets used on SPACE PATROL circa 1952.

Space Ranger Mike Elmo with one of the space suits used in TOM CORBETT, SPACE CADET. Just as Jan Merlin told us, they were pink! [The idea of vivid space suit colors goes back to DESTINATION MOON (1950). By the way, the various colors of the Discovery's space suits in 2001 (1968) were the same as those shown in DESTINATION MOON!]

Mike models the Ro-Man helmet used in the film ROBOT MONSTER. The Ro-Man, for unknown reasons, wore a gorilla suit rather than a space suit, you may recall!

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