Daniel J. Travanti Movies

A Case of Libel was adapted from the 1953 Broadway play by Henry Denker. The story was inspired by the real-life courtroom battle between journalists Quentin Reynolds and Westbrook Pegler. Gordon Pinsent plays a liberal news correspondent who has performed heroically in World War II. Nonetheless, he is characterized as a drunkard and a Communist sympathizer by ultraconservative columnist Daniel J. Travanti. With the help of brilliant attorney Edward Asner (based on the actual case's Louis Nizer), Pinsent brings a libel suit against Travanti. The climax, in which Travanti is tripped up by his own contradictory writings, was in reality based on a small portion of the Reynolds/Pegler litigation, but it provides a satisfactory "sauce for the goose" third act. A Case of Libel had previously been adapted for television in 1969, with Jose Ferrer and Arthur Hill in the cast. The later version premiered October 17, 1983 on the Showtime Cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This 1982 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Daniel J. Travanti and features musical guest John Cougar. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide

Things get personal for Lt. Kojak (Telly Savalas) when an undercover cop is found murdered, gangland style. Figuratively tossing the rule book out the window, Kojak sets his sights on bringing elusive crime boss Franco "Six Bits" Donatello (Harold J. Stone) to justice. Actress Diana Hyland, whose stellar career was tragically cut short by cancer one year after "A Grave Too Soon" first aired on March 7, 1976, plays a key role in this final episode of Kojak's third season. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Future Newhart costar Mary Frann is cast as female FBI Agent Pat Driscoll. Inspector Lewis Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is on the trail of a serial killer whose victims have all been members of the same college sorority. Inasmuch as Pat Driscoll is a former member of the benighted sorority, she agrees to set herself up as bait to trap the elusive psycho. This episode was directed by series regular Phillip Abbott. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Police detective Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) returns to finds himself in hot water with the police over his acceptance of help from a neighborhood anti-drug group. The group has done some things which are far from textbook legal, such as stealing and destroying a large shipment of drugs. Though they pulled off their robbery without loss of life, a corpse is found at the scene of the heist. Tibbs, now suspended from the force, uses their help to string together clues which enable him to break up a large drug ring. This is the third movie made starring Poitier and based on John Bail's novels In The Heat of the Night and They Call Me Mister Tibbs. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) gets to show off his tennis prowess when he goes undercover to end the criminal activities of suave racketeer John Harris (Joseph Campanella). The elusive Harris has ordered the killing of a Federal agent, and Erskine hopes to trap the man into incriminating himself. Meanwhile, Harris' paid assassin prepares to eliminate the only witness to the killing, a lonely teenage girl named Barbara (Brooke Bundy). Featured in a villainous role is future Hill Street Blues star Daniel J. Travanti, here billed as "Dan Travanty." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Shot on location in Manhattan during the mid-'60s, Who Killed Teddy Bear? is a startling piece of dramatic filmmaking. Juliet Prowse portrays Nora, a deejay and hostess at a sleazy midtown discothèque who starts to receive obscene phone calls. Nora dismisses them, until she crosses paths with Bill Madden (Jan Murray), a grim, obsessive police lieutenant specializing in sex crimes (his obsession, as he later reveals, derives from the fact that his own wife was assaulted and murdered while out alone one night); he manages both to offend and frighten Nora with his depth of knowledge and suspicions about the kinds of people who commit those crimes. They develop a close but wary relationship even as the caller, whoever he is, proves to know not only a great deal about her personal life, but also about events transpiring right inside her apartment. She goes about her life as best she can, attending auditions and making the rounds of theaters, and socializing with her co-workers at the club, including the bus boy, Larry (Sal Mineo), who seems lonely and has a very sweet younger sister who is mildly retarded. She looks to her club manager (Elaine Stritch) for help, but then rejects her when she suspects that the older woman is attracted to her -- and then Stritch is killed by the stalker, by mistake, outside Nora's building when she is seen wearing the girl's coat. Nora tries to relax and looks to Larry for friendship, only to discover that he is the stalker. Madden also makes the connection, and figures out how he was observing her inside her apartment, but he's too late to save Nora from being assaulted. Larry ends up on the run from the police, who are in hot pursuit as he flees through Manhattan's streets. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide