Edward Byrnes Movies

Season Five of Adam-12 gets under way with a typical Jack Webb-style scrutinization of the community-relations activities of the LA County Police Department. While going about their goodwill rounds, Officers Jim Reed (Kent McCord) and Pete Malloy (Martin Milner) encounter some bad will from a gang of purse-snatching motorcyclists. The episode concludes with a tense cycle race between Malloy and a would-be Brando named Skinner, played by former 77 Sunset Strip costar Edd Byrnes. And yes, that is ex-"Monkee" Micky Dolenz as Skinner's toadying sidekick. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello not only starred in the delightfully "retro" Back to the Beach, but also served as executive producers. Appropriately set 25 years after such drive-in faves as Beach Blanket Bingo, the film finds Frankie and Annette as husband and wife, living far from the surf 'n' sand in Ohio. Heading to California to visit their daughter Lori Loughlin, Frankie and Annette are appalled to learn that she has been keeping time with punker Tommy Hinkley. In time-honored fashion, our hero and heroine set about to make the beach safe for funlovers everywhere by driving out Hinkley's unsavory pals. Along the way, Frankie nearly bollixes up his marriage by dallying with Connie Stevens-one of several pop-culture icons appearing in Back to the Beach, including Don Adams, Bob Denver, Jerry Mathers, Tony Dow, Dick Dale & the Del-Tones , Stevie Ray Vaughan, and even Pee-wee Herman! Back to the Beach is fun for a while, but its six-person writing team can't figure out a logical way to wind it all up. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

James Garner stars as WWII hero Major William Darby in this characteristically gusty William Wellman combat film. Darby organizes a highly-trained group of rangers, to be deployed in behind-the-lines activities in Italy and Northern Africa. The first portion of the film details the training, with time out for a few comic and romantic interludes; the second part shows Darby's Rangers in full, ferocious action. In addition to Garner, Warner Bros. used Darby's Rangers to spotlight another of its TV stars, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes; Bill Wellman Jr. also shows up in the supporting role of Eli Clatworthy. The film was adapted from the book by Major James Altieri. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Anthony Perkins stars as troubled baseball great Jimmy Piersall in Fear Strikes Out. Based on Piersall's shattering tell-all autobiography, the film traces Jimmy's ascent from the sandlots of Waterbury, CT, to the Boston Red Sox, with his domineering father (Karl Malden) pushing the boy beyond all reasonable limits. Unable to withstand the pressure, Piersall suffers a nervous breakdown and is confined to a mental institution. Through a long period of therapy, Jimmy realizes that he has excelled in baseball not for his own gratification but to please his father. This film was preceded by a 1956 TV version starring Tab Hunter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Grease," said the poster and the Barry Gibb song, "is the word." Transferring its setting from Chicago to sunny California, and adding a dash of disco to the ersatz '50s score, producer Allan Carr and director Randal Kleiser turned this long-running Jim Jacobs - Warren Casey Broadway smash into the biggest blockbuster of 1978. 1950s teens Danny (John Travolta) and Australian transfer Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) spend their "Summer Nights" falling in love, but once fall comes, it's back to Rydell High and its cliques. As one of the bad boy T-Birds, Danny has to act cool for best pal Kenickie (Jeff Conaway) and their leather-clad mates Sonny (Michael Tucci) and Doody (Barry Pearl, in the role Travolta played on stage). Despite befriending Frenchy (Didi Conn), one of the rebel Pink Ladies, virginal Sandy is "too pure to be Pink," as the Ladies' leader Rizzo (Stockard Channing) acidly observes. Declaring their devotion in such ballads as "Hopelessly Devoted to You" and "Sandy," Sandy and Danny split, reconcile, and split again amidst a pep rally, dances, drive-ins, and a drag race, before deciding "You're the One That I Want" at the climactic carnival. With Travolta white-hot from Saturday Night Fever (1977), Grease soundtrack singles climbed the charts and summer movie crowds poured in. With the presence of Joan Blondell, Eve Arden, Sid Caesar, Edd "Kookie" Byrnes and Frankie Avalon appealing to grown-up memories, Grease became the highest grossing film of 1978, the highest grossing movie musical ever, and the third most popular film of the new blockbuster '70s after Star Wars (1977) and Jaws (1975). Its sequel, Grease 2, did not exactly set the world on fire in 1982. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide

Life Begins at 17 in this all-too-typical example of the "art" of quickie producer Sam Katzman. Plain little Carol Peck (Luana Anders) is wooed by arrogant punk Russ Lippincott (Mark Damon). What Carol doesn't know is that Russ is only interested in her knockout older sister Elaine (Dorothy Johnson). When she finds out she's being used, Carol exacts a typically feminine means of revenge ("typical" by 1950s B-movies, that is). Meanwhile, Elaine finds happiness with true-blue boyfriend Jim (Edd "Kookie" Byrnes). Ann Doran, who played James Dean's mother in Rebel Without a Cause, does same for the two heroines of Life Begins at 17. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Marjorie Morgenstern (Natalie Wood) is an 18-year-old, middle-class, Jewish girl from New York who wants nothing more than to be an actress, despite the hopes and wishes of her parents (Everett Sloane and Claire Trevor) that she graduate from college, marry, and settle down to have a family. At the urging of her more worldly friend Marsha Zelenko (Carolyn Jones), she takes a job at an upstate camp, and, one night when sneaking onto the grounds of a neighboring resort, meets and falls wildly in love with the entertainment director, Noel Airman (Gene Kelly). A Lothario with a gift of song as well as dance, Airman romances Marjorie and tries to teach her something of theater, suggesting that she change her name to Marjorie Morningstar, which she does. He intends to enjoy her company for the summer, until her aging uncle Samson (Ed Wynn), who is also working at the resort, tells him of the family's concerns for the girl. Noel and Marjorie end up linked romantically, despite their best efforts to stay away from each other. Marjorie gives up a potential romance with a slightly older, successful doctor (Martin Balsam) and resists the honest entreaties of Airman's assistant, Wally Wronken (Martin Milner), and tries to get Airman to straighten up and fly right; she can't get her own acting career off the ground, but she owns Airman's heart. Instead of biding his time at writing a musical that he's been working at for four years, and spending his summers working in the Catskills, Noel tries to work in the advertising world -- he also finds himself just as troubled by the stable family life and religious life that Marjorie comes from as he is attracted to her personally. He is also bitterly disturbed by the fact that his one-time assistant Wally Wronken is now a successful Broadway playwright, the darling of critics and audiences, with backers eager to sign checks to produce his work. Unable to pursue a life in business, or remain faithful to Marjorie, he reaches a crisis point from which only she can rescue him -- together they try to build a life and he tries to finish his long-gestating masterpiece, which proves a disaster when it gets to Broadway. Noel abandons Marjorie, and when she goes to find him, Wally warns her off, explaining that Noel has to return to a place where he can feel successful, like the Catskills resort where they met, where he can be the big fish in the tiny pond. Her marriage over and her girlish ideals behind her, she sees Noel back in his element, wowing young acting students with his skills, and finally turns to the one man who has loved her for precisely who she is all along, Wally. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

An urban legend comes to life in this episode, as Bret Maverick (James Garner) offers a ride on his buckboard to a hauntingly beautiful young woman named Mary Shane (Joanna Barnes). After making several pointed comments about a local undertaker who is trafficking in stolen goods, the woman abruptly disappears--and when Bret goes to look for her the next day, he is told that Mary Shane has been dead for at least a week. Featured in the cast is a newcomer to the Warner Bros. stable, Edd Byrnes, who would soon rise to fame as the relentlessly hip "Kookie" on 77 Sunset Strip. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Having been summoned Westward by a letter from her husband, who claims to have a valuable silver mine, Linda Harris (Erin O'Brien) arrives to find that she is now a widow. Enlisting the aid of Bret Maverick (James Garner), Linda embarks upon a perilous journey through Indian territory in search of her late husband's mine. Taking refuge from an Indian attack, Bret and Linda find themselves trapped in a way station with the Fallon family--who turn out to be the same outlaws who murdered Linda's husband, and are now determined to trick her into leading them to the silver (and of course bump her off as well). This episode is based on "That Packsaddle Affair", a short story by celebrated Western author Louis L'Amour. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Jessica (Angela Lansbury) shows up on Wall Street, there to make her very first personal investment in the stock market. As inevitably as night follows day, Jessica's stockbroker promptly turns up murdered. The police figure that the dead man's secretary is the culprit...but as usual, Jessica doesn't take stock (ouch!) in the conventional wisdom, and sets out to find the real murderer on her own. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

When Confederate Army regulars take to robbery and murder, a bounty hunter masquerades as a Southern sympathizer to join the renegades. Led by Colonel Blake (Guy Madison), the group terrorizes the border between Texas and Mexico, striking fear into the hearts of people in both countries. Stuart (Ed Byrnes) risks his life by joining up with the gang in order to bring the killers to justice and collect on the reward money in this violent spaghetti western ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

In an episode clearly based on a well-documented event in the life of comedian Richard Pryor, Roger Miller guest stars as JJ Chandler, a country-western entertainer whose act is rife with "humorous" drug references. But no one is laughing when, while freebasing cocaine between shows, Chandler sets himself afire and is nearly killed. In his efforts to get past the wall of silence erected around Chandler by his friends and handlers, Quincy (Jack Klugman) tackles the greater challenge of curbing wholesale drug use in the entertainment industry--and somewhere along the line, manages to find time to propose to his sweetheart Emily (Anita Gillette). Featured in the pivotal role of Ginger Reeves is a young actress named Kelly Palzis, better known in later years as Kelly Preston. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this western a good-hearted fur trader finds himself embroiled in a Sioux revolt after some European men took one of their women hostage. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide