William Talman: Birthday Tribute

And so we arrive at another February 4th. This marks the 101st year since William Talman's birth. That is an impressive figure!

I think back on how and when I was first enchanted by William and his portrayal of Hamilton Burger. The first time I ever saw Perry, I was fascinated to see such an old series still airing in reruns. I was also intrigued to see that in general, the prosecuting attorney was always the same one. I loved continuity then as I do now.

And I loved Hamilton. I thought he made an excellent foil for Perry in court and I found him attractive to boot. As the show became a favorite in the house, I watched and discovered the intriguing friendship between Perry and Hamilton. Even in season 1, the first indications of it were there and I was riveted. That became my top reason for watching.

Thanks to Simon Oakland, I rediscovered my love of watching the series on what will be five years ago this year. Hamilton was every bit as wonderful as I had remembered, and as I re-watched old favorites and found new ones too, I ended up finding him even more amazing than before.

Of course the scripts had a lot to do with that, but no less important was William Talman's portrayal. Whenever I read a script, it usually feels flat all by itself. It's when you add the human element, the freshness that the actor brings in voice and tone and expressions and gestures, that everything comes alive. And did Hamilton ever come alive! With William Talman at the helm, the character leaped out of the pages of the script and became three-dimensional and real.

From Hamilton's first appearance in court in The Reluctant Redhead to his final apology in The Final Fadeout, there are over 200 episodes with Hamilton scenes. That's impressive by any show's standards! We can watch his battles with Perry in court, see their friendship grow out of court, and enjoy all the other great scenes that make up William Talman's screentime.

For me, taking William Talman out of the equation is unthinkable. His absence was the main reason why I was uninterested in the television movies until MeTV put them on right in front of me. Even then, after I wasn't that impressed with Perry Mason Returns, it took me a while to be interested in seeing any of the others. I do feel that they should be watched at least once; it is certainly a precious gift to see Raymond Burr and Barbara Hale together again. But they are not the entire series, only two key elements of it. Hamilton is another. And for me, canon Perry Mason is still the television series and only that, since there we have all key elements and the full amazing lineup of actors who brought them to life.

What a special and marvelous privilege we have had all these years to be able to enjoy this series and William's incredible contributions. It's even more wonderful when you realize that a lot of old British television shows were destroyed when they wanted to make room for other shows. Thank goodness that wasn't the case in America! Aside from many live anthology shows, it's fairly easy to obtain most American television series. And as technology changes and the shows are preserved with the times, we're sure to be able to enjoy William Talman's legacy on many formats for decades to come.

Happy 101st Birthday, William. You are, as always, remembered and loved.

In Memoriam: William Talman and Wesley Lau

So today is the anniversary of both William Talman and Wesley Lau’s deaths, albeit in different years. I never like to combine their tribute posts, but I’m afraid that this year I will have to. It has been extremely, unpleasantly hectic the last couple of weeks and with it already evening in my time zone, I just don’t think I’ll have the chance to write two posts today.

I have to admit that I’m running into that same dilemma of not knowing what to say for either one of them that I haven’t already said before. And yet I still want to try; I can’t just go past this day without doing something in their honor.

I started looking through posts from past years to see how I handled it. On one of William’s, I noticed that I mentioned a Wild Wild West fanfiction story I was writing about William’s episode, The Night of the Man-Eating House. His character dies in the main part of the episode, but since it was a dream of Artemus Gordon’s, in reality he was still alive. But the episode ended with them really finding the house from the dream, so there’s the chance that the same events would play out. I decided to write my story having things turn out differently in reality than in the dream. When I talked of it in that first post, I was stalled and could not think how to continue or finish the story. This year, I finally succeeded in doing so, and I am quite pleased with the results. If anyone would like to read that story, which is definitely a tribute to William Talman and his awesomely played character, it’s here: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7813673/1/The-Night-of-the-Dream-Come-True

The community of William Talman fans on Facebook was hoping that MeTV would finally put up part 2 of that interview they did with Tim Talman a year and a half ago. I and others tried to convince them to do so. It would seem they have not. Had they done so, that would have been a very timely and exciting thing to bring to the readers here on this sobering day.

It is such a strange coincidence to have lost two of our Perry cast members on this day, albeit in different years. I am grateful it wasn’t the same year, as Wesley brought so much to people between 1968 and 1984. I am sorrowed, as always, that William Talman died so young, in 1968. I wonder sometimes what things he might have appeared in and what he could have shared with his family had he been able to keep living. But I also always think of his heroic act of speaking out on the dangers of smoking and wonder how many lives he changed with those powerful, first anti-smoking messages. I have come across people who have talked of how those messages changed their lives and how they decided to stop smoking because of them. It’s a beautiful legacy to leave. Although it doesn’t change the sadness of him leaving us so soon, it surely is a great comfort to know that he made such an important difference.

I greatly enjoyed writing for Hamilton, Andy, and Amory Fallon in The Malevolent Mugging, which I have finally finished at last. They and Mr. Sampson were definitely the stars of the tale and I loved devoting it to them. Of course, the actors’ amazing performances are by and large why I adore writing for their characters. All of them were brought to life in the series so expertly.

Wesley was so wonderful as Amory Fallon in The Impatient Partner, even capturing the attention of the executive producer and directly leading to him being cast as Andy for four seasons. It’s so interesting how one little decision, positive or negative, can affect things for years to come. What if someone else had been chosen as Amory? What if they had decided to use Med Flory or someone else as the Lieutenant? What if we had never come to know Lieutenant Anderson?

Wesley was an amazing character actor and very widely appreciated for his skills, which was why he appeared on so many shows. But Lieutenant Anderson was his only role as a steady cast member and that is undoubtedly the role for which he is most remembered. I am very glad that he was the one chosen for the part and that we got to know his great character from seasons 5 through 8. Of course, had someone else been picked instead, we wouldn’t have known any different, but it certainly wouldn’t have been the same as it was with Wesley there.

I’m always delighted to receive comments from people who fondly remember Wesley as Andy. It pleases me that he was so well-received by many viewers, since often it is difficult for a replacement cast member to be accepted by long-time viewers who remember and love the original cast member. I myself took a little bit of time to warm up to him (and Steve) when I started watching again, but it didn’t take long and I loved them.

I always take August 30^th to remember the passing of these two great actors and human beings, but I think of them in general every day. There are many lessons we can take from them about acting and playing good characters, but there are also important lessons from their personal lives. They were both devoted to family and friends and stood by them no matter what. They were also both very courageous and believed in saying and doing what had to be done. Those are great examples to take into our lives.

William Talman: Belated Birthday Tribute and Movie News

I really wanted to get a post up on Wednesday. I really did. And I thought and thought and thought . . . and couldn’t seem to come up with a very original way to say Happy 100th Birthday to the awesome William Talman. I still can’t, after all the posts I’ve already made for him and Hamilton, but I wanted to acknowledge his milestone birthday before we get any farther removed from February 4th!

A local station is going to show the movie The City That Never Sleeps this coming weekend. I’ve been debating whether to give it a try. I know William plays the bad guy in it, but it’s still a movie I haven’t seen him in yet. And he’s so amazing at whatever he does that I know it will be an incredible performance.

MeTV is currently showing the four season 6 episodes with guest lawyers. I’ve been enjoying re-watching them again; two of them are among my all-time favorite episodes ever (The Libelous Locket and The Two-Faced-Turn-A-Bout). Hamilton has a lot of great scenes in all the episodes, and the one coming up tomorrow is the one where he and Della have that intriguing “hostile witness” exchange.

I’m always impressed by how he conducts himself in the Bette Davis episode, Constant Doyle. Back in the 1960s, it would have been so easy to have had people giving a female lawyer a really hard time. But Hamilton is so perfectly professional and gracious and never looks down on Constant because she’s a woman (or because of any reason, really). Even when he’s absolutely bewildered by her trenchcoat display, he sounds baffled when he objects instead of argumentative.

I still don’t agree with Perry’s comment that Hamilton called him ten times exclaiming that he wants Perry to get well so he’ll have someone easy to face off against. I think Perry was probably joking. Hamilton may have called once, and said something like that jokingly, but I can’t feature him doing it ten times. Nor do I think Constant was harder to beat than Perry. But it was a fun case and it was awesome to see a female lawyer appear (for the only time in the series proper).

I never fail to get the giggles in The Libelous Locket when Professor Lindley pins Andy down on his joke about the Martian nine feet tall. Hamilton does a brilliant facepalm right then and his expression is classic. He’s sure that’s not going to help the prosecution’s case one bit, despite Andy’s exclamation that he was only kidding.

Any time Hamilton is in a scene, it can never be dull. He always has some perfect expression or comment to make. Even when he isn’t the focus of a scene and is only present in the background, such as while watching Perry conduct an examination of a witness, he’s very involved in what’s going on. I always like watching to see what William Talman does at those moments. Sometimes he observes Perry. Sometimes he writes or makes notes on a piece of paper. It always looks very natural and logical. The fact that he always knows how to handle those moments when he’s on camera, yet isn’t the focus, is one more sign of what an impressive actor he was.

How wonderful to think that the world has had knowledge of William Talman’s existence for 100 years. What a treasure! Happy birthday to a great actor and noble man!

And some news on the movie front: Next week, starting with the 16th, MeTV will finally have a week of showing Perry movies for their nightly Mystery Movie thing at 12:30 A.M. (or 11:30 P.M., for Mountain and Central timezones), right after the nighttime Perry. It’s no problem for night owls like me, but those going to bed at more decent hours had best have VCRs or DVRs ready. The lineup will be as follows:

The Notorious Nun
The Murdered Madam
The Lethal Lesson
The Musical Murder
The Maligned Mobster 

None are movies that MeTV has previously shown, so it’s doubly important to grab the chance if you’re interested. I will definitely be watching, although as always, I will be missing those of the cast who are sadly absent. I wish they could have at least recruited Richard to come onboard and play Lieutenant Drumm again (maybe as a Captain by then or something). I know it would be the wrong locale if everyone relocated to Denver within the storyline, but still, it would have been such fun. And it would have given the police character more of a role again. One thing that surprises me about the movies is that the police characters rarely have a decent-sized part or are even well-rounded characters at all. That was a big part of the Perry series proper. I wonder why they felt it was not important enough to transfer to the movies as well?

In Memoriam, Part 1: William Talman

So today is the day of the two tributes, honoring our district attorney and the second of our police lieutenants, both gone far too soon. I thought I’d post one early in the day and one later, since I don’t really want to combine them.

I’ve been wondering exactly what to say on this one. It’s still so difficult to find the remaining things William Talman has been in, save for some of the ones in which he plays the villain that I haven’t gotten the strength to see yet. I always enjoy his performances, but naturally I lean towards preferring good guys over bad. And it seems I’ve talked so much about William on Perry that there wouldn’t be anything left to be said! I was hoping to be hit with some new angle to follow, but I haven’t yet.

I was surprised, as I mentioned, to actually like book-Hamilton when I read through some of The Caretaker’s Cat. I was expecting an extremely pig-headed person, but at least in this novel, he wasn’t. I was particularly impressed by him saying how he has a horror over the possibility of convicting an innocent person.

That sort of attitude certainly parallels that of Hamilton in the television series. William brought the character to life so beautifully and so humanly, always making sure that he showed his kindness and concern towards witnesses, families of the victims, and even the defendants. He always wanted justice done above all else and was happy to cooperate with Perry as soon as Perry could provide good reason to believe why someone else may have been the killer.

I encountered someone once who complained about Hamilton gloating whenever he had one over on Perry, claiming that in the books he doesn’t do that. I honestly can’t comment there; I don’t know, although I’ve been told by others that he does indeed gloat in the books, too. I suppose it is rather immature, as the person complained, but it is such a part of the television Hamilton and William was so good at it. Many of his comments are downright hilarious, and his expressions, when gloating and especially when he’s exasperated, are just priceless. Some actors are just masters of epic expressions, and William Talman was definitely one of them.

I was surprised by how this person I talked to seemed to prefer the characters to stay the way they are in the books, relationship-wise. She felt that they were overall more distant and she preferred that, I think because she said she wanted the emphasis on the cases. I can’t see myself ever preferring a verse where Perry and Hamilton don’t become friends, when their friendship was the key element that drew me in years ago and it’s one of the keystones of the television series. It grows and develops so much over the nine seasons, as do the characters themselves. As I recall, Hamilton does a lot less of the gloating in later seasons, as he becomes a more mature person. Occasionally he’ll even joke about it, such as at the end of The Shoplifter’s Shoe when he says “Well, Perry, it looks like I was wrong. For once. On this case.” I love that little mischievous smile and how it’s obvious that he and Perry are sharing a laugh.

The significance of the scene totally went over my dad’s head, as he could only say, “This time? He’s wrong all the time!” But I saw the beauty in Hamilton cracking the joke, and that little smile which said he knew it was an ironic joke, and the fact that he was comfortable enough around Perry to actually make the joke and have it understood. Truly, a scene like that never could have happened in season 1, where Perry and Hamilton usually are either aloof and distant or at war—although even then, there are scenes that show a certain respect at times and the budding friendship that will emerge in full bloom later on.

It’s lovely how the actors were such good friends in real-life; William even commented that Raymond was his best friend. And that definitely comes out in the series. When actors have an amazing rapport, there’s no way to stop it from transferring to their characters. And no reason to want it to, either, as it makes everything feel more real and gel better.

Could the Perry and Hamilton dynamic have happened with another actor in William’s place? Yes; there are many talented actors. But no one else could have played the character like William did. And I’m not at all sure that any other performance would have become so incredibly memorable even so many years later. William just fit the part like a glove. He made it his own. And that is why it’s so easy to picture him whenever we think of Hamilton Burger.

I hope that he and Raymond have continued their friendship on the other side. Perhaps they’ve even found some new things to perform in. That would certainly be a treat for anyone luckily enough to see it.

Meanwhile, as we miss wonderful people like William down here, we have many incredible performances to treasure, including every Perry episode in which he appeared. They make for highly enjoyable repeat viewing again and again.

William, we still think about you and love you. And I am thrilled that all the Perry episodes are still around and have even been restored to pristine glory. We’ll be able to share in your adventures as Hamilton Burger for a long time yet.

MeTV Interviews Tim Talman!

Second post for today, but this couldn't wait for another post. And I thought it deserved a post to itself instead of being edited into the below post.

I have been aware that MeTV recently interviewed Tim Talman, William's son. I have been eagerly waiting to find out what they would do with this interview. Well, they've started putting it up!

http://metvnetwork.com/monitor/some-thoughts-on-william-talman-from-his-son-tim

Apparently more will follow!

This is awesome. I'm always thrilled to see William Talman getting the recognition he deserves, and MeTV being interested in interviewing his son is very exciting.

Double Birthday Tribute: William Hopper and William Talman

While it’s still the 4^th, I wanted to be sure to get in a little birthday tribute post for William Talman. Then I had that sinking feeling because I knew I thought there was something else in January, but I forgot to look into it. Hence, I missed getting up a birthday post for William Hopper on the 26^th. So, perhaps, this post should be for both of the Williams together.

What would the show have ever been like without the Williams? I can scarcely conceive of it. Of course, nowadays there are the television movies without them (instead bringing us a new William for a few of them, Barbara Hale’s son William Katt), and there is definitely something sharply missing. And I honestly have to wonder if the television series would have ever gotten so popular that the movies could have happened, had the first two Williams not been part of it.

There are some absolutely wonderful, rare gems on the 50^th Anniversary DVD set. Even if people aren’t thrilled with the episode choices, I can’t understand why they would ever get rid of this treasure trove if they have it, since the bonus features are so amazing. There’s two interviews with Raymond Burr and one with Barbara Hale, as well as interviews with director Arthur Marks and CBS executive Anne Nelson. There are syndication promos and a photo gallery and a featurette on Erle Stanley Gardner. And then there are extremely rare gems such as screen tests, some of the cast on Stump the Stars (I can’t help wondering why Wesley wasn’t there), and a second version of William Talman’s message against smoking.

Sadly, there are no screen tests for William Talman, but there is a very intriguing one where William Hopper is trying out for the role of Perry Mason. He does a good job, naturally, but somehow he just doesn’t feel quite right for the character. I don’t know if that’s because I’m used to him as Paul Drake or if it’s the same thing the people putting the show together saw. Apparently, they saw that they definitely didn’t want to let William Hopper go, but they also saw that they could find a better place for him than as Perry.

As Perry’s friend and best private investigator, William H. is so perfectly cast. He fits into the role like a glove, so comfortable with the character and so expertly making the character his own. Other actors could have (and have) played Paul Drake, but it’s William Hopper’s characterization that is remembered the most.

The clips of the cast members on Stump the Stars are a true delight. We see Raymond, Barbara, and the Williams each take a turn acting out charades. They’re all having a wonderful time relaxing and laughing and being silly with each other. The good rapport they all had is very clear here. While William Talman and Barbara Hale succeed in getting the others to understand their pantomimed sentences, William Hopper and Raymond Burr have quite a bit more trouble.

William Talman and William Hopper are in wonderful form as they both act out and guess sentences. Their comments and reactions are among the most hilarious; my favorite is probably when they’re working on William H.’s sentence, “Perry Mason wishes to meet tailor: Object, a law suit.” They’ve gotten as far as “meet”, and somehow they get on the idea that Perry wants to meet another type of mason. William T. chimes in with “Mason jar!” Priceless. I also love where they’re on Raymond’s sentence, “The Case of the Busy Spook, or No Rest for the Weirdy!” and Barbara goes, “The Case of the Nose!” and William H. lightly swats her on the back.

On a much more somber note, William Talman’s anti-smoking message is very heartbreaking and powerful. It isn’t the same one as the short version that’s on YouTube; there are some similarities in content at the beginning (although the dialogue is not exact), but then they completely diverge. The long version on the disc has him then go into telling in detail how he’s been a smoker since age twelve and discusses the urgent need to fight cancer. I’m unsure why there are the two versions of the message or where this longer version was shown; it clocks in at around seven minutes, compared to the one-minute message on YouTube. Both versions show his deep sincerity and sadness over the cancer that has been ravaging his body and his strong desire to get people to realize the dangers of smoking and stop.

I never fail to be moved by both versions, but the one on YouTube has always struck a particular poignant chord with me. I have literally been brought to tears as William Talman shows pictures of his family and the picture of himself and Raymond and tells how he doesn’t want to lose his battle against cancer and thus also lose on being able to be with his loved ones.

Today, it would have been William Talman’s 99^th birthday. On the 26^th of January, it would have been the same for William Hopper. Born the same year, both also left us far too soon.

Wonderful actors and wonderful men: I salute you.

Tim Talman, Barbara Hale on Ironside, and the L.A. Chronicle

I was shown this article on the subject of getting William Talman’s son Tim into the role of Hamilton in Robert Downey Jr.’s Perry movie: http://www.examiner.com/article/let-s-get-tim-talman-cast-the-role-his-father-made-famous

I still find it a very intriguing idea and it would be awesome if something could actually come of it. I’m hoping for good things from this movie anyway, and I would hope for even more if they made an amazing casting decision like that.

I think it would really be a feather in their cap overall. As the article points out, a large number of the viewing audience for this film would be people who have been watching the television series. By and large, a connection with the series such as William’s son being cast as Hamilton would be a very sweet and exciting thing for us and I believe it would increase popularity and anticipation for the project.

I saw the Barbara Hale episode of Ironside. Fans of the interaction between Perry and Della should definitely enjoy the scenes between Raymond and Barbara. It’s the only time I’ve seen them playing characters together other than Perry and Della, and the chemistry between them is still incredible and so perfect. You can tell they’re happy to be working together again.

But I was disappointed that Barbara really wasn’t in the episode that much. I was hoping it would be one of those occasions where the female guest-star was the main guest-star and would have copious amounts of screentime. Instead, unless something was cut, she only had about three scenes. They’re wonderful scenes, but they’re over all too soon.

The episode itself, I feel, isn’t even close to being one of the show’s best. It’s a theatre-centric piece and awfully cheesy, as it seems most theatre-centric scripts with Raymond are. It’s possible to have a theatre story that isn’t cheesy; I really enjoy the earlier episode Love, Peace, Brotherhood, and Murder as an example of this. But this one, Murder Impromptu, follows the way of the theatre-centric Perry episodes and drips with cheese. Considering that it’s Barbara Hale’s only Ironside episode, I can’t help wondering why it couldn’t have been much better (and featured much more of Barbara). Reuniting Barbara and Raymond should have been much more of a bells-and-whistles event!

And when I was watching creepy Perry episodes for Halloween, I noticed something rather odd. It seems that the respectable newspaper the Los Angeles Chronicle has degraded itself by season 9. It is apparently the paper for which that crummy reporter works in The Wrathful Wraith. Perry actually calls it a scandal sheet and mentions that no respectable paper will even handle that reporter’s stories!

So what happened to the poor paper? It seems like a very respectable paper in previous seasons, the constant friend by which the characters and viewers get all the news on cases. And of course in season 5’s opener The Jealous Journalist, we learn all about the paper and the struggles of those trying to run it. By the episode’s end, reader interest has increased and things seem to be going well for it again.

Did things go sour later and they ended up having to sell out to Theodore Marcuse’s character or another, similarly slimy person? Or was it just an accident that the Los Angeles Chronicle was used for close-ups of the reporter’s articles in The Wrathful Wraith and it wasn’t really the writer’s intention for that paper to have gone downhill? Perhaps it was used only in the interest of saving time and money and they figured no one would really notice.

I’d kind of prefer to think it’s one of the two latter reasons instead of that the paper spiraled out of control. But it’s hard to ignore the fact that it is indeed the Los Angeles Chronicle being used for the shots of the articles and hence, is dubbed a scandal sheet by Perry!

A thought for the possible theatrical Perry film

So MeTV’s promo for this week’s Perry movie certainly made me sit up and take notice! SCOTT BAIO! If I was ever previously aware that Scott had appeared in one of the films, it slipped my mind long, long ago.

Scott has been a long-time favorite of mine, ever since I discovered him on Diagnosis Murder when the PAX network (now Ion) reran it in about 2000. I loved his aforementioned Jack character and promptly started looking into his other work. I became mildly obsessed with Charles in Charge and also looked into Happy Days. MeTV’s joke in the promo, “Does Perry love Chachi?” made perfect sense to me. I still haven’t been able to see the short-lived Happy Days spin-off Joanie Loves Chachi, but I am still very much interested in doing so. (Interestingly, I think Chachi is only one of a handful of characters to have left a parent series and then returned to it later. But that’s a subject for another blog.)

Well, needless to say, I already have a spot reserved on a tape to record this Perry movie and keep it. I am very excited for tomorrow.

Earlier in the week, an acquaintance of mine found this interesting article about Robert Downey Jr.’s Perry movie:

http://www.craveonline.com/film/articles/193133-exclusive-perry-mason-movie-update-from-screenwriter-mark-guggenheim

I don’t recall reading or posting this particular article before, so I hope I haven’t. It puts a different spin on what he’s up to, instead of just saying the standard “it’s going to follow the books more and be set in the 1930s, etc. etc.”

This acquaintance also commented on the article (her post is at the bottom of its page, in the Comments section) and suggested an intriguing possibility for how to solve the Hamilton problem I’ve been concerned over. Perhaps Tim Talman, William’s son, could play Hamilton in the film! He has been acting, and judging from the clips in his IMDB.com demo reel, he’s quite good. He’s mentioned that he would be very interested in taking on the role (although I don’t know if he was specifically referencing this movie; he may have been generally speaking) and that it would be a dream come true for him.

It would be a wonderful callback to fans of the television series, whom I’m sure will make up quite a large portion of the audience if this movie really gets off the ground. And I would feel a lot more confident if someone like Tim Talman were to take on our district attorney character. I’m sure he would make Hamilton as well-rounded and human as his father did for nine seasons.

I’m not sure if Robert Downey Jr. would be interested in having anything in the film that would reference the television series, since his interest is in keeping closer to the books, but it’s certainly something to be keeping in mind. I wish the idea could get back to him somehow!

I really wonder how that movie is coming along. That article, as mentioned, is from last year. I think I found one or two from earlier this year, signaling the movie is still being planned, but it certainly isn’t full-speed ahead as The Man From U.N.C.L.E. film is right now. And while normally I don’t care for big-screen adaptions of television series, I am very cautiously hopeful and optimistic about the U.N.C.L.E. film. It sounds like it’s on the right path. If it keeps on as such, it could be something wonderful.

That is, I hope, what will eventually happen with this Perry movie. It could be a very exciting thing, if a movie could be done right. Who knows what it could bring about where other aspects are concerned. The books could be reprinted. There could be more interest in the television series, even extending to possibly new books about it being published. Maybe, even, new merchandise could be released, such as a beautiful 3D video/computer game, new board games, character shirts . . . the possibilities are endless!

Of course, as with many movie adaptions of television series, it may make most of the fanbase recoil in horror instead. But at the point it’s at now it could go either way, so I will continue hoping for something awesome. It sounds like Robert is sincere about making a film that will be a worthwhile addition to the Perry Mason family, so that is certainly something in his favor.

William Talman Tribute Site!

So MeTV remembered William Talman's passing! They have a lovely plug on their site and include a link to a tribute site! This is awesome.

MeTV's Plug: http://metvnetwork.com/share/remembering-wiliam-talman

And, in case they don't always keep the plug up, the link to the tribute site directly: http://www.william-talman.com/

I am very excited about both the tribute site and MeTV's acknowledgment of it! William Talman deserves to be remembered this way.

I also think Wesley Lau deserves the same. I've been thinking of making a tribute site just for him, but have found the idea daunting in the face of my other projects (The Simon Oakland website, that blog, this blog, keeping Tumblr rolling, fanfiction stories, and of course, work). I have also been considering another blog, one that would focus on all of my favorite actors, Perry-related and otherwise, and their appearances.

I might not be able to make a Wesley site as detailed as the Simon site, since I co-run that site and am only responsible for half of its production, but I believe so strongly that such a site should exist for Wesley that I think I should get cracking and make even a little one.

In Memoriam, William Talman and Wesley Lau

I’ve been racking my brain for something unique and different I could say today. The idea I had hoped to use hasn’t worked out, so I’ve had to think of something else. And I decided perhaps it’s time to share the memorabilia I’ve crafted for myself featuring the characters created by William Talman and Wesley Lau, the two beloved Perry actors who departed this life on this day in 1968 and 1984, respectively.

I should add immediately: I am making no profit from any of these! It’s pure love for the series, and for anything existing in the physical sense, there is only one of each, just for me. I have not, nor will I ever, sell any of the designs here.

I’ve bemoaned the fact that there are no Perry character shirts. Well, I decided that I wanted some just for me. I crafted several designs, one of which has been turned into a real shirt.

The first one I came up with is humorous, with the famous “Objection!” caption from the Phoenix Wright games atop Hamilton’s head as he exclaims indignantly in court.

The second is a bit humorous too, but was also meant to show my great love for our district attorney. I used a shot of his beautiful smile from the end of The Lover’s Leap. This is the design I have on my shirt.

For Andy, I came up with a bit more of an overtly fangirlish design, utilizing one of my favorite shots of him from The Renegade Refugee. I'm hoping to make this into a real shirt this year.

I also created a keychain, with a plug for the blog on the front and a picture of Raymond Burr and William Talman on the back. I often wear this around on a lanyard when I’m not wearing my Hamilton shirt.

My biggest project was undoubtedly when I decided to make a Hamilton plushie. I first tried to utilize the services of someone who has made plushies for me in the past, but upon having a much more difficult time contacting her, I determined to make it myself. For someone who can sew, but doesn’t like it much, I knew it would be a huge challenge.

I thought for a while that I would have to make the entire plushie from scratch, but then we were at JoAnn’s and Mom noticed a pre-made plushie without clothes or features or hair (or ears). I immediately decided this was the best possible solution. The face shape wouldn’t be quite right for Hamilton, but that was alright. I would do everything I could otherwise to make it a loving tribute to my favorite Perry character.

I based the clothes off of what Hamilton wears in The Twice-Told Twist, during the lunch scene with Perry. I love the blue suit and felt it would make a very nice color combination. I managed to get fabric in just about the right shades of blue for both the suit and the tie, and white for the shirt.

I felt it would be easier for me to sew everything by hand instead of with a machine, when it would be so small. And that is exactly what I did. The pants got a little lop-sided, as did the shirt collar, but overall I think I did pretty well, especially when I used to be extremely sloppy at sewing anything. I was very meticulous here.

The ears were definitely one of the strangest challenges. I have no idea why the plushie was sold without them, so I had to make them. The first attempt was too small and I had to try again. The next attempt went a lot more smoothly, and I was able to get the ears attached without too much trouble.

Then there was the hair. I did not want to try to attach loose hair onto a backing; I wanted something already on a backing. I was just lucky that I found some mohair for sale on eBay. It’s perhaps a bit darker than it should be, but Hamilton’s hair looks darker in the earlier seasons, so I went with it anyway. I sewed it on in pieces and was quite proud of how it came out.

I still haven’t made socks or shoes, both because I really don’t like sewing and was ready to scream by that point and also because I’m a little worried that the black material of the socks might start rubbing off on the plush after a while. That’s what happened with the gloves on another plush of mine (that I didn’t make). But aside from those things, he’s done and has been for over a year.

I have a whole bunch of pictures on a roll of film, but I’m wondering if they’ll even turn out. When I tried to have a few recent pictures taken, I found that they were all extremely light. I have never had that happen with a camera before. It’s like when a printer is running out of ink and prints everything way too light. I tried very hard to darken a couple of them, but the details are still really hard to see. The pictures can be clicked on to see their original size, but I'm afraid that still won't make some details show up well. Oh, I hope that other roll of film is better.

I wanted his expression to be calm, Hamilton on a good day. I based it on a lovely picture of William Talman from before Perry, and practiced a simplified version of it many times over, on paper, before I drew it on the plush with Sharpies.

I have also wanted to make a plush of Andy. My biggest problem is wondering how to do the hair. From asking all around, it seems that for him I would have to work with loose pieces of hair, and I’m not sure I’m brave enough for that adventure. But I’m still looking for a more feasible solution, even a doll wig in the right size and approximate style, because I would really like to have one of him, too!

My love for the characters these wonderful men brought to life has certainly resulted in my trying out new methods of showing that love and being creative. I would never spend time engaging in such projects as plushie creation if the characters involved hadn’t deeply touched me.

And of course, I’ve also explored a medium with which I’m very familiar, that of fanfiction stories. I think with every new series I write about, I learn a little more about writing, and writing for the Perry crew has taught me a great deal. I spent and still spend many happy hours watching the character go on their adventures, and it makes me happier still to craft new ones for them to have. I only wish that the actors themselves could have participated in acting out my little adventures. That would have been a dream come true! I like to think that they are aware of and enjoy the stories, at least, even though some of them are very unusual.

I have even occasionally dipped into making fanart with Perry characters, even though I have mountains of trouble drawing anything resembling real people. Hamilton and Andy have both been drawn by me, although the one of Andy didn't turn out very well. I am happy that I managed to do a fairly good one of Amory Fallon, however. And I certainly haven't given up on hoping to get Andy right.

On August 30^th, and on every day, really, I strongly think about and miss our wonderful William Talman and Wesley Lau. Though they were both gone before I was even born, I wish I could have met them. From all that I have been able to find out, they were both people I would have enjoyed knowing—very devoted to family and friends, friendly, good-humored, and fun to be around.

I have tried to take lessons from them, especially in being close to family. I want to thank them both for how they and their characters have touched me and for things I have learned along the way. I may not like sewing, but knowing how to do it better might help me someday! And writing, as always, is my deep passion. I love to express myself, especially when I am inventing new stories for characters I love or otherwise writing about them.

William and Wesley: I know you're both shining wherever you are and whatever you're doing. Stars such as you will never go out.

It's February 4th!

Today is William Talman’s birthday! I intend to celebrate with a nice, Hamilton-centric episode or two.

I watched the uncut Lover’s Leap on Saturday night, but there weren’t any extra scenes with Hamilton. There was another with Andy that I greatly enjoyed seeing, however!

Pondering on my favorite Hamilton episodes from throughout the series in an attempt to make a list of recommendations for today is a difficult task. There’s so many to choose from! And for me, I don’t measure an episode’s awesomeness where Hamilton is concerned by how much screentime Hamilton has, but what happens within said screentime. But, in an attempt to pick episodes with both quantity and quality of screentime, I thought of these:

Season 1

#2 – The Sleepwalker’s Niece

#5 – The Sulky Girl

#12 – The Negligent Nymph

#19 – The Haunted Husband

#22 – The Fugitive Nurse

#25 – The Empty Tin

Season 2

#44 – The Curious Bride

#48 – The Purple Woman

#49 – The Fancy Figures

#53 – The Glittering Goldfish

#55 – The Fraudulent Foto

#56 – The Romantic Rogue

#60 ­– The Lost Last Act

#61 – The Bedeviled Doctor

#69 – The Lame Canary

Season 3

#75 – Paul Drake’s Dilemma

#83 – The Prudent Prosecutor

Season 4

#110 – The Fickle Fortune

Season 5

#129 – The Meddling Medium

#131 – The Traveling Treasure

#148 – The Angry Astronaut

Season 6

#154 – The Bogus Books

#162 – The Weary Watchdog

#166 – The Shoplifter’s Shoe

#169 – Constant Doyle

#171 – The Two-Faced Turn-A-Bout

#173 – The Golden Oranges

#176 – The Lover’s Leap

#177 – The Elusive Element

Season 7

#183 – The Shifty Shoebox

#185 - The Deadly Verdict

#187 – The Reluctant Model

#195 – The Accosted Accountant

#196 – The Capering Camera

#197 – The Ice-Cold Hands

#199 – The Nervous Neighbor

Season 8

#215 – The Sleepy Slayer

#225 – The Ruinous Road

#231 – The Lover’s Gamble

#232 – The Fatal Fetish

#235 – The Careless Kitten

#238 – The Duplicate Case

Season 9

#243 – The Fatal Fortune

#244 – The Candy Queen

#246 – The Impetuous Imp (I’m still somewhat lukewarm on the episode, but there’s a lot of Hamilton, and his screentime is pretty positive)

#247 – The Carefree Coronary

#250 – The Wrathful Wraith

#259 – The Golfer’s Gambit (I like Hamilton’s screentime excluding the awful writing for his testimony in court. I like the uncut episode even more.)

#262 – The Twice-Told Twist (Hamilton in color!)

#267 – The Dead Ringer

#269 – The Positive Negative

And there's lots of other episodes with excellent moments of Hamilton screentime, of course. This is just a starting point of some I particularly enjoy watching and re-watching.