‘Castle’ actor returns to ABC as star of drama ‘The Rookie’
Q: What has happened to the actor who starred in “Castle”? He did a great job, and I miss seeing him and the show.
A: Nathan Fillion, who played Richard Castle for eight seasons on the ABC series, will be back on the network this fall as the star of “The Rookie.” The hourlong drama finds Fillion playing “small-town guy John Nolan who, after a life-altering incident, is pursuing his dream of being an LAPD officer.” And, of course, he’s the oldest rookie in the department. The series premieres Oct. 16. Since “Castle” ended in 2016, you could have also seen Fillion in the streaming series “The Santa Clarita Diet” and “A Series of Unfortunate Events,” and the ABC shows “Modern Family” and, perhaps most memorably, in “American Housewife,” where he played a hilarious version of himself.
Q: I would be more than delighted if you could give me some information on a very great actor and a very handsome man, Jack Lord. He is in the old version of “Hawaii Five-0.”
A: Lord is most famous as the original Steve McGarrett on “Five-0” from 1968 to 1980. But he had other roles. For example, he was the first to play CIA agent Felix Leiter in James Bond movies, appearing in “Dr. No” (1962).
He was born John Joseph Patrick Ryan in New York in 1920, the son of a steamship company executive. He worked at sea, played football and studied art at New York University, sold cars and, perhaps most important, painted, with his works later held by dozens of museums around the world. With training at the legendary Actors Studio, he worked in theater, movies and television, often as “thugs and cowpokes,” as People magazine put it. Before “Hawaii Five-0,” he starred in a drama series, “Stoney Burke,” as a rodeo rider; it aired in 1962-63.
During “Five-0,” People said, he was “an intensely private person known on the set as a temperamental perfectionist (who) wielded an iron hand in the production.” After the show ended, he retired from acting and concentrated on his art. He remained in Hawaii until his death, at 77, in 1998.
Q: Being a longtime, loyal “Andy Griffith Show” watcher, I wonder why the show and Andy Griffith were overlooked for Emmys. I know that Don Knotts received several and Frances Bavier received one.
A: During its 1960-68 run, “The Andy Griffith Show” received nine Emmy nominations, five for Don Knotts as best supporting actor (which he won all five times), once for Frances Bavier (who also won) and three times for comedy series (which did not win, losing to “The Jack Benny Show” in 1961, the original “Bob Newhart Show” in 1962 and “The Monkees” in 1967). Griffith was not nominated for the show, or for “Matlock,” but was for his supporting role in the miniseries “Murder in Texas.” He did not win then. But he was inducted into the TV Academy Hall of Fame in 1992.
So why no “Griffith Show” nomination? The biggest reason, I think, is Griffith just made the acting look too easy. Playing a category thought to resemble the real-life Griffith, his timing and other skills did not seem as apparent.
Q: A few weeks ago, PBS’ “Masterpiece” concluded its latest season of “Endeavour.” The last episode gave the impression that the series was ending. I hope this is not the case.
A: I can see why you might think that was the ending, since the episode was, in Digital Spy’s view, “soul-crushingly sad.” But the show will go on. A sixth season is in the works for telecast in 2019.