Marlin Perkins may have earned the public's notice while on Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, but that certainly didn't mean that he considered himself a television personality. "Oh, I've never been an actor," said Perkins during an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "I'm not a Hollywood type guy. I'm a zoologist, a zoo man, an animal man."

Perkins didn't see any point in basking in the limelight; he had been given a gift when he was offered the opportunity to host Wild Kingdom. The series wasn't simply to entertain viewers, though it certainly did. However, Perkins' primary focus was to educate the public on some pretty incredible animals.

"What we try to do is tell an honest animal story that is accurate and scientifically correct," said Perkins. "You see, I got into television in Chicago in 1945 as a way to publicize the Lincoln Park Zoo, where I was then the director. It was a way to call attention to the zoo."

Watch Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom on MeTV!

Sundays at 7 AM

*available in most MeTV markets

Perkins understood the rare opportunity he had to take audiences on a journey to places they would be otherwise unable to visit and see animals they would never be able to safely interact with in the wild. Perkins explained that he often consulted his fellow zoologists to decide which animals to feature on the series.

"Certainly I've been lucky professionally to be able to associate with so many other zoologists engaged in scientific pursuits," said Perkins. "Often our subjects in the shows are suggested by conservation agencies or research zoologists. In turn, we go to great lengths to be sure that the depictions are accurate and acceptable to the researchers."