There's a secret love triangle hidden in this Adam-12 episode
The Emergency! crossover episode gives us an excuse to unpack how Julie London was married to Jack Webb before Bobby Troup.
One of the rare cross-over episodes of Jack Webb's two brilliant series Adam-12 and Emergency! is called "Lost and Found."
It features a young boy who gives his parents a real fright when he runs away from the hospital, causing them to call in officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed. And it gives us an excuse to see favorite characters from Emergency! like Dr. Joe Early and head nurse Dixie McCall visit Adam-12 and interact with its stars.
Which then gives us an excuse to talk about the romantic entanglements of Jack Webb's world.
It's possible that you are aware that the actors who play Dr. Joe and nurse Dixie were married in the real world.
Bobby Troup and Julie London met in 1954. He saw her performing as a jazz singer in nightclubs and he knew he wanted to produce a record for her. Boy, did he fall hard for London in the process, and soon after, he helped her record her debut album Julie Is Her Name with the hit song "Cry me a River."
Troup's helping hand made sure she landed a record deal with Liberty that made her even more famous. After five years of being sweethearts, they tied the knot in 1959.
This was not London's first marriage, however. In fact, the story goes that just two weeks before that fateful meeting with Bobby in the jazz club, London had just finalized the divorce from her first marriage — to Jack Webb.
Webb married London in 1947, just after she had turned 21 and was beginning to turn heads as a rising star. You can see the two together that year in the photograph on the upper left. She'd been acting while still in high school, taking uncredited parts in movies after gaining notice through a modeling gig with Esquire.
Like any beautiful, talented actor of this era, for London those bit parts added up and after a few years, Warner Bros. actually offered her a contract. That led to bigger roles until she landed a lead role across from Rock Hudson in 1951.
By then, Warner was done with her, but Universal offered to sign her. At that point four years into her marriage, London decided to turn down Universal. She wanted to focus on putting her all into her relationship with Webb, but by that point, it seemed to be too late. The couple divorced in 1954.
They remained amicable, though, with Webb clearly still casting London in his shows and even using her songs to score dramatic moments he penned for the screen.
Troup ended up being London's true love, and the cross-over episode of Adam-12 is one of three times they appeared onscreen together outside of Emergency!
The first time we saw the married couple together was in the Rawhide episode "Incident at Rojo Canyon." It featured London as a singer performing in a roadshow. Troup appears alongside her as her manager. (These roles really weren't too different from the dynamic between the couple in the recording studio!)
Then in 1968, they appeared making music together in The Big Valley episode "They Called Her Delilah." London appears as another beautiful singer, and this time Troup plays a piano player.
It was her singing that had made Troup swoon and fall in love at first sight. He could barely contain his admiration five decades later when he told The New York Times, "She sure could sing. She has perfect intonation. Hits the note right on the head. It's just gorgeous."
We saw the couple share the screen the most watching Emergency!, though, and on that show, they even invited the kids along. Their daughters Ronne and Kelly both appeared in episodes and together in "Saddled." Were you aware of this family affair?
21 Comments
I sometimes like to read customer reviews of "as seen on TV" products to either back up or correct my suspicions of the product(s)... and "MyPillow" has been reamed for being overpriced, underperforming and a total waste of time and money. "If it seems too good to be true...it usually is"...
This is why I DO NOT have any air fry convection ovens, ceramic cookware, special sunglasses, ginsu knives, "his" pillows or any other the kajillions of items that are hot today, but forgotten tomorrow.
Anyone remember the Buttoneer, Popeil Pocket Fisherman, Discwasher (to clean LPs), and all the other hokum advertised on 70s TV? MeTV showcased a few of them a while back...
Jack Webb was a true gentleman - despite whatever failures of their marriage, and no matter who carried more of the blame for its demise, Webb still saw the unique talents his ex-wife possessed and did not let his personal emotions stand in the way of casting her (or using her voice) in various productions.
Most of us could take note and learn that lesson in life before we immerse ourselves into relationships - you both were friends at first... if things don't work out, at least maintain that freindship and respect for each other.
Sometimes a life-long friend is better than a short-term love affair...