William Conrad wasn't concerned with Cannon's longevity
William Conrad, master of relaxation.

It seems like almost a guarantee that when something becomes successful, some powerful entity will overwork it and recreate it until every last dollar has been made from the premise. Cases like these include reboots, sequels, and the ever-faithful method of stretching a series out one too many seasons.
This doesn't mean that every series that has many seasons lacks quality; it just means that with more content, there are more opportunities for things to go wrong. Sometimes it's best to live and let live.
This was advice adopted by William Conrad, star of the series Cannon. In total, the series lasted five seasons in as many years. This was no small feat, especially considering each season had over twenty episodes. However, the show's star, William Conrad, was perfectly at ease with his series, no matter how many seasons it ran for.
In an interview with the Ventura County Star, he stated, "In 17 years, I'd be crawling after the bad guys instead of chasing them." Conrad, who was almost fifty-three at the time of the 1973 interview, had plenty of experience previous to his role on Cannon, both behind and in front of the camera. However, he said, "The rule of thumb in this business is supposed to be that after five years with a series a lead is financially independent for life. I hope so. Because we're going into our third season - which means I'll only have to work two or three more years before the windfall should be mine."
The perspective wasn't born out of laziness; Conrad began helping to financially aid his family after the death of his father as a teenager. Conrad stated, "I had to go to work to support myself and my mother." Conrad also pushed himself in his work his entire adult life. It made sense that, now in his fifties, he felt that soon, he'd be able to reap the benefits of his hard labor.
Conrad's lax attitude was also not his way of slighting his series. In fact, he claimed that being on the series has only benefited him. He explained, "The show came at a good time. I wanted to get away from pressures and problems, and that's exactly what I've done on the series."










12 Comments

Conrad was very popular in Hollywood and well respected for his abilities as a character actor.
Jack Warner, as a sign of respect and affection, years after The Maltese Falcon was filmed,
gave Conrad one of the falcons used in the film. His widow later sold it for $200,000.
Jack Webb with Conrad took over producing the 6th and last year of 77 Sunset Strip.
They made the very bad decision to fire the whole cast except for Efrem Zimbalist,
at a time when Kookie got more mail and was on the cover of more magazines than
anyone else in Hollywood.
Zimbalist was then changed into a hard boiled noir PI, a role he wasn't suited for.
However they did make some interesting episodes.
The first five episodes were a self contained story arc titled "Five".
If you are a TV buff you will find "Five" quite interesting and entertaining, with an
amazing roster of guest stars, Shatner, Tony Bennett, Burgess Meredith, Peter Lorre etc.
So many stars that they must have been doing a favor to Webb/Conrad as I can't
imagine any TV series budget being big enough to cover these guest's regular fees.
77 Sunset Strip runs on Sunday nights on MeTV + .