My first great hero worship disappointment.

Pete Dual (L) as Hannibal Heyes (alias Joshua Smith)

and Ben Murphy (R) as Jed 'Kid' Curry (alias Thaddeus

Jones). Alias Smith and Jones aired (1971-1973, 

when I would have been in 2nd-3rd grade.

My boyhood best friend, Rich Nickel, and I wrote and performed an Arbor Day play in 2nd grade based on the TV show Alias Smith and Jones. That was at Vernondale Elementary School in Erie, PA. We performed it before the entire school in the gymnasium.

Rich was Kid Curry and I was Hannibal Heyes. The play ended with us planting a tree and saying in unison, “We’ll never chop down another tree again.”

The 6th graders thought it was lame. You could hear the groans from the back.

Not long after we did that play, the actor who played Hannibal Heyes put a gun to his temple and killed himself.

That was in a day when we all shook our heads, said “how sad,” and went on with life. There was no 24/7 coverage with gory details about how he did it, coroner reports of what was in his system, speculation on why, or interviews with family and friends.

He was an actor I saw each week on TV, then a still photo over the shoulder of an evening news anchor, then just a footnote in Hollywood history.

Like most people faced with the suicide of someone they love or admire, the first feeling is one of betrayal. As I recall, a few more episodes aired that he had taped, but then his character was replaced by a new actor, and I, along with most of America, stopped watching, and the show was cancelled.

Alias Smith & Jones Opening

[2014-03-06]

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