Murphy starred in series like 'Lottery!', 'Berrenger's', 'The Winds Of
War', 'The Name Of The Game', 'Gemini Man', and 'Dirty Dozen: The Series'. But
I think we all know with which series he'll forever be pardnered......
Say it with me, Team Toobworld:
"ALIAS SMITH AND JONES"
As I often mention here in the IT, it would be nice if TV characters had
nice long lives off-screen, even if the actors who portrayed them passed away.
But then again, if there's ever a threat of another actor coming along who might
play that same role, it would be better to consider the character dead as well.
That way our memory is of the original actor only, unsullied by any new
interpretation.
Ben Murphy's partner on 'AS&J' wasn't that lucky. After Pete Duel took
his own life during the run of that Western, he was replaced by the actor who
had been providing the opening narration for the series, Roger Davis. But it
just wasn't the same.
I tried to come up with a convoluted splainin about how the soul of
Hannibal Heyes had been transferred into the corpse of a gunslinger/gambler
known as "Smiler" (also played by Davis.) It ran for pages in my original
website, the Tubeworld Dynamic, and it involved characters played by Alan Hale
on 'The Wild Wild West' and 'Alias Smith And Jones' and of course I had to bring
my all-time favorite TV character, Dr. Miguelito Quixote Loveless, into the mix
as well.
But as much as I liked it, the essay stretched credulity to the breaking
point. So I ditched it in favor of the more reasonable splainin - there were
two versions of 'Alias Smith And Jones'. Both featured Ben Murphy as Kid Curry,
but the Hannibal Heyes played by Pete Duel could be found in Earth Prime-Time,
while the one with Roger Davis as outlaw under the alias of "Joshua Smith" could
be found in the TV dimension of remakes.
Kid Curry is long since dead in the Toobworld timeline, but when he died
depends on the good health of Mr. Murphy.
According to a book I have ("Alias Smith & Jones: The Story Of Two
Pretty Good Bad Guys" by Sandra K. Sagala and JoAnne M. Bagwell), the televised
story of Kid Curry and Hannibal Heyes began in 1880. Which means that if we
consider Kid Curry to be the same age as the actor who played him - standard
custom here at Toobworld Central, unless told differently in the script - then
he was 29 years of age. So that means he was born in 1851.
Even though the chance is rare, there's always the possibility that Kid
Curry might one day show up again on TV. ('The Adventures Of Brisco County,
Jr.' would have been a perfect showcase for him!) So that means - to my way of
thinking, at any rate - that as long as Ben Murphy is alive and well, then so is
Kid Curry. (I mean, Thaddeus Jones.)
So the Kid would have turned 70 in 1921, one year into the run of
'Boardwalk Empire' and 'Downton Abbey' won't reach that point in time for at
least another season.
I hope he enjoyed the 20th Century.....
Happy birthday, Ben Murphy!
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