50 Years Ago

Fifty years ago today, the Disney "Zorro" series aired for the first time. I'm a HUGE fan of the original Zorro series, with Guy Williams. So much so, I have the whole series on dvd and vhs. :fyi: So, Happy "Anniversary" to the Zorro series!

(And Guy Williams' son is the nicest person! When my nephew e-mailed him, he wrote back the same night, a long, sweet letter about his Dad. Very cool person!)

Oh, cool! I never missed Zorro when I was a kid. I also liked Guy Williams on Lost in Space.

aww,That's cool

thats kool

The original Zorro died in Buenos Aires, some four blocks away my flat. He liked a lot Recoleta neighborhood. He died alone in his own flat and was discovered some three days later...

Vanesa.

Vanesa, I knew that he died in Buenos Aires - but I had no idea how close you live to where he died! His son speaks very highly of him. I was so happy to hear how nice he was in real life. It's sad, though, that he died alone, and wasn't found for several days. Vanesa, is there still a big Zorro fan base in Argentina? Or is it kind of "old" now?

Hey! Anyone want to come over for a Zorro marathon tonight?

Rob wrote:

Oh, cool! I never missed Zorro when I was a kid. I also liked Guy Williams on Lost in Space.

I'm so dense sometimes, Rob! *rolls eyes* The first time I ever saw Guy Williams on Lost in Space, I was STUNNED - absolutely stunned to hear that he didn't really have an accent, like he had in Zorro! :blonde: :Hahaha:

Savannah wrote:

Hey! Anyone want to come over for a Zorro marathon tonight?

Count me in!

:sing: Out of the night, when the full moon is bright, rides the horseman known as Zorro...

I watched Zorro too.....here is a mini biography about him.......How interesting is it that he has a link to Michael Landon?!?!?! :think:

Mini Biography


An exceptionally handsome and charismatic performer, Guy Williams was born Armand Joseph Catalano (nicknamed "Armando" by his family) of Italian parentage in New York City on January 14, 1924. The elder child of an insurance broker (he had a younger sister, Valerie), he was raised in the Washington Heights area. Attending Peekskill Military Academy during his formative years, he originally broke into the entertainment field as a male fashion model. Guy subsequently joined New York's Neighborhood Playhouse, which led to such TV assignments as "Studio One," and debut in films with a featured role as a pilot in the The Beginning or the End (1947), the story about the first U.S. deployed atom bomb.

In 1952, he was given a screen test and signed by Universal Pictures. As tall, dark and athletic (6'3", 190 lbs.) in Hollywood always fits the bill, the highly photogenic actor began paying his dues in unbilled bits in such standard movies as Back at the Front (1952), All I Desire (1953), The Golden Blade (1953) and Take Me to Town (1953). When he did manage to receive billing, he was rather benignly used: Bonzo Goes to College (1952), the sequel to Ronald Reagan's cult classic Bedtime for Bonzo (1951), The Mississippi Gambler (1953) with Tyrone Power, and The Man from the Alamo (1953) with Glenn Ford.

Guy later freelanced in films, including his minor cop role in the cult horror classic I Was a Teenage Werewolf (1957) starring Michael Landon, and also added scattered TV appearances ("Highway Patrol," "The Lone Ranger") to his resumé. Nothing, however, of major significance happened until Walt Disney came into the picture. His signing at age 33 to play Don Diego de la Vega, aka "Zorro" (1957), thrust Guy immediately into the celebrity limelight. His dashing good looks, eloquence and charm had female hearts fluttering while the male audiences admired his fencing dexterity and effortless ladies' man appeal. The Disney series was so popular that certain episodes were culled together and released into two feature films: The Sign of Zorro (1958) and Zorro, the Avenger (1959). Further propelled by Disney with his captivating role in _Prince and the Pauper, The (1962) (TV)_, Guy was handed fully-bearded heroes to play in a couple fantasy film adventures. He portrayed Damon in the costumer _Damon and Pythias (1962)_, and the title role in Captain Sindbad (1963), an MGM attraction. He reunited with Michael Landon in 1964 when he arrived on the "Bonanza" set to play cousin Will Cartwright for a few episodes.

The cult sci-fi series "Lost in Space" (1965) would be Guy's last hurrah in show business. Although overshadowed extensively by the nefariously campy antics of Jonathan Harris' Dr. Smith character, Guy nevertheless provided a strong anchor to the family show, which included June Lockhart as the silver-suited wife of his three intergalactic offspring. Battling aliens and the forces of nature, the show's popularity went stratospheric at first. But like "Batman," it too faded very quickly and ended up having a short life -- three seasons.

When Guy first visited Argentina in 1973 he was quite taken by the signs of admiration and fascination the Argentines expressed for him and his signature character of "El Zorro." In turn Guy fell in love with the people and culture of Argentina. Eventually he retired, save for personal appearances, to Recoleta in the 1970s, an upscale neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He died there of a brain aneurysm at the age of 65 on May 7, 1989. Long married (since 1948) to Janice Cooper, he was survived by their two children.

Thank you for that, Rhonda. Very interesting!

Savannah, have you seen any of the Zorro movies starring Antonio Banderas? If so, what did you think of them?

I haven't seen any of them. I loved Guy Williams as Zorro so much that I just couldn't imagine anyone else in the roll!

Rhonda, thank you for posting that article!