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By Frank l,ovece

Go ahead. Knock him off. He daresyou.

Or, well, the old Robert Conradwould. In fact, that was the image hemaintained in three years' worth offamous battery commercials, or in aplethora of tough-guy roles in TVmovies and series from "HawaiianEye" (1959-63) to "High MountainRangers" (1988) - and most notablyas special agent James T. West onthe cult-classic series "The Wild WildWest" (1965-69), which was recentlyimmortalized as a Columbia Househome-video collection.

The new Robert Conrad? He's apussycat. A bobcat, maybe, but apussycat nonetheless. With a steadystream of TV movies that he stars inand produces, and with "Wild WildWest" keeping his youthful tough-guyself alive on video and in syndicatedreruns, the S9-year-old Conrad is pos-itively purring.

"An actor knoros when he's being re-discovered," Conrad says cheerfully."I'm being rediscovered by a whole newaudience in their 20s who would neverhave seen 'Wild Wild West' on the net-work. They come up to you and say, 'Oh,weren't you in...?' or'I loved you in lastweek's episode.' The only problem," henotes, "is I'm not that person on thescreen an)'rnore. But I'm really happywith the change. I'm much happiertoday than I ever was then."

James West would have beenshocked to hear it. West, of course,was Conrad's karate-kicking, secret-agent heartthrob in the American OldWest, a l9th-century James Bond.Traveling the frontier in a speciallydesigned train, he used pseudo-sci-entific gadgets galore against would-be world tyrants - always with acool-eyed quip and the invaluablehelp of Artemus Gordon (the lateRoss Martin), a master of disguise.The show was an almost surreallyimaginative adventure-fantasy, withan audacity and originality that'sgiven it both a cult-following and abook, "The Wild Wild West: TheSeries," by Susan E. Kesler (ArnettPress, l9BB).

Yet even though it's Conrad's sig-

nature series, the show isn't theactor's favorite. That, he says, is"Centennial" (1978-79), the epic 24-

episode adaptation of James A. Michener's best-selling novel, in whichConrad played the seminal role ofFrench trapper Pasquinel.

"It was more of a dramatic piece,"he explains. "Performing in 'WildWild West' was very studied, very

'l'm beingrediscovered by awhole new audiencein their 2Os. l'm notthat person on thescreen anymore. ButI'm really happy withthe change. I'm muchhappier today than Iever was then.'

stoic - there weren't a lot of placesto go with the character. Anytime youwanted to do something emotionallywith him, it was, 'Don't do that,'be-cause they wanted this comic-stripcharacter." Adding dimension toJames West "would have been likehaving Superman show fear."

"It was a tough role to play,"Conrad remembers. "I don't think Icould even play it today, frankly. Evenwhen Ross and I did the returns-of'

- the TV movies "The Wild WildWest Revisited" (1979) and "MoreWild Wild West" (1980) - "they werenever of good quality. Ross and I bothagreed that weld lost the edge."

If so, that's about the only edge thefeisty Conrad has lost. The toughnesshe displays 0n screen came to himhonestly, out of a hardscrabble Chica-go childhood where, as ConradRobert Falk, he was born to a l5-year-old mother and a perpetually missingfather who, he eventually' discovered,"had three sons by two women."

Conrad dropped out of high schoolat 1? to work, eventually returning forhis degree and going on briefly toNorthwestern University. He was an

amateur boxer, sang with a localnightclub band, and, with the en-couragement of actor Nick Adams,tried Hollywood.

He became a stunt man, opening thedoor to movies - a non-speaking debutin "Juvenile Jungle" (1957), a speakingrole in "Thundering Jets" (1958) - andtelevision, starting with an episode of"Maverick" in 1959. That same year hebegan his stint as detective TomLopaka in "Hawaiian Eye," the first ofnine series in which he's starred.

Conrad was married for 25 years toJoan Kenlay, with whom he had chil-dren Joan (a producer in his pro-duction company), Nancy (asometime producer-actress), Christy,and actors Shane and Christian. In1978, during his troubled marriage,Conrad met then l?-year-old MissNational Teenager LaVelda Fann,whom he later married. They havethree young children: Kaja, Camilleand Chelsea. He has another daugh-ter from a long-ago liaison, who has"been in and out of my life - she'snot in it right now. lt happens."

What is in his life righti'now isnearly a half-dozen TV movies in var-ious stages of development, and anaction feature, "Samurai Cowboy,"that's already opened overseas. ButConrad has a spinal problem thatmakes walking painful (though nottennis or skiing, he says), and moreand more, he likes staying close tohome in tiny Bear Valley, Calif., inthe rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains.

"When you're young," Conrad re-flects, "it's a question of where is ityou're going to go. Well," he addshappily, "I'm therel I've gone towhere I want to be."

OI994 NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.

FRANKLOVECE

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