Friday, January 1, 2016

The Rockford Files - Episode: Coulter City Wildcat (1976) Gilbertson's Oil Tool Works Sign - Santa Paula, CA


This is one we need help with. The Internet is void of any information of Gilbertson's Oil Tool Works. Based on the information contained on IMDB.com this large sign may have been in the city of Santa Paula, CA since part of this episode was filmed there.
Does anybody have any idea where the "Gilbertson's Oil Tool Works" corporation is or was located?

Thanks to Don H. we have the correct address for this filming location. Don's full e-mail was placed in the comment section. A big THANK YOU to DON H!
GILBERTSON OIL TOOL WORKS
17905 E TELEGRAPH RD
SANTA PAULA, CA 93061-0009

UPDATE: Rockford Files - Episode: Deadlock in Parma (1980) Parma is actually Wrightwood CA - Don Oster Realty - Wrightwood Village Realty - Tehachapi Belle Restaurant, East Valley Family YMCA in North Hollywood & THE YODELER RESTAURANT - 6046 Park Drive, Wrightwood, CA

The exterior courthouse scene was filmed at the Inyo County (CA) Courthouse - 168 North Edwards Street, Independence California - Above still frame from the scene and below as the courthouse is seen today in 2016.

UPDATE: Bill Anderson has pegged the location of the YMCA & Bishop Bus Stop filming location - Look below for the update


ABOVE IMAGE: A small blooper - The above images show Jim Rockford at his motel door. The room only has one entry/exit door. In one scene the door has a deadbolt lock above the doorknob and wood paneling on the wall. The next scene has the door with just a doorknob and plasterboard walls.

 



ABOVE THREE IMAGES: This episode is about saving the park with the bell from being sold by the City of Parma. Somebody from Wrightwood California is going to have to let me know if that really was or is such a park in their town.
UPDATE ON THE BELL'S LOCATION
12/07/2013 - Thanks to many of the kind residents of Wrightwood, CA who supplied us with so much information about their beautiful town!
The park & bell are located in Griffith Park, California
 ABOVE IMAGE: The original DON OSTER REALTY in Wrightwood California. They are still listed on the Internet as being in operation.
 ABOVE IMAGE:  UPDATE: This location was identified by Bill Anderson!
5142 Tujunga Ave. North Hollywood, CA
EAST VALLEY YMCA
ABOVE IMAGE: The "FAITH LUTHERAN CHURCH" which also housed the "TIMBERLINE LIONS CLUB"
12/06/2013: Entrance to the Wrightwood Community Center - Thanks to John

ABOVE IMAGE: The late great Mary Munday played the cranky old city hall clerk. 
  
ABOVE IMAGE: Parma Sheriff,  the late Henry Beckman, walks past the old Standard Gas Sign.
 Henry Beckman joined the Canadian military service in WWII by changing his birth date, before he was 18, and served from 1939-1945. Less than 7% of his group survived the Normandy Invasion.

ABOVE IMAGES: Jim Rockford inside the "TEHACHAPI BELLE" restaurant. In this scene Jim talks about how bad the food is there... so needless to say the named used for this restaurant was fictional and not the real name of this eatery. 
12/05/2013: Now Identified -
The Yodeler Restaurant in "downtown" Wrightwood, California.
6046 Park Dr
Wrightwood, CA 92397

ABOVE IMAGE: The Parma Sheriff Office. The address on the wall is correct, 1300 Highway 2 Wrightwood CA. The "Parma Sheriff" sign is fictional.
12/06/2013: Used to be the Wrightwood Travel Agency building now occupied by a motorcycle tour company called Admo - Thanks to John
ABOVE IMAGE: As always the Rockford Files has a beautiful actress in this episode - Sandra Kerns played a news reporter by the name of Carrie Osgood

ABOVE FOUR IMAGES: A trip in time gone by in Wrightwood, California. What a beautiful town. I am placing this location on my travel wish list!

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE IMDB WEBSITE TO SEE A COMPLETE LIST OF THE CAST FOR THIS EPISODE
Two things you can always count on in a Rockford Files episode were a car chase and Jim Rockford using a payphone, long before the cell phone era.

 In the above still image, James Rockford is eating at one of the cafes location on South Main Street in Lone Pine, CA. Neither this restaurant or the one seen through the open door are still around in Lone Pine. 


In all 3 of the above still images from the episode "Pastoria Prime Pick"  the motel shown is what is now known as the Dow Villa Motel located at 310 South Main Street, Lone Pine, CA

The above image is the Dow Villa Motel (2011) located in Lone Pine, CA


In the above three images, Smith Evans (Now she is Smith Wordes) played Rita, the underage mayor's daughter.
She was born Sep 18, 1955.



Mayor Karen Sanders was played by the late Kathie Browne.
Born: Sep 19, 1930 and died on April 8, 2003. 
Husband: Darren McGavin - Lead actor in Kolchak - The Night Stalker TV Series
Left: Sheriff Cliff Gladish was played by Richard Herd, who was born Sept 26, 1932 and is still alive as of this writing in 2016 - Right: County Prosecutor Gilbert Univaso was played by Don Billett, who was born Dec 26, 1935 and is still alive as of this writing in 2016.


The cranky mechanic Vern Soper was played by the late Warren J. Kemmerling - He died at age 80 in 2005.

The nylon masked thugs: Far left: Luis Delgado - a regular actor on the Rockford Files and the brother-in-law to Roy Huggins, one of the show's producers. He died in 1997 at 71.
Far Right: Bruce Tuthill, born July 26, 1943 and still with us as of this writing in 2016.
Middle: Unknown & Unaccredited
Waitress was played by Barbara Collentine, she was born on June 17, 1924 and is still with us as of this writing in 2016 at age 91. Retired Sheriff Emmett was played by the late Bill Zuckert who died in 1997 at age 81.

Judge Cline was played by a returning favorite to the Rockford Files, Bill Quinn, who died in 1994 at age 81. He appeared four times on the Rockford Files.


BELOW ARE SOME EXTRA STILL IMAGES FROM THIS EPISODE OF THE ROCKFORD FILES











Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Actor Norman Burton (1923–2003) appeared in two episodes of the Rockford Files dies in auto accident

We missed this death but here is the information now.
 
Date of Birth5 December 1923New York City, New York, USA
Date of Death29 November 2003California, USA  (auto accident)

Norman Burton is reportedly a graduate of The Actor's Studio in New York. He appeared in professional stage productions of "Sound of Hunting", "Anna Christie" and José Quintero's production of Brendan Behan's "The Quare Fellow" in New York City. His film and TV career ran hot and cold, varying from good roles in major films to supporting roles in grade-B outings. A surprisingly little-remembered actor, he died in 2003.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Parker Anderson <parkerr86302@yahoo.com>

The Rockford Files (TV Series)
Markell / Melvyn Moss

- Return to the 38th Parallel (1976) ... Markell (as Normann Burton)
 
- The Big Ripoff (1974) ... Melvyn Moss (as Normann Burton)
 
His career in film and television was long and relatively successful, but he never achieved major recognition. He played the Hunt Leader, a gorilla, in the science fiction film Planet of the Apes, notable as being the first ape to be seen by both Taylor and the audience, and also appeared as a (human) army officer in the second sequel Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971). In film, he is perhaps best known for his unconventional (and frequently disparaged) performance as Felix Leiter in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever (1971). He played Will Giddings, an ill fated engineer, in the action film The Towering Inferno (1974), and his later films included The Gumball Rally (1976), Crimes of Passion (1984) and Deep Space (1988). He played Dennis Christopher's mean and ill fated boss in the slasher Fade To Black (1980).
On television, he is best known for his performance as Inter-Agency Defense Command's supervisor Joe Atkinson during the second season of the DC Comics-based fantasy adventure drama series The New Adventures of Wonder Woman starring Lynda Carter. He also played Burt Dennis in the situation comedy The Ted Knight Show in the spring of 1978, and appeared as General George Marshall in the 1988 television miniseries War and Remembrance. Throughout his life, Burton was a devotee of the method school of acting, and taught method acting in Lakeside, California.