HossC Posted July 21, 2010 Report Share Posted July 21, 2010 Thought I'd put up a couple of pics of Sorrell before he became Boss Hogg.The first is from a Dukes book I have. In 1962 he played the title role in the musical (stage production) of 'Fiorello!'.The second is from one of his 2 appearances as Gen. Wilson Spaulding Barker in the first season of MASH in 1972. Hobie Hartkins 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerDuke Posted July 22, 2010 Report Share Posted July 22, 2010 Sweet! Thanks for sharing those. I love any old pictures of the stars. We sure got a lot of old pictures of James Best laying around here on the HazzardNet....and I love every one of 'em...Khee Khee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett Duke Posted August 1, 2010 Report Share Posted August 1, 2010 Thanks Hoss for sharing the photos of Sorrell! They were great. I agree with Roger, it is great seeing old pictures of the stars of Dukes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasdaisy09 Posted August 1, 2010 Report Share Posted August 1, 2010 Thanks for sharing those! It was great to see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waikiki23 Posted October 11, 2010 Report Share Posted October 11, 2010 I loved when he played Barker on MASH, he cracked me up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted December 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2012 Sorrell appeared in two episodes of 'Columbo' in the '70s, and seeing as I've just mentioned that fact in The Official Dukes of Hazzard Trivia Thread, I thought I'd include a picture. The screengrab below is from the 1977 episode 'The Bye-Bye Sky High I.Q. Murder Case' (the other episode was 'Swan Song' in 1974). Hobie Hartkins 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadowmufn Posted January 1, 2013 Report Share Posted January 1, 2013 That is my FAVORITE Columbo episode. Unfortunately, he's the murder victim... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerDuke Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 What a talented actor! That's one of the many reasons Dukes was so successful. Veterans like Boss, Jesse and Rosco were mentors for the newcomers. You couldn't ask for better mentors than those three! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadowmufn Posted January 2, 2013 Report Share Posted January 2, 2013 One of the best parts of Bye Bye Sky High IQ Murder Case is when Sorrell's character gets tickled. His laughter is adorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted January 11, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2013 I thought it would be a shame to show one of Sorrell's appearances in 'Columbo' without the other, so I took a look at 'Swan Song', a two-hour special from 1974. The story centers around Tommy Brown, a singer played by Johnny Cash. Tommy is an ex-con whose wife is blackmailing him to give all of his musical earnings to fund a tabernacle. When he survives a plane crash that kills his wife and Maryann (the backing singer he was involved with when she was only 16), Columbo steps in to investigate. The episode was directed by Nicholas Colasanto, aka. Coach from 'Cheers'.Once again Sorrell doesn't get get much screen time, appearing only in a short scene in the recording studio. Here he is with Johnny Cash:As well as the funky glasses, his outfit also included this very '70s shirt (center). You can also see how much padding they used in Boss's suits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadowmufn Posted January 12, 2013 Report Share Posted January 12, 2013 Another favorite. Johnny kills his victims in a rather interesting manner. Love the Elton John glasses on Sorrell. LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted February 16, 2013 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2013 I recently posted pictures of Sorrell in '12 O'Clock High' from 1965. I then found a copy of a movie called 'Black Like Me' that he appeared in a year before. The sound on the video is horribly out-of-sync (like 20-30 seconds!) and the picture quality isn't great, so I won't bother posting a link, but I did get some screengrabs.I'll start with the title screen. The movie is based on the real life experiences of journalist John Howard Griffin, a white Texan who artificially darkened his skin to pass as a black man as he traveled across the deep South in late 1959. He spent six weeks traveling on Greyhound buses (occasionally hitchhiking) throughout the racially segregated states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, and then wrote about the racism he encountered (from blacks and whites).Sorrell gets first billing after lead actor James Whitmore. It's quite prophetic how his name appears just above someone named Roscoe! About halfway down you'll also see the name Clifton James. Sixteen years later he would be re-united with Sorrell when he played Sheriff Lester Crabb in 'Treasure of Hazzard'. In the '12 O'Clock High' pictures I suggested that Sorrell was wearing a wig. The reason for that comment is that he was clearly already bald in 1964 (see below). He only has a small part in 'Black Like Me', playing the doctor who prescribes the pills and treatment to change John's skin color.I've looked up pictures of John Howard Griffin, and his transformation was quite convincing. Unfortunately, the same can't be said of James Whitmore, who transforms from a white man to a blacked-up white man. I half expected him to add white lipstick and start singing 'Mammy'! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted April 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Yesterday I came across this picture of Sorrell on Ebay. It's from a 1976 ABC program called 'Zero Intelligence'.The notes on the back give a load of information about co-stars and air dates, but I couldn't find any trace of the show on IMDb.After a little Googling, I found it was an unsold pilot which was to star Sorrell as the base commander of a remote Alaskan US Air Force radar station. You can read more about it on Television Obscurities. In hindsight, it's lucky this wasn't a success, because it's unlikely that Sorrell would've made Dukes if it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roth Potter Posted April 6, 2014 Report Share Posted April 6, 2014 Good thing it didn't catch on then. I just can't see anyone play it better then him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ale73 Posted April 15, 2015 Report Share Posted April 15, 2015 I found him in an episode on "Kung Fu" one of my fav TV series, great show with many guest stars; I did a shot, playing a sheriff similar to Rosco in certain aspects Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobie Hartkins Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 I found him in an episode on "Kung Fu" one of my fav TV series, great show with many guest stars; I did a shot, playing a sheriff similar to Rosco in certain aspects I don't remember that one! That must have been great! I miss him a lot too.... ale73 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted April 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 Thanks for the tip-off, ale73. Here's Sorrell in the 1974 'Kung Fu' episode 'A Dream Within a Dream' where he played Sheriff Hodges. The mustache makes his character look similar to the one he played in 'Zero Intelligence' (above).I wondered whether these steps were anywhere familiar.As the camera pulled back, I realized that they were part of the courthouse that once stood at the north end of Laramie Street. It appeared in several episodes of Dukes, most commonly shot from the side where it was dressed as the coffin works.Finally, here's Sorrell in the saloon on Laramie Street. It wouldn't be until about a decade later that he'd finally got to own the Golden Palace Saloon (second picture) as Thadius B. Hogg in 'Go West, Young Dukes'.For those of y'all not familiar with Laramie Street, it's the old Western street that once stood on the eastern side of Warner Bros' backlot. It comes up several times on the Hazzard Square thread, with the main six posts on the subject starting here. ale73 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meadowmufn Posted April 25, 2015 Report Share Posted April 25, 2015 It's a shame they tore Laramie Street down. I got to explore it for a few minutes while on the set of the last reunion. I wish I'd had hours instead of minutes. It was very, very cool, especially for fans of westerns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobie Hartkins Posted April 26, 2015 Report Share Posted April 26, 2015 Good thing it didn't catch on then. I just can't see anyone play it better then him.Me either Roth! NOBODY could do Boss Hogg better or even AS GOOD as Sorrell Booke!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ale73 Posted July 9, 2015 Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 I had my shot. Great TV series Kung Fu, my fav dramatic series ever with great actors guest stars. In add Sorrell there were even Denver Pyle and many others (Don Johnson Jodie foster as kid John Carradine etc...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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