Michael Conrad

New York City, New York, USA

Biography

Michael Conrad (October 16, 1925 – November 22, 1983) was an American actor, primarily on television. Conrad had a long acting career in television from the 1950s to the 1980s. In 1963 he played Felton Grimes, the title character and murder victim in the Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Bigamous Spouse." He played far left-wingMichael Stivic's, Uncle Casimir on All in the Family, and gave bigoted Archie Bunker as good as he got. He had a memorable role in the 1974 film, The Longest Yard, playing Nate Scarboro, a retired NFL tight end (New York Giants) who was also the head coach for the Mean Machine, the team of prisoners put together by Burt Reynolds' character Paul Crewe to play the team of guards (Reynolds himself would later play the role of Scarboro in the 2005 remake starring Adam Sandler.) During the 1976-1977 season of Delvecchio, Conrad was a regular, as he played the role of Lt. Macavan. Conrad may be best known for his portrayal of veteran cop Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues, in which he ended the introductory roll call to each week's show with "Let's be careful out there". He won two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in Hill Street Blues in 1981 and 1982.

Movies

Paris is an American television series that appeared on the CBS television network from September 29, 1979 to January 15, 1980. A crime drama, the show is notable as the first-ever appearance of renowned actor James Earl Jones in a lead role on television and was created by Steven Bochco, who later achieved fame for Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue, also served as executive producer. The program told the story of Los Angeles Police Captain Woody Paris, who supervised a team of young detectives. The rookie investigators were led by Sergeant Stacy Erickson and included officers Charlie Bogart, Ernesto Villas, and Willie Miller. Hank Garrett portrayed Deputy Chief Jerome Bench, Paris' superior, and, in an unusual turn for police dramas of that era, Paris' home and off-duty life was given considerable attention in the plots, with Lee Chamberlin playing his wife, Barbara. Paris was also shown moonlighting as a professor of criminology at a local university. Although Paris was critically acclaimed for its portrayal of the tension between the professional Paris character and his often impetuous underlings, CBS scheduled the show in one of the worst possible timeslots on a weekly schedule: Saturdays at 10 p.m./9 Central. All three networks debuted new shows for the 1979-80 season in that slot; only ABC's Hart to Hart survived its first 13 weeks. Toward the end of its run, CBS moved it to Tuesdays at 10/9, but to no avail. Edward DeBlasio produced the show for MTM Enterprises, which would unveil, during the next season, executive producer Bochco's landmark Hill Street Blues, on NBC.

More info
Paris
1979