Martin Milner, 1931-2015

Martin Milner, who i sprobably best known for his roles on TV's Route 66 and Adam-12, but who also had a substantial career in the movies, has died at the age of 83.

Milner started his film career at the age of 15 in 1947's Life With Father, in which he played one of the younger brothers in the Day household. I've recommended him several times in movies that aren't so well known, such as:

Our Very Own, which has him in a small role as one of Ann Blyth's classmates;

My Wife's Best Friend is another smaller role for Milner, playing the son of the minister portrayed by Cecil Kellaway; MacDonald Carey and Anne Baxter are the stars here;

Destination Gobi, which sees poor Milner trapped in the Gobi Desert with a bunch of his fellow Navy officers; or

Pete Kelly's Blues, with Milner as the drummer in Jack Webb's band. Milner's character is a bit hot-headed here, and that leads to his getting bumped off.

It's probably the last movie that brought Milner to Jack Webb's attention. A decade later, used Milner as a guest star in one of the episodes of the 1960s reboot of Dragnet, a series that's hilariously bad. Milner's character was turned into the lead of the aforementioned show Adam-12, which ran for seven years.