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Flipper was a Television Series that ran from 1964 till 1967 on NBC . A television adaptation or Spin-off from the 1963 movie '' Flipper '', the show focused on widowed, young Everglades National Park ranger Porter Ricks ( Brian Kelly , 1932-2005, playing the role Chuck Connors played in the film), his sons Sandy ( Luke Halpin , b. 1948, who played the same role in the 1963 film) and "Bud" ( Tommy Norden ), and their pet Dolphin Flipper. The show was a kind of sentimental adventure series, the well-trained title dolphin the obvious drawing card for children. But on another level ''Flipper'' was somewhat daring for its time and place, a genuinely sensitive sketch at its best of an atypical family underwritten by parental bereavement. The elder Ricks could be tough as a drill sergeant (without quite lapsing into mere authoritarianism) when enforcing park law and when disciplining his adolescent and pre-adolescent sons. But he could also be tender as a steak when reassuring his younger son that his very occasional dates didn't equal writing their late mother out of their memories or divorcing father from sons. As for Flipper himself, he was actually a lady: a well-trained female dolphin named Mitzi did all of Flipper's nudging of wayward boats, knocking pistols out of poachers' hands, everything seen on the show except for Flipper's famous tail walk, a trick Mitzi was said unable to master completely. When the script called for Flipper to do the tail walk, a male dolphin named Mr. Gipper was brought forward. Swedish-born character actress Ulla Stromstedt had a recurring role as oceanographer Ulla Norstrom, who frequently forayed into the Ricks' region studying ocean and swamp life and who sometimes aided the ranger and his sons in park enforcement matters. Another character actor, Andy Devine , whose name had been familiar since the days of Old-time Radio , had a recurring role in the series' early seasons as an old salt befriended by Bud and Sandy Ricks. Brian Kelly had been a television presence before landing ''Flipper''; his resume included guest appearances on '' The Beverly Hillbillies '' and lead roles in short-lived series such as ''21 Beacon Street'' (a crime drama, 1959) and ''Straightaway'' (1961-1962; the show focused on automobile racing). Kelly also appeared in the films ''Thunder Island'' (1963), ''Flipper's New Adventure'' (1964), and ''Around the World and Under the Sea'' (1965). He was throttled by a serious motorcycle accident in 1969; it all but ended his acting career, but he used his insurance settlement to build homes, and he turned the profits from those into a second career as a movie producer, including '' Blade Runner '' (1982) and ''Cities of the Wild'' (1996). Luke Halpin also played Sandy Ricks in ''Flipper's New Adventure'', and was also a guest on the panel show '' To Tell The Truth '' at the height of ''Flipper's'' popularity. He became a U.S. Marine in due course and now works as a Marine technician and pilot for film and television productions. He has had few acting credits since, though he made a cameo appearance in the 1996 film remake of ''Flipper'' (starring Elijah Wood ). Whether or not ''Flipper'' contributed to this, he lives in Florida. Tommy Norden acted in television soap operas for a time after ''Flipper'' finished its original production. He now owns an executive recruiting company in New York City , but he participated in the Miami Seaquarium's 40th anniversary celebration of ''Flipper''. Marine technician/pilot for film/TV productions. Mitzi, the first and best loved television Flipper, was trained at the Santini Porpoise School, later the Dolphin Research Center, by legendary dolphin husbandry pioneer Milton Santini. Mitzi died in 1972 at age fourteen. She is buried at the Dolphin Research Center, and the center makes her grave the first stop on its tours open to the public. ''Flipper'' has seen periodic syndication, most recently on cable network Nick At Nite . None of the series' main players SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS |
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