Wildcats...Wildcats. How can I put into words so many great memories. Let me start from the beginning. The year was 1973, several years after completing my third and final season on what would become one of the most popular shows of all time...STAR TREK. I was and always will be Capt. Kirk, but I was looking for something new, something fresh, which would challenge my abilities as an actor. You see, Kirk was a natural character for me, being the leader and all...that's always been my role in life. When "Wildcats" came into my agents hands, both he and I saw a unique opportunity to play down my fame as a natural leader. I remember auditioning for the role of Warren Summerfield and breaking down in tears as I confessed my "love affair" with Angie Dickenson's character. I knew then that I had the part...
I was elated to find out I would be working with Robert Reed and long time friend, Andy Griffith. I , too, knew they were excited to finally be working with the former captain of the Uss Enterprise. The forth character, Terry, would be played by a young unknown actor. My agent told me about him and I was hesitant at first to work with an unknown. Being a man of compassion, and remembering the old days of acting school with "Batman's" Adam West and "Hawaii 5'0s" Jack Lord, I decided to give him his big break. This turned out to be a mistake which almost cost me my career.
Terry...I couldn't remember his real name on the set and I can't remeber it now, ended up being a drug riddled, troubled young man. While preparing for a very intense scene in which I claim to have thought about taking acid, Terry pulled me aside. He pulled out a sheet of strong acid and told me it would help me get into character. I refused, but for the rest of the shooting, he would constantly hound me to smoke PCP, snort cocaine, shoot speed, and balance it all off with a healthy dose of qualudes. At times, the stress on the set would become so bad, I actually thought of taking him up on his offers....but I didn't...and I deny any allegations made that I would stay up weeks on end, blowing lines and paying hookers, with Terry. Acting....acting is my drug of choice. I would never have gotten this far without it.
I remember showing up on the set on the first day only to find Andy completely smashed and passed out in his trailer. He had been drinking tequila from the prop bottles in the bar set. Needless to say, shooting was delayed for several days. Griffith was and is a method actor. If the role calls for a tequila drinking, sex crazed maniac, as this one did, Griffith will become this person. Sure, he was the friendly sheriff of Mayberry, but now he was the sick Sam Faragut, out to get thoroughly trashed and pay for sex with hippies...and I respect that about him. Weeks into shooting, Andy lost it and had several of the crew thrown off the set. Apparently he was drinking in the dressing room and started to make lude comments to the make-up girl. When one of the grips came in to witness this, he said something to the effect of "Maybe you shouldn't say that, Mr. Griffith". Andy picked up his glass and broke it over the grip's head. Several others came in to try to stop him and he ended up getting rid of them also. Was Andy wrong...? It's a judgement call, after all, he was one of the stars.
I'll always have fond memories of the days I spent working on "Wildcats". Whether it was Robert hitting on the young, male, PA's, Terry going into drug convulsions in the middle of a scene, or Andy in full, drunken, blackout, running naked through the set, those will always be the days.