Ed Bishop as U.F.O.'s Commander Ed Straker. Photo copyright of ITC Entertainment.
In today's Sci-Fl Blast From The Past, the late Ed Bishop (Commander Ed Straker) reminices about his fellow castmates on the 70's British Sci-Fi series U.F.O.
While appearing on U.F.O., Bishop had the opportunity to work with a number of talented actors and actresses, some seasoned professionals and others just starting out in their careers. He recalls each with clarity and great respect.
"I was very fond of Mike Billington [Colonel Paul Foster]. Along with being very ambitious, he was very successful with women, but, much to his credit, he was not a braggart about it and I liked that. He was a single young man in the Swinging Sixties and Seventies, whatever they were, and he came off as a very relaxed, laid-back guy who was very conscientious.
"Gabrielle Drake [Lieutenant Gay Ellis] was one-hundred percent professional and devastatingly beautiful. She woke the crew up every morning as she walked onto the set wearing her skintight latex costume. It just made you feel good to be alive to see Gabrielle," smiles Bishop.
"Ditto with Wanda Ventham [Colonel Virginia Lake]. I was glad that she became Straker's sidekick in many of the episodes. There was no tension of any kind between us because she was happily married as was I, so we had a lot of laughs. Both of us worked hard and enjoyed it.
"Dolores Mantez [Lieutenant Nina Barry] was a very, very exotic young lady who, again, was a joy to see walk onto the set every morning. She had a wonderful zest for life as well as a great sense of humour. She's more or less retired from the business and is happily married with a grown up son. She turns up from time-to-time at conventions and it's always wonderful to see her.
"I have very warm memories of Norma Ronald [Miss Ealand]. When she finished U.F.O. she went on to have a wonderful career with her husband, Eddie Judd, doing voice-over work, and I used to see her around quite a bit on the voice-over circuit as I also got busy in that arm of the business after the series.
"One of Grant Taylor's [General Henderson] last jobs was U.F.O., as he died of cancer some years back," recalls the actor. "He was a great, ebullient personality, a wonderful extroverted man from Australia who was great fun to be around.
"George Sewell [Colonel Alec Freeman] was a great jokester. Whenever we had a laugh on the set it was undoubtedly George who would be the leader of the pack. He had a great mind and could think of things very quickly. I could think of things later, when I was at home or in the pub, and would always say to myself, 'Gee, I wish I had said that.'
"The late Vladek Sheybal, Doctor Doug Jackson, was absolutely wonderful. It was such a pleasure to work with him, and, fortunately, I had the chance to do so on other projects after U.F.O. He was a raconteur who brought with him a wonderful wealth of experience both from his native Poland and here in the United Kingdom."
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photo copyright of ITC Entertainment, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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