The LuLac Edition #3769, April 30th, 2018

EFREM ZIMBALIST JUNIOR @ 100

We continue our series on famous births from a century ago. This week we look at the actor Efrem Zimbalist Junior who was born in 1918. He was best known for his role as Inspector Lewis Erskine on TV's long-running series, The F.B.I. He also played the role of Alfred Pennyworth on Batman: The Animated Series. But a little about him before that.
After going to school at Yale, he worked as a page for NBC radio in New York. Afterwards, he went on to serve a five-year stint in the army during World War II. He was awarded the Purple Heart for a leg wound received during the battle of Hürtgen Forest. That was a series of fierce battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944 between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II. It was only 25 square feet east of the Belgian–German border. It was the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and is the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought.
After the war, his big break came when he was given a contract with Warner Brothers TV. Prior to that, he was on Broadway.
Starring as Dandy Jim Buckley on the series, Maverick with James Garner. Dandy Jim was a confidence man and grafter.

After that he landed a gig on “77 Sunset Strip” In 1958, Zimbalist played the co-lead Stuart "Stu" Bailey, a popular detective series running until 1964. The vintage shows air 4am Monday through Friday on ME TV.

During this period, he made several concurrent appearances in other Warner Bros. television shows, such as Hawaiian Eye, The Alaskans, and Bronco. He also starred as the lead in several feature films for Warners, such as Bombers B-52, The Deep Six, A Fever in the Blood and The Chapman Report. Zimbalist was in such demand that he was given leave by Jack L. Warner due to exhaustion from his busy schedule.

Even with his busy schedule and “Strip”, Zimbalist even had time to cut a Christmas album.
However, after "Strip" ended, Zimbalist was most widely known for his starring role as Inspector Lewis Erskine in the Quinn Martin television production The F.B.I., which premiered on September 19, 1965 and ended with its final episode on September 8, 1974.

Zimbalist was generous in his praise of producer Martin and of his own experience starring in the show. Those who worked with him on the show were equally admiring of the star's professionalism and likable personality.
Zimbalist maintained a strong personal relationship with J. Edgar Hoover, who requested technical accuracy for the show and that agents be portrayed in the best possible light. Actors who played F.B.I. employees were required by Hoover to undergo a background check. Zimbalist passed his background check with ease. He subsequently spent a week in Washington, D.C., where he was interviewed by Hoover, and at the F.B.I. Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Hoover and Zimbalist remained mutual admirers for the rest of Hoover's life. Hoover later held Zimbalist up as an image role model for F.B.I. employees to emulate in their personal appearance. 

The Society of Former Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. honored the character of Lewis Erskine in 1985 with a set of retired credentials. On June 8, 2009 FBI Director Robert Mueller presented Zimbalist with a plaque of an honorary special agent for his work on the television series The F.B.I., on which he worked in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and his friend J. Edgar Hoover.
Zimbalist had a recurring role as Daniel Chalmers, a white-collar con man, on his daughter Stephanie Zimbalist's TV drama “Remington Steele” and later “Hotel. 
In 1964, he joined several famous colleagues in 1963 to campaign for Barry Goldwater's presidential bid, including Walter Brennan and Chill Wills.
Zimbalist was born in New York City, the son of Jewish parents. His parents were Russian-born violinist Efrem Zimbalist Sr. and Romanian-born operatic soprano Alma Gluck. His stepmother was Mary Louise Curtis Bok Zimbalist, the founder of the Curtis Institute of Music. Both parents converted to Anglican Christianity
.Zimbalist died on May 2, 2014, from natural causes at the age of 95. (wikipdia, Warner Brothers, LuLac). (Photos: Getty Images, Newsweek, TV Guide).