Episode 15 guest stars: Joanna Moore & Ralph Taeger

- May 10, 2017

Joanna Moore

(1934-1997)

Southern-bred beauty Joanna Moore certainly had a lot of things going for her when her career started off in the 50s. Armed with an entrancingly smoky voice that complemented her stunning, creamy blond beauty, Joanna played wily females in such films as Walk on the Wild Side (1962) and Son of Flubber (1963), but she would be best remembered, however, as the benevolent girlfriend of "Sheriff Andy Taylor" in the third season of The Andy Griffith Show (1960). At the peak of her career, Joanna married her "Prince Charming", actor Ryan O'Neal, on April 3, 1963. O'Neal, of course, would make a huge impact as "Rodney Harrington" the following year on the nighttime soap, Peyton Place (1964). The good-looking couple had two children who also became actors: Tatum O'Neal (later Oscar-winner) and Griffin O'Neal. The marriage, however, was tempestuous, to say the least, and they divorced acrimoniously in February, 1967. Things started to slide after that for Joanna: She lost custody of her children in 1970 due to severe drug and alcohol addiction, with both her children battling similar problems as adults. There was talk that Joanna was living in self-styled communes and had completely isolated herself from any Hollywood contact. She was not heard of for decades until discovered in the Palm Springs area involving herself in small theater projects. Joanna died in 1997 of lung cancer with her daughter, Tatum, at her side.

by Gary Brumburgh/IMDb

Ralph Taeger

(1936-2015)

Ralph Taeger (July 30, 1936 – March 11, 2015) was a former American actor who starred in three short-lived television series during the 1960s. Early in his acting career, Taeger was cast on episodes of the syndicated series, Highway Patrol, starring Broderick Crawford and Manhunt, starring Victor Jory. His first television series as the lead was Klondike, a half-hour western adventure series set in Skagway, Alaska, during the 1897-1899 gold rush. Taeger played Mike Halliday, a rugged prospector. Midway through the 1960-1961 season, NBC dropped Klondike but transferred Taeger and co-star James Coburn to the replacement series, Acapulco, set in the Mexican resort. In Acapulco, Taeger played Patrick Malone, a Korean War veteran-turned-beachcomber; both Taeger and Coburn's characters providing the security for a lawyer, played by Telly Savalas. In 1965 he guest starred on The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. In 1967, Taeger was cast in the title role of Hondo, as Hondo Lane, a cavalry scout in the Arizona Territory of the 1870s, based on the 1953 3D theatrical film starring John Wayne. In a 1967 interview Taeger told TV Guide: "For a long time I couldn't get any work because people had hung a label on me as uncooperative. But I'm not; it's just that I say what I think, and sometimes that rubs folks the wrong way." After Hondo, Taeger made only five television appearances, the last in 1983 as Brimmer in "The Rockets' Red Glare" of the Merlin Olsen NBC western series, Father Murphy. His film appearances were few, but included roles in X-15 (1961), The Carpetbaggers (1964), Stage to Thunder Rock (1964), A House Is Not a Home (1964), The Delta Factor (1970) and The Hostage Heart (1977). In 1967, Taeger married Linda Jarrett; the couple had one son, Richard. The family operated Taeger's Firewood Company in Placerville, California. Ralph Taeger died on March 11, 2015 in Placerville, California after a long illness.

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