Tinseltown Talks!!

www.henrydarrowbook.com

   by Nick Thomas

   Come November, Henry Darrow's thoughts typically turn to turkeys...and burros.

   Darrow, who played Manolito in the popular 60's western television series "High Chaparral,"
recalls a memorable Thanksgiving episode, "For What We are About to Receive," first broadcast on November 29, 1968.

   "We spent that episode looking for a lost turkey that I'd won in a shooting contest," said Darrow, from his home in Wilmington, North Carolina. "The bird falls off my wagon and in one scene we're all out in the desert making various turkey sounds trying to catch it. That was a gun episode."

   Earlier in the plot, Manolito's buckboard holding the turkey is stolen, forcing him to seek alternative transportation.

 "A burro!" recalled Darrow, laughing. "I can still picture myself riding that animal - it was very boney and uncomfortable!"

   Darrow published his autobiography "Henry Darrow: Lightning in the Bottle," co-written with Jan Pippins in 2012 (see www.henrydarrow.com) and has appeared in over 130 film and television roles including all 98 "High Chaparral" episodes.

   The series has yet to be released on DVD in the U.S., but can be seen weekly on the INSP cable channel.

   Back in '60's, the show was one of numerous TV westerns dominating network television.

   "About 15 of the top 20 shows were westerns," said Darrow. But the series stood out for several reasons, including being praised for its realistic treatment of life and conflict in the Old West.

   "It was also the first show to feature a Hispanic family alongside an Anglo family in prime time," noted Darrow.

   The show was created by "Bonanza" producer David Dortort, who was looking for a Hispanic actor to play Manolito.

Cameron Mitchell and Henry Darrow
on the set of "High Chaparral"

   "I got lucky when he saw me in a play," said Darrow, who parents were from Puerto Rico although
he was actually born in Manhattan.

   Darrow was a teenager when his family returned to Puerto Rico, where he studied at the university before heading back to the U.S. to take up acting.

   "As a kid in Puerto Rico, I'd get out of school and go down to a small, local theater and for a quarter could see all the great cowboy stars like Charlie Starrett (the Durango Kid), Buck Jones, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers," he recalled. "Then, as a young adult, I got to play one on TV!"

   Darrow says he wanted Manolito to have his own easy-going personality, but also drew on previous stage work.

   "I styled him after two Shakespearean characters I played. Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet, which added a comedic touch, and Iago from Othello, which mixed a little darkness to the character. He was a free spirit!"

   "Cam (Mitchell) was quite a character," said Darrow. "He introduced me to horse and dog racing and poker, but I learned a lot from watching him and his inventiveness on the set."

   During summer shooting on location in the Southwest, Darrow says ground temperatures could exceed 120 degrees. "If you got knocked down during a fight scene and brushed your skin against a rock out in the sun, it would burn you."

   Despite the heat, Darrow remembers Mitchell usually dressed in black. "Cam would jump into the horse troughs when it was hot and after dripping a bit when he got out, you couldn't tell his black shirt and pants were wet," he said. "Very smart!"

  Planning for the final banquet scene of the Thanksgiving episode, after a turkey is finally caught and cooked, Darrow remembers Mitchell saying he would serve the peas, leaving the mashing potatoes for Darrow.

   "But Cam grabbed the potatoes," laughed Darrow. "He was always doing something unexpected."

   The meal was also interrupted by neighbors and local Apache Indians, each claiming ownership of the turkey.

   "Instead of fighting, we ended up sharing the meal," explained Darrow. "It was like the first Thanksgiving all over again - a wonderfully written episode for the season."

   Darrow will be attending a "High Chaparral" reunion on March 19, 2015, in Tucson (see www.thehighchaparralreunion.com).