Friday, June 14, 2013

Why Was TV's Captain Marvel Fired?

Jackson Bostwick starred as Captain Marvel in the hit Saturday live action series Shazam. The casting was right-on, Jackson wore the costume, as they say, it didn't wear him. Just as Christopher Reeve was the embodiment of  Superman in the 1970s so too did Jackson Bostwick inhabit the part of 'The Big Red Cheese'. This is an excerpt from an interview with the Saturday Superstar, you can go to JacksonBostwick.com for his official site where you'll find his book and photos for sale.

Any funny stories while filming?
I had a lady come up to me on Ventura Blvd. in Encino on the first day of preproduction filming. We were waiting to to get the Camera car rigged for some low level flying shots when she walked up from out of nowhere to the producer, Bob Chenault, and myself, and scolded, "Who does he think he is? A grown man, out in public ,dressed up in a silly costume like this at his age. Stupid, " then she turned and marched away. Must have been a "bad hair" day.

Jackson Bostwick - shazam - captain marvelThe show was a huge hit. Why were you replaced while season two filming was underway? The guy who replaced you wasn't nearly as good.
The "brilliant" Executive Producers at Filmation thought I was holding out for more money when I didn't show up on the set one day at the start of the second season. In fact, I had injured myself doing a takeoff the day before, and was at the doctor's office. The stunt boxes had collapsed on my landing, and I had snagged my eye and busted a blood vessel underneath it as I went piling through the cardboard onto the asphalt. I had the nurse call the studio to tell them where I was that morning at 9:00 AM, but Filmation said they never got the message. I go into detail of this event in my forthcoming book, "Myth, Magic, and a Mortal."

It was a precedent setting case at the Screen Actor's Guild, and Filmation had to pay me for all the shows they didn't use me on, plus residuals. Still, these clown's actions doomed a marvelous show. It wasn't John Davies' fault that he was suddenly thrown into the part of Captain Marvel. It was a rush job. I was fired at 1:00 PM that day, and he was out on the set at 3:00 PM. That's pretty darn fast, I'd say. One of the Execs' reasoning was "The kids'll never know the difference." Riiight. John's a fine actor, but he's no more Captain Marvel than I am Wonder Woman.



Read the rest of my interview with Jackson Bostwick here!

Shazam! on DVD:
Shazam on DVD

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