Actor, Russell Zink, 95 - Played father in 'Hardy Boys'
Bob Feigel
From the Los Angeles Times
PASSINGS
January 21, 2009
Russell Zink
Father in 'Hardy Boys'
Russell Zink, 95, who under the stage name Russ Conway appeared in
scores of films and television shows in the 1950s, '60s and '70s but
was perhaps best known for playing Fenton Hardy, the father of Frank
and Joe Hardy on "The Hardy Boys," which was part of Walt Disney's
"The Mickey Mouse Club" TV program, died Jan 12 in Laguna Woods,
family members said.
Zink was born April 25, 1913, in Brandon, Canada. He earned a
bachelor's degree in 1937 at UCLA. Years later, he earned a master's
in theater arts from UCLA and a teaching credential.
During World War II, he was in an Army special services unit. For
several months, he was entertainment director at Ft. Ord before
serving in the Philippines and, at the end of the war, in Japan, where
he worked as a producer and announcer for Armed Forces Radio.
He started acting in Hollywood in 1947. His film appearances included
"Twelve O'Clock High" (1949), "War of the Worlds" (1953), "Love Me
Tender" (1956) and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" (1962).
His television guest spots included roles on "The Fugitive," "Mod
Squad," "Barnaby Jones," "Mission Impossible," "Sea Hunt" and "The
Untouchables."
The Hardy Boys series, which ran on "The Mickey Mouse Club" in 1956
and 1957, featured Tim Considine and Tommy Kirk as the sleuthing
teenage brothers and was based on the series of novels aimed at
youths.
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
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Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
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Brad Ferguson
<b...@surfwriter.net.not> wrote:
"The Hardy Boys" was so long ago that I really had no idea who this
was, and then I saw the pic:
<http://www.originalmmc.com/images/Serials/Russ%20Conway.jpg>
Russ Conway was a steady, Dragnet-like presence, and he was great as
the detective/father. IIRC Disney had two goes at this. The first one
was a adaptation of "The Tower Treasure," one of the first (if not
*the* first) Hardy Boys books. The second was some mess about a farm,
and saving the animals there.