# RIP Robert Conrad **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** celebrity-death\ **Created:** [February 9, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655 "2020-02-09T00:47:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/21 "2020-02-09T19:35:49Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I remember him having an epic meltdown when Gabe Kaplan smoked him in a race on one of those cheesy battle of the network things they used to have in the seventies. Good actor, bad loser. Still, it would be a funny world if we were all the same. Actually, he was complaining a lot beforehand, but admitted that the “Best man won” after the race. The whole segment is [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqWU9huMMco) NBC had beaten ABC in a relay race, but the judges tacked on a 2 second penalty because one of the racers had cheated, giving the race to ABC. Conrad, captain of the NBC team, blew his top, and eventually he and Mr. Kotter, captain of ABC, agreed to a foot race to settle the matter. Conrad had no idea that Kaplan had been a track star in high school. The fact that the whole event is announced by Howard Cosell really makes it timeless. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/22 "2020-02-09T20:57:31Z")
Baa Baa Black Sheep had a great intro and the fantastic Simon Oakland If I recall: they had modern haircuts…and one of the flyers had two American stamps on his Corsair (?) because of friendly fire. Also remember an ep ( might be the same guy) where a novice accidentally shot down a famous Japanese ace, so the ace (who lived) challenged the novice to a one on one duel And this was actually a source of drama in the ep!! I could see it happening IRL…maybe? But it wouldn’t be a source of drama and losing sleep. It would either happen or they’d set up an ambush ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/23 "2020-02-09T22:34:40Z")
I was a big fan of THE WILD, WILD, WEST and BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON, and I also liked him in CENTENNIAL. But I recall him playing a bit part as an overly aggressive senior military advisor in some movie from the 80’s or 90’s. I cannot recall if the movie was a comedy or not—but his character was most certainly a cartoonish, two dimensional attempt at humor. After admiring his serious tough guy roles, I remember I got a kick out of this general he played being ignored when he wanted to solve every problem with more firepower! He also claimed to have these tidbits of tactical intelligence that could not be actual information: “has dinner with his mother every Tuesday night…” or “ … yes sir, chronic masturbator with a Napoleon Complex”. You want to take him seriously because of his previous roles and playing it straight presence in the role but he became too absurd. It was just funny because he was making fun of his tough guy roles with such earnestness. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/24 "2020-02-09T23:03:00Z")
> [@Temporary\_Name](#): > > I was a big fan of THE WILD, WILD, WEST and BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP SQUADRON, and I also liked him in CENTENNIAL. But I recall him playing a bit part as an overly aggressive senior military advisor in some movie from the 80’s or 90’s. I cannot recall if the movie was a comedy or not—but his character was most certainly a cartoonish, two dimensional attempt at humor. After admiring his serious tough guy roles, I remember I got a kick out of this general he played being ignored when he wanted to solve every problem with more firepower! He also claimed to have these tidbits of tactical intelligence that could not be actual information: “has dinner with his mother every Tuesday night…” or “ … yes sir, chronic masturbator with a Napoleon Complex”. You want to take him seriously because of his previous roles and playing it straight presence in the role but he became too absurd. It was just funny because he was making fun of his tough guy roles with such earnestness. Wrong is Right. A very timely movie ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/25 "2020-02-09T23:35:16Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > I had just screwed up the courage to knock that battery off his shoulder and this goes an happens. I was going to post one of [those battery commercials](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6mksFu2vc), in fact. 🙂 I always enjoyed him in _Wild Wild West_. RIP, Mr. Conrad. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/26 "2020-02-10T00:23:54Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Wrong is Right. A very timely movie Thank You **Dale Sams**! I would not have remembered that in a million years. In fact, I still have little memory of the movie or the plot even after looking it up on IMDb, but I DO remember Mr. Conrad’s performance. Even if I didn’t remember Sean Connery or John Saxon (big fan of both actors) were in the movie, you would think I would recall Katherine Ross! ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/27 "2020-02-10T01:49:06Z")
If this thread goes longer than the **RIP Kirk Douglas** thread, I will become very very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/28 "2020-02-10T02:29:53Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > Can’t tell if its a joke or not. But it wasn’t a comedy. Half the episodes revolved around them trying to get with the nurses or figuring out ways to get one up on Major Lard. Wikipedia calls it a “military drama” but I can’t remember any other military drama that ends with a women’s volleyball game in the middle of a warzone. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/29 "2020-02-10T03:35:13Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Actually, he was complaining a lot beforehand, but admitted that the “Best man won” after the race. The whole segment is [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqWU9huMMco) NBC had beaten ABC in a relay race, but the judges tacked on a 2 second penalty because one of the racers had cheated, giving the race to ABC. Conrad, captain of the NBC team, blew his top, and eventually he and Mr. Kotter, captain of ABC, agreed to a foot race to settle the matter. Conrad had no idea that Kaplan had been a track star in high school. The fact that the whole event is announced by Howard Cosell really makes it timeless. And video is has some politically incorrect statements, with stereo-typical vintage slurs towards Germans, Jews, and the Irish. Imagine how much outrage there would be on Social Media at the 1:40 mark “He’s Jewish and he wants to do is arbitrate” “I’m German and I want to kill the both of them” “I’m Irish and I am looking for another Mick to hit” ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/30 "2020-02-10T04:33:20Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > And video is has some politically incorrect statements, with stereo-typical vintage slurs towards Germans, Jews, and the Irish. > > Imagine how much outrage there would be on Social Media > > at the 1:40 mark > > “He’s Jewish and he wants to do is arbitrate” > “I’m German and I want to kill the both of them” > “I’m Irish and I am looking for another Mick to hit” I watched that when it was first broadcast and thought it was pretty cringe-worthy then. Even more so when I caught a re-run or YouTube video a couple of years ago. That exchange seemed very real and very intense to me. But the thing with him putting the battery on his shoulder and blocking Lou Ferrigno’s way seemed pretty much scripted to me. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/31 "2020-02-10T14:26:28Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “Hi. I’m Torque.” 🆒 Ha - yes! And the pretty secretary. I had a crush on her at the time… ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/32 "2020-02-10T15:27:21Z")
He’d have been perfect as Napolean. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/33 "2020-02-10T15:27:31Z")
I just learned that he was a singer, too. YouTube has several of his songs: [https://www.youtube.com/results?search\_query=robert+conrad+singing](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=robert+conrad+singing) ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/34 "2020-02-10T15:33:12Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Half the episodes revolved around them trying to get with the nurses or figuring out ways to get one up on Major Lard. Wikipedia calls it a “military drama” but I can’t remember any other military drama that ends with a women’s volleyball game in the middle of a warzone. That’s _Colonel_ Lard! I know of another action military drama movie that takes time out from all the flyin’ and girl chasin’ for a shirtless volleyball game. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/35 "2020-02-10T20:25:39Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > …I know of another action military drama movie that takes time out from all the flyin’ and girl chasin’ for a shirtless volleyball game. _Das Boot_? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/36 "2020-02-10T20:39:41Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > Half the episodes revolved around them trying to get with the nurses or figuring out ways to get one up on Major Lard. Wikipedia calls it a “military drama” but I can’t remember any other military drama that ends with a women’s volleyball game in the middle of a warzone. I loved Black Sheep Squadron. Today they’d call it a ‘dramedy’. It was a drama built around a combination of humorous and deadly serious plots. In tone it’s probably closest to the movie version of MASH. If you get a chance to read the autobiography of Greg ‘Pappy’ Boyington, I can highly recommend it. It’s a very entertaining war biography written by a guy who was a huge hero and celebrity in WWII, who became a drunk and never really succeeded at anything again. “Show me a hero, and I’ll show you a bum.” - Gregory ‘Pappy’ Boyington, top Marine fighter ace of WWII and Medal of Honor winner. I believe the show recreated the Medal of Honor event, in which Boyington got tired of the enemy refusing to engage (because they got slaughtered against American Corsairs), so Boyington took the Black sheep out and they circled an enemy airstrip with 60 fighters on it, taunting them by radio to come up and fight. When the Japanese finally had it with the taunts against their honor they sent up their fighters, outnumbering the Blacksheep almost 3-1. The result was 20 Japanese planes downed, with the loss of one Corsair. Conrad captured Boyington’s spirit, swagger, and disdain for the brass very well. He’ll be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Temporary\_Name](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8c91f0/32.png) [@Temporary\_Name](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Temporary_Name)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/37 "2020-02-10T21:10:01Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > He’d have been perfect as Napolean. Now that you mention it . . . he did embody the correct attributes to make a very compelling Bonaparte. Another domineering personality in an . . . um, compact frame, was Frank Lloyd Wright. Conrad didn’t resemble him much, but with makeup and wardrobe could he have pulled off a biopic of “America’s most famous architect”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2020, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655/38 "2020-02-10T22:48:17Z")
> [@Dale\_Sams](#): > > If I recall: they had modern haircuts…and one of the flyers had two American stamps on his Corsair (?) because of friendly fire. That would be Lt. Casey. RIP, Bob, ya bantam bastard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-robert-conrad/847655.md?page=1)