Ben Casey

infobox television
show_name = Ben Casey


caption = Dr. Maggie Graham (Bettye Ackerman) and Vince Edwards as the title character
format = Drama
runtime = 60 min.
creator =
director =
starring = Vince Edwards
Sam Jaffe
Bettye Ackerman
Jeanne Bates
John Zaremba
Ben Piazza
Jim McMullan
Franchot Tone
Stella Stevens
Marlyn Mason
Harry Landers
country = USA
executive_producer =
network = ABC
opentheme =
camera =
first_aired = October 2, 1961
last_aired = March 21, 1966
num_episodes = 153
num_seasons = 6
tv_com_id = 1456
imdb_id = 0054519
website =

"Ben Casey" is a medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its iconic opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, *, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Pioneering neurosurgeon Joseph Ransohoff was a medical consultant for the show and may have influenced the personality of the title character.

ynopsis

The series starred Vince Edwards as medical doctor Ben Casey, a young, intense but idealistic surgeon at County General Hospital. His mentor was Doctor David Zorba, played by Sam Jaffe. At the beginning of the 1965 season, Jaffe left the show and Franchot Tone replaced Zorba as new Chief of Surgery, Doctor Daniel Niles Freeland. The show began running multi-episode stories and Casey developed a romantic relationship with Jane Hancock (Stella Stevens), who had just emerged from a coma after thirteen years.

Production notes

"Ben Casey" had several directors including Irvin Kershner and Academy Award-winning director Sydney Pollack. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054519/ "Ben Casey" IMDb credits] ] Its theme song was written by David Raksin; a version performed by pianist Valjean was a Top 40 hit in the United States.

The show was a Bing Crosby Production.

Adaptations

There was both a comic strip and a comic book based on the television series. The strip was written and drawn by Neal Adams. The daily strip began on 26 November, 1962 and the Sunday strip debuted on 20 September, 1964. Both ended on July 31, 1966 (a Sunday). The half page format was regarded as the best Sunday format, and one effect by Neal Adams can only be appreciated in the half page—a globe in one panel is a continuation of Ben Casey's head in a lower panel. The daily strip was reprinted in the "Menomonee Falls Gazette".

The comic book was published by Dell Comics for 10 issues from 1962 to 1964. All had photocovers, except for the final issue which was drawn by John Tartaglione.

In its early run, "Ben Casey" dominated its time slot. In the 1962-1963 season, it swamped Loretta Young's return to weekly television in her family sitcom "The New Loretta Young Show" on CBS.

In 1988, a television movie, "The Return of Ben Casey", also starring Vince Edwards, aired in syndication. [cite news|title= Vince Edwards, 67, the Doctor In the Hit TV Series 'Ben Casey'| publisher = "New York Times"| date =1996-03-16 | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D01E1D81639F930A25750C0A960958260 | accessdate =2008-01-10]

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0054519|title=Ben Casey
* [http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-1456 "Ben Casey" on TV Tome]