THE MAN FROM 'LAREDO'

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00001R000400290033-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 14, 2000
• Sequence Number: 33
• Publication Date: September 12, 1965
• Content Type: NSPR

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ORNFMP M-M9
STATINTL
CPYRGHT
CAN four fellows who" look like
football players find. happiness to-
gether in Laredo?
That will be the question to be
solved this fall by the producers
of Universal and NBC's new 90-
minute color Western titled, of
course, "Laredo."
Laredo, in essence, is ;;remake
of "The Three Musketegrs."
One of the four principals is
Bill Smith. It is, np his physical
(he stands 6 feet pr his facial
qualities that amaze you, but the
fact that he's probably the first
CIA agent who ever became an
actor.
He was. wearing a rust-colored
sports jacket that he had dug out
of an old suitcase from his Air
Force days in Germany. We were
having lunch in a Sunset Strip
cafe. Three "Laredos" were al-
ready in the can but production
on the series had been stopped so
network nabobs could examine
the show and suggest changes, of
which there was already a page-
ful.
One major change will be to
dress the four more distinctly and
give each a somewhat diffe t
personality. For while Nevp
Brand, who plays one of th,'
looks mean enough to kill you
with his grin and Peter Brown
has a certain kind of handsome-
ness that can sidetrack you, and 6
feet 5 Phil Carey eats potato
chips, there was a certain same-
ness about their parts.
How did q secret agent become
an actor?
"It was an accident. I was
working as a teaching assistant
at U.C.L.A. In Russian Lit. But
I couldn't work for the Govern-
ment any longer because I had
married a girl who wasn't a
resident of this country. When
you work for any branch of the
secret Government service, you
cannot be married to an alien.
WHEN I was in Germany I met
Michele. She was French. We fell
in love, got married and, bingo!
four years of workings for the
Government was ovgF.
"Anyway, they were toing this
movie and they needed a guy to
speak Russian and one of my
other professors told me about
it and said I should look,,_into the
situation because it could mean
extra money, and that's how. it all
began.
"Actually, it's kind of funny be-
cause my first 'big, job was in
Phil Carey's series 'Asalt
Jungle.' He's been a big booster
of mine through the years. Every
few weeks he'd phone to see how
I was and what I was up to.
"It's kind of interesting that all
the guys who worked on 'Asphalt'
are now working for NBC this
year. Jack Warden is doing
'Wackiest Ship in the Army' and
Arch Johnson is in "Gump Run-
amuck.",
How does a young man become
a secret agent?
"I was flunking out of Glendale
College. I was a sort of-, hot rod
fiend. Actually, too young to un-
derstand at the time the impor-
tance of a college education. I tried
to escape the wrath of my par-
ents so I joined the Air Force.
I really wanted to become a Ma-
rine, but I was 17 and they
wouldn't take me. I figured the
Air Force was the next best
branch of the service.
"I was gung ho for the service
in those days. That's why I think
I did such a good job as a drill
instructor. I've changed since.
I had what you'd call youthful
patriotism. All my buddies were
fighting in Korea and I wanted to
do the same. I did things by the
book, which is not always best.
There's no place for compassion
in instruction.
FOR 13 weeks people get to
hate you. It's easier to get things
accomplished that way. I learned
to divorce myself from the 65
men I was in charge of. I never
learned anybody's first name,
never spoke to anyone unless it
was to reprimand. I never studied
anyone unless they had a prob-
lem.
"After nine months they sent
me to language school. When I
entered the service they gave me'
an aptitude test. Somehow I came-
out high in languages. The fol-
lowing 14 months I spent eight
hours a day studying Russian at
Syracuse. And for three months
from 8 till 4 every day I did
nothing but speak Russian.
"Ninety per cent of the people
in the program were professors
or people getting their doctorates.
I was the youngest in the class,
18, and out of 150 people finished
the course fourth."
Approved For Release 2000/08/03 : CIA-RDP75-00001 R000400290033-7