Daktari
Encyclopedia
Daktari is an American children's
drama series
that aired on CBS
between 1966 and 1969. The series, an Ivan Tors
Films Production in association with MGM Television
, stars Marshall Thompson
as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian
at the fictional Wameru Study Centre for Animal Behaviour in East Africa
.
), and his staff, who frequently protected animals from poachers and local officials. Tracy's pets, a cross-eyed lion
named Clarence and a chimpanzee
named Judy, were also popular characters.
Daktari was based upon the 1965 film Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
, which also stars Thompson as Dr. Tracy and Miller as his daughter. The concept was developed by producer Ivan Tors
, inspired by the work of Dr. A.M. "Toni" Harthoorn and his wife Sue
at their animal orphanage in Nairobi
. Dr. Harthoorn was a tireless campaigner for animal rights, and with his research team developed the capture gun, used to sedate animals in order to capture them without injury.
On the series, Clarence didn't do all his own stunts, he also had a stand in. Leo, another Ralph Helfer
-trainer feline, doubled for Clarence whenever there were any trucks involved, since Clarence spooked at the sight of these vehicles. Leo even had his own makeup artist who applied cosmetic scarring like Clarence's, so that he would resemble Clarence when photographed in closeups. This was referred to in an inside joke from the preview trailer for the movie Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
, that Leo (who also appeared in the MGM logo and had a gentle temperament very similar to Clarence's) was not at all related to Clarence!
Another less-friendly lion, also named Leo, doubled for Clarence in some scenes. He was used only for the snarling scenes and general scenes which didn't involve close proximity with humans. Leo had come from a family in Utah
. His ferocity was due largely to abuse he received from former owners that beat him badly with a stick.
In the show's final season, child star Erin Moran
joined the cast as Jenny Jones, a seven-year-old orphan
who becomes part of the Tracy household.
," a 600 acres (2.4 km²) wild animal ranch created by animal trainers Ralph and Toni Helfer
in Soledad Canyon
40 mi (64.4 km). north of Los Angeles
. Ralph Helfer was the animal coordinator of the show. Leonard B. Kaufman, the producer, wrote in liner notes for Shelly Manne's Daktari, that he shot the series on location
in Mozambique
. Indeed, the outdoor scenes involving the actors were shot in the Africa, U.S.A. compound in California, with footage of African landscape and animals in between to get the African look and feel. The indoor scenes of the animal hospital were shot in Ivan Tors' studios in Florida.
and African
influences, conducted by American jazz drummer Shelly Manne
. Manne released the associated record, Daktari: Shelly Manne Performs and Conducts His Original Music for the Hit TV Show, on the Atlantic Records
label in 1968. On the album, Mike Wofford
plays a tack piano
to evoke an African sound, and Manne is joined by percussionists Emil Richards
, Larry Bunker
, Frank Carlson
, and Victor Feldman
. According to the record liner notes, Manne and fellow percussionists play ankle and wrist jingles
, Thai mouth organ
s, aungloongs, ocarina
s, vibraphone
s, tympani
, and different kinds of marimba
s.
released the complete first season in Region 1 format on dvd-r via their Warner Archive manufacture-on-demand series on November 15, 2011. It's a five disc set with all 18 season one episodes.
Children's television series
Children's television series, are commercial television programs designed for, and marketed to children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run in the early evening, for the children that go to school...
drama series
Dramatic programming
Dramatic programming in the UK, or television drama and television drama series in the US, is television program content that is scripted and fictional along the lines of √a traditional drama. This excludes, for example, sports television, television news, reality show and game shows, stand-up...
that aired on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
between 1966 and 1969. The series, an Ivan Tors
Ivan Tors
Ivan Tors was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater filmed television and films, and films about animals...
Films Production in association with MGM Television
MGM Television
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television is an American television production/distribution launched in 1955 and a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc....
, stars Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson
Marshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veterinarian
Veterinarian
A veterinary physician, colloquially called a vet, shortened from veterinarian or veterinary surgeon , is a professional who treats disease, disorder and injury in animals....
at the fictional Wameru Study Centre for Animal Behaviour in East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
.
Concept
The show follows the work of Dr. Tracy, his daughter Paula (Cheryl MillerCheryl Miller (actress)
Cheryl Lynn Miller is an American actress.Probably her best known role was as Paula Tracy, the daughter of veterinarian Marsh Tracy in the television series, Daktari, which ran from 1966 to 1969...
), and his staff, who frequently protected animals from poachers and local officials. Tracy's pets, a cross-eyed lion
Lion
The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...
named Clarence and a chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
named Judy, were also popular characters.
Daktari was based upon the 1965 film Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion is a 1965 film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Marshall Thompson and Betsy Drake. The movie was shot in Miami, Florida, and became the basis for the television series Daktari.-Plot:...
, which also stars Thompson as Dr. Tracy and Miller as his daughter. The concept was developed by producer Ivan Tors
Ivan Tors
Ivan Tors was a Hungarian playwright, film director, screenwriter, and film and television producer with an emphasis on non-violent but exciting science fiction, underwater filmed television and films, and films about animals...
, inspired by the work of Dr. A.M. "Toni" Harthoorn and his wife Sue
Susanne Hart
Susanne Hart , also known under the short form Sue Hart or as Susanne Harthoorn, was a South African veterinarian and environmentalist.-Biography:...
at their animal orphanage in Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
. Dr. Harthoorn was a tireless campaigner for animal rights, and with his research team developed the capture gun, used to sedate animals in order to capture them without injury.
On the series, Clarence didn't do all his own stunts, he also had a stand in. Leo, another Ralph Helfer
Ralph Helfer
Ralph Helfer is a notable American animal behaviorist, creator of Marine World/Africa U.S.A., California, and writer of books about animals.He was born in Chicago and had one sister, Sally...
-trainer feline, doubled for Clarence whenever there were any trucks involved, since Clarence spooked at the sight of these vehicles. Leo even had his own makeup artist who applied cosmetic scarring like Clarence's, so that he would resemble Clarence when photographed in closeups. This was referred to in an inside joke from the preview trailer for the movie Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion
Clarence, the Cross-Eyed Lion is a 1965 film directed by Andrew Marton and starring Marshall Thompson and Betsy Drake. The movie was shot in Miami, Florida, and became the basis for the television series Daktari.-Plot:...
, that Leo (who also appeared in the MGM logo and had a gentle temperament very similar to Clarence's) was not at all related to Clarence!
Another less-friendly lion, also named Leo, doubled for Clarence in some scenes. He was used only for the snarling scenes and general scenes which didn't involve close proximity with humans. Leo had come from a family in Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. His ferocity was due largely to abuse he received from former owners that beat him badly with a stick.
In the show's final season, child star Erin Moran
Erin Moran
Erin Marie Moran is an American actress, best known for the role of Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days and its spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi.-Early life:...
joined the cast as Jenny Jones, a seven-year-old orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
who becomes part of the Tracy household.
Cast
- Marshall ThompsonMarshall ThompsonMarshall Thompson was an American film and television actor.He was born James Marshall Thompson in Peoria, Illinois. In 1943 Thompson, known for his boy-next-door good looks, was signed by Universal Pictures...
.... Dr. Marsh Tracy - Cheryl MillerCheryl Miller (actress)Cheryl Lynn Miller is an American actress.Probably her best known role was as Paula Tracy, the daughter of veterinarian Marsh Tracy in the television series, Daktari, which ran from 1966 to 1969...
.... Paula Tracy - Ross HagenRoss HagenRoss Hagen was an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer whose television acting credits included Daktari. His film credits included The Sidehackers in 1969 and The Hellcats in 1967....
.... Bart Jason (1968–1969) - Hedley Mattingley .... District Officer Hedley
- Erin MoranErin MoranErin Marie Moran is an American actress, best known for the role of Joanie Cunningham on Happy Days and its spinoff Joanie Loves Chachi.-Early life:...
.... Jenny Jones (1968–1969) - Hari RhodesHari RhodesHari Rhodes was an American author and actor whose career spanned three decades beginning around 1960....
.... Mike Makula - Yale Summers .... Jack Dane (1966–1968)
Location
According to the show's closing credits, it was "filmed in Africa and Africa, U.S.A.Marine World/Africa U.S.A., California
Marine World/Africa USA, was a tourist attraction located in Redwood Shores, California. The park was named Marine World when it first opened.-Origins of the Africa U.S.A. name:...
," a 600 acres (2.4 km²) wild animal ranch created by animal trainers Ralph and Toni Helfer
Ralph Helfer
Ralph Helfer is a notable American animal behaviorist, creator of Marine World/Africa U.S.A., California, and writer of books about animals.He was born in Chicago and had one sister, Sally...
in Soledad Canyon
Soledad Canyon
Soledad Canyon is a long narrow canyon / valley located in Los Angeles County, California between the cities of Palmdale and Santa Clarita. Soledad Canyon contains the localities of Vincent, Acton, Ravenna, Russ, and Agua Dulce....
40 mi (64.4 km). north of Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. Ralph Helfer was the animal coordinator of the show. Leonard B. Kaufman, the producer, wrote in liner notes for Shelly Manne's Daktari, that he shot the series on location
On location
On location can refer to:*Filming location, a place where some or all of a film or television series is produced*On Location , a name of an HBO special series*Adobe OnLocation, computer software for direct to disk recording....
in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
. Indeed, the outdoor scenes involving the actors were shot in the Africa, U.S.A. compound in California, with footage of African landscape and animals in between to get the African look and feel. The indoor scenes of the animal hospital were shot in Ivan Tors' studios in Florida.
Music
The show had distinctive theme and incidental music, a fusion of jazzJazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and African
Music of Africa
Africa is a vast continent and its regions and nations have distinct musical traditions. The music of North Africa for the most part has a different history from sub-Saharan African music traditions....
influences, conducted by American jazz drummer Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne
Shelly Manne , born Sheldon Manne in New York City, was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, swing, bebop, avant-garde jazz and fusion, as well as contributing...
. Manne released the associated record, Daktari: Shelly Manne Performs and Conducts His Original Music for the Hit TV Show, on the Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
label in 1968. On the album, Mike Wofford
Mike Wofford
Mike Wofford is a jazz pianist born February 28, 1938 in San Antonio, Texas, raised in San Diego, California.He is best known as an accompanist to and music director for singers Sarah Vaughan , Ella Fitzgerald and others...
plays a tack piano
Tack piano
In music, the tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano, in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound...
to evoke an African sound, and Manne is joined by percussionists Emil Richards
Emil Richards
Emil Richards, born Emilio Joseph Radocchia on September 2, 1932 in Hartford, Connecticut, is a percussionist who plays a variety of different percussion instruments.-Biography:...
, Larry Bunker
Larry Bunker
Lawrence Benjamin "Larry" Bunker was an American jazz drummer, vibraphonist, and percussionist. He also played timpani with the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra.-Biography:...
, Frank Carlson
Frank Carlson
Frank Carlson was an American politician who served as the 30th Governor of Kansas and United States Representative and United States Senator from Kansas.-Biography:...
, and Victor Feldman
Victor Feldman
Victor Stanley Feldman was a British jazz musician, best known as a pianist.-Early history:...
. According to the record liner notes, Manne and fellow percussionists play ankle and wrist jingles
Jingle (music)
A jingle is a small metal disc, such as those arranged around the frame of a tambourine.That term is referenced in Bob Dylan's hit song, Mr. Tambourine Man. It is an onomatopoeic term, often used together with jangle...
, Thai mouth organ
Mouth organ
A mouth organ is a generic term for free reed aerophone with one or more air chambers fitted with a free reed.Though it spans many traditions, it is played universally the same way by the musician placing their lips over a chamber or holes in the instrument, and blowing or sucking air to create a...
s, aungloongs, ocarina
Ocarina
The ocarina is an ancient flute-like wind instrument. Variations do exist, but a typical ocarina is an enclosed space with four to twelve finger holes and a mouthpiece that projects from the body...
s, vibraphone
Vibraphone
The vibraphone, sometimes called the vibraharp or simply the vibes, is a musical instrument in the struck idiophone subfamily of the percussion family....
s, tympani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, and different kinds of marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
s.
DVD Release
Warner Bros.Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
released the complete first season in Region 1 format on dvd-r via their Warner Archive manufacture-on-demand series on November 15, 2011. It's a five disc set with all 18 season one episodes.