The best part of Sheriff Lobo must have been the guy pictures on the left, Mills Watson. I remember seeing him all the time in movies and tv in the 70s. He usually played a bad guy, and sometimes the character wasn't that bright.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Mills Watson, Character Actor of Distinction
I don't think I saw even one episode of the Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo. I know one of my brothers friends watched it, but then again he fell off a deck onto his head as a small child. Odd that the idea of dumb law enforcement didn't appeal to me, yet I was completelyl enthralled by Dukes of Hazzard. 
The best part of Sheriff Lobo must have been the guy pictures on the left, Mills Watson. I remember seeing him all the time in movies and tv in the 70s. He usually played a bad guy, and sometimes the character wasn't that bright.
The best part of Sheriff Lobo must have been the guy pictures on the left, Mills Watson. I remember seeing him all the time in movies and tv in the 70s. He usually played a bad guy, and sometimes the character wasn't that bright.
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I remember watching all of the episodes of The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo because of Claude Akins and the fact that it was a spinoff from B.J. and the Bear (yes, I will admit to watching that show too).
Oooo, I didn't watch BJ and the Bear either. I just couldn't wrap my head around the concept of a trucker with a chimpanzee. It doesn't seem legal or sanitary...wait a minute.
Or perhaps I was tired of the trucker with the simian due to Every Which Way But Loose. And did Burt Reynolds have a monkey in one of his car movies, or am I thinking of someone else?
I think you're thinking of Dom Deluise -- i always confuse him with a monkey.
I love character actors and I've met a number of them and they all have great stories to tell. I gotta tell ya, though, Mills Watson always kinda creeped me out!
Oh no! Mills Watson creeped you out? I thought he was scary when I was a kid, but since he seemed to have cornered the market on sleezy criminal roles, I always knew when I saw him that he was going to be doing something bad.
I love character actors also. What fascinates me is that often I'll find a character interesting and wonder if the actors done anything else. Then all of sudden, I start seeing them everywhere and I find out they've been in films for thirty or forty years!
My favorite character actor is John Milford. I also like Andy Romano, who I thought was only in "Over the Edge" and then I find out he was in all the beach movies playing delinquent JD in the Rat Pack. Damn!
And as far as Dom Deluise goes, I don't confuse him with a monkey but I do sometimes expect chefPaul Prudhomme to have a laughing fit in a Burt Reynolds car movie.
Not to get off-topic but the character actor who REALLY creeped me out was Sid Haig. I first saw him on MARY HARTMAN,MARY HARTMAN and decided he must be a REAL criminal off the streets cause he seemed so mean! Later on he turned up in everything from CHARLIE'S ANGELS to Saturday morning's SPACE ACADEMY. I read interviews and he was a professional actor! In fact, it got to the point where I enjoyed watching him! I just can't bring myself to watch his recent comeback in Rob Zombie's gorefests, though, since he creeped me out SO damn much when I was a teenager!
Yeah, Sid was very scary. Wait, he still is scary, but when I was a kid I would have run in terror if I'd ever bumped into him on the street. He's probably a very nice man, but he was excellent at playing the bad guy.
As a poor, tube-addicted youth, I remember not only loving "BJ and the Bear," but also "The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo." In season two, the title was shortened to "Lobo" and he moved from Orly County to Atlanta. If anyone has an mp3 of Frankie Laine's "Lobo" theme song, please email me and I'll play it on my podcast. Thanks!
Greg
I have no idea what the theme song sounded like, but I'd be interested in hearing it especially if it has lyrics. Any song about a sheriff named Lobo has to be fantastic!
Go to YouTube, type in Sheriff Lobo,' and you can see and hear the theme song. It's a terrific theme song -- one of the all-time best, though it's virtually unknown.
It's also very well-shot and visually interesting.
I remember the show very well. It's a very underrated show, undeserving of the criticism it's received.
Lobo brings back memories of my youth in the early 80s. I remember thinking it was the greatest show on TV (hey, I was only 10 years old). Mills Watson was awesome in his role. My all time favorite episode was where he received a head injury and became "The Skull", a tough biker until he was injured again and went back to normal at the end of the episode. Don't ask me how I remember this but I do. I would like to get the DVDs of this show if they exist.
Why am I so amused by a head injury causing him to become The Skull and another konk on the head bringing him back to himself? I love the standard amnesia plotlines!
Now I've got to go to You Tube to check out the Sheriff Lobo theme.
Wasn't there an episode where the Mills Watson character gets tied up and frees himself somehow. He then runs around in his socks for the rest of the episode?
DID MILLS WATSON HAVE ANY KIDS OR A WIFE, IF SO CAN U TELL ME WHO THEY ARE PLEASE THAN U SO MUCH.......KELLI
Found the episode with Mills Watson as "The Skull" on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNk2b0fRnQ0
Mills Watson's name is actually Billy Mills Watson, he is the grandson of prominent California rancher and businessman Bill Mills, whom was killed in an aircraft crash. Billy attended part of his grammer school days in a one room school in southern Sacramento County in the mid 1940s and even way back then he was enthralled with the movies. His favorite cartoon character was none other than "Mighty Mouse" and he always wanted to play the part during recesses in the school day.
Myself and my younger brother attended the same school with Billy and knew his brother Tom Watson, Jr. also. The first time that I saw Billy on the silver screen I recognized him as he had not changed that much in appearance from our school days. I remember him as an outgoing little kid,and his brother Tom as a rather stuck up personality. The last account that I had of him is that he lives somewhere in Oregon.
Knew Mills professionally during the Sheriff Lobo years. Could not meet a nicer, more generous person. In fact, all three male leads, Akins, Kerwin and Watson were extremely personable on and off the set. A pleasure to work with, although it was a silly show. But we had lots of fun...
I loved watching Sheriff Lobo, and Mills Watson was certainly a scene stealer when he went undercover as The Skull. Also liked Claude Akins. Always felt bad Akins was in the terrible movie The Curse.
thanks for posting this! Mills "Perkins" character on Lobo was PRICELESSLY funny!! about 10 years ago, I called him at his residence in Oregon and chatted with him for about 5 mins. He couldnt have been any nicer :-)
I attended high school in Elk Grove, Ca. with both Mills, then known as "Bill" and his brother Tom. Both were extremely popular. Bill was the school comedian. Not surprising that he became an actor. Tom was president of my graduating class of 1957. And, contrary to a previous comment, was not "stuck up."
For what it is worth, I believe Bill was president of the class of 1958. Have met Tom at several class reunions over the years but, have not seen Bill since graduating. Missed most of Bill's TV shows and movies
but, in a mood of nostalgia am going to attempt to see them on line.
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