#dirk rambo

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Dack and Dirk Rambo publicity photos for “The New Loretta Young Show” in 1962.

[kwebtv]

The New Loretta Young Show  -  CBS  -  September 24, 1962 - March 18, 1963

Comedy / Drama (26 episodes)

Running Time:  30 minutes

Stars:

Loretta Young as Christine Massey

James Philbrook as Paul Belzer

Dack Rambo as Peter Massey

Dirk Rambo as Paul Massey

Cindy Carol as Binkie Massey

Sandy Descher as Judy Massey

Tracy Stratford as Maria Massey

Beverly Washburn as Vickie Massey

Celia Kaye as Marnie Massey

[beautifulstrangefantastic]

[and95blog]

Dirk Rambo (1941-1967)

American actor, brother of Dack Rambo.

Dirk Rambo (13.11.1941`- 05.02.1967)

Buried near his brother Dack Rambo at North Kern Cemetery, Delano, California. His last role as a misguided teenager on Dragnet 1967 (1967) would air 9-days after his tragic death.

Dirk Rambo was killed in a road accident at the age of 25.

[adoring-annette]

Annette Funicello with Dirk and Dack Rambo, circa 1963.

[adoring-annette]

Annette Funicello with Dirk and Dack Rambo, circa 1963.

[sparklejamesysparkle]

“𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐈𝐧 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐈𝐟 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲—'𝐒𝐨-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐬𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐲.' 𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞-𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟—𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫. 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬.” -𝐃𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐭, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟏. Twin brothers Dack and Dirk Rambo were born Norman Jay (Dack) and Orman Ray (Dirk) on November 13th, 1941 in the small rural community of Earlimart, California. Raised on a farm in a close-knit Italian family, the twins were virtually identical in appearance and the only way their parents could tell them apart was by the mole on Dack’s cheek and Dirk's slightly heavier build. While visiting their aunt in Los Angeles when they were still in high school, the twins encountered Hollywood star Loretta Young during Sunday Mass at a Catholic church. Though they could sing, neither of them had any acting experience, but Loretta immediately recognized their good looks and potential and she exchanged addresses with the twins so she could keep in touch. She eventually offered them roles on The New Loretta Young Show when they were twenty. After getting an agent and changing their names from Norman and Orman to Dack and Dirk, the brothers played twins Peter and Paul Massey during the 1962-1963 season of Loretta’s series. Following this, they began to appear separately in episodic TV roles, with Dack landing a regular part on an ABC daytime serial entitled Never Too Young in 1966 and Dirk appearing in episodes of The Virginian and Dragnet 1967. In a tragic turn of events, Dirk was killed in a horrific car accident at the age of 25 on February 5th, 1967 when the car he was driving in Hollywood was struck head-on by a car driven by B-movie and television actress Kathleen Case. The speed of Kathleen’s car resulted in such an intense impact that Dirk’s vehicle immediately burst into flames and he died almost instantly; his passenger, Horace H. Hester, suffered severe burns and injuries. Kathleen sustained minor injuries and was charged with drunk driving and vehicular manslaughter, but both charges were inexplicably dropped by a judge two months later. She died at the age of 45 in 1979. Devastated by his twin brother’s sudden death at such a young age, Dack resolved to dedicate his career to Dirk’s memory. “We were so close,” he stated about Dirk. “I mean, we were literally like one person, you know? And nobody could really invade our world. When he died, it was like somebody had just split me in half.” Though he began drinking to cope with his loss (“there was a period of self-destructiveness—years of drinking too much, partying too much and playing too much—it was all my way of escaping”, he later said), Dack’s ambition, good looks, and talent rapidly led him to become one of the most recognizable faces on 1970s and 1980s television. His list of credits included memorable appearances on Gunsmoke, Marcus Welby, M.D., Cannon, The Rookies, Wonder Woman, Charlie's Angels, All My Children, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, House Calls, Hotel, Highway to Heaven, and Murder, She Wrote. In 1984 he starred opposite Morgan Fairchild, Lloyd Bridges, Brenda Vaccaro, and Nicollette Sheridan in the nighttime soap opera Paper Dolls, and then landed the role of J.R. Ewing’s cousin Jack Ewing on the long-running series Dallas from 1985 to 1987. During his time on the show his character romanced Priscilla Presley’s character Jenna Wade, resulting in the two stars having a great deal of screen time together. Dack also had supporting and starring roles in feature films, including the Jerry Lewis comedy Which Way to the Front? (1970), the crime thriller Nightmare Honeymoon (1974), Rich and Famous (1981), and the post-apocalyptic sci-fi drama Ultra Warrior (1990). He also launched his own line of men’s underwear (“Under Ware by dack rambo”) in 1987. In 1990, Dack was cast in a leading role as Congressman Grant Harrison on the NBC daytime soap opera Another World and expected to be on the series for the foreseeable future. However, after only appearing in fourteen episodes, he was diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and decided to quit the show in order to focus on his health and undergo experimental treatments. In an era when stigma surrounding the disease still bordered on panic and HIV was snidely referred to as “the gay plague”, Dack bravely went public with his diagnosis (“I knew the tabloids would pick up on it and make life miserable for my family,” he explained) and he also came out as bisexual during an interview with The Washington Post. “I guess I am bisexual,” he stated to the newspaper when pressed to reveal his orientation. “I've been in love with women and I've been in love with men. And I think, depending on the particular time in my life, {the attraction} was stronger in one area than another. It's kind of the essence of a person that I've been attracted to. Whether it turned out to be a man or a woman was kind of immaterial.” About his AIDS diagnosis, Dack said: “I felt a lot of anger and a lot of rage. And actually wanting to die. But all those things were short-lived. I feel so much better today having gone public with being HIV-positive. It’s like freedom to me.” He also spoke frankly about the poor treatment he received during his years on Dallas when rumors about his sexuality began to crop up and his role on the show was diminished. “I didn't like him very much,” he stated about the show’s star, Larry Hagman. “And I think the feeling was probably very mutual. I didn't really fit into the mold of what he considered male or macho. It was just very clear to me I wasn't going to be part of the family. I was on the set with Larry and Patrick Duffy and Steve Kanaly. They all went to lunch. I was standing right there and nobody said anything about me going to lunch. I thought, 'Gee, this just doesn't feel real good.' That was to me an indication of what it was going to be like from that point on.” Dack spent his last years volunteering with AIDS Project Los Angeles and invested time and energy giving lectures to young people about the importance of safe-sex. He also devoted himself to helping establish an international data bank used for AIDS research in hopes of finding better treatments and a possible cure. “I don't want to set a time limit for myself,” he said shortly after his diagnosis. “It then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I'm sure I'll live a long time.” Sadly, Dack died of AIDS on March 21st, 1994 at the age of 52. He was buried next to his brother Dirk at North Kern Cemetery in Delano, California. The inscription on his gravestone reads: “Beloved Son, Brother, and Best Friend”. Though he’s rarely mentioned or remembered today, Dack deserves recognition for the work he did to help de-stigmatize HIV/AIDS and educate others about safe-sex, and his honesty about his diagnosis at a time when doing so was a rare and dangerous thing to reveal. “In all the reaction I got literally from around the world,” he told The Washington Post, “the letters that came in, the telegrams, the phone calls, from people I knew, people I didn't know—there was not one negative. I was grateful. I really knew I had done the right thing. Everyone was calling me, commending me on my courage and my bravery. I mean, you don't feel that at the time, but when you hear those words, you think, ‘Gee, maybe I've done something right.’”

[present-indicative]