Glenn Corbett
1934-1993

Our interest in Glenn Corbett dates back to 1963 when he replaced the "ailing" George Maharis on the CBS series Route 66 near the end of the third season. Of course, even before Corbett turned up on the program as a Vietnam Vet from Houston, Route 66 had been must-see-TV for a lot of us simply because of the weekly guest star list, which tended to feature gods & goddesses like Tuesday Weld, Anne Francis, Suzanne Pleshette and Ralph Meeker. In fact, just about every really interesting person in the known universe at some time or other turned up as a guest star on Route 66. Ralph Meeker actually appeared in two episodes -- a Maharis episode and a particularly memorable Corbett episode.

Starring with Martin Milner on Route 66 would have been enough to earn sainthood for damn near any performer, but Glenn Corbett's career is interesting for a number of other considerations. For instance, using the name Glenn Robinson he worked for a while in the mid-1950s as a physique model for Bob Mizer's legendary Athletic Model Guild based in Los Angeles. Just thumb through a few ancient issues of AMG's Physique Pictorial and you'll find shots of Glenn posing and smiling rather confidently in various attire, from sailor suits to bikini briefs. We seem to recall one particularly interesting study where he was wearing Native American attire and bikini, which, as everyone knows, was once the traditional dress for many Native Americans. Eventually, and with his clothes on, Glenn was able to get fairly steady work in film and television throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Until recently we included 1950's The Fireball in Glenn's filmography. But we've learned that this was a different "Glenn Corbett," an actor whose real name was Larry Holden -- and he was the son of actress Gloria Holden, who starred in 1936's Dracula's Daughter!