Box Office Prophets: About a Boy Review

Ross Martin: An Appreciation

By Stephanie Star Smith

June 4, 2003

Kevin Kline's last two films have made how little money?

Say the name "Ross Martin" to most people and you get a blank stare. Say "Artemus Gordon", however, and you'll likely get the instant recognition of, "Oh, yeah, that guy on The Wild, Wild West". But while the Artemus Gordon we know and love would not have existed without this singularly gifted actor, Ross Martin was much, much more than this one character, and the talent and commitment he brought to every role made each - and by extension, the portrayer - an indispensable part of the finished product.

In the Beginning

Ross Martin was born Martin Rosenblatt on March 22, 1920 in Grodek, Poland, not normally seen as an acting Mecca. However, Ross' parents emigrated when he was very young to New York's Lower East Side, which is. Gifted with an ear for language and a prodigious intellect, Ross became fluent in seven languages, four of them before the age of five. Immersed in the melting-pot society that was New York City early in the last century, he also developed the affinity for dialects that would serve him in such good stead during his acting career.

Ross' academic abilities earned him three degrees: a Bachelor's with honors in business administration, a Master's in education and a law degree. He was also an accomplished musician and singer, and enjoyed a successful juvenile career as a violin virtuoso, in addition to spending time on the vaudeville circuit as part of a popular comedy team.

Thespus Beckons

Ross Martin had his choice of careers, both in and outside the arts. But it was acting that had captured his fancy from an early age, and acting he pursued most vigorously. Given his gift for dialect and his ability as a mimic, radio was the perfect showcase for the budding thespian, and while working in Washington, DC as a buyer for a department store chain, Ross won not one but three contract roles on the continuing serial Janice Gray, which was produced in DC. Before long, Ross took the proverbial leap of faith by quitting his job as a buyer and moving back to New York City to devote himself full-time to his radio career.

His move paid off. Ross soon had roles in a number of popular radio programs, including his own show. He also made the move into the burgeoning medium of television, appearing on shows as diverse as Lights Out, Hallmark Hall of Fame and Your Show of Shows.

Hollywood quickly took notice of the talented newcomer, and Ross once again picked up stakes to gamble big on his career. A series of film roles followed, most notably the part of Red Lynch, the asthmatic killer in Experiment in Terror, a role which earned Ross a Golden Globe nomination and the lauding of critics across the country.

How the West Was Won

But it was in the realm of episodic television that Ross would garner the most long-lasting attention. His first regular series role was in Mr Lucky, loosely based on the Cary Grant film of the same name. Ross starred as Andamo, the second-in-command to the eponymous owner of the floating casino Fortune. Mr Lucky lasted one season, and Ross interspersed feature films with guest-starring roles on most of the popular series of the late '50s and early '60s.

In 1965, CBS approached Ross to co-star in a series about a pair of Secret Service agents in the 1870s. Pitched as "James Bond in the Old West", Ross was to play the second lead, a brilliant master of disguise and inventor of gadgets who helped keep both his partner and himself - not to mention President Grant - in one piece as they battled an assortment of dastardly villains. Although the lead role wasn't cast until later, CBS never considered anyone else for the pivotal role of Artemus Gordon. After several refusals due to concerns over the sketchiness of the details, Ross finally signed on for what would become his signature role.

The combination of the different strengths of the two actors, plus the chemistry between Ross and Conrad - a friendship that continued until Ross' death - made for a rousing success, and The Wild, Wild West quickly rose to the upper tier of the Nielsen ratings, where it would remain for the remainder of its network run.

The Third Side of the Coin

Artemus Gordon could be considered an actor's dream. Each week came a chance to play not just the series part, but at least one or two - sometimes more - parts as well. Ross not only assisted in creating these additional characters, but also designed the make-up and costuming, not to mention employing his vast talents as a dialectician and his not-inconsiderable skill as a comic actor.

Some performers, perhaps, would find the idea of being the second banana not terribly fulfilling, but like so much about Ross, the actor found the hidden depths in occupying what can often be a thankless position. In a TV Guide interview during the show's run, he likened playing the sidekick to an action-adventure hero to the sides of a coin. If the supporting player garners too much of the spotlight, the lead is obscured and the delicate chemistry upset. Play the role too understated, and the partner is lost in the lead's shadow. But strike just the right balance, and the role becomes like a coin standing on its edge, or third side; each face is visible, neither dominates, and there is a matchless equilibrium to the partnership.

Acting 101

I could wax lyrical about the veracity of emotions, the subtle shadings of character, the sincerity of investment Ross brought to each role he assayed. But perhaps the greatest measure of the man's talent is the little things.

One hears the phrase "in the moment" bandied about quite a bit in by actors. Simply put, the actor should be in the scene as he would be in real life, doing what his character would. This seems such a basic concept, and it's one that all actors supposedly espouse, but rarely does one see it on-screen, even with the much-ballyhooed Method crowd (I'd actually say "especially", but that's just me). Being in the moment isn't staying up for three days straight in order to portray a man who's gone without sleep for three days, it's not stringing together a bunch of tics and mannerisms and calling it characterization, it's not the "Hey, look at me! I'm ACTING!" style. Rather, it's behind as you do in life. It's the tip of the hat to the extra playing the jailer because he's holding the cell door for you and that's what you'd do in real life. It's thanking someone for a compliment, even as the lines continue on over you, because that's how you'd really react. It's the thousands of little things that we don't think about as we go about our daily life, but that add that extra bit of meaning to a scene, makes the character and what he's experiencing that much more affecting because it's that much more real to the actor.

And this is what Ross Martin did to perfection. All the examples I just cited stem from actual moments in episodes of The Wild, Wild West, and these moments and hundreds of others are what help make Artemus Gordon - and indeed, all of Ross' characters - so memorable, so dear to the hearts of his fans and so lauded by critics. It is also what inspired at least one budding thespian to strive to emulate that realism, to bring that attention to detail to the stage and screen, to create characters as vivid and unforgettable.

Guest Star Extraordinaire

During the fourth season of The Wild, Wild West, Ross Martin suffered a massive heart attack. Doctors at first weren't sure he'd survive, and neither they nor the CBS execs ever expected him to return to the series. Ross fooled them all, however, missing a scant ten weeks of production and returning in triumph. But the forces of political correctness were beginning to hold sway over networks, and an anti-violence campaign ended West's run at the end of the fourth season.

In those days before completion bonds, Ross was considered too great a financial risk to be cast in another series, and with the renewed commitment to his family that his brush with death brought, Ross spent the next decade appearing on a plethora of television series and game shows. He also had quite a bit of success on the stage, most notably as John Adams in a touring production of 1776.

Ross was also active on the charity circuit. Having taken up tennis after his heart attack, Ross started the now-ubiquitous celebrity charity tennis events in 1972 by hosting an eponymous tournament at La Costa to benefit the Children's Asthma Research Institute and Hospital (CARIH). Childhood asthma was a cause he became active in while researching his role in Experiment in Terror, and he took his charity work on behalf of CARIH, which appointed him its National Chairman for the Theater Arts in 1967, as seriously as he did his acting. The tennis tournament was eventually handed to other sponsors, but Ross continued to work tirelessly on CARIH's behalf throughout the remainder of his life.

And in the end...

One of Ross' favorite pranks to pull in his later years was to suddenly clutch his chest as though he were having a heart attack in the middle of a tennis game. Ironic it was, then, when Ross suffered what would be his second and last heart attack during a tennis game on July 3, 1981. He died several hours later, surrounded by his family. In addition to a loving wife and three children, Ross Martin left behind a body of work that would make any actor proud. Though he never gained the adulation that his talent should have commanded, he was able to support himself and his family doing something he dearly loved, and in the process enriched the live of many a viewer over the years. Perhaps there is no better tribute to this prodigious talent than to paraphrase one given by a disguised Artemus Gordon at his own funeral:

He did bestride the world of his friends and fans as a veritable Colossus. We shall not see his like soon again.

The Colossus of New York: In this early contemplation of what makes a human being human, Ross portrays Dr. Jeremy Spensser, a brilliant young doctor who dies after being hit by the car that was bearing down on his son. His father, unwilling to lose his only son, transplants Jeremy's brain into a giant robot. Although Ross spends the majority of the film looking like a giant iron statue, his voice still carries the day, and provides the film with its poignancy and heart.

Experiment in Terror (1962): Although missing from the opening credits - part of Columbia's marketing campaign to build excitement for the film - this still stands as Ross' most famous film role. His portrayal of the psychopathic asthmatic who forces an innocent bank clerk to embezzle funds is a chilling, three-dimensional portrait of a man whose emotional scars compel him to live outside society's constraints, yet who is still capable of assuaging the worst fears of a frightened child. And if you didn't know different, you'd swear Ross Martin was an asthmatic himself, so realistic is his portrayal of the disease.

The Great Race (1965): Blake Edwards, who directed Ross in Experiment in Terror, brought him on-board for this all-star extravaganza about turn-of-the-20th century car enthusiasts competing for the grand prize in a round-the-world race. Although his screen time is barely half-an-hour total, his Baron von Stuppe is easily the most interesting thing about the film. Would that Blake Edwards had gone with his original casting choice of Jack Lemmon as The Great Leslie rather than bowing to studio pressure to cast the more box office-reliable Tony Curtis, for Ross in the role of Professor Fate would have made for a fantastic film. Still, watching Ross fence - another skill for this multi-talented gentleman - is more than worth sitting through the rest of the less-compelling two hours.

The Wild, Wild West (1965): Ross' signature role. If you've never seen him as Artemus Gordon, you're missing one of the great characters television has produced and a marvelous opportunity to watch a first-class actor at work. Period.