Multiple times on this site, I have alluded to the game called, Six Degrees of Separations. Its simple premise is that anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet by no more than five intermediaries. On this site, I’ve mentioned more than once that any classic rock n’ roll musical act can be connected via Fleetwood Mac.
After I published a post about the Guy Williams’ led Zorro show, my brother reminded me that Don Diamond who played Corporal Reyes on Zorro also played Crazy Cat on the show F Troop. It then dawned on me that perhaps I could play Six Degrees of Separation with the Zorro TV show and see how far I could get.
Amazingly, I got to the Star Trek, Star Wars, NCIS and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchises. I also got to the Thin Man movie series, Mary Astor and James Cagney. How far you get depends on who you start with.
For example, Guy Williams (Zorro) leads to Cesar Romero (who played his uncle for 4 episodes) and is one of two key people in this Zorro challenge. Romero leads to the Thin Man actors William Powell, Myrna Loy and Maureen O’Sullivan. Powell will lead to James Cagney, Henry Fonda and Jack Lemon via Mister Roberts. O’Sullivan will lead to Nicolas Cage, Kathleen Turner and Jim Carrey via Peggy Sue Got Married. Loy leads to Peter Falk, Shirley Temple, Cary Grant and Fredric March. You can touch much of old Hollywood via the Cesar Romero link.
The other key person in Zorro is Don Diamond. Diamond played Corporal Reyes. Diamond leads to Ken Berry and Forrest Tucker on F Troop. Berry leads to Andy Griffith, Ron Howard and Don Knotts. Forrest Tucker leads to John Wayne via The Sands of Iwo Jima and Angela Lansbury via Murder She Wrote. Berry’s lead to Ron Howard opens the gates to Tom Hanks, Shirley Jones (The Music Man & The Partridge Family), Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy) and Hume Cronyn (who leads to the Alfred Hitchcock library).
So let’s link some Franchises and actors.
1. Star Wars – Don Diamond (Zorro (Corporal Reyes)) to Ken Berry (F Troop) to Ron Howard (The Andy Griffith Show/Mayberry R.F.D.) to Harrison Ford (American Graffiti/ Star Wars (Episodes 4-7)).
2. Star Trek – Cesar Romero (Zorro (Esteban de la Cruz)/Batman (The Joker)) leads to Frank Gorshin (Batman (The Riddler)) to William Shatner (Star Trek – “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”) to Patrick Stewart (Star Trek Generations/ Star Trek: Next Generation)/ Star Trek: Deep Space Nine/ Picard) [Bonus – Patrick Stewart also leads to Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy/ American Dad/ The Orville)].
3. The Marvel Cinematic Universe – Cesar Romero (Zorro (Esteban de la Cruz)) to Maureen O’Sullivan (The Thin Man/ Peggy Sue got Married) to Kathleen Turner (Romancing the Stone) to Michael Douglas (Ant-Man/ Avengers: Endgame). [ Note: Avengers: Endgame cast gets you to most of the modern films since 2015 including the Wicked (part 1) cast.]
4. NCIS – Guy Williams (Zorro) to Robert Vaughn (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) to David McCallum (NCIS/ Doctor “Ducky” Mallard). Note that David McCallum also gets you to Perry Mason (he was a defendant) and that cast which will lead to Citizen Kane and its cast. Robert Vaughn also gets you to the cast of The Magnificent Seven (Steve McQueen, Yul Brenner, Charles Bronson & James Coburn).
5. Mary Astor – Guy Williams (Zorro) to Annette Funicello (The Mickey Mouse Club/The New Adventures of Spin and Marty) to Tim Considine (My Three Sons) to Fred MacMurray (The Caine Mutiny) to Humphrey Bogart (The Maltese Falcon) to Mary Astor. [Note Mary Astor gets you to Bette Davis, Oliva de Havilland, Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien and Joseph Cotton.]
6. A Bonus Challenge (James Mason) – Cesar Romero (Zorro (Esteban de la Cruz) to Myrna Loy (The Thin Man /Mr. Blanding Builds His Dream House) to Cary Grant (Topper) to Billie Burke (Wizard of Oz) to Judy Garland (A Star is Born) to James Mason. (Yes, I know I could have gone directly to James Mason from Cary Grant via the Hitchcock film North by Northwest, but this way I get to include Billie Burke and entire 1939 Wizard of Oz cast.)
The bottom line is that the 1959 Zorro TV show opens up new paths to play the game of Six Degrees of Separation, if you’re so inclined.
