Character Gallery Johnny Seven as Carl Reese    “I come from a neighbourhood in Brooklyn, New York, where everyone has two choices: You can be a cop or a crook.”   Johnny Seven, interviewed by Peggy Hudson for “TV72”, Scholastic Book Services, published in December 1971, pp 84-89.     During Ironside’s eight-season run, The Chief and his team encountered several characters more than once—just as you would expect in real life.   Early in the first year, in episodes which had Collier Young in the Executive Producer’s chair, actor Bert Freed appeared twice as an SFPD Detective Sergeant. Further on in the show’s inaugural season, with Frank Price now overseeing production, a Medical Examiner named “Dr. Gwynne” appeared several times, played by African-American actor Arthur Adams. Intriguingly, although the character of the Medical Examiner returned in two early second season stories, the now-unnamed role was performed by white actor Bill Quinn.   In the seventh year, a villain from the second season—jewel thief Arthur Justin of “Shell Game”—returned for a repeat engagement with The Chief and his team. He was, however, portrayed by two different actors on each occasion: Sorrell Booke played him the first time around, and Dan O’Herlihy the second.   Finally, during “Ironside”’s eighth year, journalist Roy Makin (Barry Cahill) and Forensic specialist Jim Crutcher (Casey Kasem) made repeat appearances.   There were, however, two characters who were with the series for such extended periods of time that they can almost be viewed as regulars.   The most conspicuous of these was Ironside’s champion—and the man who brought him most of his cases—SFPD Police Commissioner Dennis J. Randall, who was with the series as a character from the “World Premiere” pilot episode through to the final, unaired episodes of the eighth. He was not actually seen, however, after the close of the seventh season. Sadly, the actor who portrayed him, Gene Lyons, passed away during the hiatus between the seventh and eighth seasons, but “The Commissioner” continued to be an off-screen presence in the show’s final year. On several occasions, we were told The Chief was meeting with him, and Ironside and his team were even seen speaking to him over the phone. Most remarkable of all was the fact that a lookalike actor was hired to reprise the role in “The Return of Ironside”. Although no attention was brought to this, he can clearly be seen sitting at The Chief’s table during the “Retirement Dinner” scene at the beginning of the film.   The other recurring character to enjoy comparable prominence in the original series was Policeman Carl Reese, played by Johnny Seven.   Introduced as “Inspector Reese” in an early story of the fourth season, and promoted to Lieutenant during the fifth, Reese provided a link between Ironside and his team and the regular S.F.P.D. Sometimes, Reese would ask Ironside for assistance with a case. On other occasions, it was Ironside who would ask for Reece’s help.   The relationship between the two men was very different to that between The Chief and the other members of his team. While Reece was Ironside’s friend—they attended fights, and ball and football games together—and while he clearly respected the Commissioner’s “Special Consultant”, Reece was not a member of his staff, and consequently not officially subordinate to Ironside. Reece’s loyalty was first and foremost to the S.F.P.D., and the fact that The Chief considered his own cases more important than everyone else’s led the two men into conflict over priorities and methods more than once—never more so than in the story, “Achilles’ Heel”, in which Reece comes to believe that Ironside is concealing evidence of a murder in order to protect the son of a prominent judge.   Married, intensely loyal to his friends, infectiously good-natured and passionate about his work, Reece’s extrovert personality brought a new level of entertainment to the series that went beyond his value to the narrative structure. Ed, Eve, Mark, and Fran would respond to Ironside’s manipulations and outbursts by exchanging mutually sympathetic looks of resignation and amusement. Reece’s reactions to The Chief’s cajolling and criticisms were much more direct. He would rant, and he would rave—and then he would do what Ironside wanted, berating himself in the process. It was a joy to behold, and as a child, watching “Ironside” for the first time, I was always pleased when Reece made an appearance.   The character’s finest hours were his inaugural adventure, “No Game for Amateurs”, and the seventh season story, “Friend or Foe”, in which Reece is accused of stealing a consignment of Heroin that was to be used as evidence in an important case.   The writers did, however, do the character a disservice on three occasions, in “Down Two Roads”, “Who’ll Cry for my Baby”, and “Amy Prentis: AKA The Chief”. In these stories, the portrayal of Reese deviates wildly from his established persona, and he is portrayed as unsympathetic, simply in order to serve a particular storyline.   The redoubtedable Lieutenant was absent from most of the episodes of “Ironside”’s final year—due to the fact the character had been seconded to the show’s sister series, “Amy Prentiss”, but managed to squeeze in a swansong of sorts in “The Organizer”, one of the three episodes which failed to receive a Network screening, and which has only ever been shown in syndication. In this story, as part of Ironside’s plan to derail the creation of a criminal super-syndicate (and thanks to some shamefully ill-considered plotting on behalf of the production team), we see Reece making false arrests, planting evidence, and denying two mobsters their civil rights—activities which would undoubtedly cost him his badge (and our respect) in the real world. He was, however, seen to be still pushing himself to the limits of his abilities out of loyalty to Ironside and his fight for law, order, and justice…and still complaining every step of the way.   Unquestionably, what makes Reece so engaging as a character is not just the role and situations that the writers defined for him, but the qualities actor Johnny Seven chose to imbue him with.   Interestingly, prior to his appointment as Reece, Seven had appeared in the first three seasons of the series in a variety of guest roles, and consequently participated in every year of the show’s run. In the late first season story, “Barbara Who”, he appeared as the ernest but harassed uniformed Patrolman Petrizzi, but as the series began its second year, the actor moved to the wrong side of the tracks to portray “Dean”, a member of a gang of jewel thieves, in what became the debut story for that season, the aforementioned “Shell Game”. Seven remained with the sinners for “Eye of the Hurricane” the following year, as one of three convicts who use Ironside and his van as part of a jail break plot. Reportedly, it was his performance in this third season tale that led to him being invited to play Reece.   What is interesting in how chilling Seven’s performances as villains are. There is not a trace of the charm and likeability we see in Reece—a testament to his abilities as an actor.   Given Reece’s contribution to the original series, I think it is sad that he did not appear in even a minor role in the 1993 reunion movie, “The Return of Ironside”. Early in the film, we see a young, unformed patrolman delivering a speech about Ironside’s career and achievements to the people assembled at The Chief’s retirement dinner. Although one of the themes of the movie was the passing of the batton from the old guard to the new, with several youthful characters playing prominent roles in the proceedings, had that speech been delivered by Reese, it would have had real resonance and, I have to say, far more significance.     This feature was created as a tribute to Johnny Seven, who passed away after battling with lung cancer, on Friday, January 22nd., 2010.