The Los Angeles Police Department paid tribute Wednesday to actor Martin Milner, who portrayed Officer Pete Malloy on the “Adam-12” television series that department officials say helped shape the public’s perception of the LAPD.
Milner died Sept. 7 at age 83.
“To the Milners, my heart breaks for you, but know that Marty’s life changed the lives of others in a positive way, and there is no legacy greater than that,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said during the ceremony at the department’s downtown headquarters.
Memorabilia from the show was on display at the event, including one of the patrol cars from the series.
Also among those attending were Milner’s “Adam-12” co-star Kent McCord, Milner’s son Andy and series producer Tom Williams. William Rinehart, a retired LAPD lieutenant who served as a technical adviser on the show, was also on hand.
Beck said earlier that Milner’s protrayal of a “tough yet compassionate cop” inspired thousands of people to apply to become LAPD officers, “including me.”
Milner was an accomplished film and TV actor who starred in the successful CBS series “Route 66” in the early 1960s before producer Jack Webb tapped him to star alongside McCord in a new weekly show about the daily adventures of two LAPD beat cops.
“Adam-12” debuted on NBC in 1968 and ran until 1975.
Milner was born Dec. 28, 1931, in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a film distributor and his mother was a dancer. The family moved to Los Angeles when Milner was a boy, and he made his big-screen debut in 1947’s “Life With Father.” Other supporting roles followed in the 1940s and ’50s alongside such stars as John Wayne, Orson Welles and Burt Lancaster.
Milner served a two-year stint in the Army in the early 1950s, producing training films and hosting a touring show based at Fort Ord, California.
He married actress and dancer Judy Jones in 1957. The couple had four children.
Milner’s first big TV hit, “Route 66,” centered on a pair of men traveling the country in a Corvette, doing odd jobs and getting involved in people’s lives. It was noteworthy for its on-location shooting and a jazzy score by Nelson Riddle.
He secured the role on “Adam-12” through his longtime friendship with Webb, who starred as Sgt. Joe Friday in the earlier TV classic “Dragnet,” which also depicted a pair of fictional LAPD officers.
In the turbulent era of the late 1960s and early ’70s, Milner’s cool- headed Malloy presented the police in a sympathetic light. Malloy and partner Jim Reed often encountered strung-out or violent hippies on their police calls, with Malloy tempering the emotions of the younger Reed.
Milner continued to appear on television after “Adam-12”, guest starring on hits such as “Murder She Wrote,” “MacGyver” and “Diagnosis Murder.” He also starred in a prime-time series version of “The Swiss Family Robinson” on ABC from 1975-76. An avid fisherman, Milner hosted the syndicated radio show “Let’s Talk Hook- Up,” based in San Diego, after his acting days ended.
—City News Service