Cont.

MAVERICK v. FALCONETTI
THE ROCKFORD FILES Pilot
"Backlash of the Hunter"

Jerry Grimes is another of Bill's memorable pre-Falconetti villains.  The show opens with Bill murdering a helpless wino.  The victim's daughter hires Rockford to find her father's killer which leads Rockford to Jerry.  And Jerry to him.  The trap Rockford lays for Jerry in a mens room is the best of what Rockford was to become.  Jim spreads soap from a dispenser on the floor.  When Jerry comes in, Jim insults his manhood.  As Jerry roars toward Jim, he slips on the soap, landing flat on his back.  As he tries to rise, Jim knocks him out with a fist improved with a roll of nickels.  Jerry regains consciousness hanging upside down from a toilet stall where Rockford questions him.


Bill's first scene in Rockford, strangling an old wino

Q:  They certainly set up your character with your first scene.  You look completely evil.
Bill:  Yeah, I loved killing that old guy [with a smile which imitates the diabolical look we see on-screen.]
Q:  This bathroom scene is one of our favorite "fight" scenes, although you don't really get to do the kind of fighting you did so well in Amber.
Bill:  It was harder than it looked though.  I broke my wrist in the bathroom there.  My left wrist.  That's a tile floor.  We did that scene seven times and I broke it the last time.  A compound fracture.  Then I said, "That's it."  But I can't tell which take they used.  I cringe just looking at that scene.
 
Bill getting steamed as Maverick insults his manhood
Bill slides on the soapy floor
Garner bunches Bill with a fist full of coins
Bill is hung upside down on a bathroom stall
Q:  [Scene where Bill is hung upside down by his belt while Rockford checks his ID.]  That doesn't look like much fun.  Hope it didn't take seven tries.
Bill:  Hell no.  I think we did it on the first take since I was doing it with a broken wrist and hadn't seen the doctor yet.
Bill tears our Nina Talbot's hair
Q:  You got to beat up your girlfriend again.
Bill:  That was Nina Talbot.  I felt really bad after that scene.    I pulled out a whole handful of her hair while we were shooting.  Maybe that's why I never did another Rockford.  James Garner is one of the great guys of all time.  But I didn't work with him again until the Maverick riverboat gambling scene.
Q:  Well, maybe you made such an impression in this one, there was no way to bring you back.  Didn't Garner tell some talk show host that he sold the pilot based on your performance as the villain?
Bill:  Something like that.

A Girl Fights Back
THE INSIDERS [aka Policewomen]

Bill has only one scene in The Insiders -- as a karate instructor.  But it's a good one.  And funny.  He starts out as a friendly but rather condescending macho guy who is going to put this chick in her place.  However, it doesn't turn out quite as he expected.  And when she uses a kick in the face to ward off a drop he is about to land on her, he ends up with a split lip and a chipped tooth.  And the moaning and whining that ensues . . . .  We bought the movie just for Bill's scene.  We'd like to find a better copy.
 


Bill squares off with a policewomanStarts to throw her over his shoulderEnds up on the mat himself


 


Q:  The women in our group loved this scene.  You should get beaten by a woman more often.  But it must have been hard to make it look like she  could cause you any pain.
Bill:   Actually that's the only time I've had a fight with a broad.  [Yes, Bill said broad]
Q:  Wait a minute.  You just told us how you pulled out Nina Talbot's hair in Rockford.  And you beat up women in Hammer, Piranha, Amber, Samson, Rich Man and lots more.
Bill:  Oh sure.  I beat up the ladies all the time.  But this is the only time I actually had to choreograph a fight with a woman.  They had to use some tricks like speeding up the film to make her look better than she was.  But she did a good job.  I did a great flying kick in this scene.
Q:  Yeah, that's coming up.  [Bill winces slightly at the next move on the video where he lands in an incapacitating position on his opponent's extended leg.]

Bill gets the treatment every woman wants to give a male opponent


 


Bill:  [Complaining]  I wanted to see the flying drop kick not the balls kick.

Bill gets ready for the flying kickHe gets amazing heightWell over his opponent's head

Q:  You got way over her head.  And you can see from the long shot that you didn't use a trampoline or anything.
Bill:  Yeah, that was an unbelievable drop kick.  I was much stronger then.  I used to do stuff like that all the time.  That was before I had too many motorcycle crashes and got hit too many times in the knee with boards..  That was my only scene in that movie.  I've never seen the rest of the movie.
Q:  Neither have we, but your scene was worth the price of the video.  It's actually pretty funny..
Bill whining about whether his split lip will leave a scarUntil Tony tells him his tooth is broken also
Bill:  That's Tony Young.  He's one of my favorite guys.  He's about 6'4"  Makes the girl look small.
Q:  I'm afraid our video group didn't like him in Chrome & Hot Leather.  He had a fight with you at the end of that.  It looked like a real struggle to make it look like he could beat you.
Bill:  Oh he was OK.  A stuntman did the drop kick that knocked me down in the end of that fight.  My real fight in that movie was with Michael Haynes who played the bad guy.  He was also a stuntman and we had a great time.

From Fighting Stars magazine which did a feature on Bill in 1974


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