Flipper: Season One
Buy Flipper’s New Adventure
(1964) Feature length film
Flipper
9/19/1964 – 9/2/1967
NBC 30 minutes
Color – 88 episodes
An Ivan Tors Production
Cast
Brian Kelly as Porter Ricks
Luke Halpin as Sandy Ricks
Tommy Norden as Bud Ricks
Andy Devine as Hap Corman (1964-1965) Ulla Strömstedt as Ulla Norstrand (1965-1966)
Theme Song
“Flipper” Music by Henry Vars and lyric by William D. “By” Dunham
“They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea!
Everyone loves the king of the sea,
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he’s near!
They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Flying there-under, under the sea! “
Tidbits
Filmed in South Florida and the Bahamas, Flipper is the story of Coral Key Park Ranger Porter Ricks (Brian Kelly), a widower, and his two sons, Sandy (Luke Halpin) and Bud (Tommy Norden).
The underwater photography was dazzling as was Flipper’s extraordinary feats in capturing bad guys. Although in the story he was a male dolphin, in fact, Flipper was a girl named Susie!
The series was remade for syndication in 1995 and spawned several movies.
Passings
Andy Devine died in 1999 of leukemia. Brian Kelly died in February of 2005 of pneumonia.
Flipper, real name Susie
| Flipper Trivia |
| Brian Kelly’s career was cut short when in 1969, Kelly was injured when a borrowed motorcycle exploded. He was left with a paralyzed right arm and leg and speech problems.A personal note. Jack Cowden was one of the creators and writers of this story. He lived in Fort Lauderdale with his family, which included my friend, daughter Lynn. |