Morning Man Classic: Kent McCord!

Best known for his seven-year run as officer Jim Reed on Adam 12, Kent McCord starred in 175 episodes of the police drama opposite Martin Milner.

He was also one of the leads in the ABC sci-fi series Galactica 1980, had a recurring role on seaQuest DSV in the mid-’90s. His semi-regular role of Jack Crichton on Farscape, a sci-fi TV cult hit that ran from 1999-2003, gained him lots of younger fans. There’s also been plenty of voiceover work, scores of television guest spots and some movies (Airplane II-The Sequel, Predator II, and Megiddo-The Omega Code 2).

“Make-believe is a wonderful way to make a living,” Kent told me a few years ago. “When you get into my age range — and for women it happens quite younger — you are being excluded from this American scene if you watch the programming that is going on. But there are people who revel in the fact that mature people can have interesting lives.”

It’s no surprise that the LA native’s first acting gig was on “The Adventure of Ozzie and Harriet” since he was a buddy of Ricky Nelson, whom he met at USC. McCord appeared in about 50 episodes from 1962-66, and remembers one scene particularly well.

“I started on that show working background, standing in for Ricky. One day, they were doing a fraternity show where there was a party going on — early-day ‘Risky Business’-type thing — while Ozzie and Harriet were away from the house. They came home early and I was standing at the door with at my date. Ozzie asked, ‘Where’s Rick?’ and I said, ‘Who’s Rick?’ Those were the first two words I ever said in pictures.”

In recent years, however, Kent’s most notable role has been as a leader in the Screen Actors Guild. He was elected to its National Board of Directors in 1972, as treasurer in 2001 and was most recently first national vice president.

He has juggled acting and union work with a home life with his wife of 47 years, Cynthia — his sweetheart at Baldwin High School — and their children, Kristen, Megan and Michael.