List of Emergency! characters
This article lists characters of the television series Emergency!.
Los Angeles County Fire Department Squad 51 Firefighter/Paramedics[edit]
Roy DeSoto[edit]
Roy DeSoto is portrayed by actor Kevin Tighe. DeSoto worked with partner John Gage as a firefighter/paramedic for the Los Angeles County Fire Department at Station 51. He first met Gage when he was recruiting personnel for the newly designated paramedic program, of which he was in the first group of six graduates. He assisted the physicians with instruction during Gage's class at Rampart General Hospital, where his mentors were Doctors Kelly Brackett and Joe Early, and Nurse Dixie McCall. He was married, and had a son (Chris) and a daughter who was never canonically named, though only his wife, Joanne, appeared in the pilot of the series. His family also has a dog. In the episode "The Exam," we find out he was born on November 7th.
While his single partner was often portrayed as intense and impulsive, DeSoto was more quiet and often served to keep Gage under control. As with his partner, very little is discussed about DeSoto's life prior to the fire service, other than mentioned during a training class in the pilot episode that he served in the military as a medic in Vietnam (Tighe himself was in the United States Army) stationed at Fort Knox, Kentucky during the mid 1960s.) In the first-season episode "Dealer's Wild", we learn that he has had 20 hours of flying time.
During the third season, DeSoto is offered a promotion to engineer, which he eventually turns down in order to remain a paramedic. However, in the last episode ("Greatest Rescues of Emergency!"), he and Gage are promoted to captain, and they are each assigned to new stations.
Not much is known about what Roy does on his days off, except when he, Chet, and Johnny take long trips together, either fishing, or camping trips (mostly in Johnny's beat-up white Land Rover). DeSoto has a taste for classic cars, and owns a beige early to mid-60's Porsche along with a Chevrolet pickup.
John Gage[edit]
John Roderick "Johnny" Gage is portrayed by actor Randolph Mantooth. Gage worked with Roy DeSoto as a firefighter/paramedic for the Los Angeles County Fire Department and usually rode "shotgun" in Squad 51. Prior to working as a paramedic, he worked for the rescue squad at Station 10. Initially against the suggestion to qualify as a paramedic, he decided to pursue it after a couple of incidents when he realized he could have done more with the specialized medical training. He met DeSoto when applying for the new program (see "The Wedsworth-Townsend Act") and after graduation decided to partner with him at the newly built Station 51. He and DeSoto would remain partners until the last episode ("Greatest Rescues of Emergency!"), when both would be promoted to captain. Gage, like DeSoto, then had to give up his position as a provider and was assigned his own station.
For some reason, Gage often prefixed his communications with Rampart with "Ummm" or "Uhhh".
Little is mentioned in the series about Gage's life prior to the fire department. In the episode "Peace Pipe" it was brought up that Gage was Native American and grew up on an Indian reservation, though no particular tribe is mentioned. (Indeed, Mantooth is half-Seminole.) He also states in another episode ("Saddled"), that he was raised on a ranch; again, no location is given. In the episode "The Exam", we hear that he was born August 28th.
Gage was single throughout the series and often dated (or pursued) the ER nurses at Rampart General Hospital, except, of course, for head nurse Dixie McCall, who was his mentor. Intense and professional on the job, Gage's good looks and his impulsive charm away from the job made him a perfect dramatic foil to his more low-key partner. He was also the butt of many of fellow firefighter Chet Kelly's jokes, and often attempted, with varying degrees of success, to get even. (One time Gage bought a box of chocolates and injected them with pure garlic extract, and, at the end of the episode, wound up sampling his own chocolates, to his shock and embarrassment, and twice, on different occasions, he was able to get even with Chet by placing a CPR training manikin into the trunk of his car). Their revenge tally-sheet proved rather even during "Messin' Around", as throughout the episode, they'd attack each other with water bags above doorways or water catapults behind various closet or cupboard doors.
Gage was somewhat accident-prone, and on a few occasions each season, he wound up as a patient at Rampart General Hospital. In the episode "The Nuisance", his injuries ensued from a hit-and-run collision (a car hit him in the street and then sped away), and Johnny, spending the rest of the episode in the fracture ward at Rampart General, is treated to emotional abuse by the nurse in the ward (Carole Cook). In the episode "Virus," he contracted a potentially fatal strain of Asian flu, which killed another firefighter. In another episode, "Snakebite", he is bitten by a rattlesnake on his right leg while on a rescue and, after treating himself, is rushed to the hospital by his station mates via Engine 51, where he survives by being given the antivenom in time.
For most of the show, Gage turned down promotions until the final episode, (Greatest Rescues of Emergency!), where he and his partner, Roy DeSoto, both accepted, and were promoted to, the rank of captain. They were given new station assignments, separate from each other, effectively ending the series.
Gage has a taste for sturdy off-road vehicles, and owns a white early model Land Rover, which he later trades in for a Jeep Honcho.[dubious ] He also has a very powerful tool, his sense of humor.
Los Angeles County Fire Department Engine 51 Firefighters[edit]
Hank Stanley[edit]
Henry "Hank" Stanley, captain of Los Angeles County Fire Station 51, is portrayed by actor / screenwriter Michael Norell. Stanley replaced Captain Dick Hammer in the beginning of the second season and remained 51's commanding officer throughout the remainder of the series.
Little is discussed in the series about Stanley outside the fire department, though one episode mentions he is married, has children, and that his wife drives an Edsel. Often addressed as "Cap" by the other firefighters on the A-shift, he is very competent and relatively easy-going, and has a good sense of humor. In the Season 6 episode Onward And Upward Stanley begins studying to become a chief, but when he finds out his old station captain, now Battalion Chief McConnike, is on the review board, Stanley becomes paranoid. He convinces himself that McConnike still holds a grudge for an incident in which Stanley deliberately set McConnike's dress uniform hat on fire.
In the sixth-season episode Fair Fight, a basset hound suddenly appears in the station when the crew returns from a call. The crew decides to keep him as the station's new mascot and John Gage names him "Henry". The captain initially rejects the name but finally allows it as long as "no one ever calls him 'Hank'".
During the show, Stanley is seen as a competent leader, and he can also be forceful if he needs to be, though he rarely is, he is also quick witted, intelligent, and very observant. He is also known to come off with some snappy comebacks when needed.
Not as prone to injury as Gage or Kelly can be, Stanley still has his famous faux pas. One of these is during the episode "The Great Crash Diet," when his bare hands come into contact with a car that is touching a live power line. This, of course, results in him getting a severe electrical shock, and having involuntary muscle contractions, until he reaches the hospital. This results in Stoker taking command of the scene.
Captain Stanley usually gives Johnny and Roy a hand in the field, be it with getting vitals on a victim, manning the biophone, or general help when needed.
Mike Stoker[edit]
Mike Stoker, portrayed by Mike Stoker, who used his real name for the series, is a firefighter specialist (engineer), who drives Engine 51 and operates the pump unit. The actor also operated the pump unit at his real station, LACoFD Fire Station 69 in Topanga Canyon.
Stoker is the quiet one on the show, generally spouting two or three lines throughout an episode, or often remaining silent the entire episode. He is shown to be very easygoing and even-tempered, rarely becoming irritated with his crew mates, and on occasion, has been shown acting as a peacemaker (or trying to). He is essentially the exact opposite of the impulsive, talkative Chet Kelly.
As the engineer, Stoker is second-in-command to the captain. However, he is rarely seen pulling rank, an exception being in "The Great Crash Diet," when Captain Stanley is injured during a rescue and Stoker briefly takes over command.
In the show's first season, Stoker hardly ever talked, generally only speaking when he had to, and often remaining in the background. As the show progressed, he began to talk and interact with his crewmates a little more, often participating in their schemes and jokes. He apparently shows little loyalty when it comes to prank playing, as shown in "Messin' Around," when he is seen acting as Kelly's lookout while Kelly sets a water bomb, then realizes at the end of the episode that Kelly is about to walk into his own trap, but makes no move to stop him. It is established among the fans that Stoker never said more than three sentences at a time. Although meant as a joke, this is, in fact, consistent with most of the show. This pattern was known to have been broken only once, in "The Great Crash Diet". It has also been noted that he tends to talk a little bit more when he is excited or worried, such as when he showed excitement about the station getting a new fire engine, or when he displayed concern for Conway, an injured fireman from another station, who was apparently one of his friends. He also was the pitcher on the station's softball team; apparently, he wasn't very good, as Gage tried to recruit Kelly to pitch in a game at the Fireman's Picnic in order to settle a bet with another station.
Stoker is shown to be intelligent and observant, and it is also apparent that he enjoys reading quite a bit, as he is often seen reading at the station. Little is known about what he does in his downtime, since he says little about it, as compared to the others, namely Gage and Kelly, who tend to go on and on about what they did on their days off. Stoker does mention in one episode that he has a dune buggy, so it is likely that he goes to the beach a lot.
Stoker displays a variety of talents throughout the series, including cooking (he makes great spaghetti and fried chicken), singing (he mentions in "Firehouse Four" that he sang in a glee club once), and a quick wit; this is shown at various times when he occasionally spouts a one-liner, sometimes no more than two words.
It is not known for sure if Stoker is married or not. Conway, the injured fireman from "Brushfire," says, "He's a great guy. I don't care what his wife says," after Stoker helps get a tree off him, but this could be meant as a joke. He was also asked on his advice on mothers-in-law, but this could also have been meant to poke fun at him. But Gage appeared serious when he asked the question. Also, when a young attractive woman comes to the firehouse to thank DeSoto for looking after her plants while she was a patient in the hospital, Stoker offers his services along with Gage, Kelly, and Lopez, which would indicate he is single.
Stoker has helped Gage and DeSoto out in the field, usually handling the oxygen, attempting to calm a victim, or helping to get vitals on more than one victim.
Occasionally, Stoker has come off as a middle of the road kind of person, but when help is needed, or a friend is hurt, he is right there; for instance, when Gage was struck by a hit-and-run driver, Stoker, DeSoto, and Kelly were the first three to arrive and administer aid.
In the end, Stoker was promoted to Captain before he retired in 1992.
Chester B. Kelly[edit]
Chester B. "Chet" Kelly serves as a firefighter assigned to Engine 51 with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. He was portrayed by actor Tim Donnelly, who acted in other series produced by Webb, such as the 1967–1970 incarnation of Dragnet, in which he played such varying roles as, in one installment, a young marijuana addict whose infant child accidentally drowns in a bathtub, and in another episode, a troubled 23-year-old who steals superhero movie posters.
Kelly's full name in Emergency! was Chester B. Kelly, which was revealed during the third-season episode "The Promotion," where he took the test to become an engineer and placed only 74th on the list. He once mentioned that his grandfather had been a New York City Subway motorman.
Kelly was often portrayed as a sometimes arrogant and wisecracking clown with a penchant for tomfoolery; he often made paramedic John Gage the butt of his practical jokes, such as a series of showering water bombs (an example highly prevalent in the 1974 episode "Messin' Around"), and tricking Gage into thinking that his current girlfriend was telling him secrets about their dates. The practical joker—Kelly's alter ego—is known as "The Phantom" around the station. On lesser occasions the tables were turned; a case in point was when Gage planted a CPR training mannequin in the trunk of Kelly's car and waited for him to scream loudly when he found it. There have also been moments when his own pranks have backfired on him; a case in point is "Messin' Around," in which Kelly gets showered with his own water bomb. To this, Gage states, "Well, it do look like The Phantom got caught."
There are times when Kelly tends to talk too much, and this sometimes got him in more trouble than he would have been in if he had simply remained quiet. One time was when he ended up sharing a room with DeSoto after dislocating his shoulder on a call (in the season two episode "Syndrome"). (DeSoto had been admitted to Rampart to have his tonsils—which had regenerated—removed, and he had ended up sharing a room with the ever-talkative Kelly. Gage had showed up with ice cream for DeSoto, but it was evident that DeSoto had wanted to leave the room through his facial expressions.) Another example of Kelly talking too much was when Captain Stanley went on vacation, and the crew drew an old-fashioned Captain who was also a hero within the department. Kelly's constant talking did not endear him to the older Captain.
But Kelly's competence as a firefighter was unquestioned when the alarm rang; his compassion also showed through at times as well. This was prevalent in "Messin' Around": Gage and DeSoto had just returned to the station from taking a poisoned child to the Rampart ER; the boy later died. At the station, Gage was unknowingly about to open a rigged cabinet door with a water bomb inside, but Kelly stopped him, saying, "The Phantom doesn't like to strike at times like this; he knows how much you two tried to do for that kid." Gage gratefully got the message.
Prior to becoming a firefighter, Kelly served in the Army and also worked as a heavy equipment operator, and even during his time as a firefighter, he operated heavy equipment that was handy. He even once operated a train engine to move a burning boxcar away from a tanker loaded with ammonium nitrate.
Although Kelly tends to make Gage the target for his practical jokes, there is a kind of brotherly bond between them. Several examples include when Gage was bitten by a rattlesnake, and Kelly helped treat Gage on the way to the hospital; another was when Gage was struck by a hit and run driver, he waited at the hospital for any news; and another when Kelly was trapped in an old and unstable hospital building, and had dislocated his shoulder, Gage was the one who got him out and treated him.
When Gage and DeSoto need an extra hand, Kelly is one out of three that usually help out, the other two being Captain Stanley and Lopez; usually, Kelly mans the biophone when Gage and DeSoto are too busy to do so. He has also, on several occasions, along with Lopez, driven the Squad to the hospital.
Kelly appears clean shaven in the first season. In Season Two, he begins wearing a mustache which remains for the remainder of the series.
Marco Lopez[edit]
Marco Lopez, portrayed by Marco Lopez who, like Stoker, used his real name for the series. Lopez, of Mexican-American ancestry, spoke with a slight Spanish accent; the actor, then sometimes billed as Marco Antonio, did likewise in episodes of Dragnet, and Adam-12. He sometimes lapses into Spanish (including in one episode in which the firemen found a huge pile of money and Lopez counted it in Spanish). His Spanish was very good.
As with Stoker, we do not know much of what Lopez does on his time off, as he rarely discusses it. We do know that he is a member of a semi-pro soccer team and likes to ski. He's proud of his Mexican heritage, enjoys refried beans, and has a grandfather who is 82. He also expresses an interest in animals, and mentions having two cats (episode Alley cat).
Marco is very cool and calm in even the tensest of situations, and rarely loses his patience with anyone, except maybe with Johnny on occasion. Once, he chased after Johnny with a hangman's noose in hand, when Johnny had been talking about gaining extra money by competing in the local rodeo circuit, and he, along with Roy and Johnny, threatened to ram a steak down Chet's mouth when the latter made a sauce out of health food ingredients.
Lopez is often seen cooking throughout the series. In one episode, Battalion Chief McConnike visits the station and is impressed with Lopez's Irish stew. He has also made chili on more than on occasion. In real life, Lopez cooked for the actors and crew on the set, and has published a cookbook.
On more than one occasion, Marco has helped Johnny and Roy, usually by being an extra hand in the field, or by driving the squad to the hospital when Johnny and Roy are unable to.
Lopez appears clean shaven during the first 3 seasons and begins wearing a mustache in Season Four through the remainder of the series.
Rampart General Hospital Staff[edit]
Kelly Brackett[edit]
Kelly "Kel" Brackett, M.D./F.A.C.S./A.C.E.P., is portrayed by Robert Fuller, better known prior to this role as an actor in Westerns. Dr. Brackett, one of the two principal characters of the series, was a dedicated and fairly no-nonsense senior ER physician at Rampart General Hospital. Brackett and ER head nurse Dixie McCall were romantically involved with each other in the early days of the series, but were only close friends during the series run. In the pilot episode, The Wedsworth-Townsend Act, it was revealed that Brackett went to Johns Hopkins and took residency at the Mayo Clinic.
Brackett, along with neurologist/colleague, Dr. Joe Early and Nurse McCall, trained the first two classes of paramedics for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Initially Brackett was opposed to the newly designated program, but would eventually change his opinion after an accident involving ER nurse Ms. McCall and her subsequent emergency medical treatment initiated by firefighter/paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto. In a surprise trip to Sacramento he put his support behind the passage of a state bill that would fully authorize the paramedic program ("The Wedsworth-Townsend Act"), by stating that he was not a big fan of the bill, but that he would back it until something better came along. As the series progressed he would become very supportive of the paramedics themselves, and even defended them when Paramedic DeSoto was severely criticized for his actions in the field by another Rampart physician (who suddenly ducked away when Brackett approached and demanded an explanation).
In the pilot episode, Brackett was firmly cautious in his work, fully aware that emergency medicine was by no means an exact science. His personality bordered on hard-nosed, and he rebuked those around him when they overstepped the boundary of their own capabilities (or authority). But when Emergency! became a series, Brackett began to show a penchant for flying by the seat of his pants, at times going with gut instinct on limited information. For example, in Season 1, when a patient began to suffer respiratory paralysis and double vision, Brackett speculated the condition might be botulism (thorough investigation later proved his theory right).
On more than one occasion, Brackett traveled into the field to assist the paramedics with difficult emergencies. In Season 3, he and Morton performed field surgery on a man who had a live grenade lodged in his abdomen. In Season 5, he rode along with the crew of an LACoFD helicopter and responded to a vehicle accident. In another episode of the same season, he and McCall responded to an incident where a patient's arm became entangled in a piece of machinery. In the interest of the patient's life, they prepared to amputate. Luckily, that was not necessary as both Johnny and Roy extricated the patient.
Brackett became a patient himself less often than McCall, Gage and DeSoto. In Season 2, he and Gage were both struck by a highly contagious virus. In Season 5, after an aquarium was delivered to his office, he suffered from a toxic reaction to a catfish bite. Finally in Season 6, when he was involved in a traffic crash; his car was broadsided by a reckless drunk driver who was killed at the accident scene; the drunk's daughter, a backseat passenger, survived with only a broken foot. However, Brackett felt guilty for what happened, as even though he was trained to save lives, he was part of an accident that took one. McCall helped him overcome his guilt.
During the sixth season, his on-screen appearances were reduced, because of the direction Emergency! was going, right at the same time, Fuller was looking to do more Westerns.
Dixie McCall[edit]
Dixie "Dix" McCall, R.N., is portrayed by Julie London, better known prior to this role as a singer in popular music, a frequent panelist in game shows, and as an actress in B-movies and Westerns. Ms. McCall, another principal character of the series, who is one of the four stars to appear in every episode of the series. McCall served as an army nurse during the Korean War; she was also the head nurse of the emergency room of Rampart General Hospital and was involved in the very beginning of the paramedic program. She argued the skills and qualifications of paramedics to the dismissive, Dr. Kelly Brackett, crediting the medics with whom she served in Korea for saving countless lives that would have otherwise been lost. In the early part of the series, she and Brackett were romantically linked with each other, but became best friends throughout the series run. Also, she frequently helped another one of her best buddies/colleague, Dr. Joe Early, in the emergency room, for all ages, along with young intern, Dr. Mike Morton. In addition, she assisted in training and running calls with the newly, young designated paramedic squads, John Gage and Roy DeSoto of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, until the passing of a state bill authorizing paramedics to work on their own in the field.
In the pilot episode, she was knocked unconscious at an accident scene while running a call with Squad 51 paramedics, Gage and DeSoto, in ("The Wedsworth-Townsend Act"). Gage and DeSoto went beyond their authorizations to help her. This incident led Brackett to change his opinion and fully support the program. But when Emergency! became a series, McCall stayed at Rampart, assisting Brackett and/or Early to work on each of the patient's cases, the ones Gage and DeSoto brought each one in the hospital, all the while, she became a teacher, mentor, friend and a mother figure to Gage and DeSoto.
Little is mentioned in the series about McCall's life prior to the hospital. In the episode "The Firehouse Four," Randolph Mantooth's character Gage asked McCall if she knew anything about singing (London herself was a singer), when Station 51 is entering the firefighter's barbershop quartet contest, not Roy and McCall replied, "A little."
Known for her calm, exceptional beauty, McCall was also tough and efficient. In addition to paramedics, McCall was also partnered with other nurses, somewhat doctors and medical staff. In Season 1, she even helped a klutzy nurse (played by Jack Webb stock actress Patricia Mickey) learn how to overcome her awkwardness "by explaining Brackett to her". Right away, the young nurse, no longer fumbling, also assumes McCall's mannerisms when she gives Brackett one of Ms. McCall's familiar enigmatic smiles. In Season 2, when she insisted that an estranged female doctor (played by Alicia Bond) talk to Brackett, based on her experience, he refused to talk about it. In another episode of the same season, she was introduced to Gage's and DeSoto's trainee (played by Kip Niven) whose self-confidence lacks in tight situations. In Season 3, she encouraged the assistant nurse to take on the case with Early, on a patient suffering from heart disease, from Squad 45. In Season 4, she worked with a nurse, whom Squad 51, especially Gage were all competing with, for a date. In another episode of the same season, she also escorted Gage to work with his high school classmate (played by Universal contract player Colby Chester), as his and DeSoto's new trainee for Squad 51. In Season 5, a retired nurse and McCall's predecessor (played by Anne Seymour) tried to commit suicide, who was brought to Rampart, where she befriended a little girl with paraplegia, who drowned in a swimming pool. After her recovery, the former nurse talked Dixie along with Brackett and Early, into working with them. In another episode of the same season, prior to Gage's recovery from his hit-and-run accident, McCall hired a physical therapist (played by Universal contract player Gretchen Corbett), when Gage actually had a nurse (played by veteran actress Carole Cook), who was "out to get him". Finally in Season 6, when Gage asked her for supplies, McCall turned those supplies over to another one of her nurses (played by Laurie Kennedy). Fortunately for Gage and DeSoto, they no longer have to tolerate the supply nurse, due to the shortage of supplies that nurse had for them.
On more than one occasion, she even confronted her nursing staff and/or other medical professions on their inappropriate behavior, either inside or outside the hospital. In addition with Dr. Morton, who possessed a cocky personality, she encouraged the young intern not to talk in front of families like that. In Season 2, after Gage's and DeSoto's paramedic trainee, and former medic from the Vietnam war, (played by Mantooth's lifelong friend Robert Pratt) failed to follow the instructions of a doctor, McCall, before Gage and DeSoto, gave him specific reasons why competing with doctors had led him into a lot of trouble. In Season 3, after Early had difficulty dealing with a defiant nurse (played by Judi Meredith), McCall observed a complaint for her unprofessional and unruly behavior. Finally in Season 4, when a young, experienced nurse (played by Catherine Burns) spread a rumour about Morton's financial problems, McCall specifically told her not to be mouthing off about one of the doctor's private lives.
Nearly in the same situation as Gage and DeSoto, McCall was also known to be accident-prone at times. In addition to being knocked unconscious, in one episode of Season 2, McCall injured her toe, after being run over by a portable x-Ray guided by a klutzy orderly. In one episode of Season 3, her hand got caught in the vending machine in the lounge and Squad 51 was called to extricate her. In one episode of Season 4, as the entire Rampart staff threw Nurse McCall's birthday, she broke her ankle, before Gage broke his foot. Finally, in one episode of Season 6, she burned herself from a gas explosion in the basement laboratories of Rampart, alerting Gage and DeSoto above when the fire alarm was triggered.
During the series, McCall turned down a "desk job" offer to become Rampart's nurse supervisor.
In real-life, years before the series started, Julie London married Jack Webb, divorcing in 1953, before marrying Bobby Troup, at the end of 1959. London died in 2000, almost 2 years after Troup.
Joe Early[edit]
Joseph "Joe" Early, M.D./F.A.C.S./A.C.E.P., is portrayed by actor Bobby Troup, better known prior to his role as a singer-songwriter, and in a small role in the 1970 Robert Altman film M*A*S*H as a jeep driver, who was also one of the four actors to appear in every episode of the series. Early worked at Rampart General Hospital as a neurosurgeon, but often assisted Dr. Kelly Brackett and nurse Dixie McCall in the emergency room, alongside firefighters/paramedics Johnny Gage and Roy DeSoto, who were actually his protégés.
In direct contrast to the more dynamic, quick-tempered Kelly Brackett, Joe Early was also more low-key, avuncular, not fully in-charge, and certainly more tactful: when a hotheaded, powerful tycoon (played by Gene Raymond) threatened to take Brackett to court because of Brackett's treatment of the tycoon's son, Joe Early spoke to the father and successfully placated him. Early also apparently choked back tears and anger when talking to a man (played by Cliff Norton) whose wife was severely burned by a fire resulting from improperly stored gasoline (hoarded by the man in the midst of the 1970s "gas crisis"). And he gave a severe lecture to one man who had given another a “precordial thump in the rib cage"—after “learning” CPR from watching television. Dr. Early snapped, “I don't know whether your friend is having a heart attack or not, but your ‘miracle cure' may have caved in his rib cage!”
Early is shown to be gentle and knowledgeable when it comes to pediatric patients, and is often called upon by Brackett when injured children present themselves at Rampart.
In Season 3, Early undergoes heart surgery, much to the worry of all of the other characters. It is in this same episode that he takes a liking to Captain Stanley's clam chowder. This prompts the crew of Station 51 to present him with a thermos containing clam chowder during his recovery.
He filled in for Brackett frequently, on which his best friend wasn't available, though primarily, he worked with McCall. Beginning in Season 2, along with McCall, Gage and DeSoto, he helped a little girl cure her arm, after the paramedics resuced her, in a swimming pool drain. In Season 3, he helped a man, who was in a coma, suffering from a mysterious ailment. In an episode of the same season, he and McCall both treated an abused boy, offered him protection. In Season 4, he along with McCall, Gage and DeSoto, worked separately on a man, who was involved in a motorcycle accident, who in turn had only moved his left thumb, while the son is in a diabetic coma. In an episode of the same season, while Early was dealing with a middle-aged overweight belly dancer that had doubts about her future, McCall caught her having a crush on Early, and offered a change in careers. In Season 5, he calls DeSoto via phone in Catalina Island at a Coast Guard helicopter, where the diver suffers a heart attack. In another episode of the same season, he, along with McCall and Morton worked on a boy suffering from smoke inhalation and burns. In another episode of the same season, he, along with McCall and Morton, had worked on a beautician who swallowed diet pills. In another episode of the same season, after a friend had performed a CPR by an elderly, Early (along with McCall) took care of him. In the last episode of the same season, one of Early's helpers, Gage, has helped a non-responsive lady, with DeSoto, at the barstool, but has done more harm than good, when Gage was in a hit-and-run accident, Early took care of Roy's partner, before telling Roy his partner was a good paramedic at Station 51, whose partner also needs to be a good patient at Rampart. In Season 6, he along with McCall and Morton took care of a man suffering from sudden abdominal pains, after proposing to his girlfriend. In another episode of the same season, he took care of a college janitor who suffered from stomach pains, after drinking an ancient wine. In another episode of the same season, he took care of an elderly man, suffering from stomach pains, after drinking 50% alcohol, couldn't get his pants back, until he did as to what Early said. Finally, on the last episode, he along with McCall took care of an elderly musician experiencing heart trouble, who later underwent successful surgery.
In real-life, Bobby Troup was married to Julie London, who was also the best friend of Jack Webb. Troup died early in 1999.
Mike Morton[edit]
Michael "Mike" Morton, M.D., portrayed by Ron Pinkard is a bespectacled young intern of African ancestry who had served in the United States Navy, unlike Nurse Dixie McCall, who served in the United States Army. Unlike Drs. Brackett or Early, Morton usually wore an older-style physician's uniform tunic with a buttoned neck or the standard green surgical "scrubs". Dixie commented on the relationship between Morton and the paramedics "our high-ego intern gave our low-threshold paramedics a bad time"; indeed, early on Morton often flaunted his status over that of Johnny and Roy, and was initially portrayed as uptight and somewhat cynical. However, with mentoring from Brackett the character softened during the run of the series and he became more friendly with the paramedics, and was ultimately shown to be as caring and competent as Brackett and Early but sometimes a hard-nosed physician. Little is known about his past, although he hints in "Camera Bug" that he may have grown up in a ghetto.
Although extremely cool under pressure Morton does, at times, have lapses in judgment, in comparison to his other mentor, McCall. he inadvertently cause others to think, or overreact. In one episode, gossip circulates that Morton is in severe debt; it is later discovered that he wants to take out a loan, and most of the calls he receives are routed to the hospital, rather than his home. In another episode, he inadvertently sends Chet on a health food kick that extends to the station. Morton would later correct the problem by having a deep discussion with Chet. He shows responsibility when there is trouble at the hospital, like a fire or explosion, taking charge of the situation, sounding the alarm, and organizing the evacuation of the hospital, such as in Season 6. When McCall is wounded by an explosion and fire in the basement laboratories, alerting Gage and DeSoto upstairs when the fire alarm is triggered, while they notify their dispatcher to send backup to Rampart, Morton gives the code word to evacuate the hospital.
In the series pilot, he was identified as "Dr. Tom Gray".
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