How Bob Burns And Tracy First Met

"The Audition"

A girl that I worked with at CBS went to a class on TV production. During a break she talked to the producer (who was talking to the class). He seemed very down and she asked him what was wrong. He said that they had this show that he was doing for CBS and it starred Forest Tucker, Larry Storch, and a gorilla. The original gorilla guy's agent held them up for more money at the last second. So, they tried to find another gorilla and had no luck. She said, "I work with a guy at CBS who has a great gorilla suit."

The next morning I was at work and she came running in and said, "Call this guy about a gorilla job." I called and he said: "Can we see you in your suit in the next 2 hours?" They had to make a decision that day or cancel the show.

I called Kathy to see if she could take a long lunch hour. I put on the suit and we went over to the office at Filmation. The producer, director, writer, etc., were there. I could tell that they liked the look of my suit. The writer said, "Now Tracy (the gorilla's name) can't talk, but he can pantomime and draw and he acts as human as he can. If you were him what would you do?"

I thought for a moment sat down in a chair crossed my leg (like I do anyway), picked up a copy of the Daily Variety (a show biz magazine) and started to read it. The writer said "This is Tracy, the gorilla."

Four days later, we shot the first episode. The rest, as they say, is history.

It was the most fun I've ever had playing the gorilla. Tuck and Larry were the best guys in the world to work with.