[Raymond Burr 1974 IRONSIDE interview]

With his seventh season coming up as Chief Ironside, here's Raymond Burr. In San Diego, we almost think of you as the mayor of our town. >> Oh, you've got a very good mayor. I was I was watching him on television the other night. >> Pete Wilson. >> Yes, he he is an extraordinary young man. Now, I like what he's just done by bringing them the, you know, the mayor's convention or whatever it's called to San Diego because that's the kind of convention that should come to San Diego. All the, uh, cities, uh, you know, and all the states should, you know, come, the governor's group should come to San Diego. >> Well, I hope we get more of those. >> I I do, too. Um, there's >> San Diego has a lot to show, uh, the rest of the country. Well, thanks to you, you've helped our city a whole lot with the chairmanship of Heart Alert. >> Well, I'm still interested. I I think the we we had a tremendous success. Uh I don't think we're finished um yet. We haven't really gotten to all of the community or the community all of the community hasn't gotten to us, but uh by far it was the most successful operation of its kind anywhere in the United States. >> Absolutely. and will lead the way to many many things. >> Speaking of successful operations, does it seem like seven years for Ironstein? >> It seems like we started uh two months ago. >> Uh the the cast is one of the reasons for that. you know, that working with uh Elizabeth Bower and of course when we had Barbara Anderson, but the uh the two main stays of the show uh from a male standpoint are of course Don Mitchell and Don Galloway who is just an extraordinary young man. Both of them are extraordinary young men and uh both close friends and it makes uh doing what is a very hard job very easy. >> Mhm. Was it is it easier than the other long running series you had? >> Uh, not easier because I had a I was very fortunate to have a uh very fine rapport and a good close closeness with the cast in that show. Also, I've been really very lucky to have two shows like that. >> Let me ask you about one show that I was very impressed with and you must have gotten a lot of reaction around the country. The role of Pope John. The reaction has been just extraordinary. 90% of the male, I think, and it's been uh I've been fortunate to have good communication with the American public. 90% of the male have come in have been from uh Protestants or non-atholics, let's put it that way. Uh non-atholics and non-Jews because that's the story that you know is pretty much involved. Uh, but I have never read mail like it in my life. Neither has the network or the studio. >> Would you be inclined or would they be inclined to do another sequel? >> Oh, no. There's no sequel. I tell you what, that was just one event. >> See what I start? No, I'm going to do a full motion picture on it, which I'm sure will be on television someday, >> but it will be for theatrical release. We had long planned that. Uh that's been in the planning stage for 5 years now. >> We will be doing two more years of research and if I don't go on with television series, we will probably film that in 1977. But and take a whole year to film it. >> Speaking of motion pictures, was it hard for you to break into motion pictures? Did you have a difficult time? I had the same kind of time that everybody else had as far as the difficulty or the range of difficulty. I had done a great many plays in a great many radio shows but no film you know and everybody said well as soon as we see you on a good film you know this is the old story which is first >> how do you get experience >> a lot of young actors today >> but after the war uh I came back in I'd originally been under contract for a specific film after a couple of plays in New Uh that uh film was not finally done at that studio, but I I went on to do a great many character things at that studio and then I finally worked my way backwards to being a leading man again, you know. So, uh >> as you see those roles now on TV in the movies, are you satisfied with your part? >> I'm never satisfied with the thing I finished yesterday. Why are you a perfectionist? >> Well, I it's not so much perfection, but but there are many things you miss and many things, you know, I don't watch for that reason. I was very successful in the theater as a young man, very successful in radio, but you could neither watch nor listen to yourself at the moment, you know. So, uh, once you've shot a scene, unless it's in a very big picture, which you where you go and reshoot, once you've shot a scene, it's done. >> So, good, bad, or indifferent. So, if I watch if I watch all of those things, I would be apt to be hyper critical probably of myself and >> I may not have stayed in the business if I'd watched. Thanks for a little different insight of Raymond Burr, one of the finest actors in America today.