Coronet Blue is an American TV series that ran on CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 from May 29, 1967, to September 4, 1967.

It starred Frank Converse

Frank Converse

Frank Converse is an American actor. In 1962, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama at Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania...

 as Michael Alden, an amnesia

Amnesia

Amnesia is a condition in which one's memory is lost. The causes of amnesia have traditionally been divided into categories. Memory appears to be stored in several parts of the limbic system of the brain, and any condition that interferes with the function of this system can cause amnesia...

c in search of his identity. Brian Bedford

Brian Bedford

Brian Bedford is an English actor. He has appeared on the stage and in film, and is known for both acting in and directing Shakespeare.-Life and career:...

 costarred. The show's 13 episodes were filmed in 1965 and were originally intended to be shown during the 1965-66 television season, but CBS
put the show on hiatus and aired it two years later as a summer replacement. It proved moderately popular and developed a cult following. According to Converse, CBS wanted to renew it but by then Converse had signed to do another series for ABC, N.Y.P.D., which premiered the day after the last airing of Coronet Blue. Due to a number of pre-emptions, only 11 of the 13 episodes were shown during the initial run. The theme song was performed by R&B singer Lenny Welch

Lenny Welch

Lenny Welch , is an American MOR/pop singer.He was born in New York City on May 31, 1938 . He was raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey. His biggest hit, a cover version of the big band standard "Since I Fell for You," reached number 4 on U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1963...

.

Plot details

Frank Converse's character (called Gigot in the first episode), is told by a woman and two men that they know what he is up to, after which they drug him and dump him in the river. He manages to pull himself ashore and the only words he says are Coronet Blue. Suffering from amnesia due to the effects of the drug, he soon discovers that he has been targeted for assassination by the same, mysterious group of killers. He adopts the name "Michael Alden," a combination of the name of his doctor and the name of the hospital where he was taken to recover. Over the remaining episodes he attempts to discover his identity and the identities of his assailants, whom he refers to as 'Greybeards'. The series ended before the solution to these mysteries was revealed, but series creator Larry Cohen

Larry Cohen

Lawrence G. "Larry" Cohen is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is best known as a B-Movie auteur of horror and science fiction films - often containing a police procedural element - during 1970s and 1980s...

 later told his biographer:

"The actual secret is that Converse was not really an American at all. He was a Russian who had been trained to appear like an American and was sent to the U.S. as a spy. He belonged to a spy unit called 'Coronet Blue.' He decided to defect, so the Russians tried to kill him before he can give away the identities of the other Soviet agents. And nobody can really identify him because he doesn't exist as an American. Coronet Blue was actually an outgrowth of 'The Traitor' episode of The Defenders."

Episodes in Production Order

Episode 1 – A Time to Be Born

Originally aired: May 29, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 001

Writer: Albert Ruben • Director: Paul Bogart

Paul Bogart

Paul Bogart is an American television and film director. He directed episodes of the television series "Coronet Blue" in 1967 Get Smart and All In The Family from 1976 to 1979...

 • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier). Guests: Susan Hampshire

Susan Hampshire

Susan Hampshire, Lady Kulukundis, OBE is an English actress, best-known for her many television and film roles.-Early life:Susan Hampshire was born in Kensington, London, the youngest of four children. She had two sisters and one brother...

 (Alix Frame), Donald Woods (Paul Frame), Bernice Marsi (Margaret), Chester Morris (Dr. Michael Wilson), Jon Cypher

Jon Cypher

-Biography:Born in New York City, Cypher graduated from Erasmus Hall High School in 1949 and Brooklyn College in 1953. He made his television debut as the Prince in the original 1957 production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella opposite Julie Andrews in the title role...

 (Ewan McBurney), James Nobel (Lt. Stevens), Robert Burr (Vincent), Louise Troy (Joyce), Jane Holzer(Herself).
A man called “Gigot” by an assailant is pulled from a river, but has no memory of his past except two words--"Coronet Blue". He is rehabilitated and gives himself the name "Michael Alden and begins his trek to "find his past" but soon realizes he is targeted for assassination.

Episode #2 - Where You From and What You Done?

Originally scheduled to air: June 5, 1967 Production Code: 002

Writer: Edward DeBlasio • Director: Sam Wanamaker

Sam Wanamaker

Samuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London...

 • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier). Guests: Laura Devon (Ava Lou Springer), Haila Stoddard (Mrs. Winters), Vincent Gardenia

Vincent Gardenia

Vincent Gardenia was an Italian American stage, film, and television actor.-Early life:...

 (The Man), Martha Greenhouse (Phillie Woman), Tanya Elliot (Sis), Joe Bennett (Stanley).
Alden meets a strange young woman who swears she knows who he is but he suspects that she is not all she appears to be.

Episode #3 - A Dozen Demons

Originally aired: July 3, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 003

Writer: Robert Crean • Director: David Greene • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier), Brian Bedford (Brother Anthony). Guests: Lynda Day George

Lynda Day George

For other entertainers with similar names, see Linda George .Lynda Day George is an American television and film actress whose career spanned three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s...

 (Jenny Straigh), Donald Moffat

Donald Moffat

Donald Moffat is an English-born actor, now a naturalized American citizen.-Early life:Moffat was born in Plymouth, Devon, the only child of Kathleen Mary and Walter George Moffat, who was an insurance agent. His parents ran a boarding house in Totnes...

 (The Rector) , John Beal (Maurice Straigh), House Jameson (Manitee).
Brother Anthony is a young monk who may hold a clue to Michael Alden's real identity after he sees Alden's likeness in a painting.

Episode #4 - Faces

Originally aired: July 10, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 004

Director: Robert Stevens • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden). Guests: Hal Holbrook

Hal Holbrook

Harold Rowe "Hal" Holbrook, Jr. is an American actor. His television roles include Abraham Lincoln in the 1976 TV series Lincoln, Hays Stowe on The Bold Ones: The Senator and Capt. Lloyd Bucher on Pueblo. He is also known for his role in the 2007 film Into the Wild, for which he was nominated for...

 (Carey Thomas) , Martin Huston

Martin Huston

Martin W. Huston, also known as Marty Huston , was an American actor of primarily television and stage....

 (George Thomas), Mitchell Ryan

Mitchell Ryan

Mitchell Ryan is an American actor most recently known for playing Edward Montgomery on the sitcom Dharma & Greg. He also worked with his on-screen wife from Dharma & Greg, Susan Sullivan, in the short-lived series Julie Farr, M.D..Ryan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Louisville,...

 (Oscar Davis), Phyllis Thaxter

Phyllis Thaxter

-Early life and career:Born Phyllis St. Felix Thaxter, she was the daughter of Maine Supreme Court Justice Sidney Thaxter and his wife, a former actress. Thaxter worked on Broadway in the 1930s and signed an MGM contract in 1944...

 (Mrs. Barclay), Cec Linder (Vincent Schuster), Mart Hulswit (Carlton Hobbs) , Michael Walker (Cooper) , Joanna Roos

Joanna Roos

Joanna Roos was a twentieth-century American Broadway, radio, and television actress and a playwright. She was born in Brooklyn in 1901 and attended Syracuse University as well as Yvette Guilbert's School in New York and Paris....

 (Mrs. Hope).
Alden is drawn to a town where it is certain he knew a young woman who was killed two years ago.

Episode #5 - Six Months to Mars

Originally aired: August 14, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 005

Writer: Stanley R. Greenberg • Director: David Greene • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden). Guests: Alan Alda

Alan Alda

Alphonso Joseph D'Abruzzo , better known as Alan Alda, is an American actor, director, screenwriter, and author. A six-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner, he is best known for his role as Hawkeye Pierce in the TV series M*A*S*H...

 (Clay), Patrick O'Neal (Perkins), Walter Moulder (Ross), Barbara Blake (Susan) , Jock Gaynor, Billy Dee Williams

Billy Dee Williams

William December "Billy Dee" Williams, Jr. is an American actor, artist, singer, and writer.-Early life:Williams was born in New York City, New York, the son of Loretta...

 (2nd technician), Dennis Patrick

Dennis Patrick

Dennis Patrick was a well-respected American character actor best known for his works in television shows such as Jason McGuire and Paul Stoddard in Dark Shadows, Somerset, Vaughn Leland in Dallas, movies such as Joe...

 (Jackson).
Alden attempts to help an astronaut during an experimental project.

Episode #6 - The Assassins

Originally aired: June 12, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 006

Writer: Albert Ruben • Director: Lamont Johnson • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier). Guests: Signe Hasso

Signe Hasso

Signe Hasso was a Swedish-born American actress, writer and composer.-Background:Signe Eleonora Cecilia Larsson was born in the Kungsholmen parish of Stockholm, Sweden in 1915...

 (Lucille Seller), Janet Margolin

Janet Margolin

Janet Margolin was an American theater, television and film actress.- Early life :Margolin was born in New York City, the daughter of Benjamin Margolin, an accountant who was born in Russia and was founder and president of the Nephrosis Foundation, now the Kidney Foundation of New York...

 (Riva) , Edward Binns (Lyle Seller) , Cal Bellini

Cal Bellini

Cal Bellini is a former actor, a Malay originally from Singapore, who was cast in roles of mostly foreigners, American Indians, or ethnic minorities, primarily on American television between 1960 and 1986....

 (Omeran) , John Vernon

John Vernon

John Keith Vernon was a Canadian actor. He made a career in Hollywood after achieving initial television stardom in Canada.-Early life:...

 (Ali), Fred Scollay (Gunther).
Alden is reunited with people who claim to be his parents. But when certain things do not add up, he begins to wonder if they "really are" who they say they are.

Episode #7 - Tomoyo

Originally Scheduled to Air: June 26, 1967 Production Code: 007

Writer: Waldo Salt • Director: David Greene • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier). Guests: Keye Luke (Yaslito Omeko), Dan Tranavty (Raffie), Cely Carrillo (Tomoyo).
Alden becomes caught up in a karate group with links to the Mafia when he recognizes a young Asian woman.

Episode #8 - Man Running

Originally aired: July 17, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 008

Writer: Art Wallace • Director: Sam Wanamaker • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier). Guests: Juliet Mills (Margaret Crowell) , Denholm Elliott

Denholm Elliott

Denholm Mitchell Elliott, CBE was an English film, television and theatre actor with over 120 film and television credits...

 (Roger Crowell, Imposter) , Bramwell Fletcher (Roger Crowell) , Carlos Montalbán (Raul Estrada) , Rene Enriquez (Sanchez), Alan Ansara (Gomez) , Ralph Thomas (Detective) , Colleen Kelly (Waitress).
Alden unwittingly gets caught up in a plot to kill a political figure and his daughter.

Episode #9 - A Charade for Murder

Originally aired: July 24, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 009

Director: David Pressman • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier), Brian Bedford (Anthony). Guests: Jack Cassidy

Jack Cassidy

John Joseph Edward “Jack” Cassidy was an American actor of stage, film and screen.His frequent professional persona was that of an urbane, super-confident egotist with a dramatic flair, much in the manner of Broadway actor Frank Fay...

 (Spangler/Demier), Bernice Massi (Margaret), Brenda Vaccaro

Brenda Vaccaro

Brenda Buell Vaccaro is an American stage, television and film actress.-Early life:Vaccaro was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian American parents Christine M. and Mario A. Vaccaro , both of whom were pioneers in Italian cuisine...

 (Julie) , Robert Burr (Vincent) , Robert F. Lyons (Carl), Roy Scheider

Roy Scheider

Roy Richard Scheider was an American actor. He was best known for his leading role as police chief Martin C...

 (Building Manager), Paul Sparer (Frisch), Richard Bright (Harry).
Anthony gets set up for murder when he is mistaken for Alden.

Episode #10 - The Flip Side of Timmy Devon

Originally aired: September 4, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 010

Writer: Albert Ruben • Director: David Greene • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier), Brian Bedford (Brother Anthony). Guests: Murray Kauffman (Big Hart), Dick Clark (Brunswick) , Peter Duchin

Peter Duchin

-Life and career:Duchin was born in New York City, the son of pianist and band leader Eddy Duchin. His mother was Marjorie Oelrichs, a Newport, Rhode Island and New York City socialite who died unexpectedly when he was just five days old. He was raised by close family friends, statesman W...

 (Perry) , Sally Kellerman

Sally Kellerman

Sally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...

 (Polly) , Bruce Scott (Devon), Pamela Toll (Paula), Gene Bua (First Figure).
Alden feels he may have a key to his identity when he knows the words to a song that has only just been released.

Episode #11 - The Rebels

Originally aired: June 19, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 011

Writer: Robert Van Scoyk • Director: Sam Wanamaker • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden). Guests: Jon Voight

Jon Voight

Jonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is an American actor. He has received an Academy Award, out of four nominations, and three Golden Globe Awards, out of nine nominations. Voight is the father of actress Angelina Jolie....

 (Peter Wicklow), Richard Kiley (Dr. Courtland), David Carradine

David Carradine

David Carradine was an American actor and martial artist, best known for his role as a warrior monk, Kwai Chang Caine, in the 1970s television series, Kung Fu, which later had a 1990s sequel series, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues...

 (Walter Arnold) , Candice Bergen

Candice Bergen

Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...

 (Enid Toler), Addison Powell

Addison Powell

Addison Powell was an American actor whose numerous television, stage and film credits included Dark Shadows, The Thomas Crown Affair and Three Days of the Condor. He was best known for playing Dr. Eric Lang, a mad scientist who created Adam, on Dark Shadows.Powell was born in 1921 in Belmont,...

 (President Marshall), Ray Middleton (Chief Loomis), Anita Sheer (Myra Kingsley).
Alden gets between a revolutionary and the reaction.

Episode #12 - Saturday

Originally aired: July 31, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 012

Writer: Alvin Sargent

Alvin Sargent

Alvin Sargent is an American screenwriter. He has won two Academy Awards for his screenplays and has been involved in the writing of all movies to date in the Spider-Man film series.-Life and career:...

 • Director: David Greene • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier). Guests: Doug Chapin (Walter), Miles Chapin (Lonny), Arthur Sussex (Sharp), Neva Patterson

Neva Patterson

Neva Louise Patterson was an American character actress.Born on a farm near Nevada in Story County in central Iowa, she and her parents moved to New York City in 1938. She made her Broadway debut in 1947's The Druid Circle. In 1952, she played "Helen Sherman" in The Seven Year Itch...

 (Aunt Maggie) , Charles Randall (the man), David Hartman

David Hartman

David Hartman may refer to:*David Hartman , American*David Hartman , American*David Hartman , 1994 candidate for Texas state treasurer, retired banker...

 (the waiter), Mark Kearney (Benjy).

Episode #13 - Presence of Evil

Originally aired: August 7, 1967 on CBS Production Code: 013

Writer: Robert Crean • Director: Sam Wanamaker • Regulars: Frank Converse (Michael Alden), Joe Silver (Max Spier), Brian Bedford (Brother Anthony). Guests: Joseph Wiseman

Joseph Wiseman

Joseph Wiseman was a Canadian theater and film actor, best known for starring as the titular antagonist of the first James Bond film, Dr. No, his role as Manny Weisbord on Crime Story, and his career on Broadway...

 (Nateseh), Viveca Lindfors

Viveca Lindfors

Elsa Viveca Torstensdotter Lindfors , better known under her professional name of Viveca Lindfors, was a Swedish stage and film actress.-Life and career:...

(Kyra) , Susan Tarr (Angele), Judi West (Nedda).
Alden and Anthony are drawn into a psychic's strange plot to kill Alden.

In airdate order:

Airdate	Episode
May 29, 1967	A Time to Be Born
June 5, 1967	Where You From and What You Done? (Pre-empted)
June 12, 1967	The Assassins
June 19, 1967	The Rebels
June 26, 1967	Tomoyo (Pre-empted)
July 3, 1967	A Dozen Demons
July 10, 1967	Faces
July 17, 1967	Man Running
July 24, 1967	A Charade for Murder
July 31, 1967	Saturday
August 7, 1967	Presence of Evil
August 14, 1967	Six Months to Mars
August 21, 1967	Where You From and What You Done? (Pre-empted again)
August 28, 1967	Tomoyo (Pre-empted again)
September 4, 1967	The Flip Side of Timmy Devon