March 3, 1985
The television show Moonlighting premiered.
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from
March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes (67 in
syndication as the pilot is split into two episodes). Starring Bruce Willisand Cybill Shepherd as private detectives,
the show was a mixture of drama, comedy, and romance, and was considered to be
one of the first successful and influential examples of comedy-drama, or "dramedy",
emerging as a distinct television genre.
The
show's theme song was performed by jazz singer Al Jarreau and became a hit. The
show is also credited with making Willis a star, while providing Shepherd with
a critical success after a string of lackluster projects. In 1997, the
episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" was ranked #34
on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2007, the series
was listed as one of Time magazine's "100
Best TV Shows of All-Time." The relationship between David and
Maddie was included in TV Guide 's list of the best TV couples of
all time.
The first Broadway play to be televised in color,
featuring the original cast, airs.
The play was Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin.
March 7, 1960
Jack Paar
returns to the Tonight Show.
A
month after walking off The Tonight Show to protest censorship, host
Jack Paar returns to the show. Paar, who had been hosting the show since July
1957, shortly after host Steve Allen left, was protesting NBC's censorship of a
joke about a "water closet," which the network deemed inappropriate.Jack Benny discovered
Paar in 1945; they met in Guadalcanal while both were entertaining the troops.
Benny was already a famous comedian, but Paar was just beginning his career.
Benny helped Paar launch a radio show, The Jack Paar Show, in 1947.
Although well received, the show was cancelled after Paar allegedly insulted
Jack Benny's comedy.
Paar joined The
Tonight Show as host in 1957 after Steve Allen retired from the popular
late-night program. The witty, often emotional Paar was a master of the
interview as well as comic sketches. Regulars on his show included Hugh Downs,
bandleader Jose Melis, Tedi Thurman, and Dody Goodman. Florence Henderson,
Betty White, and Buddy Hackett also appeared frequently. The mostly humorous
show also included serious moments: Paar railed against the Cuban dictatorship
under Batista and praised Castro's revolution. He also did some telecasts from
the Berlin Wall.
Paar permanently left The
Tonight Show in 1962, and the show was hosted by a series of substitutes
until Johnny Carson took over later that year. Carson's 30-year reign became
the longest in The Tonight Show's history. Late-night stars Jay Leno and
David Letterman vied for his spot when Carson left the show in 1992. Leno ended
up in the host's seat, and Letterman launched Late Show opposite The
Tonight Show the following year.
Jack Paar died at his
Connecticut home in January 2004 at age 85 after a long illness.
March 7, 1975
The final episode of The Odd Couple aired on ABC.
March 8, 1945George Michael
"Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is born.
The actor, musician,
television director, radio personality and theater director, best known as a
member of the 1960s made-for-television band The Monkees.Dolenz
was born at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Los Angeles California, the son of
George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson, both of whom were Hollywood actors.
Dolenz
began his show business career in 1956 when he starred in a children’s show
called Circus Boy under the name Mickey Braddock. In the show, he played an
orphaned boy who is the water boy for the elephants in a one-ring circus at the
start of the twentieth century. The program ran for three years, after which
Dolenz made sporadic appearances on network TV shows and pursued his education.
He
also played guitar and sang with obscure rock and roll bands, including one
called The Missing Links. Dolenz went to Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley
Glen, Los Angeles, California and graduated in 1962. He was attending college
in Los Angeles when hired for the "drummer" role in The Monkees.
In
1965, Dolenz was cast in the television sitcom The Monkees and became the
drummer and a lead vocalist in the band created for the show. Micky said later
that someone at Screen Gems forgot to contact his agent to inform him the
series was picked up by NBC; he wound up learning about his new job by reading
the announcement in Variety. He was not at that time a drummer. He needed
lessons even to be able to mime credibly, but eventually was taught how to play
properly. By the time The Monkees toured for real in late 1966, Dolenz was
competent enough to play the drums himself. (He learned to play right-handed
and left-footed.)
Tommy
Boyce and Bobby Hart, writers of many of The Monkees' songs, observed quickly
that when brought in to the studio together, the four actors would try to crack
each other up. Because of this, they would often bring in each singer
individually. The antics escalated once, until Micky poured a cup of ice on Don
Kirshner's head; at the time, Dolenz did not know Kirshner on sight.
According
to Mike Nesmith, it was Dolenz's voice that made the Monkees' sound
distinctive, and even during tension-filled times Nesmith and Peter Tork
voluntarily turned over lead vocal duties to Dolenz on their own compositions,
such as Tork's "For Pete's Sake", which became the closing title
theme for the second season of the TV show.
Dolenz
wrote a few of the band’s songs as well as providing the lead vocals for such
hits as "Last Train to Clarksville" and "I'm a Believer".
Towards the end of the series’ hectic two-year run, Dolenz directed and
co-wrote what turned out to be the show’s final episode.
Despite
being more of a singer than a musician, Micky purchased one of the first 25
Moog synthesizers, the third Moog Synthesizer ever commercially sold. (The
first two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens.) His performance on The
Monkees song "Daily Nightly" (written by Michael Nesmith) from the
LP, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., was the first use of a
synthesizer on a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby
Sherman.
Thanks
in part to reruns of The Monkees on Saturday mornings and in syndication, The
Monkees Greatest Hits charted in 1976. The LP, issued by Arista (a subsidiary
of Screen Gems), was actually a re-packaging of a 1972 compilation LP called
Refocus that had been issued by Arista's previous label imprint, Bell Records,
also owned by Screen Gems.
Dolenz
and Jones took advantage of this, joining ex-Monkees songwriters Tommy Boyce
and Bobby Hart to tour the United States. From 1975 to 1977, as the
"Golden Hits of The Monkees" show ("The Guys who Wrote 'Em and
the Guys who Sang 'Em!"), they successfully performed in smaller venues
such as state fairs and amusement parks, as well as making stops in Japan,
Thailand and Singapore. They also released an album of new material as Dolenz,
Jones, Boyce & Hart (they could not use the Monkees name for legal reasons).
Nesmith
had not been interested in a reunion. Tork claimed later that he had not been
asked, although a Christmas single (credited to Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and
Peter Tork) was produced by Chip Douglas and released on his own label in 1976.
The single featured Douglas's and Howard Kaylan's "Christmas Is My Time of
Year" (originally recorded by a 1960s supergroup, Christmas Spirit), with
a B-side of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (Douglas released a
remixed version of the single, with additional overdubbed instruments, in
1986). Tork also joined Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart on stage at Disneyland
on July 4, 1976, and also joined Dolenz and Jones on stage at the Starwood in
Hollywood, California in 1977.
After
the television show ended and the band broke up, Dolenz hoped to continue a
solo recording career, and released several singles on MGM Records (and its
subsidiaries) in the early 1970s. In 1971, Peter Tork helped arrange a Micky
Dolenz single, "Easy on You"/"Oh Someone".
Dolenz
released the B.A. Robertson song "To Be or Not to Be" on December 31,
1981. The song is a playful tribute to the works of William Shakespeare. The
flip side was "Beverly Hills", written by Dolenz. The single was
released to coincide with Micky's tour of Japan. Both were very successful. The
single is Jam Records J-8112B. Dolenz also released 2 CD's on the Kid Rhino
label, "Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep" (containing Dolenz chosen
songs originally released by many major artists, given a "dreamy"
touch too) and "Broadway Micky".
In
2005, after leaving WCBS-FM, Dolenz went on tour with his sister, singer Coco
Dolenz. On August 31, 2010, Dolenz released his first album in over 15 years
via Gigatone Entertainment of Sacramento, California. Titled "King for a
Day", the album is a 14-track tribute to legendary songwriter Carole King.
Dolenz also appeared in an event called "myRecordFantasy with Micky
Dolenz" August 2–4, 2010 giving fans the opportunity to audition and
perform on this album. The event was recorded and adapted to a reality series
entitled "myRecordFantasy", the trailer of which was released August
31, 2010.
After
the Monkees television show ended, Dolenz continued performing providing
voice-overs for a number of Saturday-morning cartoon series including The Funky
Phantom, Partridge Family 2200 A.D., Scooby-doo, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance
Kids, Devlin and Wonder Wheels (from The Skatebirds). Dolenz provided the voice
of Arthur in the first season of the animated series The Tick. Dolenz also
played one of Alan Matthews' bandmates in the sitcom Boy Meets World, and later
joined Davy Jones and Peter Tork in episode eight of the 3rd season (titled
"Rave On. In 1972, Dolenz played Vance in the murder mystery film Night of
the Strangler. Dolenz provided the voice of Two-Face's twin henchmen in the
two-part episode "Two-Face" on Batman: The Animated Series. In a
September 2006 radio interview, Dolenz reported that he is the current voice of
Snuggle the Fabric Softener Bear. Dolenz also made guest appearances on prime
time shows including Adam-12 and My Three Sons. He also auditioned for the role
of Fonzie on the series Happy Days, but lost out to Henry Winkler.
1977
saw him performing with former band-mate Davy Jones in a stage production of
the Harry Nilsson musical The Point! in London, playing the part of Arrow,
Oblio's (Jones) pet dog. After the show’s run, he remained in England and began
directing for stage and television, as well as producing several of the shows
he directed. In 1980, Dolenz produced and directed the sitcom Metal Mickey,
featuring a small metallic robot with the catch-phrase "boogie
boogie." Because the similarity of the character's name to his own caused
confusion on set, it was at this time that Micky Dolenz officially changed his
name to Michael Dolenz.
In
the early 1980s, Dolenz directed a stage version of Bugsy Malone, the cast of
which included a then-unknown 14-year-old Welsh actress named Catherine
Zeta-Jones. From 1983 to 1984 he was responsible for creating and producing the
British children's television show Luna.
Early
in the development of Batman Forever, Dolenz was a contender for the role of
The Riddler, which ultimately went to Jim Carrey.
In
June 2006, Dolenz played Charlemagne at the Goodspeed Opera House for the
revival of the musical Pippin in East Haddam, Connecticut. He also toured in
that role. In 2007, he appeared in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween as Derek
Allan, the owner of the gun shop where Dr. Loomis (played by Malcolm McDowell)
buys a gun in his search for Michael Myers. On April 25, 2007, Dolenz was
featured on American Idol on the "Idol Gives Back" episode when the
show filmed celebrities singing and dancing to "Stayin' Alive" by the
Bee Gees. Dolenz participated in the 2008–09 season of CMT's "Gone
Country," competing against fellow celebrities Sheila E (who eventually
won), Taylor Dayne, George Clinton, and Richard Grieco.
On
January 29, 2011, Dolenz appeared in the Syfy Channel movie Mega Python vs.
Gatoroid alongside Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.
In
1986, a screening of the entire Monkees television series by MTV led to renewed
interest in the group, followed by a single ("That Was Then, This Is
Now" reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.), a 20th
Anniversary Tour, a greatest hits album and a brand new LP, Pool It! in 1987.
The group's original albums were reissued and all hit the record charts at the
same time.
Since
1986, Dolenz has joined the other ex-Monkees for several reunion tours, most
recently in 2011 with a series of concerts in England and the United States,
and has toured extensively as a solo artist. He has continued to direct for
television both in the United Kingdom and the United States, and had occasional
acting gigs, including roles in the TV series The Equalizer and as the Mayor on
the cable TV series Pacific Blue.
In
2009, Micky inked a deal to record an album of the classic songs of Carole
King, titled "King for a Day". The album (released on Gigitone
Records) was produced by Jeffrey Foskett, who has worked extensively with Brian
Wilson and played on Wilson’s 2004 Grammy-winning version of SMiLE. King’s
songs "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "Sometime in the Morning",
and "The Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)" have emerged as signature
songs from The Monkees. As of February 2010, he was appearing on stage in
London in 'Hairspray with Michael Ball.' The show also went on tour and had a
successful run in Dublin, Ireland during November 2010. In 2011, he rejoined
the group for An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour.
On
January 10, 2005, Dolenz replaced Dan Taylor as the morning disc jockey at
oldies radio station WCBS-FM in New York. On June 3, 2005, Dolenz celebrated
his 100th show with a special morning show at B.B. Kings. In an ironic and
controversial twist, that was also his last show at the station; at 5:00 PM,
WCBS-FM announced that the station would replace its oldies format with a
"Jack" format, and fired all of the stations on-air jocks. WCBS-FM
has since returned to its oldies format.
Dolenz
has been married three times and is the father of four daughters. In 1967,
while in the UK on tour, Dolenz met future wife Samantha Juste, a co-presenter
on BBC TV's pop music show, Top of the Pops. They married in 1967 and had a
daughter, Ami Dolenz (b. January 8, 1969), an actress particularly active in
the 1980s and 1990s. Dolenz and Juste divorced in 1975.
He
married Trina Dow in 1977. The couple had three daughters: Charlotte Janelle
(b. August 8, 1981), Emily Claire (b. July 25, 1983), and Georgia Rose (b.
September 3, 1984). They divorced in 1991. Trina has become a couples therapist
(still using her married name). Dolenz married his third wife, Donna Quinter,
in 2002.
March 3, 1985
The television show Moonlighting premiered.
The show's theme song was performed by jazz singer Al Jarreau and became a hit. The show is also credited with making Willis a star, while providing Shepherd with a critical success after a string of lackluster projects. In 1997, the episode "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" was ranked #34 on TV Guide's 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. In 2007, the series was listed as one of Time magazine's "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time." The relationship between David and Maddie was included in TV Guide 's list of the best TV couples of all time.
The first Broadway play to be televised in color, featuring the original cast, airs.
The play was Peter Pan, starring Mary Martin.March 7, 1960
Jack Paar returns to the Tonight Show.
A month after walking off The Tonight Show to protest censorship, host Jack Paar returns to the show. Paar, who had been hosting the show since July 1957, shortly after host Steve Allen left, was protesting NBC's censorship of a joke about a "water closet," which the network deemed inappropriate.Jack Benny discovered
Paar in 1945; they met in Guadalcanal while both were entertaining the troops.
Benny was already a famous comedian, but Paar was just beginning his career.
Benny helped Paar launch a radio show, The Jack Paar Show, in 1947.
Although well received, the show was cancelled after Paar allegedly insulted
Jack Benny's comedy.
Paar joined The
Tonight Show as host in 1957 after Steve Allen retired from the popular
late-night program. The witty, often emotional Paar was a master of the
interview as well as comic sketches. Regulars on his show included Hugh Downs,
bandleader Jose Melis, Tedi Thurman, and Dody Goodman. Florence Henderson,
Betty White, and Buddy Hackett also appeared frequently. The mostly humorous
show also included serious moments: Paar railed against the Cuban dictatorship
under Batista and praised Castro's revolution. He also did some telecasts from
the Berlin Wall.
Paar permanently left The
Tonight Show in 1962, and the show was hosted by a series of substitutes
until Johnny Carson took over later that year. Carson's 30-year reign became
the longest in The Tonight Show's history. Late-night stars Jay Leno and
David Letterman vied for his spot when Carson left the show in 1992. Leno ended
up in the host's seat, and Letterman launched Late Show opposite The
Tonight Show the following year.
Jack Paar died at his
Connecticut home in January 2004 at age 85 after a long illness.
March 7, 1975
The final episode of The Odd Couple aired on ABC.
George Michael "Micky" Dolenz, Jr. is born.
Dolenz was born at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Los Angeles California, the son of George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson, both of whom were Hollywood actors.
Dolenz began his show business career in 1956 when he starred in a children’s show called Circus Boy under the name Mickey Braddock. In the show, he played an orphaned boy who is the water boy for the elephants in a one-ring circus at the start of the twentieth century. The program ran for three years, after which Dolenz made sporadic appearances on network TV shows and pursued his education.
He also played guitar and sang with obscure rock and roll bands, including one called The Missing Links. Dolenz went to Ulysses S. Grant High School in Valley Glen, Los Angeles, California and graduated in 1962. He was attending college in Los Angeles when hired for the "drummer" role in The Monkees.
In 1965, Dolenz was cast in the television sitcom The Monkees and became the drummer and a lead vocalist in the band created for the show. Micky said later that someone at Screen Gems forgot to contact his agent to inform him the series was picked up by NBC; he wound up learning about his new job by reading the announcement in Variety. He was not at that time a drummer. He needed lessons even to be able to mime credibly, but eventually was taught how to play properly. By the time The Monkees toured for real in late 1966, Dolenz was competent enough to play the drums himself. (He learned to play right-handed and left-footed.)
Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, writers of many of The Monkees' songs, observed quickly that when brought in to the studio together, the four actors would try to crack each other up. Because of this, they would often bring in each singer individually. The antics escalated once, until Micky poured a cup of ice on Don Kirshner's head; at the time, Dolenz did not know Kirshner on sight.
According to Mike Nesmith, it was Dolenz's voice that made the Monkees' sound distinctive, and even during tension-filled times Nesmith and Peter Tork voluntarily turned over lead vocal duties to Dolenz on their own compositions, such as Tork's "For Pete's Sake", which became the closing title theme for the second season of the TV show.
Dolenz wrote a few of the band’s songs as well as providing the lead vocals for such hits as "Last Train to Clarksville" and "I'm a Believer". Towards the end of the series’ hectic two-year run, Dolenz directed and co-wrote what turned out to be the show’s final episode.
Despite being more of a singer than a musician, Micky purchased one of the first 25 Moog synthesizers, the third Moog Synthesizer ever commercially sold. (The first two belonged to Wendy Carlos and Buck Owens.) His performance on The Monkees song "Daily Nightly" (written by Michael Nesmith) from the LP, Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd., was the first use of a synthesizer on a rock recording. He eventually sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman.
Thanks in part to reruns of The Monkees on Saturday mornings and in syndication, The Monkees Greatest Hits charted in 1976. The LP, issued by Arista (a subsidiary of Screen Gems), was actually a re-packaging of a 1972 compilation LP called Refocus that had been issued by Arista's previous label imprint, Bell Records, also owned by Screen Gems.
Dolenz and Jones took advantage of this, joining ex-Monkees songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart to tour the United States. From 1975 to 1977, as the "Golden Hits of The Monkees" show ("The Guys who Wrote 'Em and the Guys who Sang 'Em!"), they successfully performed in smaller venues such as state fairs and amusement parks, as well as making stops in Japan, Thailand and Singapore. They also released an album of new material as Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart (they could not use the Monkees name for legal reasons).
Nesmith
had not been interested in a reunion. Tork claimed later that he had not been
asked, although a Christmas single (credited to Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones and
Peter Tork) was produced by Chip Douglas and released on his own label in 1976.
The single featured Douglas's and Howard Kaylan's "Christmas Is My Time of
Year" (originally recorded by a 1960s supergroup, Christmas Spirit), with
a B-side of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas" (Douglas released a
remixed version of the single, with additional overdubbed instruments, in
1986). Tork also joined Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart on stage at Disneyland
on July 4, 1976, and also joined Dolenz and Jones on stage at the Starwood in
Hollywood, California in 1977.
After the television show ended and the band broke up, Dolenz hoped to continue a solo recording career, and released several singles on MGM Records (and its subsidiaries) in the early 1970s. In 1971, Peter Tork helped arrange a Micky Dolenz single, "Easy on You"/"Oh Someone".
Dolenz released the B.A. Robertson song "To Be or Not to Be" on December 31, 1981. The song is a playful tribute to the works of William Shakespeare. The flip side was "Beverly Hills", written by Dolenz. The single was released to coincide with Micky's tour of Japan. Both were very successful. The single is Jam Records J-8112B. Dolenz also released 2 CD's on the Kid Rhino label, "Micky Dolenz Puts You to Sleep" (containing Dolenz chosen songs originally released by many major artists, given a "dreamy" touch too) and "Broadway Micky".
In 2005, after leaving WCBS-FM, Dolenz went on tour with his sister, singer Coco Dolenz. On August 31, 2010, Dolenz released his first album in over 15 years via Gigatone Entertainment of Sacramento, California. Titled "King for a Day", the album is a 14-track tribute to legendary songwriter Carole King. Dolenz also appeared in an event called "myRecordFantasy with Micky Dolenz" August 2–4, 2010 giving fans the opportunity to audition and perform on this album. The event was recorded and adapted to a reality series entitled "myRecordFantasy", the trailer of which was released August 31, 2010.
After the Monkees television show ended, Dolenz continued performing providing voice-overs for a number of Saturday-morning cartoon series including The Funky Phantom, Partridge Family 2200 A.D., Scooby-doo, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, Devlin and Wonder Wheels (from The Skatebirds). Dolenz provided the voice of Arthur in the first season of the animated series The Tick. Dolenz also played one of Alan Matthews' bandmates in the sitcom Boy Meets World, and later joined Davy Jones and Peter Tork in episode eight of the 3rd season (titled "Rave On. In 1972, Dolenz played Vance in the murder mystery film Night of the Strangler. Dolenz provided the voice of Two-Face's twin henchmen in the two-part episode "Two-Face" on Batman: The Animated Series. In a September 2006 radio interview, Dolenz reported that he is the current voice of Snuggle the Fabric Softener Bear. Dolenz also made guest appearances on prime time shows including Adam-12 and My Three Sons. He also auditioned for the role of Fonzie on the series Happy Days, but lost out to Henry Winkler.
1977 saw him performing with former band-mate Davy Jones in a stage production of the Harry Nilsson musical The Point! in London, playing the part of Arrow, Oblio's (Jones) pet dog. After the show’s run, he remained in England and began directing for stage and television, as well as producing several of the shows he directed. In 1980, Dolenz produced and directed the sitcom Metal Mickey, featuring a small metallic robot with the catch-phrase "boogie boogie." Because the similarity of the character's name to his own caused confusion on set, it was at this time that Micky Dolenz officially changed his name to Michael Dolenz.
In the early 1980s, Dolenz directed a stage version of Bugsy Malone, the cast of which included a then-unknown 14-year-old Welsh actress named Catherine Zeta-Jones. From 1983 to 1984 he was responsible for creating and producing the British children's television show Luna.
Early in the development of Batman Forever, Dolenz was a contender for the role of The Riddler, which ultimately went to Jim Carrey.
In June 2006, Dolenz played Charlemagne at the Goodspeed Opera House for the revival of the musical Pippin in East Haddam, Connecticut. He also toured in that role. In 2007, he appeared in Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween as Derek Allan, the owner of the gun shop where Dr. Loomis (played by Malcolm McDowell) buys a gun in his search for Michael Myers. On April 25, 2007, Dolenz was featured on American Idol on the "Idol Gives Back" episode when the show filmed celebrities singing and dancing to "Stayin' Alive" by the Bee Gees. Dolenz participated in the 2008–09 season of CMT's "Gone Country," competing against fellow celebrities Sheila E (who eventually won), Taylor Dayne, George Clinton, and Richard Grieco.
On January 29, 2011, Dolenz appeared in the Syfy Channel movie Mega Python vs. Gatoroid alongside Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.
In 1986, a screening of the entire Monkees television series by MTV led to renewed interest in the group, followed by a single ("That Was Then, This Is Now" reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S.), a 20th Anniversary Tour, a greatest hits album and a brand new LP, Pool It! in 1987. The group's original albums were reissued and all hit the record charts at the same time.
Since 1986, Dolenz has joined the other ex-Monkees for several reunion tours, most recently in 2011 with a series of concerts in England and the United States, and has toured extensively as a solo artist. He has continued to direct for television both in the United Kingdom and the United States, and had occasional acting gigs, including roles in the TV series The Equalizer and as the Mayor on the cable TV series Pacific Blue.
In 2009, Micky inked a deal to record an album of the classic songs of Carole King, titled "King for a Day". The album (released on Gigitone Records) was produced by Jeffrey Foskett, who has worked extensively with Brian Wilson and played on Wilson’s 2004 Grammy-winning version of SMiLE. King’s songs "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "Sometime in the Morning", and "The Porpoise Song (Theme From Head)" have emerged as signature songs from The Monkees. As of February 2010, he was appearing on stage in London in 'Hairspray with Michael Ball.' The show also went on tour and had a successful run in Dublin, Ireland during November 2010. In 2011, he rejoined the group for An Evening with The Monkees: The 45th Anniversary Tour.
On January 10, 2005, Dolenz replaced Dan Taylor as the morning disc jockey at oldies radio station WCBS-FM in New York. On June 3, 2005, Dolenz celebrated his 100th show with a special morning show at B.B. Kings. In an ironic and controversial twist, that was also his last show at the station; at 5:00 PM, WCBS-FM announced that the station would replace its oldies format with a "Jack" format, and fired all of the stations on-air jocks. WCBS-FM has since returned to its oldies format.
Dolenz has been married three times and is the father of four daughters. In 1967, while in the UK on tour, Dolenz met future wife Samantha Juste, a co-presenter on BBC TV's pop music show, Top of the Pops. They married in 1967 and had a daughter, Ami Dolenz (b. January 8, 1969), an actress particularly active in the 1980s and 1990s. Dolenz and Juste divorced in 1975.
He married Trina Dow in 1977. The couple had three daughters: Charlotte Janelle (b. August 8, 1981), Emily Claire (b. July 25, 1983), and Georgia Rose (b. September 3, 1984). They divorced in 1991. Trina has become a couples therapist (still using her married name). Dolenz married his third wife, Donna Quinter, in 2002.
Tony Figueroa
