RAY WALSTON
"Rip Van Winkle" wasn't as good as an earlier novelty hit that I absolutely loved – "Martian Hop" by the Ran-Dells – and I had a connection there also: There was a TV show called My Favorite Martian where the Martian (played by Ray Walston) was named "Uncle Martin". There weren't too many Martin's in the world back then, at least that I knew about. I even created little antennae (bent from the wire that bound the newspapers together for my paper route) that I wore behind my ears to class; they were supposed to be like the ones that would rise up from Walston's head from time to time when he was doing his Martian thing.
(March 2012)
