The Kokomo Tribune from Kokomo, Indiana • Page 17

2 Kokomo (Ind.) Tribune Saturday, Aug. 1,1981 Hill Street's La Rue hopes for 5-year run By Chris MacNell Tribune staff writer Kiel Martin, known better to television viewers as undercover detective Johnny D. LaRue on NBC's "Hill Street Blues," describes his alter ego as "a man who's at the mercy of his own energy." "LaRue's just always running an hour behind, a day late and many, many dollars short. He means well, but he just can't get it right," Martin said. LaRue's image of himself is far more stark and brutal.

Said LaRue in one episode after an enterprising project to open a combination saloon-laundromat bit the dust: "Everything I touch turns to human feces." In spite of himself, though, LaRue really is a nice fellow. Just as a masochistic drive in his complex character compels him to pull' the self-destructive punch, LaRue is saved from himself by his deep sense of humanity and ethics. Portraying such a multi-faceted personality as LaRue is, Martin said, "is just about the best opportunity I have had. As for LaRue, I love him. And based on the feedback I've gotten, people are absolutely positive on LaRue." J.D.

is just one of the embattled law officers who populate the fictional Hill Street precinct in a decaying section of a large city. Represented in the dramatic series, an MTM Enterprises production, is a broad range of minorities, from blacks to Jews and Hispanics. It is "real television," an accomplishment that is a tribute to various writers, executive producers Steven Bochco and Michael Kozoll, and producer Gregory Hoblit, said Martin. "Hill Street Blues" premiered last January to rave reviews but low ratings. But mainly because of what Martin calls "word of mouth," the series has been renewed.

Renewal came even before the show registered its best ratings performance when the series' final first-run episode placed an encouraging 19th in the Nielsen listings for the TV week ending May 31. Martin is not one to take as sacred the word of Nielsen he believes the number surveyed is too low to plot a national trend and he contends the show has found a sizeable audience. "Just as with all new shows, we had to have time to get started," he said in a telephone interview from his Topanga Canyon home near Los Angeles. "Our audience grew during the year and I believe it'll grow more this season." Filming for "Hill Street's" second season won't begin until early September because of the recently settled strike by script writers. The show will debut in early November and move from its Tuesday night slot to 10 p.m.

Thursday. It'll air against ABC's and CBS' "Close-Up: Jessica Novak," a new entry. "The kind of quality the show has is superb," Martin said. "I think the show gives the viewing public a chance to actually become a part of people not just escape and to think. And I think the public has been ready for that kind of TV for a long time." Kiel Martin "HiffSfreef Blues" cop Martin, 35, a divorcee with a 12- year-old daughter, Jessie, was born in Pittsburgh and reared in southern Florida.

He decided on acting as a career when he tried to drop out of school at 16. "My father, without my knowledge, got the high school drama coach to audition me for a bit part In 'Finlan's Rainbow'," Martin explained. "But when I got the lead, I knew acting was what I wanted." After a brief stint as a stand-up comedian in Miami, Martin learned to play rhythm and blues and country music on the guitar and worked for two years as a musician and dockworker in New York. Two years after his discharge from the U.S. Army in 1964, he went to Los Angeles and later worked at the National Shakespeare Theatre at the Old Globe In San Diego and studied under Paul Baker.

He later worked in repertory theater in New Orleans and New York, and for 14 months in 1977-78 was an organized crime heavy on the ABC daytime drama, "The Edge of Night." Martin recently returned from Utah where he filmed a TV movie, "Raid on Short Creek," to be aired next season on NBC. He'll play a cop In the story that Is based on a raid In 1953 of a polygamous Mormon community In Utah. Confident he has learned his trade, Martin states he "is a good actor." Egotistical? Not at all. Martin's self-appraisal Is justified if on no other merit than his shattering portrayal of LaRue as a practicing alcoholic with chilling realism and conviction. The psychological and pathological anguish and self-destruction Martin projects in presenting LaRue's alcoholic profile parallel actuality so closely It Is haunting.

Martin said from series star Daniel Travanti, himself a recovering alcoholic, has helped him fashion LaRue's alcoholic personality. What's ahead for John LaRue? "Hopefully a five-year run," Martin cracks. But because of the writers strike, no one knows for sure. Maybe LaRue will get his act ether and become the best of Hill treet's pride, or maybe he'll actually take a bribe, or maybe he'll have just one drink too many. Who knows? Stay tuned to find out.

BUY THIS YEAR AND SAVEI END OF SALE! BIG DISCOUNTS ON ALL POOLS! PRICES TO INCREASE NEXT YEAR BUY THIS YEAR AND I WE TAKE ANYTHING ON TRADE AUTOMOBILES OUR SPECIALTY BUY FROM THE EXPERTS In Sine. 1939 Over 30 Different Pbols to ChooM From Heavy Brace Large Patto Deck Complete Fitter System eWnyfUner Safety Fence 4 Ladder BUY FROM THE EXPERTSI "SERVICE" IS Our MOTTOI We Sendee Any ABO veGrevnd feoff MIDWEST POOLS, INC. 300 S. POU 23, WIINWOOO, IN. CALLKOWn TOLLFHEEzl-MtHMITI OUT OF STATE CALL COLLECT: 1417'7St41W OPERATION DUTY 7 DAYS.

24 HOURS. NAME ADDRESS CITY PHONE STATE ZIP.