The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 175

I 17k A new character was added to "The Deputy" last October and here he is Read Morgan, with a devil-may-care expression. He plays Sergeant Tasker. Morgan, a former athlete, is a perfect specimen of health, thanks to his fruit and vegetable diet. Henry Fonda (right) is Chief Marshal Simon Fry, and Allen Case is his sharp-shooting but reluctant deputy, Clay McCord, in "The Deputy," Western adventure series seen on Ch 4 Saturday Nights. 1 Vft ft, 0JtXi: By Elizabeth Sullivan meat.

I toss a meal in my blender when I'm hungry and this might be noon time, 4 in the afternoon or 10 at night. I prepare all my own meals and prefer to have them at home. "When I entertain, I don't enforce my diet on my guests. They have a regulation meal, poor things) Last October, a new character was added to NBC's "The Deputy," adventure series seen on Ch 4 Saturdays at 9 p.m. starring Henry Fonda.

He's Read Morgan, one of the healthiest giants on the West Coast. Morgan made his entrance with a patch on his left eye, not for effect, but he won the shiner during Indian skirmishes and he has to live with the patch for a spell. Six-foot-four-inch Morgan portrays a rugged cavalry sergeant on the series and has top-flight vision. The patch makes for a bit of intrigue and when the sergeant's injury has been healed, the patch may come off next Fall. Morgan has a legion of friends and they refer to him as the "vegetarian." His diet amazes them.

And we decided to ask him "what cooks?" "Nothing on the stove," says he. "When I'm hungry, I eat. When I'm thirsty, I drink. I live by a blender. I toss in some vegetables or fruit and satisfy my hunger in this way.

There's nothing like raw goat's mUk, honey, sunflower, sesame and our wonderful fresh vegetables we get here out on the Coast. "We have what are called 'Health A number of farmers in California grow produce especially for them. Delicious tomatoes, carrots, beans, potatoes, cauliflower, celery, spinach and any vegetable you can name is grown au natural' and shipped 'ripe' to these health stores. "In other words, there are no sprays or chemicals used to hurry the growth of these vegetables. The farms are 'old fashioned home gardens' so to speak, with fine, flavorful vegetables.

"I thrive on this diet of vegetables and fruit 'in the I feel wonderful." How about a piece of steak? "Never. I feel ever so much better by not eating 22 room. Yet this frugal living kept him as happy as a lark. As most aspirants know who head for Hollywood and the big-time, breaks don't come easily or quickly. However, once Morgan got an assignment others seem to develop.

He picked up more and more important roles until he was feeling security. He wouldn't give up the beach, though, until Fall-partly because he enjoyed his Bohemian life and partly because he was cautious. Fortunately, he was tagged for roles in "State Trooper," "Wagon Train," "Laramie," Squad" and GE Theatre. When a new co-starring character was needed for "The Deputy" this the show's producer interviewed more than 100 husky youngsters. It was clinched for Morgan when he walked through the door.

One bone-crushing handshake closed the deal. This young giant finds his co-starring role with Henry Fonda and Allen Case a real kick. He plays a fun-loving sergeant (Sgt Tasker) who joins in the adventures to break the boredom of operating a dusty supply depot in the Arizona Territory. Morgan finally moved into an apartment. His bedroom is a fully equipped gym and he gives himself a workout for more than an hour each day.

He doesn't have to hitch-hike to work. He cruises to the studio canyons in a white Corvette. TV filming is done back to back -two shows a week -so he burns up the road. TV is mighty strenuous on this sca(e, leaving little time for recreation. But as long as he's acting; feeling fit, and the farms continue to grow nourishing victuals Morgan asks for nothing better.

And we'll have to agree with him on this score. Dunno, but we might try his diet one day. BOSTON SUNDAY CLOSE. JANUARY IS, Morgan was born in Chicago and had acting as a career in his head when he gave up basketball and football to attend Northwestern University as a drama major. He was a top high school athlete; won letters and had a lucrative basketball scholarship in his hands.

The Korean fracas broke out as Morgan graduated from Northwestern and his acting plans were pushed aside while he did two years' active duty with the U. S. Air Force in Japan, Korea and Formosa. With discharge papers and first lieutenant bars packed away in 1956, Read headed for New York to join the ranks of hopefuls who made daily rounds of the casting offices. He got a role in the chorus in "Li'l Abner" and some minor roles in other Broadway productions but the biggest check of all came from a part in a Steel Hour television drama.

"If TV pay is this big, then why not go to Hollywood where the money is?" he thought. So he hitchhiked to Hollywood, guarding his little "bankroll" so that it would last a long time. Lucky that this husky Thespian thrived on outdoor living and raw foods. The mild California climate cooperated when he slept nights on the beach, used a bus station locker as his clothes closet and existed on fruit and nuts. Daily expenses were kept to four-bits, a few cents for razor blades and toothpaste; the surf served as his shower; shaving and dressing in his director-go-to-meeting clothes was done in a men's.