Hal Linden Turns 95! TV Icon Reflects on Success and Legacy of ‘Barney Miller’
What To Know
- Hal Linden, who turns 95 on March 20, is celebrated for his acclaimed role as Captain Barney Miller.
- Linden chose Barney Miller over other pilots due to its strong writing and initial format.
- He recalls the collaborative and perfectionist atmosphere on set.
Happy birthday to Hal Linden, who turns 95 on March 20! The beloved star of Barney Miller has enjoyed a 70-plus-year career in music, film, stage, and television, and was wittier than ever when he greeted fans at the Hollywood Show last June, along with costar Max Gail.
A talented singer and musician, Linden is best known for his portrayal of the sitcom’s titular character, Captain Barney Miller, on ABC’s hit series that aired from 1975 until ’82. Linden received seven Emmy nominations for his role as Barney. Prior to taking the iconic role, Linden actually was entertaining other pilots.
Behind the scenes of filming Barney Miller
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“When I was offered Barney Miller, I was offered, I believe, three different pilots [at that time]. I chose Barney Miller. One of the reasons, aside from the writing, which I thought was much better, but one of the reasons was it was in front of a live audience,” Linden tells. “I was coming from Broadway, and I thought I’ll be at home in front of an audience. It’d be easier. I was quickly dissuaded of that.”
The live audience only lasted a few seasons, as producer and writer Danny Arnold required long weeks and late nights of filming to maintain the quality and vision for the series.
“We would start Monday morning with maybe half a script, and then he would tell us what happened in the second act, but they hadn’t finished with it yet,” Linden explained. He laughed, remembered how Ned Beatty (Deliverance, Network) was supposed to be on an episode, and he pulled out after three days, unable to handle the rigors of this show.
“Monday morning was our table read. We’d sit around, everybody was there, and we read the show. Danny was there to listen to the dialogue to make sure it was what he wanted. As I said, normally we read about half a script because the second half, Danny was still rewriting, but that was the wonderful part of it, and specifically because we didn’t have an audience,” Linden explains. “It was done like a movie where each scene was done separately, and we’d film it until we were happy with it, and then we would go on to the next scene. It was much like live theater. We got to chew it over and try it this way. Try it that way. How about this? How about that? Until we were all happy.”
Linden’s proud of the quality and the atmosphere it created
Linden remembered an episode involving Ron Glass (who played Harris), which took them way past midnight when filming because they disagreed on the final scene.
In the episode, Harris was pursuing a perp down an alley with his gun out, and he was shot at by a uniformed police officer, because that officer saw a black man in civilian clothes running down an alley with a gun in his hand. Barney, always the guy who has to smooth everything over, doesn’t take it as seriously as Harris. An argument erupts, and Harris ends up apologizing for losing his temper — that’s how the original script was written.
Everett Collection
“We finished the show, and it was late at night, when Ron Glass said, ‘What the hell am I apologizing for? I’m the guy who got shot at!’ And it was after midnight by now, so we were on golden time — so this was expensive shooting. Danny was there, and we sat down around a table and discussed it. The crew sat down, too, and we all talked about it — What would happen? How could we finish this in such a way that the squad could continue, and yet everybody would be happy with what they did? And after midnight, we scratched out a scene where Harris didn’t have to apologize, because he was right.
“That was the kind of atmosphere in which Barney Miller was done. … Danny said there was no reason to do this show other than to do it as well as we know.”
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