Dr. Kildare

"Kildare! Kildare!"

Dr. Kildare was a long-running medical franchise focusing on idealistic young Dr. James Kildare and his crotchety mentor Dr. Gillespie. It began with print stories and then a long-running MGM film series starring Lew Ayres (1932-1942, transitioning to focus on Lionel Barrymore as Gillespie from 1942-1947 when MGM fired Ayres), during which time "Calling Dr. Kildare" became a pop culture catchphrase. Ayres and Barrymore reteamed for the old-time radio series The Story of Dr. Kildare (1949-1951), while the TV Dr. Kildare featured a different cast and ran from 1960-1966 (alongside Ben Casey, establishing the TV doctor drama as a genre). In its last seasons, the show moved to a more serialized or multi-episode structure. A 1972 version, Young Dr. Kildare, only lasted a single season.

References

• When trying to remember Jimmy Dean's last name on the January 9, 1964 broadcast of The Jimmy Dean Show, Rowlf's Nephew goes from baseball player Dizzy Dean to Dizzy Gillespie to Dr. Gillespie.

• When the Two-Headed Monster cooperates to play doctor in his debut, the left head eagerly shouts "Kildare! Kildare!"

Connections

• Raymond Burr played various one-shot roles, including swindler Dr. Conlan, on The Story of Dr. Kildare (radio. 1949-1950)
• James Frawley played Luther Bernstein (3 episodes of a 4 parter, 1965)
• James Earl Jones played Dr. Lou Rush (4 episode arc, 1966)
• William Shatner played Dr. Toby Cunningham in "Admitting Service" (1961) and Dr. Carl Noyes (5 episode arc, 1966)
• Jean Stapleton played Nurse Whitney in "The Patient" (1961)