EXCLUSIVE Profile of George Maharis and Martin Milner

The Iconic Stars of Classic TV’s “Route 66”

“Having covered some half a hundred cities, towns, villages and wide spots in the road…George and I fairly wallowed in the comfort of our own home base.” — Martin Milner

Driving down the TV byways of Route 66 (CBS, 1960–1964), George Maharis as Buz Murdock and Martin Milner as Todd Stiles were an interesting combination of street-smarts and artistic aspirations. Maharis could get into a fistfight at a moment’s notice and recite poetry to the thug he had just pummeled into submission. His dark, Greek good looks coupled with his wrong-side-of-the-tracks accent made him an audience favorite. It was the perfect marriage of actor and role that he never managed to duplicate once he left the series (due to a serious bout with pneumonia, when he was replaced by Todd’s new driving partner, Lincoln Case, as played by Glenn Corbett).

It was Maharis’s portrayal of Buz that made him the show’s heartthrob. Buz was street-wise and tough, while Milner’s Todd was refined, rich enough and off-center enough to own that Corvette that he drove into one adventure after the next. Route 66 was never the same after Maharis left, but when it was good — it was great — and the original duo was dynamite with their own individual take on the bad boy image.

“66" in the Sumer of ‘90

In the summer of 1990, George Maharis and Martin Milner were interviewed by Corvette Quarterly magazine. They talked about what it was like to work on the series, what made it unique, and how giving the home viewer a front-row seat to the country’s panorama contributed to the television landscape. When asked about the show’s controversial topics, Milner credited show writer Stirling Silliphant and Route 66 producer Bert Leonard for having the courage to push the envelope:

Stirling always had a finger on the pulse of what was happening before the general public seemed to know about it. We did [an episode] on LSD called “The Thin White Line,” when nobody really knew what LSD was. I had certainly never heard of it, but Stirling had. I think he was kind of in the vanguard on things like that. And Bert Leonard had the good sense to go along with him on those [decisions]… I thought it was wonderful. I…