Bury ‘Em, Danno

(An epitaphany shared with Peter and Lori Ann)

Or
Hawaii D-O….A
(Lauditations for Lori Ann)
James MacArthur, the flounder-faced second fiddle of the one true Steve McGarrett, has died at the age of 72. MacArthur played Hawaii 5-0’s Detective Danny Williams in 11 of the 12 seasons of the unfathomably long-running cop show/video brochure for the Pineapple State. MacArthur was the adopted son of Helen Hayes, the First Lady of the American Theater, and Charles MacArthur, co-author of “The Front Page.” Other roles included the eldest son of the stranded Swiss Family Robinson, a banana peel-smoking San Francisco hippie in The Love-Ins, the inept Ensign Ralston that accidentally nukes a Russian sub, starting World War III in The Bedford Incident and the preacher in Hang ‘Em High. He returned as Danny Williams in a 1997 Hawaii 5-0 TV movie, having been elected governor, and was in negotiations to cameo on the new version of Hawaii 5-0, an appearance that now seems unlikely, barring a Police Squad!-esque special guest star stint as a murder victim during the opening credits.