An Interview With ~ Pandra Selivanov, Ken Curtis Fan

To start with, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you came to be a fan of Ken Curtis?

Well, I live in San Diego, and I work in the public school system as a behavior technician. I love animals, especially dogs, and I've adopted several dogs over the years out of the animal shelter. I also love music, and I play the penny whistle. I have a small Yahoo! group called Us Haggens.

As to how I became a Ken Curtis fan, it was from watching Gunsmoke; but I came to Gunsmoke late in life. I was about forty when I saw my first episode, "Prime of Life." That episode was very meaningful to me because I was fascinated by the relationship between Festus and Doc. Over the years I interacted with a number of fans who didn't really think Festus and Doc were friends, but after seeing Doc crying over Festus, I was never fooled. Ken did such a good job playing Festus that I got interested in seeing his other work and in listening to his music.

Festus in critical condition in "Prime of Life," season 11, episode 32

What is your favorite one of his songs?

I like that song Maybe It's Because. Ken sings that so beautifully. And the way he sang I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen. Ken was part of the Sons Of The Pioneers, and those songs are good. And I really love Ode To A Mule. I always got a kick out of Festus and Ruth. 

What are your favorite of his movie roles?

My favorite Ken Curtis movie role would have to be Mister Roberts (1955). Ken played Dolan, a sailor who assisted Mr. Roberts with various tasks, and his role was small but crucial. It was when Mr. Roberts got so upset with the captain and put Dolan on report that he realized he was losing his grip. And it was Dolan saying good night to Mr. Roberts later that really let Mr. Roberts know he was back in the good graces of the crew. And the goat scene was just so funny: Dolan dragging a goat back to the ship because he saw her eating a palm tree, and Mr. Roberts asking where she came from, and Dolan too drunk to remember. Then there was this immortal exchange:

Mr. Roberts: What's her name? She's wearing a collar and a name tag.

Dolan: (squinting owlishly at the tag on the collar and straightening up with a big smile) Her name is Property Of.

Mr. Roberts: What's her last name?

Dolan: (peering again) Rear Admiral Wentworth.

Ken in Mister Roberts (Click to enlarge)

What made you decide to start your Yahoo! group?

That's a bit of a sad story. I got into Gunsmoke and started frequenting discussion forums, but they were not the most pleasant places for a Festus fan. Maybe I didn't go to the right places but there were a lot of people running Festus into the ground, calling him dirty and smelly and saying he never worked and he sponged off Doc. I decided to start my own group so I could get people who liked Festus and we could talk about Gunsmoke without the haters.

What about Ken himself is special to you? And what were you most surprised to learn about his personal life? 

I was most surprised to learn that he was a heavy smoker and he was married three times and he didn't have any children of his own. Of course, he was a wonderful stepfather to Torrie's kids. That's one of the things that is special about him to me, that he loved kids and would go to visit sick kids in the hospital dressed up as Festus. The most special thing to me about Ken is that he was a Christian and he would talk about his personal relationship to Jesus. I'm a Christian and it's always good to find that someone you admire is so wholly admirable. Ken was just a real good man, the kind who would go out of his way to do something nice for someone. I've read so many accounts from fans who met him and they always talk about how kind he was. 

I heard something once about him giving his testimony during his personal appearance tours. Can you tell me any more about that?

All I know about Ken and his testimony is what I've heard from fans who saw him. He was very open about his faith and would talk about Jesus to the audience. Sorry I can't be any more specific.

Who are some of your other favorite actors/entertainers?

The great classic couples, like Doris Day and Rock Hudson, Bogey and Bacall, John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara. Cary Grant—he made so many amazing movies. I love film noir as well as Westerns. James Stewart and Robert Mitchum were solid performers in both genres. I don't watch much TV made after 1990 but I've really gotten into Seth Macfarlane's series The Orville. Seth is a genius, and has really captured the spirit of the original Star Trek, which I watched religiously growing up.

Anything else you would like to add?

The only other thing I would add is that while I don't have any Ken Curtis memorabilia, I do have something very precious that I attribute to Ken—and that is my body of work. I always wanted to be a writer, and the first thing I wrote was a fanfiction for Gunsmoke, an alternate ending to "The Avengers." It was so well received that I went on writing fan fiction and have almost one hundred stories on fanfiction.net. People enjoyed my FanFictions so much, I got encouraged to do some original writing ,and if you go to Amazon and put in my name, you will see some original books that I wrote. I'm a real writer now, and I feel that I owe it to Ken because it was through writing so many Gunsmoke stories and getting such positive feedback that I was able to realize my dream.



Thank you, Pandra!




Links:

Us Haggens Yahoo! Group

Pandra's Amazon Author Page

Pandra's FanFiction Profile