Bobby Darin and Richard Bakalyan

Richard Bakalyan,
on "The Bobby Darin Show," 1973.

Actor Richard (Dick) Bakalyan appeared on "The Bobby Darin Amusement Company" and "The Bobby Darin Show" in the summer of 1972 and early 1973. Darin and Bakalyan met during the filming of "Pressure Point" in 1962 and found they both loved the game chess. A lasting friendship resulted.

Bobby, Richard and Mary Munday in a scene from Pressure Point.
Bakalyn performed in many comedy sketches and musical production numbers on Darin's NBC variety show, but he is best remembered as Carmine in "The Neighborhood" sketches. Bobby and Richard's friendship and their on screen chemistry was very evident in these weekly segments.
"The Neighborhood" involved two friends Carmine and Angie, in their New York neighborhood, sitting on the stairs of their brownstone, discussing how they were going to solve the world's problems. The sketches were very heartwarming and funny.
"There are real people out there like Carmine and Angie," Richard has said.
Bakalyan was Bobby's choice to play Carmine and Bobby talked the producers into using him in the segments, which were conceived and developed by Darin himself. Richard recalled recently, "Bobby afforded me the opportunity to do a lot of things that I wouldn't of had the opportunity to do."

Bobby and Richard
Mr. Bakalyan has had an impressive list of credits on film and television. Here is partial list of his credits that appears at Internet Movie Database.

1.Confessions of a Hitman (1994)
2.Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story (1985(TV)
3.Blame It on the Night (1984)
4.Fox and the Hound, The (1981) (voice)
5.Man with Bogart's Face, The (1980)
6.H.O.T.S. (1979)... Charlie Ingels
7.Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
8.Woman of the Year (1976) (TV)
9.Shaggy D.A., The (1976)
10.Strongest Man in the World, The (1975)
11.Chinatown (1974)
12."Bobby Darin Show, The" (1973)(TV)
13.Charley and the Angel (1973)
14.Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972)
15.Computer Wore Tennis Shoes, The (1970)
16."Dean Martin Presents the Golddiggers" (1968)
17.Never a Dull Moment (1968)
18.Boy Called Nuthin', A (1967) (TV)
19.St. Valentine's Day Massacre, The (1967)
20.Follow Me, Boys! (1966)
21.Von Ryan's Express (1965)
22.None But the Brave (1965)
23.Greatest Story Ever Told, The (1965)
24.Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964)
25.Patsy, The (1964) (uncredited)
26.Panic in Year Zero (1962)
27.Pressure Point (1962)
28.Errand Boy, The (1961)
29.Up Periscope (1959)
30.-30- aka Deadline Midnight (1959)
31.Paratroop Command (1959)
32.Bonnie Parker Story, The (1958)
33.Cool and the Crazy, The (1958)
34.Juvenile Jungle (1958)
35.Delinquents, The (1957)
36.Brothers Rico, The (1957)
37.Delicate Delinquent, The (1957)
38.Hot Rod Girl (1956)
39.Attila (1954)

In 1998, Bakalyan appeared on Millennium on the Fox Network. He has been quoted saying about Bobby ... "He was a gentleman, and treated everyone with respect."

Photo courtesy Jimmy Scalia Archives.
Richard Bakalyan
January 29, 1931 - February 27, 2015
Remembering Richard