The Only Major Actors Still Alive From The Monkees
For my money, the Monkees are way, way more interesting than the Beatles.
According to Andrew Sandoval's thorough and invaluable book "The Monkees: The Day-By-Day Story of the '60s TV Pop Sensation," an ad was put in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter on September 8, 1965, looking for "four insane boys" to be the members of a new pre-fabricated pop band. The band would also star in a TV series — deliberately meant to evoke Richard Lester's 1964 Beatles film "A Hard Day's Night" — that would use their real names, but present their lives as a fictional merry-go-round of kooky shenanigans.
The producers zeroed in on former child actor Micky Dolenz, a friend of musician Stephen Stills named Peter Tork, a British, boyish heartthrob named Davy Jones, and heir to the Liquid Paper fortune, Mike Nesmith. Their TV series debuted on September 12, 1966, the week after "Star Trek" debuted, and six months into the "Batman" phenomenon. It was a good time to be a little kid watching TV. "The Monkees" was gloriously silly, written by Bob Rafelson who would go on to make "Five Easy Pieces." Dolenz, Tork, Jones, and Nesmith had wonderful chemistry and easily inhabited their slapstick universe.
Even at the time, the Monkees were mocked for their inorganic formation, and many often said they didn't play their own instruments. They eventually did. They also longed to break out, aching to make real art and deconstruct their status as pop properties. They did so in the special "33 1/3 Revolutions Per Monkee." Be sure to watch the 1968 film "Head," and witness a surreal epic better than any of the Beatles movies.
Only one of the Monkees is still with us, as are some of the show's more notable guest stars. Let's look.
Micky Dolenz
Now 78, Mickey Dolenz is the last remaining member of the Monkees. Davy Jones passed away in 2012 at the age of 66, and the three remaining members of the band toured in his honor. Peter Tork, the hippiest of the bunch, and kind of a goof, passed in 2019 at the age of 77. Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz continued to tour, although as a "sing the songs of the Monkees" act, rather than touting themselves as the whole band. Nesmith passed away in 2021 at the age of 78. Dolenz, still lively and active, is continuing to tour with Monkees music, and is handling the band's legacy.
Dolenz was the only member of the band with extensive on-screen experience prior to "The Monkees," appearing as a child in the short-lived TV series "Circus Boy." Dolenz even sang the "Circus Boy" theme song on one episode of "The Monkees." Dolenz was very faithful to the band, and while the other members periodically dropped out, Dolenz remained, making him the only band menber in every single lineup (including the band Dolenz, Jones, Boyce & Hart).
After The Monkees, Dolenz continued to sing and act on television, finding a niche doing cartoon voices. He appeared in bizarro Hanna-Barbera shows like "The Funky Phantom" and "The Patridge Family 2200 A.D." '90s kids might remember Dolenz as the voice of Arthur on "The Tick," or the sidekicks to Two-Face in "Batman: The Animated Series." He also liked genre movies, and appeared in Rob Zombie's "Halloween," and shlock like "Mega Python vs. Gateroid."
Dolenz is still touring to this day and puts on a great show. One can buy tickets on his website.
Monte Landis (Oraculo, Zero, Pshaw, Shah-Ku, Duce, Zeckenbush, King)
"The Monkees" was replete with notable guest stars, including Julie Newmar, Frank Zappa, Ruth Buzzi, Richard Kiel, and comedy legend Stan Freberg. Lurking in the background was a rogue's gallery of 1960s character actors and comedians who would swing by the set to play whatever part they needed to that week.
The most prolific of these character actors was Monte Landis, now 90, who appeared in seven "Monkees" episodes in seven different parts. In "Monkees Blow Their Minds," he played Oraculo. In "The Devil and Peter Tork," he played Mr. Zero, a.k.a. the Devil, who took Peter's soul in exchange for talent at playing the harp. In "Monkees Marooned," pictured above, he played the mad maroonee Pshaw. He rarely had the same wig or facial hair, so it takes a keen eye to recognize him. One might recall him as "that one funny guy."
Landis appeared in comedy films as long ago as 1959's "The Mouse That Roared." One can see Landis in supporting roles in films and on TV throughout the '60s and '70s, even appearing in "Batman." He was the gravedigger in Mel Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" and Mario in Tim Burton's "Pee-wee's Big Adventure." His longest-running gig was 14 episodes of the obscure 1976 TV series "The Feather and Father Gang."
Modern comedy couldn't exist without hard-working and talented comedians like Landis, and his presence on "The Monkees" was likely a relief to the showrunners.