Jack Bannon : Lou Grant’s right-hand man

Jack Bannon in his role as Art Donovan on "Lou Grant"
Source: https://corneliusatloppers.wordpress.com/2013/10/17/
(May be subject to copyright)

Whether an assistant editor for a fictional Los Angeles newspaper or a pilot for a trauma team, Jack Bannon had some interesting roles on television in the 1980s.

He was most well-known for his turn on “Lou Grant”, but the actor was also known for his marriage to Ellen Travolta.

When I heard he had passed away awhile ago, it motivated me to check out what Jack Bannon had appeared in, and it brought back some memories.

Lou Grant
It was one of the most unique spin-offs in the history of television, taking a cornerstone of a long-running half-hour comedy and making him the centerpiece of a drama that tackled some tough issues.

When “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” went off the air, the cast was in a touching, and funny, group hug while they sang “It’s a Long Road to Tipperary”. That very well could have been the last time we saw Lou Grant, the tough producer with the golden heart, played by Ed Asner.

Instead, he got his own show, aptly titled “Lou Grant”, where he re-surfaces as the editor of a fictional newspaper in Los Angeles.

Working alongside him was Art Donovan, his assistant editor, played by Jack Bannon.

He was described as an amiable editor and it turned into Bannon’s signature role, as he appeared in all 114 episodes of "Lou Grant".

Jack Bannon, in front left corner, as pilot Buck
Williams in the short-lived series "Trauma Center"
Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a0/Trauma_Center
(May be subject to copyright)

Trauma Center
Every year I always got excited in September because that meant the “Fall Preview” issue of “TV Guide” was just around the corner. They would devote a page to each new series debuting that fall TV season.

In the fall of 1983, I was in Grade 9 when my mom brought home the fall preview issue. She always picked it up every Thursday when she and my dad went grocery shopping. Oddly, that was about the time of week the new issue would hit the stands anyway.

One of the shows that really excited me was debuting in mid-September on Channel 7 on the peasant vision dial. It was called “Trauma Center” and it was full of actors I loved. The lead was David Naughton, who played the head doctor of the trauma centre. It also featured Lou Ferrigno, in his first regular series role after “The Incredible Hulk”; Dorian Harewood, who played in a variety of memorable roles including “Roots: The Next Generation”, “The Jesse Owens Story”, and the movie “Kiss Shot” with Whoopi Goldberg; and Wendie Malick, long before her memorable roles in “Just Shoot Me” and “Hot in Cleveland”.

I had almost forgotten that Jack Bannon was in Trauma Center too, as pilot Buck Williams. By then he looked more gruff, with a beard and a more hardened look, befitting a chopper pilot.

My outstanding memory of “Trauma Center” was that most every character had a nickname – Naughton’s was “Dr. Michael ‘Cutter’ Royce”; Harewood’s was “Dr. Nate ‘Skate’ Baylor,” and Alfie Wise played a character nicknamed “Hatter”, because he always wore hats. Wise was best known from several Burt Reynolds movie such as “Smokey and the Bandit”; “Hooper”; “The Cannonball Run”; and “Stroker Ace”.

Although I liked “Trauma Center”, it didn’t even make it to Christmas, lasting just 13 episodes.

Parting thoughts
It is always amazing to me how many actors had significant careers in the 1980s and seemingly just faded into the mists of time. Jack Bannon was one of those actors, having a signature role in “Lou Grant”, spanning more than 100 episodes, but most people would not recognize the name. Still, appearing in 114 episodes of a TV show is pretty impressive.

He may be gone, but when he died he was not forgotten in the end. A lot of major media including the CBC and “New York Times” paid tribute to him, and that was great to see.

It proves he did leave his mark.