This is a lot of vintage original behind-the-scenes photographs taken during the making of the classic 1960's crime drama/mystery television series, THE F.B.I. They are from Season 1, Episode 21, which was entitled The Spy-Master, written by Anthony Spinner, in which a U.S. diplomat is approached by the Chinese government to provide sensitive information. The Chinese specifically are seeking the contents of a document known as the Forsythe Memo. Inspector Lewis Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) impersonates the diplomat to infiltrate a spy ring organized by the Chinese government. The cast includes Philip Abbott, Stephen Brooks, Patrick O'Neal, Whit Bisssell, Kevin McCarthy, Marion Thompson, Keye Luke, Nelson Olmstead, and Lloyd Haynes.

This lot consists of four (4) 8x10 in. black-and-white contact sheets, two of which have an additional strip with some of the exact same images that were printed with a different contrast level. In addition, there are thirteen (13) 4x5 in. black-and-white photographs depicting shots of Efrem Zimbalist Jr. with Marion Thompson; shots of Miss Thompson alone; and shots of Zimbalist having make-up applied to him as he talks with cast member Kevin McCarty. In total, there are 19 separate photographs, sheets, and strips, all of which are in very fine condition. The two contact sheets that had the corresponding images printed with a different contrast level had those smaller sections stapled to the larger sheets along the left side and the smaller pieces were subsequently removed.

The Spy-Master marked the television debut of actor Lloyd Haynes.

The F.B.I. is an American police television series created by Quinn Martin and Philip Saltzman for ABC and co-produced with Warner Bros. Television, with sponsorship from the Ford Motor Company, Alcoa and American Tobacco Company in the first season. Ford sponsored the show alone for subsequent seasons. The series was broadcast on ABC from 1965 until its end in 1974. Starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Philip Abbott, and William Reynolds, the series, consisted of nine seasons and 241 episodes, chronicles a group of FBI agents trying to defend the US Government from unidentified threats.

 

Produced by Quinn Martin and based in part on concepts from the 1959 Warner Bros. theatrical film The FBI Story, the series was based on actual FBI cases, with fictitious main characters carrying the stories. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. played Inspector Lewis Erskine, a widower whose wife had been killed in an ambush meant for him. Philip Abbott played Arthur Ward, assistant director to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. Although Hoover served as series consultant until his death in 1972, he was never seen in the series.

Stephen Brooks played Inspector Erskine's assistant, Special Agent Jim Rhodes, for the first two seasons. Lynn Loring played Inspector Erskine's daughter and Rhodes' love interest, Barbara, in the twelve episodes of the show's first season. Although the couple was soon engaged on the show, that romantic angle was soon dropped. In 1967, Brooks was replaced by William Reynolds, who played Special Agent Tom Colby until 1973. The series would enjoy its highest ratings during this time, peaking at No. 10 in the 1970–1971 season. For the final season, Shelly Novack played Special Agent Chris Daniels.


Some episodes ended with a "most wanted" segment hosted by Zimbalist, noting the FBI's most wanted criminals of the day, decades before the Fox Network (AKA The Republican Propaganda Channel Spewing Hate and Lies) aired America's Most Wanted. The most famous instance was in the April 21, 1968 episode, when Zimbalist asked for information about fugitive James Earl Ray, who was being hunted for the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The series aired on ABC at 8 p.m. Sunday from 1965 to 1973, when it was moved up to 7:30 p.m. for the final season. The series was a co-production of Quinn Martin Productions and Warner Bros. Television, as Warner Bros. held the television and theatrical rights to any project based on The FBI Story. It was the longest-running of all of Quinn Martin's television series, airing nine seasons.