While it did not match the ratings of long-running prime time soap opera “Dallas,” the sports derived television drama “The White Shadow” (1978-81) stood out from the typical Afro-centric sitcom offerings of the era, by crossing boundaries and pushing envelopes to generate its own cultural legacy. Ken Howard, its lead actor and title character died of unspecified causes on Wednesday at the age of 71.
Howard came from a basketball background long before he stepped in front of the camera. Born Kenneth Joseph Howard in the Imperial Valley town of El Centro near the Mexican border in 1944, he grew up in Long Island, N.Y., where the local press dubbed him the “White Shadow” because he was the only Caucasian starter on the Manhasset High School varsity team. His athletic prowess attracted several scholarship offers, but the 6’6″ aspiring actor selected the academically rigorous Amherst College in Massachusetts (where he served as the captain of its basketball team), before going on to graduate work at the Yale School of Drama.
Dropping out to star on Broadway, he enjoyed early success with a Tony Award-winning performance in 1970’s “Child’s Play.”
By 1978, the seasoned stage and TV actor was offered a role as a street-savvy former NBA star lured to coach a high school team in urban Los Angeles (Carver, the school’s name in the series, was actually named after a middle school in the city’s school district). Conceived by producer Bruce Paltrow (husband of Blythe Danner and father of Gwyneth) the plot of “The White Shadow” allowed Howard to draw from his own experiences as a athlete back in New York.
Howard portrayed Coach Kenny Reeves, a good-hearted meddler, who wins over his charges through a combination of manipulation and tough love. At a time when ethnic male representation was dominated by the likes of “Good Times’” J.J. (Jimmy Walker) and “Starsky and Hutch’s” flamboyant pimp Huggy Bear (Antonio Fargas), “The White Shadow” offered up characters of substance, impacted with problems rooted in real life. Among the squad’s problematic roster were an emerging alcoholic (Erik Kilpatrick’s “Curtis Jackson”), a White with racial identity issues, possibly a precursor to contemporary “wiggers” (Timothy Van Patten’s “Salami Pettrino”), and a Chicano dealing with the trauma of having immigrant parents (Ira Angutain’s “Ricky Gomez”).
Aside from addressing social issues, the series impact reached beyond America’s borders. A 2010 New York Times article related how international broadcasts of the series generated interest in basketball in Turkey. This, in turn, contributed to the sport’s rise in popularity and prompted the success of Turkish competition in international play.
Howard’s dramatic accomplishments continued well after his tenure as Coach Reeves; he won two Emmy Awards for the 1981 show “The Body Human,” and the 2009 offering “Grey Gardens,” in a career that earned 109 credits on IMDb. Elected president of the Screen Actors Guild, circa 2009, he is credited with diplomatically mending the long-term animosity between SAG and its sibling organization, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, leading to the successful merger of those two entities in 2012.
Ken Howard is survived by his wife, Linda Fetters, and three step-children from previous marriages.
