Thursday, October 8, 2009

AGENT 99 OUT OF CONTROL - RARE, "PRE-GET SMART," COMMERCIAL STARRING BARBARA FELDON - CIRCA 1964



Before sophisticated actress and model, Barbara Feldon, played sultry, Secret Agent 99 on NBC-TV's classic, sixties spy spoof, GET SMART , she was the sensuous, TV spokeswoman for a line of men's hair care products.

Feldon, who co-starred with stand-up comedian Don Adams in the satiric and silly Mel Brooks/Buck Henry sitcom, gained notoriety in B&W commercials for TOP BRASS hair dressing,where she demurely purred a cosmetic challenge to men described as lions and tigers (oh,my:) with untamed hair.

This launched Feldon into a run of guest appearances on high-profile, network programs like EAST SIDE/WEST SIDE, SLATTERY'S PEOPLE and a prominent role as one of the weekly damsels in distress on THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E..

The move from U.N.C.L.E.'s Manhattan, espionage enclave to CONTROL's Washington DC, secret, spy center was a natural and gracious transition for the agile actress who portrayed Agent 99 from 1965 to 1970.

The :60, TOP BRASS spot , which was a machination of real-life, 1960's MAD MEN, was decried by some as sexist, while others saw it as one of the first instances in which a woman on television was portrayed as feminine and forceful in engaging male viewers.

You make the call, after watching the commercial , below. Enjoy!!!!!


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