It wasn't long after Mrs. Milner enrolled her 10-year-old in a children's theater group that Martin Milner decided what he wanted to be when he grew up. It wasn't suprising, for his father was a film distributor and his mother a dancer, so for Marty show business wasn't a vague never-never land. Added to this, neither parent discouraged him, and when his father's business took the family to Hollywood, the then 14-year-old began serious training. His father found him an agent and it wasn't long before he made his movie debut as one of the sons in "Life With Father."
Shortly thereafter he was taken out of action by an attack of polio, but after he had painfully learned to walk again, he began applying for jobs while he attended Hollywood High School and put in a year at U.S.C. By 1952, when he went into the Army, he had made 17 movies.
While he was in the service he directed 20 training films; emceed a touring show unit; and was given six weeks' leave to play a part in "The Long Gray Line." Like many other actors, however, when he returned to Hollywood he found he'd been pretty much forgotten. At first he was only able to get scattered parts on television. Then movie offers began coming in and he appeared in "Marjorie Morningstar" and "Sweet Smell of Success," among others, before he was offered a starring role in a new TV series, "Route 66."
Marty hesitated at first because of the traveling involved, but he liked the idea and finally signed. The public liked it , too, and the series is now in its third season, on CBS-TV Fridays at 8:30 ET. The first season Marty's wife, former actress Judy Jones and their little daughter Amy traveled with him. Last year, after the arrival of Molly, on January 21, 1961, they stayed at home and Marty reduced his take-home pay substantially by calling them every night. This year, there's a third little Milner, Stuart, to come home to.
Though Marty is only 31--he was born December 28, 1931, in Detroit--he is thoroughly professional and doesn't complain openly about being separated from Judy and their three children. Since "Route 66" is shot on location--and a different one each week--it means a lot of traveling. But the reunions--what could be sweeter?