RON PINKARD
Dr. Mike Morton
Born: January 22
Birthplace: Denver, Colorado
Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office of Art, Culture and Film for the city of Denver, Colorado.
his mother is Arlene Pinkard she was in Good Times and The Jeffersons
He attended Manual High School and later was a pre-med student for four years.
he was commander in the Navy and is retired from the Naval Reserves.
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Soon after, in 1971, Pinkard was hired to appear in one episode of "Emergency!," but his character worked so well that one day turned into seven years. It was his training in the Navy that made him so believable as a doctor, Pinkard said, because it taught him about medicine and about handling tools with a sense of urgency and reality.
Pinkard's character was a mixture of his real personality and of what seemed appropriate for the show at the time. "If you look at my character there's not a whole lot of 'ha ha,'" Pinkard said. "I think that's pretty close to me - I have a certain seriousness." Dr. Morton was also serious, however, because racial tensions were a concern and the show did not want to detract from the professional and respectable appearance of the black character, Pinkard said.
After "Emergency!" Pinkard played Detective Sgt. Dodson on "General Hospital" for five years. Because of his experience as an actor he then became the Navy's Hollywood liaison and worked on movies like "Flight of the Intruder," "Top Gun" and "Hunt for the Red October," where he was responsible for communicating between Hollywood and the Navy and moving everyone and everything on and off military ships and bases.
Pinkard retired from the Naval Reserves as a full commander in 1993. Since 1991 he has been Deputy Director of the Mayor's Office of Art, Culture & Film for the city of Denver, Colo., where public safety has been his biggest concern in overseeing projects in his area.
Pinkard is prepared to retire from this position as the last term of the current mayor runs out, and, "What I will do in the future," he said, "is totally open to the imagination."
