Liberty Lighthouse Journal: DOSSIER: MICKY DOLENZ

“The best advice I've ever given or received, in or out of the entertainment business, is as follows: 'Get a good lawyer'.”

BORN: March 8^th, 1945, Los Angeles, California

BIRTH NAME: George Michael Dolenz, Jr.

HEIGHT: 5' 10”

Dolenz is the son of actors George Dolenz and Janelle Johnson. He has three sisters, Gemma Marie (“Coco”) born 1949; Deborah (born 1958), and Kathleen (“Gina”, born 1960). Gemma was given the nickname of “Coco” by Micky. Coco was a frequent guest on the set of The Monkees TV show and sometimes performed on records by the Monkees, singing background vocals or in duet with Micky. Micky suffered from Perthes disease as a child, which affected his hip joint and right leg, leaving that leg weaker and shorter than the other.

Micky began his career in show business in 1956 when he starred in a children's TV show called Circus Boy under the name Mickey Braddock. He portrayed Corky, an orphaned water boy for the elephants in a one-ring circus at the start of the 20^th century. The program ran for two seasons, which led to sporadic appearances on television shows while pursuing his education.

In the early-mid-1960s, Micky had his own rock band called “Micky and the One-Nighters” being the lead singer. He had begun to write his own songs. His act included rock songs and R&B. One of his favorite songs to perform was “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry. He sang that song at his Monkees audition that resulted him being hired.

“Hey, Hey, We're the Monkees” …. In 1965, Micky was cast in the television sitcom The Monkees and became the drummer and lead vocalist in the band created for the show. He was a guitarist, not a drummer, so he took lessons. At first it was a mime, but eventually he learned to play properly. By the time the Monkees went on tour in 1966, Micky became competent enough to play drums himself. Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart wrote many of the Monkees' songs. According to Michael Nesmith, Micky's voice made the Monkees sound distinctive, and sometimes Nesmith and Peter Tork would turn lead vocal over to Micky.

Micky wrote a few of the band's songs, like “Randy Scouse Git” and provided lead vocal for “Last Train to Clarksville”, “Pleasant Valley Sunday”, and “I'm a Believer”. Micky also directed and co-wrote the show's final episode.

Micky purchased a Moog synthesizer, one of the first uses of a synthesizer on a rock recording. He later sold his instrument to Bobby Sherman.

Micky is the last surviving member of the Monkees (Davy Jones died in 2012, Tork in 2019, and Nesmith in 2021).

Micky recorded and released songs for MGM for about three years. By 1974, there were no chart successes, so he went to England and with Tony Scotti, cut four songs for MGM that became rock classics: “Splish Splash” and “Purple People Eater”.

Because of reruns of The Monkees on Saturday mornings, The Monkees Greatest Hits charted in 1976. Dolenz and Jones took advantage of this and joined songwriters Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart on tour in the United States. For legal reasons they could not use the Monkees name, but from 1975 to 1977 performed as the “Golden Hits of The Monkees” show. They performed at state fairs and amusement parks, as well as Japan, Thailand, and Singapore.

Nesmith had not been interested in the reunion and Tork did not participate because Micky did not know where he was.

A Christmas single credited to Dolenz, Jones and Tork was produced by Chip Douglas and released in 1976.

In 1977, Micky performed with Davy Jones in a stage production musical The Point! At Mermaid Theater in London. The comic chemistry of Dolenz and Jones was so good that the show was revived in 1978. After the show's run, Dolenz remained in England and began directing for stage and television, as well as producing several shows.

In 2006, Dolenz played Charlemagne at the Goodspeed Opera House for Pippin in Connecticut.

After The Monkees show ended, Dolenz performed voice-overs for a number of Saturday-morning cartoon series that included The Funky Phantom, Partridge Family 2200 A.D., The Scooby-Doo Show, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids, These Are the Days, Devlin, and Wonder Wheels.

Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith auditioned for the role of Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli on Happy Days, but neither was selected because they were taller than the lead actor Ron Howard, producers thinking Ron would be overshadowed. Henry Winkler was shorter, so he was hired, but the Fonz character became the most popular of the cast anyway.

In 1975, Dolenz acted in Linda Lovelace for President. Dolenz was considered for the part of the Riddler in Batman Forever, but the part went to Jim Carrey.

In 1994-1995, Dolenz played in two episodes of the sitcom Boy Meets World.

In 2007, he appeared in Halloween (Rob Zombie) as Derek Allan, the owner of a gun shop.

In 2011, Dolenz appeared in Syfy Channel move Mega Python vs. Gatoroid with Debbie Gibson and Tiffany.

In 1980, Dolenz produced and directed the British television sitcom Metal Mickey. In 1981, he directed a short film based on the sketch “Balham, Gateway to the South” with Robbie Coltrane. Also in the 1980s, Micky directed a stage adaptation of Bugsy Malone and produced the TV show Luna in 1983-1984.

In 1986, renewed interest in the Monkees inspired a single “That Was Then, This is Now” that reached No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. In the same year, Dolenz joined the other ex-Monkees for several reunion tours.

In 2005, Dolenz replaced Dan Taylor as the morning disc jockey at the oldies radio station WCBS-FM in New York.

In 2009, Dolenz signed a deal to record an album of the classic songs of Carole King entitled King for a Day.

In 2011, he rejoined Tork and Jones for An Evening with The Monkees: The 45^th Anniversary Tour. After Jones' death in 2012, Dolenz and Tork reunited with Michael Nesmith for a 12-concert tour of the United States in tribute to Davy Jones.

Following Tork's death in 2019, Dolenz toured with Nesmith as “The Mike and Micky Show”. The final show was in 2021 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

PERSONAL LIFE

Dolenz has been married three times and is the father of four daughters. In 1967, while in the UK on tour with Monkees, Dolenz met Samantha Juste of the BBC TV pop music show Top of the Pops. They married in 1968, and their daughter Ami Bluebell Dolenz was born in 1969. Dolenz and Juste divorced in 1975, but remained close friends until her death in 2014.

Micky married Trina Dow in 1977. They had three daughters. They divorced in 1991. Micky married his third wife, Donna Quinter in 2022.

VIDEO

THE MONKEES ON JOHNNY CASH SHOW (1969) ...