ZORRO, THE FOX

ZORRO, THE FOX

Zorro the Fox is cool!

In January, 1990, a wonderful TV series premiered on the Family Channel. That television show, which came to be called "The New Zorro," was my introduction to the Zorro legend (created in 1919 by Johnston McCulley). The show was a product of Zorro Productions, the Family Channel, and New World Television. The talented and versatile Duncan Regehr played the starring role of Don Diego de la Vega, alias Zorro. Before the 1st season ended, I fell in love with the series.

(By the way, Zorro Productions Inc is currently planning to release the New World (Family Channel) Zorro TV series starring Duncan Regehr and Patrice Martinez in December 2010 through A&E video. For more information and updates visit Zorro: A Tribute to the New World Zorro, or join the NWZ Yahoo! group at New_World_Zorro.)

As time passed, before the series was cancelled in 1993, I came to love the Zorro movies as well. (Later, I came to enjoy the other TV series that was created by Walt Disney during the late 1950s. That show starred as Don Diego de la Vega the man I once knew only as Professor John Robinson, the talented Guy Williams. It also starred George J. Lewis as Diego's father, Don Alejandro; Gene Sheldon as Diego's mute manservant and sidekick, Bernardo; Britt Lomond as the evil Captain Enrique Sanchez Monastario; and Henry Calvin as Sergeant Demetrio Lopez Garcia. The reruns now air on the Disney Channel.) Some of my favorite Zorro movies are the two early versions of The Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., and Tyrone Power (in that order), The Sign of Zorro (based on the Disney series), Zorro's Fighting Legion (a 1939 Republic serial that starred Reed Hadley), and Zorro: The Legend Begins (a made-for-cable TV movie, based on the Family Channel series, that aired in February, 1990).

Oh, yes, I fell in love with McCulley's original work, as well. The novel that started it all is titled The Mark of Zorro (originally titled "The Curse of Capistrano," when it was published as a serial in the pulp magazine, All-Story Weekly, in 1919). For those of you who have never read the book, let me tell you: the original Don Diego Vega was quite a character! [grin]

Of all the movies and shows, my personal favorite is "The New Zorro," the marvelous New World Televison series starring Duncan Regehr. In this series, Don Diego de la Vega was not only a master swordsman and a lover of books, music, art--and justice!--he was also a dedicated scientist. And unlike those in the original Mark of Zorro, starring Douglas Fairbanks, and the Disney series, Diego's sidekick was a mute teenage servant boy, Felipe (played by Juan Diego Botto). His lady love, Victoria Escalante (played by Patrice Martinez Camhi) owned the local tavern. Like the other versions of Zorro's father, though, Don Alejandro was a wealthy, influential caballero and a man of action. (Don Alejandro was played by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., during the 1st season, and by Henry Darrow during the other seasons.)

On this page is a list of some of my favorite Zorro Web sites. Many of them consist of sites that include fanfiction pages, written by my fellow Zorro fans; one of them is a Web site featuring some fanfiction I, myself, have written. Enjoy!

NOTE: Many thanks to the kind friends who sent me copies of their photographs--Billy Thomas, Christina Smith, Tammy Olsen, and our good friend, Robin!

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THE MARK OF ZORRO (1920)

Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., as Zorro

THE MARK OF ZORRO (1940)

Tyrone Power played Don Diego Vega and his alter-ego, El Zorro. Linda Darnell played Lolita Quintero, niece of the corrupt alcalde and Don Diego's lady love.

WD Zorro (TV series, 1957-59)