Charles Santore, Adam 12: Martin Milner and Kent McCord

Adam-12 was a police drama about the lives of veteran officer Pete Malloy and his rookie partner Jim Reed. The popular NBC show portrayed a variety of different cases that the Los Angeles Police Department would encounter on a regular basis. Adam-12 was one of the first shows to introduce police processes and terminology to American audiences.

Martin Milner (1931–2015), who played Pete Malloy, landed his role because of his established relationship with Adam-12 creator Jack Webb. He was Webb’s top choice for the role due to his acting history, youth, and his prior on-camera driving experience.

Co-starring in Adam-12 as Jim Reed led to other roles for Kent McCord (born 1964). In 1972, McCord was designated to the National Board of Directors of the Screen Actors Guild, an American labor union that represented television performers across the country; he served for eleven years.