Diver Dan

Shown on Ray Rayner and Friends back in the early 70's. At least that's where I first saw this little show.

It really wasn't a show at all. More of a serial with the familiar 'tune in to the next exciting chapter' and all. Each chapter was about 6 minutes long and featured some of the most seaworthy characters around.

Well, Diver Dan and the mermaid named Minerva were live actors - Dan played by Frank Freda (who still lives and works in N.Y. City), Minerva by Suzanne Tuner - but the rest of the cast was made up of marionette fish puppets. The lovely Miss Minerva

Dan's fish friends included Finley, Georgy Porgy, Doc Sturgeon, Sawfish Sam, Angel Fish, Sea Biscuit the sea horse, Oh and of coarse, Dan's love interest Miss Minerva, the mermaid that Dan always had a problem of catching up with.

Then there were the evil baron Barracuda (with a voice that sounded like Bela Logosi), his cigarette smoking sidekick Trigger Fish, beatnik fish Gill-Espi, Scout Fish, Hermit the Crab, and little Goldie rounded out the other inhabitants of this underwater classic.

Allen Swift provided all the voices of the fish characters as well as Dans. Other shows which he provided voices for included 'The Howdy Doody Show' as well as cartoon's 'Underdog', 'Tooter Turtle' (Help Mr. Wizard!), 'King Leonardo' and many others.

Filmed through a fish tank.....What an idea!

Underwater it might have seemed on Diver Dan, but in reality these performers were filmed acting through a real fish tank. Real bubbles and fish would swim in front of the action we were watching and it gave the illusion of a real underwater adventure. Well, as a youngster it would seem that way

The show was the brainchild of artist John Ferlaine. It actually started out as a comic strip called 'Fish Tales'. When an art director for WCAU TV he adapted his idea for a television show. He not only created the show, but carved all of the fish characters himself. It was his idea also to film through the fish tank to give Huwey! I'm on ze page too!

the show that underwater look.

With the help of film producer Louis Kellman who had a staff of cameramen, lab technicians, and editors that he employed to produce TV spots, short films and film NFL football games, liked the idea of producing a syndicated children's show, so he and his crew spent the next nine months filming 104 episodes of Diver Dan.

What is unfortunate about this childhood classic, which seems to be the norm with most of them, is that only a hand full of episodes of the show still exist out of that 104.

But we who still remember those certian episodes will keep the memory of Diver Dan alive and a special part of our youth.

Below in the deep there's adventure and danger,
That's where you'll find Diver Dan.
The sites that he sees are surprising and stranger,
Than ever you'll find on the land!

He moves among creatures of frightening features,
Flashing teeth slashing jaws, flapping fins snapping claws.
He protects and he saves his friends under the waves,
That's where you'll find Diver Dan.

There was at one time even an LP released. Here is a picture of the cover to this rare LP.

Recently I received an email from one of the puppeteers from the Diver Dan shows. Here is is email...

Just for the “halibut”, in a nostalgic moment, I typed in “Diver Dan” to find out if anybody remembered it.

I was one of the original puppeteers for the show back however long ago. I even got to create a couple of minor characters. I helped create the arms of an awful octopus, whose name I can not recall. There was also a small character called “glowfish” that lasted one or two episodes. It was made of foam rubber and had a “sprout” on its nose in which I installed a small light bulb. The strings needed to operate the puppet were replaced, in this instance, by very thin wires so that I (we) could turn the light off and on.

The director, Leon Rhodes, I believe, deserves the credit for inventing the idea of filming through a thin fish-tank to create the feeling of being underwater, as well as some other interesting special effects.

The experience for me was a wonderful opportunity to get a feel for studio procedures which served me very well in a career of “publications” in general.

Thank you for your web site. It has brought back nostalgia in the extreme! Alfred Sandstrom