​About Mannix

Mike Connors passed away yesterday. He was the lead on the classic private eye TV show Mannix. Mannix had a secretary named Peggy played by Gail Fisher. According to my good friends at Wikipedia, she was the first Black woman to have a regular TV series role; call it throwback Black Girl Magic. My parents were fans of the show and I watched it with them. This was back when families didn’t stream individual TV shows on multiple devices. Nope. There was one TV set in the house and it was tuned into whatever the rabbit ear antennas would let folks see.
 
When I first saw the show I was way too young to understand what a secretary was. I thought any man and woman together on TV had to be a husband and wife. I could see that Mannix and Peggy were different colors, but I was again too young to understand how that made any difference. (I’m still too young.)
 
Enamored of Peggy, I named my favorite doll after her: Dolly Peggy Mannix. I still have her. She and I are accepting condolences on the loss of a beloved boss, husband and fellow artist.