Exclusive Pierre Jalbert star of Combat! (1962–1967) goes on final patrol

[Omaha Steve]

Source: COMBAT! Yahoo groups

It is with great sadness that I must report the passing away last night of Pierre Jalbert at approximately 9:30 PM...

Pierre had been in the hospital since having a heart attack on his birthday. He was planning on having a heart valve replacement once his strength returned and he was in good spirits. However pneumonia and a swallowing problem were present and last night his heart just stopped beating and he stopped breathing. As per his instructions via a DNR, he is now resting peacefully.

Pierre will be cremated and no services have been planned as of yet...

Read more: Link to source

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Pierre also worked (uncredited) as a sound editor on the original classic Twilight Zone series.

I patched this together in a hurry. More info to follow.

Pierre: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0416097/?ref_=tt_cl_t3

COMBAT!: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055666/

Combat!, a one-hour WWII drama series on television, followed a frontline American infantry squad as they battled their way across Europe. With mud-splattered realism, the show offered character studies of men striving to maintain their own humanity in the midst of a world torn by war.

More COMBAT! info: http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/main.html112





Behind the scenes photos of Pierre from the set of COMBAT!

[dembotoz]

1. was my favorite tv show back then

[notadmblnd]

2. We used to watch it with my grandpa

12 O'clock High was another show we watched with him. He did his part too, he made malted milk shakes and watched Mickey Mouse and the Flintstones with us first.

[7962]

12. Wow, havent heard 12 O'Clock high in decades!!!! Thanks for bringing back some memories! nt

[chelsea0011]

14. Everyone in my family was allowed to pick one show that they had rights to watch every week,

and Combat was my pick. One of the great TV shows. And occasionally I will get out the box set, throw in a disc, and still find it one of the best written and directed shows.

[Omaha Steve]

15. Look close in the dvd credits

Marta and I are in them for the first three seasons.

[byronius]

3. Dude, I am at this very second watching an episode. Right now.

Awesome show. Awesome writing. And Pierre sold his character well. Rest in Peace, my friend. You live forever.

I miss Vic Morrow.

[Historic NY]

4. Vic Morrow got out of trouble each week...

until he went to the Twilight Zone.

[tabasco]

5. I wish they made shows one-tenth as good as Combat today

It is a lot of garbage on TV. Utter garbage.

[madrchsod]

6. i must have seen every episode....

dam it seems so long ago!

[Paladin]

7. God bless and keep "Cage."

A fine portrayal in a worthwhile TV series from my early years.

[randome]

8. "Combat." "Rat Patrol." "The Rebel." "Have Gun Will Travel."

Shows I only dimly remember from my Pre-Cambrian period. But still impressive.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, Anthem (1992)[/center][/font][hr]

[Omaha Steve]

9. The COMBAT! theme

http://www.jodavidsmeyer.com/combat/audio/combat_t.au

[secondvariety]

10. A very talented man.

Thank you for posting.

[1000words]

11. Big "Rat Patrol" fan here ... but "COMBAT!" rocked, too.

RIP, Mr. Jalbert

[malthaussen]

13. Loved his character in Combat!

Nothing like watching a French Canadian play a Cajun.

Mr Jalbert was captain of the Canadian Olympic ski team for the 1948 Olympics. But he broke his leg in practice and never got to compete.

-- Mal

[mahina]

16. Cage!

Au revoir mon ami!

[Omaha Steve]

17. I sent this around on the group I belong to (When Rick Jason left us, I wrote...)

I closed out my thoughts in a letter on Rick's unexpected death with this: At the end of the episode THE LONG WAY HOME, Hanley replies to Saunders:
"LETS DRINK TO OLD FRIENDS". Lets all drink to old friends for awhile. I think Hanley, Saunders, and Lil John are all out together on patrol
again.


Changing times. I can't drink anymore because it reacts with my meds.

The Friday afternoon before RECON 2000 kicked off, several fans (M-1, Heavy Weapons Crew, Jungaleer, and a few others) saw Pierre go to the desk to register. We couldn't resist. We treated Pierre and Joy like they were the Beatles. It wasn't a look of tolerance. It as a look of love for the fans that kept the faith for decades.

While at RECON 2000 Jungaleer snapped a photo of me hugging Conlan. Pierre's smile in the photo tells the literal thousand words.

On the Sunday cruise I was lucky and snapped a photo of Pierre in deep thought several fans have commented on over the years. The RECON photos are temporarily not on SteveandMarta.com. Marta has made many changes to the web site lately. With thousands of photos and enough text to fill a book, it takes a while to get all the links moved over when doing it one at a time, after time, after time.

Pierre spent time at the Twilight Zone Con in 2004. He knew I played a small part in his brother Rene's memorial brick at Juno Beach through funds raised by the RECON 2000 videos. Jen gets the credit for the idea. Pierre got a wooden replica like the one below. He was very proud of it. He was even prouder of Rene.



Pierre signed a blown up behind the scenes photo he was spellbound by. He autographed it with a silver pen.



I had the pleasure of spending some time in conversation later that evening over wine. He was impressed with my knowledge of Napoleon Bonaparte. I was lucky, I had caught several hours of a documentary on Napoleon perhaps a month earlier.

The conversation took several paths. Pierre mentioned at one point he felt early in the run his part was that of the killer on the squad. He asked if I got that feeling of his character? 40 years later he still wanted to know how viewers perceived his role. I commented on his not being able to kill the older captured deserter in "Forgotten Front" and that told as much about his character as any other moment in the series. Huge smile and a hug. On the other hand, he was mad enough at a singing waiter for interfering with the conversation at dinner earlier that I felt he could have pulled the trigger if given the chance.

H M Wynant was at the TZCon too. He appeared in two COMBAT! episodes. HM walked into the bar. I think it was Marty that asked Pierre if he remembered HM from being on the show? Pierre said no. Out came the actor. The look of recognition in his eyes. Pierre and HM shook hands, smiled wide, and talked shop of yesteryear. It was fun knowing neither wanted to disappoint the other by letting the other feel forgotten.

Pierre obviously never tired of fans that remembered his part in one of the best shows TV had in it's truly golden age. He was down to earth and so much fun to be around.

The only champainge or brandy I used to drink was Korbel because of the COMBAT! connection. To those that can, please drink to old friends for the next few days. And have one for those of us that can't. And continue to keep the faith in COMBAT!

TOMMYGUN-OUT