An Iconic Whale and a Film
Posted July 6, 2016 at 5:55 am by Tim Dustrude
It’s time for this month’s history column from the SJI Historical Museum…
Before there was Free Willy… there was Namu, the Killer Whale. How many reading this today were involved in the production of that first film 50 years ago? The Journal reported that locations here included the Friday Harbor Cannery, Friday Harbor School (anyone know details on this?), Lonesome Cove, and Roche Harbor.
Click to enlarge
The stars were Robert Lansing and Lee Meriwether, and it should be noted that islander Clara Tarte, shown a right with actor Joe Higgins in this newspaper clip, also had a credit in the film as a character named Carrie. After much coverage in the Journal newspaper and elsewhere, the film premiered in Seattle on August 1, 1966.
Many Washingtonians will remember the real Namu as the original main attraction of the old Seattle Marine Aquarium, but islanders more often know that he was also a captured Northern Resident orca. Sadly, Namu died in his aquarium pen on July 9, 1966, just a few weeks before the film was released.
If you would like to see more about the film and other island activities of the 1960s, come on up to the San Juan Historical Museum during its current summer schedule of 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., Thursday – Saturday and 1:00-4:00 p.m. on Sunday.
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Categories: Around Here, Entertainment, History, Wildlife
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