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 Ben Richards - The character Ben Richards
(Christopher George) on the sci-fi series THE IMMORTAL/ABC/1970‑71 possessed a
special type "O" blood containing an antibody which made him impervious to old
age and disease. From the day he discovered his unique condition, he was
constantly on the run "from the hunters...the human hounds who would cage him."
Initially, Ben escaped from the clutches of a wealthy but ailing, elderly man
who sought to keep him on a tight leash and siphon blood from his body to enable
him to remain alive. After that man died, Arthur Maitland (David Brian), an
other wealthy old man hired a bounty hunter named Fletcher (Don Knight) to track
down Ben Richards.
Opening narration from the sci-fi series The Immortal
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[The
sound of a heart beat over blowing desert winds]
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Narrator: |
This man
has a singular advantage over other men. Ben Richards is
immune to every known disease including old age. Periodic
transfusions of his blood can give other men a second, a
third lifetime, perhaps more. |
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Voice: |
FIND Ben
Richards! |
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Voice: |
The
effects of the transfusion are only temporary. I must
therefore control Ben Richards life...permanently! |
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Voice: |
He's the
most valuable man in the world, but he's no good to me dead. |
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Voice: |
His
brother may have the same kind of blood. We've got to find
him before Richards does! |
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Voice: |
If you had
million dollar blood, where would you hide? |
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Richards: |
I
didn't ask for this. I was a test driver. I liked the job.
One day the doctor told me I had some kind of special blood.
I don't understand it, but I know this. Everything they're
offering...I don't want, I gotta live free! |
|
Narrator: |
Ben
Richards will live longer than anyone has ever lived, but a
transfusion to the wrong man could make him a prisoner for
all time. And so he runs from the hunters, the human hounds
who would cage him. |
TRIVIA NOTE: Ironically, in 1983, Christopher
George (a.k.a. Ben Richards, the "The Immortal") died of a heart attack at the
age of 54. In 1991, Stephen King adapted the immortality theme in the drama
GOLDEN YEARS/CBS/1991 about an aging janitor named Harlan (Keith Szarabajka) who
was contaminated in an explosion at a government facility and soon discovered
his metabolism had reversed, making him younger with every minute. He, too,
became the prey of unscrupulous corporate executives.
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