Joe E. Tata

Mike Trevino from The Rockford Files Gas Station Attendant from Mannix

Joe E. Tata I first discovered by association; as with Luke, he appears on The Rockford Files in The Queen of Peru episode. He interacts with both Christopher and Luke and plays Lou Trevino's double-crossing, (presumably) younger brother Mike. "Presumably" because the actors were born the same year, but Mike seems younger than Lou.

Most of his screentime is spent coughing quite effectively in the backseats of the cars (they switch cars halfway through the episode, after the first one dies). But it's a much larger part than he often got in other Rockford episodes; it was common for him to appear in one scene and that would be it. And due to the character being related to Lou, he plays an important part in the stories I write about them.

I've been looking Joe up in some of his other roles and have been having fun with that. Sometimes I don't recognize him immediately, but other times I do. I'm rather proud of one time two summers ago when I recognized him on Cannon, even though I was just passing by the room from a distance and he was lying on the ground rather than being up and around.

I still haven't seen him in what is arguably his most famous role, Nat on Beverly Hills 90210. It's not the type of show that generally garners my interest. However, I am interested in seeing him in it, so it's very likely that I will try it sometime.