was only sixteen years younger than Kelly). Kelly and Halpin kept the same roles for the television series that began filming in the summer of 1964, adding younger brother Bud, played by Tommy Norden. Halpin was chosen by Tors for the role of Sandy Ricks because of his skills in the water as well as his extensive prior acting experience. He also proved able to bond quickly with the dolphins who filled the role of Flipper. This chemistry paved the way for the launching of the TV series after the two feature films. By the time filming of the TV series commenced, Halpin had become an expert skin and scuba diver and exhibited an easy athleticism that enabled him to perform many of his own stunts in and below the water including a number of dangerous scenes involving sharks. His popular TV character became defined by many water-activity related plots with him often wearing nothing more than what came to be his signature cut-off blue jeans shorts. The television series ran for eighty-eight episodes from 1964 to 1967 (with Halpin appearing in all but three episodes) and is still in syndication. It was filmed in the park and waters around Key Biscayne, Florida, at the Ivan Tors (now Greenwich) Studios and the Miami Seaquarium, both in Miami. The series performed strongly in the hotly contested Saturday night TV slot, rating in the Top 25 of all TV shows in its debut 1964-65 season. The series made Halpin a teen idol, especially among adolescent viewers. He was often featured in such magazines as Bravo, Teen Life, 16 Magazine, and the earliest issues of Tiger Beat. On the basis of his appearances in the original Flipper feature films, Halpin was a guest 'contestant' on the CBS panel show To Tell the Truth just prior to the beginning of filming of the Flipper (1964 TV series), on March 30, 1964. He appeared on the show again just prior to the filming of the second season, on April 15, 1965. Later work After Flipper ended, Halpin appeared in feature films, including as Stu MacRae (teen son of Richard Greene's starring character) in Ivan Tors' Island of the Lost (1967), as Bo (student radical who befriends a teenage girl travelling on a European bus tour) in If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969), as Keith (First Mate on a shabby vessel chartered for a