Please join me in wishing our very own dear Max a very happy birthday as he turns 80 today! He was pretty much an unknown when he got the part of Wojo on Barney Miller but he sure became one of the most endearing members of the squad!
Barney was the conscience of the squad room, but Wojo was its heart and soul. The character, along with Harris, started out as a very different man than the one we all came to love. Originally Wojo was brash, obnoxious, immature, and not particularly likable. He made fun of Fish, was not afraid to express his contempt for hookers, and kept failing the sergeant’s exam. But then, slowly but surely, Wojo grew up. We watched as he became kinder, more sensitive and started to try to not only understand those who were different than him, but learn from them. His heart grew until it was the biggest one in the precinct, and he finally passed the sergeant’s exam, although he found his hard-won promotion a little disappointing.
“You work and sweat your butt off to make something…and you do and it’s no different,” he tells Barney.
“What did you expect to happen?” Barney asks. “Did you expect all the paperwork and tedium to miraculously disappear?”
“No. I just thought things would be…better.” Wojo responds dejectedly.
“Wojo, it’s natural to have a letdown after an emotional high point. It’s like after you uh…” Barney struggles to explain.
“Fool around?” Wojo suggests.
“That’s an example.” Barney agrees.
“Well, this is worse,” Wojo responds. “It took me eight years. I fool around all the time!”
Over the years we watched Wojo make sweet connections with a variety of people who visited the squad room. There was Mrs. Hirsch, the homeless woman Wojo found being mugged:
“Well?” she asks.
“Well, what?” Wojo replies.
“Do I go now?
“Just…yeah, you can go now,” Wojo says gruffly.
But as she turns to leave he quickly softens.
“Listen, now, wait a minute. You, uh, you take
Care of yourself. Uh, dress… Dress warm, And, uh, remember to eat.”
“Yeah. You, too.”
“Good luck, Mrs. Hirsch.”
She stops and takes off a bracelet she was wearing. It’s actually the ring Wojo keeps the key to the cage on.
“This here belongs to you, she says quietly, offering it back. “And uh, Katie.”
“Uh, keep it. You know, it can be
A sort of a, uh, uh…” he trails off.
“Keepsake?”
“Yeah.”
“But no Bermuda?”
“No,” Wojo says not unkindly, “No Bermuda.”
And Tom Fields, the young mentally challenged man who was being exploited by a local bookie:
“I’m Tom Fields. I live at the third house after the mailbox.”
(He tries to return the dollar he was paid by the bookie, Mitchell)
“Look, I am trying to meditate, and you are disrupting my concentration,” Mitchell responds.
“What?” Tom asks, confused.
Wojo grins. “He says he can’t think and talk at the same time.”
“Hey, you talking to me?” Mitchell exclaims, offended.
Wojo becomes even more amused as he puts his arm around the boy to bring him back to his desk.
“See?” he says cheerfully.
And a short time later:
“Come on, Tom.” Wojo reaches for his jacket.
“Where are we going?”
“Home.” Wojo smiles.
“Where do you live?” Tom asks excitedly.
“No, your home.”
Tom is disappointed.
“Oh.”
“Well, don’t… Don’t worry, uh, you can come over to my house some other time.” Wojo says kindly.
“I’d like to meet all your friends!” Tom says happily
Wojo puts his arm around the boy, smiling warmly.
“Well I don’t have too many.”
And Mama Zilla, the Obeah priestess accused of putting a curse on a local doctor:
“Mother Zilla, Sgt. Wojciehowicz will be happy to help you with your complaint.” Barney says.
“Wojciehowicz,” she says, sitting down, “I bet that means man among men.”
Wojo smiles bashfully as Barney stares at him. “Well it could!”
And later:
“Well this looks like goodbye Wojoman. And thank you.”
“For what?” he asks.
“For treating me like a lady!”
“It’s no big deal,” Wojo smiles, helping her with her shawl.
“Oh yes it is!”
We learned Wojo had an almost endless supply of compassion and empathy. Whether it was worrying how the city would be able to evacuate during an emergency, wanting to help a Russian man defect and an elderly Indian man get his last wish to die in peace surrounded by nature, or worrying about nuclear energy, Wojo truly wanted to make the world a better place. Many of Wojo’s concerns were shared by Max himself, including the episode about Agent Orange, where Vietnam Vet Wojo gathers representatives from the military and chemical company to find out more about the pesticide, only to get frustrated with their bickering:
“You three clowns want to shut up for a minute?!” he roars”.
“Well, there’s no need to get personal, sergeant.”
“It is personal!” he yells, slamming his pencil down so hard it breaks.
“Wojo.” Barney says quietly.
“I was over there myself! Now, I don’t know for sure if I got exposed to Agent Orange, but I know that…when I think if I have…back when I had a headache, or a tingling in my arm, or some trouble in bed, I start to wonder.” Wojo says quietly.
“Sergeant, that really can’t be considered our fault.”
Wojo’s temper flares again.
“I don’t care anymore whose fault it is, or who did what or who’s suing who. Mr. Serrano and me would just like to know WHAT THE STUFF DID!”
Wojo was a man that despite seeming rough around the edges and a bit naive at times, was a damn good cop and a man who loved and admired his fellow detectives, and especially his Captain. Barney was the one he always went to for advice, the one who could calm his temper and worries, and the one whose approval meant so much to him. He looked up to Barney and the two men had a sweet older/younger brother dynamic. Despite his mocking of Fish early on, he grew to look up to him too and when the older man retired, expressed his feelings the only way he knew how, with a hug.
Wojo represented all the best things in a person: innocence, curiosity, love, compassion, empathy, determination, integrity, and acceptance. He was always willing to listen and to learn. Even Harris made a point of mentioning in the show’s final episode how much Wojo had grown and improved over the years. And when it came time to say goodbye, again he said it all with just a hug.
As someone blessed to call Max my friend, I can tell you in many ways he’s very much like Wojo. Max is also a representative of all the best things a person can be. He’s kind, compassionate, loving, always willing to learn, and in his own way has always worked to make the world a better place-and like Wojo, if you mess with the people he cares about, he won’t hesitate to stand up for and protect them. Max is also extremely intelligent, a true poet at heart, a mentor, a teacher of life, and a loving and very proud dad and grandpa. The world is a much more beautiful place because he’s in it.
Speaking of beautiful things, Max’s years on General Hospital as Mike Corbin must be mentioned here. It’s not that we didn’t know what a gifted actor he was, let’s face it, there wasn’t room on Barney Miller for any actors who weren’t, but his role as Mike showed us all just how special Max’s gift is. The two Emmys he earned for it were more than richly deserved!
Here’s to you, Max. Happy Birthday!!