Sergeant Polewski

[TSMagnumIII]

Hi Guys, I have searched the site and forum and can not find anything about Jeff MacKay as Marine Sergeant Polewski, the Pearl Harbor Gate Sentry, anywhere. I believe that name is spelled right from what I could tell off my DVR freeze framed view on my 56" JVC. Does no one realize Mr. MacKay not only played Lt. "Mac" MacReynolds and Jim Bonnick but also the Marine who obviously knew TS from his Navy days and didn't believe the Ferarri was Magnum's? The scene is featured in the Magnum commercial on the Sleuth Channel. Thanks for reading and if this is a repeat of a previous post sorry for the bother. - TSMIII

[IKnowWhatYoureThinking]

I looked on IMDB and they don't credit him in that role, but I do remember him playing a Marine sentry in one episode.

[ConchRepublican]

I believe that was the pilot episode Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii, where he lets Magnum onto base at laughs at the thought that the Ferrari could be Thomas'.

I watched that episode again last week and was surprised by how much sets changed from that movie to the series. It loks like it was shot mostly inside the Anderson Estate.

[MPS]

Jeff MacKay did play the gate sentry in Don't Eat the Snow in Hawaii . Magnum only referred to him as "Ski" , and I think that's how he showed up in the end credits.

[TSMagnumIII]

There is not much that I didn't enjoy about Magnum. The show began when I was 10 (and ended when I was stationed in the Philippines) and it was probably Magnum's sense of duty that made me want to serve my country. Magnum was a role model for this youngster and I wanted to be a SEAL like Magnum, but you can not go in the Navy as one and I didn't want to "swab decks" until I could try out. Although I didn't go Navy (Aim High!!). I did get to serve in Hawaii and for my first year I lived in Aiea Heights overlooking Pearl Harbor. I awoke every morning to a view of the Arizona and the ships moored at Pearl. I drove through the gate's of Pearl often and thought of Magnum and Ski joking around, of Magnum trying to bluff his way through security on other occassions and how in a post 9/11 terror mode, would TM still be able to con his way on? Technically Magnum resigned his commission, he was considered only a Vet, not a Retiree so technically he would not still have a DoD ID card and be authorized unescorted entry to Pearl. I mused often at thinking Magnum would have to stop and get a vehicle pass and show the registration for the vehicle proving to "Ski" that yes, the Ferarri was indeed NOT Magnum's. Then again in those days the Marines guarded the Gates and now for the most part Pearl is guarded by Navy DoD Police or Navy Masters of Arms (the Navy's goofy name for their Military Police which sounds more like a He-Man character). As a former Air Force cop that worked the joint Hickam/Pearl gate from 2002-2005 with those Navy folks, I can say Magnum probably would have fooled some of those jokers, well the Civilian DoD's who were more or less glorified Security Guards, at least. Sorry if this went sort of off topic, just my little memories of the Aina. Aloha and Mahalo for reading.

[Sam]

I found this piece from an old MPI board.The post is close to 12 years old.

In the pilot, I played a guard at the 'Pearl' gate. Just a couple of lines
that were originally intended to get me to Hawaii. We shot it at the back
gate to Universal Studios!

In subsequent episodes (10 or 12 I think) over the next two and a half
years I played a naval intelligence officer named MacRenolds (named after
my Godfather in Texas) whose name was shortened to Mac. He worked with
computers that the navy used to access secret records. Magnum would come
to me from time to time when he needed 'sensitive' information for
whatever case he was working on at the time... often bribing me with
donuts, ice cream, etc. to the point that I'd hate to see him coming... it
meant that he wanted something from me that I wasn't supposed to allow him
access to.

I was killed in his Ferrari in a two part episode called 'Did You See the
Sunrise' to accomodate my playing a role in another Don Bellisario show,
TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY. This show lasted a year on ABC, after which I
was brought back on MAGNUM as a con man named Jim Bonnick (as well as many
other aliases). I continued playing this role until the end of the series,
with a few additional appearances as the ghost of the first Mac.

Whew... feel like I've bored the hell out of everyone with my partial
career history!

Anyway, if you loved MAGNUM, PI... this brief history of my participation
should jog your memory.

All the best,
Jeff MacKay