WITH AN EYE ON ... : ‘Delta’ brings a new dawn for drama vet Earl Holliman

“At the end of the first act, I was up to my neck in quicksand,” Earl Holliman says, recalling a show during his days doing live television in the ‘50s.

“As I’m being rescued, I have 90 seconds to have the folks backstage strip me down to a jockstrap, rinse me off, change my clothes, and I have to get on the other side of the stage for the next act, which has me cracking open a coconut.”

Holliman sighs. “The adrenaline was really going. Sometimes, when they had a close-up on your face, your wardrobe was being changed. You’d be talking to someone who had long gone for their own costume change. I think all the actors who did that live television really miss that stuff.”

But while Holliman--who has appeared in five television series, some 35 feature films and worked in theater--has fond memories of television’s “golden age,” he is very happy to be celebrating his 41st year in show business as co-star of the ABC sitcom “Delta,” which has returned to the network’s schedule through May 4.

Holliman, who in 1956 won a Golden Globe for best supporting actor (“The Rainmaker”), was nominated for the same award in television this year for his portrayal of Dearden Towe, owner of the Green Lantern where Delta (Delta Burke), an aspiring country singer, works as a waitress. (He lost to Maximilian Schell.)

Of the controversy that has surrounded the show--including claims that Burke and husband Gerald McRaney are splitting up--Holliman says: “We all have a big laugh about that. The tabloids write about the tension on the set, and there isn’t any. They look like lovebirds to me. I’ve never worked with anyone easier to get along with than her. She’s not temperamental at all. I have no tolerance for the tabloids.”

Holliman, perhaps best known for his role of Lt. Bill Crowley on the ‘70s NBC series “Police Woman,” finds working on a sitcom easier than doing an hour drama.

“It’s like I’ve died and gone to heaven,” he says. “When I did ‘Police Woman,’ we worked 12- and 14-hour days. Sometimes I would get up at 3:30 a.m. to go to San Pedro and by the end of the day we’d end up in Chatsworth! With a sitcom, we have banker’s hours. One day a week you work late in front of an audience. It’s a whole different process and incorporates what it’s like to be on the stage.”

Holliman’s fondest memories of “Police Woman” include his long-standing friendship with Angie Dickinson, who played Sgt. Pepper Anderson. Holliman recalls moving into an unfurnished house and procrastinating decorating. Later, when he returned from working on a TV movie, he found his house fully furnished--courtesy of Dickinson.

“That’s the kind of friend she is,” he says. “She really knows the right thing to give, the right thing to do.”

Though “they don’t really do musicals anymore,” Holliman says he’d love to do one. But if it doesn’t happen, he adds, “I’m so happy with ‘Delta.’ I’m hoping they keep us on the air for several years straight.”

“Delta” airs Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. on ABC.