Both vehicles are equipped with mobile radio telephones at a time when such devices are uncommon and expensive. While he has a limousine and driver, he also owns and sometimes drives an antique 1941 Packard convertible. Recurring characters include insurance company executive Cavanaugh ( George Murdock),īanacek's rival and some-time love interest Carlie Kirkland ( Christine Belford), and another insurance investigator/rival Fennyman/Henry DeWitt ( Linden Chiles).īanacek lives on historic Beacon Hill in Boston. He is also the series' only character to ever call Banacek by his first name. Murray Matheson plays seller of rare books and information source Felix Mulholland, a character always ready with a droll remark and who exhibits a passion for chess and jigsaw puzzles. The name "Banaczek" (as pronounced in the show) is actually quite rare in Poland. Another recurring gag is for other characters-particularly his rivals- to mispronounce his name deliberately. Drury is never at a loss for a potential solution that Banacek always manages to shoot down with his very next line. Part of the joke is that Ralph Manza, as Banacek's chauffeur Jay Drury, will often ask "What does it mean, Boss?" Banacek also has a running agreement with his chauffeur for a 10% share of Banacek's 10% if he solved the crime. "Only the centipede can hear all the hundred footsteps of his uncle."."Even a one thousand złoty note cannot tap dance."."No matter how warm the smile on the face of the Sun, the cat still has her kittens under the porch."."You can read all the books in the library my son, but the cheese will still smell after four days."."Just because the cat has her kittens in the oven doesn't make them biscuits."."When a wolf is chasing your sleigh, throw him a raisin cookie, but don't stop to bake a cake."."A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn."."Though the hippopotamus has no sting in its tail, the wise man would prefer to be sat upon by the bee."."When an owl comes to a mouse picnic, it's not there for the sack races."."If you're not sure that it's potato borscht, there could be orphans working in the mines.".One of Banacek's verbal signatures is the quotation of strangely worded yet curiously cogent " Polish" proverbs such as: He collects from the insurance companies 10% of the insured value of the recovered property. Peppard played Thomas Banacek, a Polish-American freelance, Boston-based private investigator who solves seemingly impossible thefts.