"Man, woman, birth, death, infinity."

"What the hell are you using for brains?" These unfriendly words were among the first spoken on TV by Ben Casey, a nasty neurosurgeon who at one time was Topic A in show business. The character had become such an entity in its own right that many viewers forgot that Casey was a piece of fiction played by a relatively unknown actor at the time. Casey was an irate surgeon who had no qualms about tangling with the hospital board, patient's relatives, other doctors and most of the human race. As played by Edwards, he ran the gamut all the way from snapping to snarling.

Yet, Dr. Casey was making feminine hearts go pitterpat as they hadn't in a long time. Nobody quite knew why either. Sweet nothings whispered in soft tones were not for him. Despite the heart palpitations it created, the Ben Casey show had the assistance of the American Medical Association in its preparation. More than $50,000 was tied up in medical equipment, with each show costing around $115,000. The show was the brainchild of James E. Moser, who created the memorable Medic series on TV in 1954.

He was quoted as saying, "One day I was walking through Los Angeles General Hospital and I came upon a redheaded neurosurgeon. He was snapping into a telephone, 'Damn it. Stop having hysterics!' I knew that I had found a new type hero for a medical show." NBC had its own medical hit the same season in "Dr. Kildare", starring Richard Chamberlain. The shows and their heartthrob stars inspired a pop song: "Dr. Kildare! Dr. Casey! You Are Wanted for Consultation." Kildare actually led Casey in the ratings the first year, but Casey overtook it in the second season and was ranked in the top 10 shows for the year. Comparisons were inevitable between the two shows. James Kildare seemed like the hygienic chairman of the junior prom; Casey belonged in a black leather jacket on the back of a motorcycle. When Vince heard rumors around the studios about a feud between him and Richard Chamberlain, it began to get under his skin.

He said, "A little success breeds a feud, or the feud is bred by a lot of loud mouths looking to put the knock on the two guys involved. Competition is good for a long healthy life. If you want to call Dick competition, that's alright with me, because knowing he's got a good show only makes me want to try harder to come up with one of my own that lives up to the Ben Casey seal of perfection."

Powerfully built, (height 6'2", weight 213), Edwards found the TV grind "the hardest training in the world" and was often on the set from 7a.m. to 7p.m. He said "all you need is guts. Playing Casey has changed my life". When he broke into movies, he said, "I was going to be the biggest bum or the biggest star". Along the way, he enjoyed singing in nightclubs and wrote a few TV scripts.