Rock ‘n’ roll doesn’t have to kill you—Glenn Frey is proof. Of all the rockers to emerge from the seventies, Frey is just about they only evidence we have that making music is a healthy enterprise. He’s lean, fit, well-dressed, and still making music.

Blame Jerry Brown for the turnabout—in Frey’s wardrobe, at least. “In 1976 the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt were going to do a benefit for Jerry.” Frey recalls. “We looked at each other and wondered, ‘Do any of us even own a sports coat?’”

That was the turning point. “Once I became successful in the music business, it became attractive to me to go to nice restaurants, go out on the town. You had to dress for that.”

Successful in the music business is an understatement. Starting with his overwhelming success as a leader of the influential Eagles—Frey co wrote many of the group’s most memorable songs—through his “Miami Vice—Smuggler’s Blues” period, he’s demonstrated just the right hooks to stick in the public’s mind. His net musical venture will take him to Nashville. “I want to do some country, Eagles-esque stuff,” he says. “Now seems to be the right time.”

But right now the music must wait, because of an unexpected development—a suddenly conspicuous acting career has emerged. This fall Frey will star in an hour-long series for CBS, “South of Sunset.”

Those skeptical about his acting chips have company—Frey himself. “I went to read for the part,” he says, “because I couldn’t wait to meet these people who thought I could do it.” He laughs. “This whole thing was morbid curiosity. What kind of loose cannons and desperate people have decided to try me? Acting is not something I’ve pursued. These things just keep falling into my lap.”

“South of Sunset,” in a killer time slop opposite “Home Improvement,” costars Maria Pitillo and features the adventures of a down-and-out private investigator working in a seedy section of Los Angeles. Pitillo will create plenty of sparks, and Frey is hoping to learn some acting along the way. “I’m really going to have to improve as an actor,” he readily admits. “I’m headed in the right direction. You need the proper instructions, and then repetition.”

 Striver Frey brings this same serious dedication to a frightening daily exercise regimen—2,000 abdominal movements a day, a mile long job, weight training with Jake Steinfeld’s brother Pete. “It’s worth one hour a day to make the other 23 great,” he says. “I have more energy, more stamina, more self-esteem.”

He’ll need it. Filming an hour-long network series is strenuous business. Just ask James Garner. “Everyone’s told me it’s a very difficult job. But hey,” he smiles. “I figure if rock ‘n’ roll didn’t kill me, TV doesn’t have a chance.”