Richard Crenna

Born: November 30, 1926 Died: January 17, 2003 This man is one of my personal favorites. He started out with bit parts in films and then went onto a successful career in radio with that hilariously squeaky voice he did. He worked with the greatest and eventually became one of the greatest… On radio he was best known as Walter Denton, the beamy eyed teenager, on “Our Miss Brooks” starting Eve Arden in the title role. He remained with the series during its entire run from 1948 to 1957. He could also be heard on “The Great Gildersleeve” and “A Date with Judy” in regular roles and as a recurring guest star on “My Favorite Husband.” It was his excellent work on “My Favorite Husband” that caught the eye of Lucille Ball and that is why she instructed her staff to contact him about appearing with her in an episode of her television series “I Love Lucy” adapting the script they had done together on radio. According to the actor in a 2001 interview he initially turned the offer down but reconsidered when he thought that the opportunity to work with Ball again was quote “too good to pass up.” The episode “The Young Fans” which originally aired on February 25, 1952 and also featured radio actress Janet Waldo is now a classic and a favorite among all “I Love Lucy” fans… He started in films in 1950 and before he was through he appeared in such films as The Evil, First Blood, The Flamingo Kid, Rambo: First Blood Part II, Rambo III, Hot Shots! Part Deux, Sabrina and Wrongfully Accused… “Our Miss Brooks” was also seen on television in the 1950’s and the actor appeared from 1952 to 1955. He was seen on “The Real McCoys” from 1957 to 1963, “Slattery’s People” from 1964 to 1965, “All’s Fair” from 1976 to 1977, “It Takes Two” from 1982 to 1983 and “Pros and Cons” from 1991 to 1992… In addition to appearing in front of the camera he also did a fair amount of time as a director and appeared in several made for television movies…some of his other television credits include “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In”, “Password”, “Dinah!”, “Saturday Night Live”, “The Hollywood Squares”, “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”, “Father Knows Best”, “Kraft Suspense Theatre”, “JAG” and “Chicago Hope.” Some of the more notable television movies on his record include “Murder, She Wrote: A Story to Die For” in 2000 and “The Day Reagan Was Shot” (as President Ronald Reagan) in 2001… His final television role was as Jared Duff on the CBS drama “Judging Amy” from 2000 to 2002. His final acting role all together was in the television movie “Out of the Ashes” which aired on April 13, 2003 three months after the actor’s passing… He was a great man on screen and off…a personal favorite…and someone who will never be forgotten… In Memoriam Remembers: Richard Crenna