In Memoriam

When it comes to the power and intensity of drama no one beats Jane Wyman. For me she will always been Angela Gioberti Channing from the 1980's smash hit prime time soap opera "Falcon Crest." As the strong willed matriarch she commanded her empire with an iron hand. She battled everyone...everyone....her children...her husbands...her grandchildren...and so on and so on. No matter what anyone threw at Angela she was always fourteen steps ahead ready to catch it. Jane Wyman appeared in 208 of the show's 227 episodes. Her absence in the other 19 was due to complications from diabetes among other ailments. Among the slew of celebrity visitors to Angela's precious Tuscany Valley were Lana Turner, Jane Greer, Celeste Holm, Roscoe Lee Browne, Robert Stack, Eddie Albert, Cliff Robertson, E.G. Marshall and Leslie Caron to name a few. Wyman began in feature films in 1932 with an appearance in The Kid from Spain. 82 films followed including Brother Rat in 1938, Johnny Beli...

E.G. Marshall....a true Hollywood gentleman. He began acting professionally in 1933. After playing small roles on several different low budget television shows he began to gain recognition by appearing on such programs as "The Jack Paar Tonight Show", "Pantomime Quiz", "Password", "What's My Line?", "I've Got a Secret", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "Suspense", "General Electric Theater", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Studio One", "Playhouse 90", "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse", "Rawhide", "The Virginian", "Ironside", "The Bold Ones: The New Doctors", "Falcon Crest", "Murder, She Wrote" and "The Cosby Show." From 1961 until 1965 he headed up his own program playing the tough talking defense lawyer, Lawrence Preston, on "The Defenders" opposite Robert Reed. In 1983,...

Ted Knight was a brilliant performer. No one could bring a character like Ted Baxter to life and not be brilliant. But before he put on that familiar blue blazer he was one of television's busiest character actors. His long list of credits include "Lassie", "The Donna Reed Show", "Peter Gunn", "The Twilight Zone", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Pete and Gladys", "Dr. Kildare", "General Electric Theater", "The New Loretta Young Show", "The Untouchables", "The Virginian", "McHale's Navy", "Gunsmoke", "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.", "The F.B.I.", "The Fugitive", "The Wild Wild West", "Bonanza", "The Love Boat", "The Mike Douglas Show", "The Flip Wilson Show", "The Dean Martin Show", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "Cher", "Dinah!...

Mr. Henry Fonda - One of the finest actors to ever appear on screen. He appeared in dozens of movies between 1935 and 1981. Some of the more notable ones were: 1935 - The Farmer Takes a Wife (with Janet Gaynor) 1940 - The Grapes of Wrath (with Jane Darwell) 1942 - The Big Street (with Lucille Ball) 1956 - The Wrong Man (with Vera Miles) 1957 - 12 Angry Men (with E.G. Marshall & many others) 1962 - The Longest Day (with Eddie Albert) 1968 - Yours, Mine and Ours (with Lucille Ball & Van Johnson) 1981 - On Golden Pond (with Katherine Hepburn & Jane Fonda) On television he guest starred on such programs as "The Steve Allen Show", "Toast of the Town", "What's My Line?", "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "The Dean Martin Show", "All in the Family", "Maude", The Merv Griffin Show", "General Electric Theater", "The Dick Powell Sho...

Carroll O'Connor was the first human being to utter words that had never before been said on American television. "All in the Family" debuted on January 12, 1971 and by January 13th it already had its place in television's history books. O'Connor began his major acting career in the 1950's. He made guest appearances on such programs as "Sunday Showcase", "The Untouchables", "Death Valley Days", "The Dick Powell Show", "Bonanza", "The Defenders", "The Outer Limits", "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "Ben Casey", "Dr. Kildare", "I Spy", "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre", "The Wild Wild West", "Mission: Impossible", "That Girl", "Gunsmoke", "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour", "The Dean Martin Show", "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", "The Dick Cavett Show", ...

A funny funny man... Eddie Albert began where most of the other folks on this blog did...in films. His first was in 1938 in the film Brother Rat co-starring future lovers Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. 75 more films would follow between then and 1994. Some of his more notable performances were in 1950's The Fuller Brush Girl with Lucille Ball and 1974's The Longest Yard with Burt Reynolds. As he entered the 1950's Albert tried his hand at television. He headed up his own situation comedy in 1952 called "Leave it to Larry" where he played the title character and in 1953 he briefly hosted "The Eddie Albert Show." He also appeared as himself in such programs as "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show", "What's My Line?", "Password", "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour", "Toast of the Town", "The Carol Burnett Show", "The Dick Cavett Show", "The Dean Martin Show" and "Here...

It only takes two words to describe the genius of Audrey Meadows: "Deadpan Delivery" Millions of fans know her as Alice Kramden, the long suffering and sarcastic wife of Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) on the 1950's domestic sitcom "The Honeymooners." But Audrey lended her comedic talent and strong feminine features to dozens of other television programs during her forty-five year career. As herself she appeared on "Person to Person", "Toast of the Town", "What's My Line?", "The Jack Benny Program", "The Steve Allen Show", "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show", "Password", "The Jerry Lewis Show", "The Hollywood Squares", "The Dean Martin Show", "Family Fued", "The New Hollywood Squares" and "Marilu." As characters she appeared on "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Wagon Train", "General Electric Th...

I have read different versions of how Gleason was given the title "The Great One." Some sources say that Orson Welles thought of it...other say Lucille Ball and Frank Sinatra...and a few even indicate Milton Berle. It doesn't really matter I suppose because that is the nickname I'll give him. Gleason's career on screen began in the 1940's in a handful of films including "All Through the Night" and "Larceny, Inc." During the 1949-1950 television season he starred as Chester A. Riley on the sitcom "The Life of Riley." He also played the role in a single episode of the radio version. As the 1950's went on he appeared on such programs as "Ford Star Revue", "Cavalcade of Bands", "The Colgate Comedy Hour", "The Kate Smith Evening Hour", "I've Got a Secret", "The Jack Benny Program", "What's My Line?", "Person to Person", "Studio One", ...