He was born 124 years ago today...

One of my favorites...this gentlemen was the ultimate professional and he was born on March 18, 1886. He appeared in films during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s bringing his total appearances to more than 120 before he was finished... On the stage he played the lead role in Springtime for Henry many different times between 1930 and 1965...giving more than 3,000 performances. As a television character actor he made appearances on such shows as "General Electric Theater", "The Colgate Comedy Hour", "Playhouse 90", "The Red Skelton Show", "Dennis the Menace", "The Cara William Show", "Burke's Law", "F-Troop", "Batman" and "Love, American Style" From 1959 to 1960 he was the narrator in the beloved Fractured Fairy Tales segments of the Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon shows. My favorite performance of course was when he guest starred as Mr. Ritter on "I Love Lucy" in 1952. The episode saw him, the grocery man, totally oblivious to the fact that a lonely old spinster, Miss Lewis (Bea Benaderet), has a crush on him. When Mr. Ritter finally gets his secret love note he believes it's from Lucy Ricardo and the laughter just hits the ceiling from that point on. He passed away on September 29, 1970... One interesting note, shortly before his death he was hospitalized in Glens Falls, NY before he went back to California for his final moments on this Earth. What makes it interesting is, most of my mother's family is from Glens Falls, NY it is only a few miles from where I live right now and my sister was born in that hospital twenty years later...a special thanks to the Internet Movie Database for providing that information. In honor of his birthday... In Memoriam Remembers: Mr. Edward Everett Horton

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Remembering the Cast of "Make Room for Daddy" / "The Danny Thomas Show" (583)

It was one of the longest running family sitcoms in television history.  Right there along side "I Love Lucy", "The Honeymooners", "Father Knows Best" and "My Little Margie" it was one of the most beloved programs of the day.  It began on ABC as "Make Room for Daddy" on September 29, 1953.  After 120 episodes the title changed to "The Danny Thomas Show" and in 1957 the program moved to CBS.  After a healthy eleven year run the show ended on April 27, 1964 after producing 351 episodes total.  In 1970 a majority of the cast returned for the show "Make Room for Granddaddy" which lasted from 1970 to 1971 producing 24 episodes.  The cast was headed up by Danny Thomas who played nightclub entertainer Danny Williams.  Jean Hagen played his wife Margaret, Rusty Hamer played his son Rusty and Sherry Jackson played his daughter Terry.  Jackson played Terry from 1953 to 1958 followed by Penny Parker who played the role from...
Read more

Doris Packer (May 30, 1904 - March 31, 1979)

She began in New York on Broadway and then started appearing on radio. Some of her radio credits include "Henry Aldrich" and "Mr. & Mrs. North." When she became a widow in 1953 she relocated to California where she began appearing on film and on television. Her first film was Meet Me at the Fair. She also appeared in The Perils of Pauline in 1967. She is best remembered as Mrs. Cornelia Rayburn, Beaver's Principal on "Leave it to Beaver." She also had a recurring role on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis." Her final film appearance was in Shampoo in 1975... Other Television Credits: "The Great Gildersleeve" "Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre" "The Bob Cummings Show" "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show" "I Love Lucy" "Lux Video Theatre" "The Jack Benny Program" "The Thin Man" "Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse" "Maverick" ...
Read more