In Memoriam

His career will always be defined by his association of Lucille Ball but before he became her blustery co-star in the 1960's he was one of American radios most beloved actors... Radio credits include "Fibber McGee and Molly", "The Phil Harris-Alice Faye Show", "My Favorite Husband", "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show", "The Great Gildersleeve" and "Our Miss Brooks" just to name a few. Some other television credits include "The Brothers", "Climax!", "Playhouse 90", "Pete and Gladys" and "The Donna Reed Show." In addition to working with Lucille Ball on radio he also appeared on all five of her weekly television shows...he guest starred on "I Love Lucy" and "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" and had regular roles on "The Lucy Show", "Here's Lucy" and "Life with Lucy." He was also present for her television specials in 1...

Birthdays: She was a great woman of comedy who left us much too early... He was a character actor that found great fame in the 1980's in The Karate Kid films Death Anniversaries: For six seasons he put up with the antics of Jim Nabors' Gomer Pyle He created one of the greatest science fiction programs of all time and left us much too early as well... In Memoriam Remembers: Gilda Radner (1946-1989) Pat Morita (1932-2005) Frank Sutton (1923-1974) Rod Serling (1924-1975)

When "Days of Our Lives" began on November 8, 1965 America was introduced to the kindly Alice Grayson Horton (Frances Reid). As the decades passed Mrs. Horton became known as the heart and soul of the Horton family. When the show began Reid was 51 and she left the show 42 years later at the age of 93. Even though she remained on contract until her passing in February 2010 Reid made her final appearance on camera on December 26, 2007.....in the mid-2000's as her health began to slow her down she required the use of a cane. In February 2005 she was present front and center however to host the 10,000th episode of "Days of Our Lives." Frances Reid passed away on February 3, 2010 at the age of 95. Alice's fate wasn't revealed until months later... On June 9, 2010 the characters began to discuss Alice's declining health....as all the members of her family gathered to say good bye there were many flashback clips. Finally at the conclusion of the June 24...

A funny character actor who was Mr. Peterson on "The Bob Newhart Show" and the voice of Piglet in the "Winnie the Pooh" cartoons was born in 1925 and left us five years ago today... On this day in 2009 we lost one of the greatest beauties to ever grace the screen...born in 1947 she lost her battle with cancer at a very young age...as one of Charlie's original angels she earned a permanent place in television history and thanks to a famous 1970's pin up poster she became the fantasy of every teenage boy in America...but beauty on the inside is what matters and she had plenty of that... In Memoriam Remembers: John Fiedler & Farrah Fawcett

105 years ago Sadie Marks was born...she would later become known to the world as Mrs. Jack Benny... As the wife of comedy legend Jack Benny she worked with him in Vaudeville and later on his radio program. Originally a character called "Mary Livingstone" was to be played by another actress but the actress did not show up for the broadcast. Jack Benny asked his wife to play the "Mary Livingstone" character, who in the script, was Jack's biggest fan. Eventually Sadie Marks became Mary Livingstone...and remained for the entire run of the radio program... In addition to the radio program she also joined "The Jack Benny Program" when it began on television in 1950... Later in life the actress began to develop stage fright and her appearances on the show became less frequent. Some times her daughter would stand in for her during radio broadcasts and other times her performance would be pre-recorded and dubbed in later. She finally ended her career i...

A few birthdays today - Keye Luke (1904-1991) Kay Kyser (1905-1985) Bud Collyer (1908-1969) Nedra Volz (1908-2003) E.G. Marshall (1914-1998) ------------------- Actress Nancy Marchand passed away on this day in 2000....ten years ago today she died one day before her 72nd birthday... In Memoriam Remembers: Six Marvelous Performers

On June 16, 1959....Americans awoke to read a shocking headline... TV's Superman had killed himself... And now more than fifty years later the death of actor George Reeves still remains one of Hollywood's most talked about mysteries... He was born on January 5, 1914 and appeared in several films before putting on the blue tights and red cape...films including So Proudly We Hail, The Blue Gardenia and of course in 1939 Gone With the Wind... As television's first Man of Steel he became an icon to generation after generation of children and fans who needed a reminder that it does us all some good to look up in the sky every once and a while... Fifty one years ago the actor was dead from a gunshot wound at the age of 45...but today he is immortal on DVD as all 104 episodes of his Superman television series have been released and as his surviving co-stars continue to appear at fan shows and autographs signing his legacy will never be forgotten... In Memoriam Remembers: Ge...

She was always there! This lady who would've turned 100 years old today was an actress you would see and say "I know her...she's been in other - movies, plays, television shows." Her stage credits include more than 200 productions, 27 of them being on Broadway. "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (She played the role of Nurse Preen in 5 different productions) The stage version (1930's) The film (1930's 0r 1940's) 1949 - "The Ford Theatre Hour" 1972 - "Hallmark Hall of Fame" 1972 - Made for television movie Her television credits include (incomplete): "The Peter Lind Hayes Show" "Studio One" "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" "Playhouse 90" "Make Room for Daddy" "The Thin Man" "The Dinah Shore Chevy Show" "Dennis the Menace" (recurring role as Miss Esther Cathcart) "The Donna Reed Show" "M*A*S*H" "Sanford and Son" "Tabitha...

Some birthdays today - Barry Morse (Born in 1918) Judy Garland (Born in 1922) June Haver (Born in 1926) Some passings on this day... Spencer Tracy in 1967 & Michael Rennie in 1971... In Memoriam Remembers: 5 Wonderful Performers!

Three members of a marvelous foursome have left us...but they will never be forgotten...NEVER! The gifts they gave us will be a part of everyone's lives forever... "The Golden Girls" provided the world with the perfect example of what is truly important in life...ultimate friendship. Blood does not always make you family and that message came through loud and clear... May God look over and protect Betty White as she continues to spread the laughter and cheer that "The Golden Girls" represented... In Memoriam Remembers: Estelle Getty (1923-2008) Beatrice Arthur (1922-2009) Rue McClanahan (1934-2010)

I didn't want to post this yesterday because of the tribute to Rue McClanahan... "In Memoriam" began on June 6, 2008... Happy 2nd Anniversary!!! And after 300 + posts later...it is still a lot of fun!

In 1985 she stepped into the role that would make her a true legend... It was in that year she became Blanche Devereaux, the sex-crazed southern belle on "The Golden Girls." The story has been told many times that originally she was slated to play the part of Rose Nylund and Betty White was the original choice to play Blanche due to both actresses having a background playing similar parts. Director Jay Sandrich decided to let them switch and the rest is history. "The Golden Girls" began on September 14, 1985 and it was nominated for 17 Emmys during its first year. Rue picked up the statue herself in 1987. The character of Blanche was interesting because she would often come across as being the most selfish and self-centered of the group. She was terrified of aging and clung to the belief that she was still in her 40's. Blanche had also ruined her relationship with all her children due to her obsession to stay young once saying "I used to tell people the...

Part 2 of Rue McClanahan Remembered. In the photo to your right she is in character as the sassy spinster Aunt Fran from "Mama's Family." She played the role for two seasons which spanned 1983 to 1984. On more than one occasion I heard her mention that she was unhappy with the role of Aunt Fran but I personally enjoyed the character. Aunt Fran always looked like she was going to explode but she, as the proper lady, kept her cool. Every once and a while though she would lose her cool. If Rue can hear me now, I loved Aunt Fran... Before she played Aunt Fran she was the daffy Vivian Cavendar Harmon on "Maude." She appeared as a guest star during season 1 (1972-1973) before becoming a regular cast member in the fall of 1973. Originally Vivian was married to Chuck Cavendar but they divorced and Vivian was soon married to Maude's neighbor and nemesis Dr. Arthur Harmon (Conrad Bain). Vivian was the perfect sidekick to Beatrice Arthur's loud and overb...

It is heartbreaking... Her career spanned seven decades. The world knows her for her famous roles on "Maude", "Mama's Family" and "The Golden Girls" but she also made many many guest appearances and also appeared in a few films. In the early 1970's she appeared on a few daytime soap operas "Another World", "Where the Heart is" and "Love of Life." Early on during her days in New York she appeared on Broadway which brought her to the attention of a gentleman named Norman Lear. By 1972 Lear tapped the actress to make a guest appearance on his hit show "All in the Family." As the creator and producer of the program Lear was bringing world topics to the television audience every week. In her "All in the Family" appearance she played Mrs. Ruth Rempley, one half of a "swinging" couple. Vincent Gardenia was present as her husband Curtis. Shortly after that performance she found herself working...

An update on a tribute posted last month... In the tribute to the late Helen Wagner I mentioned that her appearance on "As the World Turns" 54th anniversary show was her final appearance...well that was a mistake... The actress, who passed away May 1st, appeared in a few scene during an episode on June 1, 2010. Obviously these scenes were filmed before the actress passed on. Soap Opera Digest reports that this was in fact Wagner's final appearance as Nancy Hughes... --------------- Walter Tetley: June 2, 1915 - September 4, 1975 This talented voice actor would've turned 95 today. He is best remembered as Leroy Forrester, nephew to Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve on radio and television's "The Great Gildersleeve." In later years he became well known as the voice of Sherman, Mr. Peabody's protege during the "Peabody's Improbable History" segments of "The Bullwinkle Show." Some folks also passed away on this day in history......