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Showing posts from April, 2011

April 30th - Happy Birthday!

Born Today: Eve Arden (1908) Al Lewis (1923) Jill Clayburgh (1944) At Rest: Agnes Moorehead (1974) Tom Poston (2007)

Hey Mr. Wilson!!!!!!!!!!

It began on television fifty years ago and now the complete first season is available on DVD. In honor of the release I thought it would be a good idea to sit down and remember the wonderful cast of "Dennis the Menace" which ran from 1959 until 1963. In addition to a incredibly gift leading cast they also had some of the best guest stars of all time. Oh and I highly suggest you pick up season one on DVD, I haven't purchased mine yet but it is my understand that the collection includes new interviews with Gloria Henry ("Alice") and also the episode of "The Donna Reed Show" in which Jay North ("Dennis") and Joseph Kearns ("Mr. Wilson") made a crossover appearance. Jay North (1951- ) is still with us as of this posting, he played Dennis Mitchell...the prankster with the overalls and the ever ready slingshot. Herbert Anderson (1917-1994) played Dennis' devoted father Henry Mitchell Gloria Henry (1923- ), still with us at 88, pl...

Remembering the Mother of Them All!

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April 26, 1989----5:04am, the world's greatest female clown is called to her final resting place. After 77 years on Earth the comedy queen of the TV screen was gone. Born on August 6th, 2011 marks her 100th birthday and the 60th anniversary of her very first television show, "I Love Lucy." She made more than 65 motion pictures before turning to radio and eventually television. By the time her number was up she made more than 1,000 television appearances and was the star of five different television shows. With her husband and co-star Desi Arnaz she helped create an empire and became the first female studio owner in Hollywood. With comedy partners such as Vivian Vance, Gale Gordon and Mary Jane Croft she made people laugh until it hurt. Her work was priceless, it was timeless, it was genius. 22 years after her passing the laughter continues..."I Love Lucy" available on DVD, "The Lucy Show" and "Here's Lucy" on DVD as far as their fourt...

Madelyn Pugh Davis

Born: March 15, 1921 The other half of one of the most successful writing duos has passed away. She began writing for "The Steve Allen Show" on radio and eventually found herself working on a domestic sitcom called "My Favorite Husband." The program starred Lucille Ball with Richard Denning. Jess Oppenheimer and Bob Carroll, Jr. were the writers that helped put the scripts together. Eventually they molded the television show "I Love Lucy" and would go onto write for Ball on her other series "The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show", "The Lucy Show", "Here's Lucy" and "Life with Lucy." In 1967 she and Bob Carroll Jr. went to work for Ball's ex-husband Desi Arnaz on the sitcom "The Mothers-In-Law" starring Eve Arden and Kaye Ballard. The show ran for two seasons and produced 56 episodes. The writing duo also wrote scripts for "The Tom Ewell Show", "Love, American Style", "The Paul...

April 23rd - Remembering

Happy Birthday Janet Blair (1921) At Rest: Otto Preminger (1986) Albert Salmi (1990) William Dozier (1991)

April 16th

Happy Birthday! Charlie Chaplin (1889), Barry Nelson (1917), Peter Ustinov (1921) and Edie Adams (1927)

April 15th - Remembering

Happy Birthday: Marian Jordan (1898), Hans Conried (1917) and Elizabeth Montgomery (1933)...At Rest: Clara Blandick (1962), Richard Conte (1975), Raymond Bailey (1980), Ernestine Wade (1983) and Greta Garbo (1990)

April 13th Birthdays!

Two of television's finest actors were born today: Howard Keel (1919) Don Adams (1923)

Neil Hamilton

Born: September 9, 1899 A very serious actor, he began his film career in 1918 and between then and 1970 he appeared in 268 films. He appeared with some of the greatest stars of that time... Eventually, like many actors of his time he found his way to television. He literally appeared on some of television's earliest productions...including "Hollywood Screen Test", "NBC Presents", "The Wonderful Guy", "Starlight Theatre", "Armstrong Circle Theatre", "The Don Ameche-Frances Langford Show", "Broadway Television Theatre" and "The Best of Broadway." He also appeared on well known programs such as "The United States Steel Hour", "Kraft Theatre", "The Gale Storm Show", "Tales of Wells Fargo", "Maverick", "Zorro", "Bachelor Father", "77 Sunset Strip", "General Hospital", "The Real McCoys", "Perry Mason...

April 11th - Remembering

At Rest: Jean Vander Pyl (1999) and Roscoe Lee Browne (2007)

April 10th - Remembering

At Rest: Natalie Schafer (1990) Arnold Johnson (2000) Larry Linville (2000) Dixie Carter (2010)

So Many Famous Birthdays!

Happy Birthday! Spencer Tracy (1900) Bette Davis (1908) Gregory Peck (1916) Christopher Hewett (1922) Gale Storm (1922) Frank Gorshin (1933) At Rest: Charlton Heston (2008)

Happy Birthday Bea!

Born: April 4, 1906 A wonderful lady would've turn 105 years old today. In this blogger's opinion she was one of the most talented voice actors that was ever born and she continued to share that when she began her work on television. After almost 30 years of supporting roles, some of them uncredited on screen, she finally received star billing as the star of one of the most popular sitcoms of the 1960's. Her career began on radio in 1936 when she received a job with Orson Welles on his program "Campbell Playhouse." Welles produced many productions on his program including many Shakesperean adaptations, his version of A Christmas Carol and of course "War of the Worlds" in 1938. Eventually she was able to lend her voice to such popular radio shows as "The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet", "Fibber McGee and Molly", "The Great Gildersleeve" and "Amos 'N' Andy." She had a recurring role as Gertrude Gearshift, ...