Grammy and Emmy Award-winning Charles Fox will be our special guest on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Nov. 1 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with encore presentations Tuesday, Nov. 2 at 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm on PIV World Radio, Friday, Nov. 5 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org, plus three times a day on ShokusRadio.com through Sunday, Nov. 7.
One of the most accomplished composers of the late 20th century, Charles Fox is the man who wrote such classics as “I Got a Name,” “Ready to Take a Chance Again” and one of the most performed songs ever, “Killing Me Softly with His Song.”Charles Fox has also scored more than 100 motion pictures and television series, including Goodbye, Columbus, Barbarella, Foul Play, One on One, The Last American Hero and The Other Side of the Mountain, as well as wrote the theme songs for such iconic TV shows as Love, American Style, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Wonder Woman and The Love Boat, as well as the original theme to ABC’s Monday Night Football and the signature music for ABC’s Wide World of Sports.Charles Fox is also the author of Killing Me Softly: My Life in Music, a wonderful book that is not only filled with stories of his collaborations with Garry Marshall, Colin Huggins, Thomas L. Miller and Edward K. Milkis, Jerry Goldsmith, Jim Croce, Barry Manilow, Lena Horne, Fred Astaire and other music and TV legends, but is also a loving tribute to the teacher who mentored him, French composer and conductor Nadia Boulanger. We’ll be talking about Charles’ work with Mlle. Boulanger, as well as his life in music, film and television, when he joins us during our second hour.
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
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I represent the first generation who, when we were born, the television was now a permanent fixture in our homes. When I was born people had breakfast with Barbara Walters, dinner with Walter Cronkite, and slept with Johnny Carson. Read the full "Pre-ramble"
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Your Mental Sorbet: The Munsters Pilot
Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.This initial 15-minute, color unaired Munsters pilot for the series starts out with Marilyn being escorted home after a night out and her would-be beau being frightened off when he sees Marilyn's Uncle Herman. Grandpa heads to his lab to concoct a love potion that will entice whomever Marilyn should want--despite her appearance.
CW33 takes a look at the Munster Mansion in Texas. A real house modeled after The Munsters home from the 1960s sitcom. Every year the home is turned into a haunted house for Halloween, raising money for charity.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
TV Confidential Archives Oct. 18, 2010
First hour: Actor and author Frank Bank (Leave It to Beaver, Call Me Lumpy) joins Ed and guest co-host Stu Shostak as they pay tribute to the late Barbara Billingsley. Also in this hour: Ed and Frankie take a look at the first month of the new fall television season, including why CBS is the only network that has not struggled so far.
Second hour: Producer/director Ron Satlof is the guest this hour. Ron produced the long-running NBC series McCloud, as well as directed episodes of such popular series as Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones, Quincy, M.E., The Amazing Spiderman, Magnum, p.i., The A Team, Hunter, Jake and the Fatman and Diagnosis Murder, as well as the Perry Mason TV movies from the late 1980s. Early in his career, he worked with Martin Scorcese on Mean Streets and with Don Siegel and Walter Matthau on Charley Varrick. Ron’s latest film, which he produced, directed and co-wrote, is Misconceptions, a thoughtful comedy-drama about the changing perceptions of family today that also touches on topical social issues.
Bonus Segment: In this special edition of This Week in TV History, Tony Figueroa remembers the births of Johnny Carson and Kirk Cameron, Drew Carey's debut broadcast as host of The Price Is Right and the premiere of Saturday Night Live.
Second hour: Producer/director Ron Satlof is the guest this hour. Ron produced the long-running NBC series McCloud, as well as directed episodes of such popular series as Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones, Quincy, M.E., The Amazing Spiderman, Magnum, p.i., The A Team, Hunter, Jake and the Fatman and Diagnosis Murder, as well as the Perry Mason TV movies from the late 1980s. Early in his career, he worked with Martin Scorcese on Mean Streets and with Don Siegel and Walter Matthau on Charley Varrick. Ron’s latest film, which he produced, directed and co-wrote, is Misconceptions, a thoughtful comedy-drama about the changing perceptions of family today that also touches on topical social issues.
Bonus Segment: In this special edition of This Week in TV History, Tony Figueroa remembers the births of Johnny Carson and Kirk Cameron, Drew Carey's debut broadcast as host of The Price Is Right and the premiere of Saturday Night Live.
Back to the Future Silver Anniversary
I wanted to do something to celebrate the Big BTTF B-Day
See you in the future!
Tony Figueroa
See you in the future!
Tony Figueroa
Monday, October 25, 2010
This week in Television History: October 2010 PART IV
Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL with Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte Broadcast LIVE every other Monday at 9pm ET, 6pm PT (immediately following STU'S SHOW) on Shokus Internet Radio. The program will then be repeated Tuesday thru Sunday at the same time (9pm ET, 6pm PT)on Shokus Radio for the next two weeks, and then will be posted on line at our archives page at TVConfidential.net. We are also on Share-a-Vision Radio (KSAV.org) Friday at 7pm PT and ET, either before or after the DUSTY RECORDS show, depending on where you live.
As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
October 25, 1924
Billy Barty was born William John Bertanzetti. Barty was one of the most famous 20th century people with dwarfism.
Barty, an Italian American, was born in Millsboro, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the gang in the Mickey McGuire serial of silent shorts (a children's comedy series of the 1920s, similar in tone to the Our Gang/Little Rascals comedies, starring a very young Mickey Rooney in the title role). In The Gold Diggers of 1933, a nine-year-old Barty appeared as a baby who escapes from his stroller. Because of his stature, much of his work consisted of bit parts and gag roles, although he was featured prominently in W.C. Fields and Me (1976), Foul Play and The Lord of the Rings (both 1978), Under the Rainbow (1981), Night Patrol (1984), Legend (1985), Masters of the Universe (1987), Willow (1988), UHF (1989), Life Stinks and Radioland Murders (1994). Barty was known for his boundless energy and enthusiasm for any productions in which he appeared. He also performed a remarkable impression of pianist Liberace. He performed with the Spike Jones musical comedy show on stage and television. He was also the evil side kick on the 1970s Saturday morning TV series Dr. Shrinker.
Barty also starred in a local Southern California children's show, "Billy Barty's Bigtop," in the mid-1960s, which regularly showed The Three Stooges shorts. In one program, Stooge Moe Howard visited the set as a surprise guest. The program gave many Los Angeles-area children their first opportunity to become familiar with little people, who until then had been rarely glimpsed on the screen except as two-dimensional curiousities.
Barty also starred as "Sigmund" in the popular children's t.v. show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in 1974-1976. In 1983, Barty supplied the voice for Figment in EPCOT Center's Journey Into Imagination dark ride. He subsequently supplied a reprisal for the second incarnation, though very brief.
Barty was a noted activist for the promotion of rights for others with dwarfism. He was disappointed with contemporary Hervé Villechaize's insistence that they were "midgets" instead of actors with dwarfism. Barty founded the Little People of America to help with his activism.
Barty was married to Shirley Bolingbroke of Malad City, Idaho, from 1962 until his death at age 76. They had two children, Lori Neilson and TV/film producer and director Braden Barty.
Until the time of his death, Barty was a beloved annual guest-star on Canada's Telemiracle telethon, one of the most successful (per capita) telethons in the world.
October 26, 1914
John Leslie "Jackie" Coogan born in Los Angeles, California.
Coogan began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on The Addams Family (TV show, 1964-1966). In the interim, he shocked the United States by suing his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings and provoked California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers.
He began his acting career as an infant in both vaudeville and film, with an uncredited role in the 1917 film Skinner's Baby. Charlie Chaplin discovered him in a Los Angeles vaudeville house, doing the shimmy, a popular dance at the time, on the stage. His father, Jack Coogan, Sr. was also an actor. The boy was a natural mimic, and delighted Chaplin with his abilities in this area. As a child actor, he is best remembered for his role as Charlie Chaplin's irascible sidekick in the film classic The Kid (1921) and for the title role in Oliver Twist, directed by Frank Lloyd, the following year. He was also the first star to get heavily merchandised, with peanut butter, stationery, whistles, dolls, records, and figurines just being a sample of the Coogan merchandise. He also travelled internationally to huge crowds. Many of his early films are lost or unavailable, but Turner Classic Movies recently presented The Rag Man with a new score. Coogan was famous for his pageboy haircut and his The Kid outfit of oversized overalls and cap, which was widely imitated, including by the young Scotty Beckett in the Our Gang films.
Jackie Coogan has his hand and foot prints in concrete out front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, Ceremony #19, on December 12, 1931 (his former wife Betty Grable, Ceremony #68, on February 15, 1943 also). He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of 1654 Vine Street, just south of Hollywood Blvd.
As a child star, Coogan earned an estimated $3 to 4 million, but the money was taken by his mother, Lilian, and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, for extravagances such as fur coats, diamonds, and cars. He sued them in 1938 (at age 23), but after legal expenses, he only received $126,000 of the approx. $250,000 left. When Coogan fell on hard times, Charlie Chaplin gave him some financial support.
The legal battle did, however, bring attention to child actors and resulted in the state of California enacting the California Child Actor's Bill, sometimes known as the Coogan Bill or the Coogan Act. This requires that the child's employer set aside 15% of the child's earnings in a trust, and codifies such issues as schooling, work hours and time-off. Jackie's mother and stepfather attempted to soften the situation by pointing out that the child was having fun and thought he was playing. However, virtually every child star from Baby Peggy on has stated that they were keenly aware that what they were doing was work.
Oct 26, 1946
Pat Sajak born.
On this day in 1946, Patrick Leonard Sajdak, who will one day be known to millions of game-show fans as the Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, is born in Chicago. Wheel of Fortune, which debuted in 1975, became the longest-running syndicated game show on American television, turning Sajak and his co-host, Vanna White, into pop-culture icons.
After attending Chicago’s Columbia College, Sajak joined the Army in 1968 and went to Vietnam, where he was a disc jockey for Armed Forces Radio in Saigon. After his discharge from the military, he worked in radio and TV and in 1977 became a weatherman for a Los Angeles TV station. In 1981, Wheel of Fortune’s creator, Merv Griffin (who also developed the long-running game show Jeopardy!, which debuted in 1964) tapped Sajak to take over hosting duties from Chuck Woolery for a network daytime version of Wheel. In 1983, Wheel of Fortune became a syndicated evening program. It has remained on the air continuously since that time, with Sajak and White as co-hosts.
October 27, 1954
Disneyland, Walt Disney's first television series, premieres on ABC.
The one-hour show, introduced by Tinkerbell, presented a rotating selection of cartoons, dramas, movies, and other entertainment. The show ran for 34 years under various names, including Walt Disney Presents and The Wonderful World of Disney. The program was the longest-running prime-time series on network TV.
October 28, 1950
Popular radio personality Jack Benny moves to television with The Jack Benny Show. The TV version of the show ran for the next 15 years.
Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky in 1894. His father, a Lithuanian immigrant, ran a saloon in Waukegan, Illinois, near Chicago. Benny began playing violin at age six and continued through high school. He began touring on the vaudeville circuit in 1917. In 1918, he joined the navy and was assigned to entertain the troops with his music but soon discovered a flair for comedy as well. After World War I, Benny returned to vaudeville as a comedian and became a top act in the 1920s. In 1927, he married an actress named Sadye Marks; the couple stayed together until Benny's death in 1974.
Benny's success in vaudeville soon won him attention from Hollywood, where he made his film debut in Hollywood Revue of 1929. Over the years, he won larger roles, notably in Charley's Aunt (1941) and To Be or Not to Be (1942). Movies were only a sideline for Benny, though, who found his natural medium in radio in 1932.
In March 1932, then-newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan, dabbling in radio, asked Benny to do an on-air interview. Benny reluctantly agreed. His comedy, though, was so successful that Benny was offered his own show almost immediately, which debuted just a few months later. At first a mostly musical show with a few minutes of Benny's comedy during interludes, the show evolved to become mostly comedy, incorporating well-developed skits and regular characters. In many of these skits, Benny portrayed himself as a vain egomaniac and notorious pinchpenny who refused to replace his (very noisy) antique car and who kept his money in a closely guarded vault. His regulars included his wife, whose character, Mary Livingstone, deflated Benny's ego at every opportunity; Mel Blanc, who used his famous voice to play Benny's noisy car, his exasperated French violin teacher, and other characters; and Eddie Andersen, one of radio's first African American stars, who played Benny's long-suffering valet, Rochester Van Jones. The program ran until 1955.
In the 1950s, Benny began experimenting with television, making specials in 1950, 1951, and 1952. Starting in 1952, The Jack Benny Show aired regularly, at first once every four weeks, then every other week, then finally every week from 1960 to 1965. Benny was as big a hit on TV as on the radio. Despite the stingy skinflint image he cultivated on the air, Benny was known for his generosity and modesty in real life. He died of cancer in Beverly Hills in 1974.
October 30, 1945
Henry Franklin Winkler is born.
Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days. "The Fonz", a leather-clad greaser and auto mechanic, started out as a minor character at the show's beginning, but had achieved top billing by the time the show ended. Winkler started acting by appearing in a number of television commercials. In October 1973, he was cast for the role of Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, nicknamed The Fonz or Fonzie, in the TV show Happy Days. The show was first aired in January 1974. During his decade on Happy Days, Winkler also starred in a number of movies, including The Lords of Flatbush (1974), playing a troubled Vietnam veteran in Heroes (1977), The One and Only (1978), and a morgue attendant in Night Shift (1982), which was directed by Happy Days co-star Ron Howard.
In 1979 Winkler appeared in the made-for-TV movie An American Christmas Carol, which was a modern remake of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. An American Christmas Carol was set in Concord, New Hampshire during the Great Depression. Winkler played the role of Benedict Slade, the Ebenezer Scrooge equivalent of that film.
After Happy Days, Winkler put his acting career on the back burner, as he began concentrating on producing and directing. He quickly worked on developing his own production company and, within months, he had opened Winkler-Rich Productions.
He produced several television shows including MacGyver, So Weird and Mr. Sunshine, Sightings, and the game shows Wintuition and The Hollywood Squares (the latter from 2002–2004 only). He also directed several movies including the Billy Crystal movie Memories of Me (1988) and Cop and a Half (1993) with Burt Reynolds.
As the 1990s continued, Winkler began a return to acting. In 1994 he returned to TV with the short-lived right-wing comedy Monty on Fox which sank in mere weeks. Also in 1994, he co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in the holiday TV movie One Christmas, her last film. In 1998, Adam Sandler asked Winkler to play a college football coach, a supporting role in The Waterboy (1998). He would later appear in three other Sandler films, Little Nicky (2000) where he plays himself and is covered in bees, Click (2006, as the main character's father), and You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). He has also played small roles in movies such as Down to You (2000), Holes (2003), and I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007).
Winkler recently had a recurring role as incompetent lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in the Fox Television comedy Arrested Development. In one episode, his character hopped over a dead shark lying on a pier, a reference to his role in the origin of the phrase "jumping the shark". After that episode, Winkler in interviews stated that he was the only person to have "jumped the shark" twice.
When Winkler moved to CBS for one season to star in 2005–06's Out of Practice, his role as the Bluth family lawyer on Arrested Development was taken over by Happy Days co-star Scott Baio in the fall of 2005, shortly before the acclaimed but Nielsen-challenged show ceased production.
In October 2008, Winkler appeared in a video on funnyordie.com with Ron Howard, reprising their roles as Fonzie and Richie Cunningham, encouraging people to vote for Barack Obama. The video entitled "Ron Howard’s Call to Action" also features Andy Griffith.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
October 25, 1924
Billy Barty was born William John Bertanzetti. Barty was one of the most famous 20th century people with dwarfism.
Barty, an Italian American, was born in Millsboro, Pennsylvania. He was a member of the gang in the Mickey McGuire serial of silent shorts (a children's comedy series of the 1920s, similar in tone to the Our Gang/Little Rascals comedies, starring a very young Mickey Rooney in the title role). In The Gold Diggers of 1933, a nine-year-old Barty appeared as a baby who escapes from his stroller. Because of his stature, much of his work consisted of bit parts and gag roles, although he was featured prominently in W.C. Fields and Me (1976), Foul Play and The Lord of the Rings (both 1978), Under the Rainbow (1981), Night Patrol (1984), Legend (1985), Masters of the Universe (1987), Willow (1988), UHF (1989), Life Stinks and Radioland Murders (1994). Barty was known for his boundless energy and enthusiasm for any productions in which he appeared. He also performed a remarkable impression of pianist Liberace. He performed with the Spike Jones musical comedy show on stage and television. He was also the evil side kick on the 1970s Saturday morning TV series Dr. Shrinker.
Barty also starred in a local Southern California children's show, "Billy Barty's Bigtop," in the mid-1960s, which regularly showed The Three Stooges shorts. In one program, Stooge Moe Howard visited the set as a surprise guest. The program gave many Los Angeles-area children their first opportunity to become familiar with little people, who until then had been rarely glimpsed on the screen except as two-dimensional curiousities.
Barty also starred as "Sigmund" in the popular children's t.v. show Sigmund and the Sea Monsters produced by Sid and Marty Krofft in 1974-1976. In 1983, Barty supplied the voice for Figment in EPCOT Center's Journey Into Imagination dark ride. He subsequently supplied a reprisal for the second incarnation, though very brief.
Barty was a noted activist for the promotion of rights for others with dwarfism. He was disappointed with contemporary Hervé Villechaize's insistence that they were "midgets" instead of actors with dwarfism. Barty founded the Little People of America to help with his activism.
Barty was married to Shirley Bolingbroke of Malad City, Idaho, from 1962 until his death at age 76. They had two children, Lori Neilson and TV/film producer and director Braden Barty.
Until the time of his death, Barty was a beloved annual guest-star on Canada's Telemiracle telethon, one of the most successful (per capita) telethons in the world.
October 26, 1914
John Leslie "Jackie" Coogan born in Los Angeles, California.
Coogan began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on The Addams Family (TV show, 1964-1966). In the interim, he shocked the United States by suing his mother and stepfather over his squandered film earnings and provoked California to enact the first known legal protection for the earnings of child performers.
He began his acting career as an infant in both vaudeville and film, with an uncredited role in the 1917 film Skinner's Baby. Charlie Chaplin discovered him in a Los Angeles vaudeville house, doing the shimmy, a popular dance at the time, on the stage. His father, Jack Coogan, Sr. was also an actor. The boy was a natural mimic, and delighted Chaplin with his abilities in this area. As a child actor, he is best remembered for his role as Charlie Chaplin's irascible sidekick in the film classic The Kid (1921) and for the title role in Oliver Twist, directed by Frank Lloyd, the following year. He was also the first star to get heavily merchandised, with peanut butter, stationery, whistles, dolls, records, and figurines just being a sample of the Coogan merchandise. He also travelled internationally to huge crowds. Many of his early films are lost or unavailable, but Turner Classic Movies recently presented The Rag Man with a new score. Coogan was famous for his pageboy haircut and his The Kid outfit of oversized overalls and cap, which was widely imitated, including by the young Scotty Beckett in the Our Gang films.
Jackie Coogan has his hand and foot prints in concrete out front of Grauman's Chinese Theater, Ceremony #19, on December 12, 1931 (his former wife Betty Grable, Ceremony #68, on February 15, 1943 also). He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of 1654 Vine Street, just south of Hollywood Blvd.
As a child star, Coogan earned an estimated $3 to 4 million, but the money was taken by his mother, Lilian, and stepfather, Arthur Bernstein, for extravagances such as fur coats, diamonds, and cars. He sued them in 1938 (at age 23), but after legal expenses, he only received $126,000 of the approx. $250,000 left. When Coogan fell on hard times, Charlie Chaplin gave him some financial support.
The legal battle did, however, bring attention to child actors and resulted in the state of California enacting the California Child Actor's Bill, sometimes known as the Coogan Bill or the Coogan Act. This requires that the child's employer set aside 15% of the child's earnings in a trust, and codifies such issues as schooling, work hours and time-off. Jackie's mother and stepfather attempted to soften the situation by pointing out that the child was having fun and thought he was playing. However, virtually every child star from Baby Peggy on has stated that they were keenly aware that what they were doing was work.
Oct 26, 1946
Pat Sajak born.
On this day in 1946, Patrick Leonard Sajdak, who will one day be known to millions of game-show fans as the Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak, is born in Chicago. Wheel of Fortune, which debuted in 1975, became the longest-running syndicated game show on American television, turning Sajak and his co-host, Vanna White, into pop-culture icons.
After attending Chicago’s Columbia College, Sajak joined the Army in 1968 and went to Vietnam, where he was a disc jockey for Armed Forces Radio in Saigon. After his discharge from the military, he worked in radio and TV and in 1977 became a weatherman for a Los Angeles TV station. In 1981, Wheel of Fortune’s creator, Merv Griffin (who also developed the long-running game show Jeopardy!, which debuted in 1964) tapped Sajak to take over hosting duties from Chuck Woolery for a network daytime version of Wheel. In 1983, Wheel of Fortune became a syndicated evening program. It has remained on the air continuously since that time, with Sajak and White as co-hosts.
October 27, 1954
Disneyland, Walt Disney's first television series, premieres on ABC.
The one-hour show, introduced by Tinkerbell, presented a rotating selection of cartoons, dramas, movies, and other entertainment. The show ran for 34 years under various names, including Walt Disney Presents and The Wonderful World of Disney. The program was the longest-running prime-time series on network TV.
October 28, 1950
Popular radio personality Jack Benny moves to television with The Jack Benny Show. The TV version of the show ran for the next 15 years.
Jack Benny was born Benjamin Kubelsky in 1894. His father, a Lithuanian immigrant, ran a saloon in Waukegan, Illinois, near Chicago. Benny began playing violin at age six and continued through high school. He began touring on the vaudeville circuit in 1917. In 1918, he joined the navy and was assigned to entertain the troops with his music but soon discovered a flair for comedy as well. After World War I, Benny returned to vaudeville as a comedian and became a top act in the 1920s. In 1927, he married an actress named Sadye Marks; the couple stayed together until Benny's death in 1974.
Benny's success in vaudeville soon won him attention from Hollywood, where he made his film debut in Hollywood Revue of 1929. Over the years, he won larger roles, notably in Charley's Aunt (1941) and To Be or Not to Be (1942). Movies were only a sideline for Benny, though, who found his natural medium in radio in 1932.
In March 1932, then-newspaper columnist Ed Sullivan, dabbling in radio, asked Benny to do an on-air interview. Benny reluctantly agreed. His comedy, though, was so successful that Benny was offered his own show almost immediately, which debuted just a few months later. At first a mostly musical show with a few minutes of Benny's comedy during interludes, the show evolved to become mostly comedy, incorporating well-developed skits and regular characters. In many of these skits, Benny portrayed himself as a vain egomaniac and notorious pinchpenny who refused to replace his (very noisy) antique car and who kept his money in a closely guarded vault. His regulars included his wife, whose character, Mary Livingstone, deflated Benny's ego at every opportunity; Mel Blanc, who used his famous voice to play Benny's noisy car, his exasperated French violin teacher, and other characters; and Eddie Andersen, one of radio's first African American stars, who played Benny's long-suffering valet, Rochester Van Jones. The program ran until 1955.
In the 1950s, Benny began experimenting with television, making specials in 1950, 1951, and 1952. Starting in 1952, The Jack Benny Show aired regularly, at first once every four weeks, then every other week, then finally every week from 1960 to 1965. Benny was as big a hit on TV as on the radio. Despite the stingy skinflint image he cultivated on the air, Benny was known for his generosity and modesty in real life. He died of cancer in Beverly Hills in 1974.
October 30, 1945
Henry Franklin Winkler is born.
Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days. "The Fonz", a leather-clad greaser and auto mechanic, started out as a minor character at the show's beginning, but had achieved top billing by the time the show ended. Winkler started acting by appearing in a number of television commercials. In October 1973, he was cast for the role of Arthur Herbert Fonzarelli, nicknamed The Fonz or Fonzie, in the TV show Happy Days. The show was first aired in January 1974. During his decade on Happy Days, Winkler also starred in a number of movies, including The Lords of Flatbush (1974), playing a troubled Vietnam veteran in Heroes (1977), The One and Only (1978), and a morgue attendant in Night Shift (1982), which was directed by Happy Days co-star Ron Howard.
In 1979 Winkler appeared in the made-for-TV movie An American Christmas Carol, which was a modern remake of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. An American Christmas Carol was set in Concord, New Hampshire during the Great Depression. Winkler played the role of Benedict Slade, the Ebenezer Scrooge equivalent of that film.
After Happy Days, Winkler put his acting career on the back burner, as he began concentrating on producing and directing. He quickly worked on developing his own production company and, within months, he had opened Winkler-Rich Productions.
He produced several television shows including MacGyver, So Weird and Mr. Sunshine, Sightings, and the game shows Wintuition and The Hollywood Squares (the latter from 2002–2004 only). He also directed several movies including the Billy Crystal movie Memories of Me (1988) and Cop and a Half (1993) with Burt Reynolds.
As the 1990s continued, Winkler began a return to acting. In 1994 he returned to TV with the short-lived right-wing comedy Monty on Fox which sank in mere weeks. Also in 1994, he co-starred with Katharine Hepburn in the holiday TV movie One Christmas, her last film. In 1998, Adam Sandler asked Winkler to play a college football coach, a supporting role in The Waterboy (1998). He would later appear in three other Sandler films, Little Nicky (2000) where he plays himself and is covered in bees, Click (2006, as the main character's father), and You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). He has also played small roles in movies such as Down to You (2000), Holes (2003), and I Could Never Be Your Woman (2007).
Winkler recently had a recurring role as incompetent lawyer Barry Zuckerkorn in the Fox Television comedy Arrested Development. In one episode, his character hopped over a dead shark lying on a pier, a reference to his role in the origin of the phrase "jumping the shark". After that episode, Winkler in interviews stated that he was the only person to have "jumped the shark" twice.
When Winkler moved to CBS for one season to star in 2005–06's Out of Practice, his role as the Bluth family lawyer on Arrested Development was taken over by Happy Days co-star Scott Baio in the fall of 2005, shortly before the acclaimed but Nielsen-challenged show ceased production.
In October 2008, Winkler appeared in a video on funnyordie.com with Ron Howard, reprising their roles as Fonzie and Richie Cunningham, encouraging people to vote for Barack Obama. The video entitled "Ron Howard’s Call to Action" also features Andy Griffith.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Kevin Pollak, Ron Masak and Stephanie Zimbalist: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL
Actors Kevin Pollak, Ron Masak and Stephanie Zimbalist will be our special guests on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Oct. 25 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with encore presentations Tuesday, Oct. 26 at 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm on PIV World Radio, Friday, Oct. 29 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org, plus three times a day on ShokusRadio.com through Sunday, Oct. 31.
One of the funniest comedians in show business today, as well as a skilled dramatic actor, Kevin Pollak is the host of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, a weekly live Internet talk show that is often described as “The Charlie Rose Show, but with a sense of humor.” If you haven’t seen Kevin’s show, it is not only very well done, but very entertaining. We’ll talk about this and more when Kevin Pollak joins us in our first hour.
Also joining us this week will be actor Ron Masak, Sheriff Mort Metzger on Murder, She Wrote and the author of I’ve Met All My Heroes From A to Z, a heartfelt tribute to some of the many people Ron has met in his show business career who have had an impact on his life, including Neil Armstrong, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Garth Brooks, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Rogers Hornsby, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Vince Lombardi, Audie Murphy, Elvis Presley, Alan Shepard, John Wayne and General Norman Schwarzkopf. Ron has also written a one-man show in which he plays the great American humorist Mark Twain. We’ll talk about that and more when he joins in our second hour.
Also joining us in our second hour will be actress Stephanie Zimbalist, Laura Holt on Remington Steele and the star of many other stage, screen and television productions, including Tea at Five, an acclaimed one-woman show in which Stephanie plays Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn. Tea at Five is playing at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, California through Sunday, Nov. 14.
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Tuesdays 11:05pm, 8:05pm PT PIV World Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Three times a day, every day on Shokus Internet Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
Find us now on Facebook
One of the funniest comedians in show business today, as well as a skilled dramatic actor, Kevin Pollak is the host of Kevin Pollak’s Chat Show, a weekly live Internet talk show that is often described as “The Charlie Rose Show, but with a sense of humor.” If you haven’t seen Kevin’s show, it is not only very well done, but very entertaining. We’ll talk about this and more when Kevin Pollak joins us in our first hour.
Also joining us this week will be actor Ron Masak, Sheriff Mort Metzger on Murder, She Wrote and the author of I’ve Met All My Heroes From A to Z, a heartfelt tribute to some of the many people Ron has met in his show business career who have had an impact on his life, including Neil Armstrong, Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Garth Brooks, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Rogers Hornsby, Rock Hudson, Cary Grant, Vince Lombardi, Audie Murphy, Elvis Presley, Alan Shepard, John Wayne and General Norman Schwarzkopf. Ron has also written a one-man show in which he plays the great American humorist Mark Twain. We’ll talk about that and more when he joins in our second hour.
Also joining us in our second hour will be actress Stephanie Zimbalist, Laura Holt on Remington Steele and the star of many other stage, screen and television productions, including Tea at Five, an acclaimed one-woman show in which Stephanie plays Academy Award-winning actress Katharine Hepburn. Tea at Five is playing at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank, California through Sunday, Nov. 14.
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Tuesdays 11:05pm, 8:05pm PT PIV World Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Three times a day, every day on Shokus Internet Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
Find us now on Facebook
Friday, October 22, 2010
Your Mental Sorbet: The Lurch
Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.EVERYBODY DANCE!!!
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tom Bosley
A few days ago we lost Mrs. Cleaver and now I am sad to report that we lost Mr. C.Tom Bosley died todat at 4:00 a.m. of heart failure at a hospital near his home in Palm Springs, California. His agent, Sheryl Abrams, said Bosley had been battling lung cancer.
Thomas Edward "Tom" Bosley was best known for his starring and supporting roles on the television shows Tom Bosley , Murder, She Wrote, and Father Dowling Mysteries, as well as the title role in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Fiorello!
During World War II, Bosley served in the United States Navy. While attending DePaul University, in Chicago, in 1947, he made his stage debut in Our Town with the Canterbury Players at the Fine Arts Theatre. Bosley performed at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois, in 1949 and 1950 alongside Paul Newman.
During World War II, Bosley served in the United States Navy. While attending DePaul University, in Chicago, in 1947, he made his stage debut in Our Town with the Canterbury Players at the Fine Arts Theatre. Bosley performed at the Woodstock Opera House in Woodstock, Illinois, in 1949 and 1950 alongside Paul Newman.
Bosley played the Knave of Hearts in a Hallmark Hall of Fame telecast of Eva Le Gallienne's production of Alice in Wonderland in 1955. But his breakthrough stage role was New York mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in the long-running Broadway musical Fiorello! (1959), for which he won a Tony Award. In 1994, he originated the role of Maurice in the Broadway version of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.
His first motion picture role was in 1963, as the would-be suitor of Natalie Wood in Love with the Proper Stranger. Other films include The World of Henry Orient, Divorce American Style, Yours, Mine and Ours, Gus and the made-for-television The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal. Bosley shared a heartfelt story about his experience with the Holocaust in the documentary film Paper Clips.
Among his early television appearances was in 1960 on the CBS summer replacement series, Diagnosis: Unknown, with Patrick O'Neal. In 1962, he portrayed Assistant District Attorney Ryan in the episode "The Man Who Wanted to Die" on James Whitmore's ABC legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones. In 1969, he appeared in a comical episode of The Virginian.
Bosley's best known role was the character Howard Cunningham, Richie Cunningham's father, in the long-running sitcom Happy Days. Bosley was also known for portraying Sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. He also portrayed the eponymous Father Frank Dowling on the TV mystery series, Father Dowling Mysteries. Among myriad television appearances, one notable early performance was in the "Eyes" segment of the 1969 pilot episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Joan Crawford.
Also a voice actor due to his resonant, fatherly yet expressive tone, Bosley hosted The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater, a 1977 radio drama series for children.
He voiced many cartoon characters, including Harry Boyle in the animated series Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. He provided the voice of the title character in the 1980s cartoon The World of David the Gnome and the shop owner Mr. Winkle in the children's Christmas special The Tangerine Bear. He also narrated the movie documentary series That's Hollywood. Additionally, he played the narrator B.A.H. Humbug in the Rankin/Bass animated Christmas special The Stingiest Man In Town. Bosley was also the voice of Mister Geppetto, Pinocchio's 'dad' in Filmation's Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, released in 1987. Bosley also starred in the 2008 Hallmark Channel television movie Charlie & Me. In 2010 he appeared in The Backup Plan starring Jennifer Lopez.
His first motion picture role was in 1963, as the would-be suitor of Natalie Wood in Love with the Proper Stranger. Other films include The World of Henry Orient, Divorce American Style, Yours, Mine and Ours, Gus and the made-for-television The Triangle Factory Fire Scandal. Bosley shared a heartfelt story about his experience with the Holocaust in the documentary film Paper Clips.
Among his early television appearances was in 1960 on the CBS summer replacement series, Diagnosis: Unknown, with Patrick O'Neal. In 1962, he portrayed Assistant District Attorney Ryan in the episode "The Man Who Wanted to Die" on James Whitmore's ABC legal drama The Law and Mr. Jones. In 1969, he appeared in a comical episode of The Virginian.
Bosley's best known role was the character Howard Cunningham, Richie Cunningham's father, in the long-running sitcom Happy Days. Bosley was also known for portraying Sheriff Amos Tupper on Murder, She Wrote. He also portrayed the eponymous Father Frank Dowling on the TV mystery series, Father Dowling Mysteries. Among myriad television appearances, one notable early performance was in the "Eyes" segment of the 1969 pilot episode of Rod Serling's Night Gallery, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Joan Crawford.
Also a voice actor due to his resonant, fatherly yet expressive tone, Bosley hosted The General Mills Radio Adventure Theater, a 1977 radio drama series for children.
He voiced many cartoon characters, including Harry Boyle in the animated series Wait Till Your Father Gets Home. He provided the voice of the title character in the 1980s cartoon The World of David the Gnome and the shop owner Mr. Winkle in the children's Christmas special The Tangerine Bear. He also narrated the movie documentary series That's Hollywood. Additionally, he played the narrator B.A.H. Humbug in the Rankin/Bass animated Christmas special The Stingiest Man In Town. Bosley was also the voice of Mister Geppetto, Pinocchio's 'dad' in Filmation's Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, released in 1987. Bosley also starred in the 2008 Hallmark Channel television movie Charlie & Me. In 2010 he appeared in The Backup Plan starring Jennifer Lopez.
To quote my favorite Tom Bosley character Howard Cunningham in the last episode of Happy Days, "Well, what can I say? Both of our children are married now and they're starting out to build lives of their own. And I guess when you reach a milestone like this you have to have to reflect back on, on what you've done and, and what you've accomplished. Marion and I have not climbed Mount Everest or written a great American novel. But we've had the joy of raising two wonderful kids, and watching them and their friends grow up into loving adults. And now, we're gonna have the pleasure of watching them pass that love on to their children. And I guess no man or woman could ask for anything more. So thank you all for being, part of our family... To happy days".
Good Night Mr. C
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
TV Confidential Archives: Oct. 11, 2010
First hour: TV Confidential remembers the life and career of Emmy Award-winning writer/producer Stephen J. Cannell (The Greatest American Hero, Baa Baa Black Sheep, The A Team, Hunter, Wiseguy, 21 Jump Street, The Rockford Files) along with author Robert J. Thompson, whose books on television include Adventures on Prime Time: The Television Programs of Stephen J. Cannell. The hour also includes excerpts from our January 2009 conversation with actress Stepfanie Kramer, who co-starred with Fred Dryer on Hunter, Cannell's longest running television series.
Second hour: TV Confidential continues its tribute to Stephen J. Cannell this hour along with guests writer/producer William Link (Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote) and television journalist Mark Dawidziak. The hour also features excerpts from Ed Robertson's interviews with Cannell and Roy Huggins on the origins of The Rockford Files.
Second hour: TV Confidential continues its tribute to Stephen J. Cannell this hour along with guests writer/producer William Link (Columbo, Mannix, Ellery Queen, Murder, She Wrote) and television journalist Mark Dawidziak. The hour also features excerpts from Ed Robertson's interviews with Cannell and Roy Huggins on the origins of The Rockford Files.
Monday, October 18, 2010
This week in Television History: October 2010 PART III
Listen to me on TV CONFIDENTIAL with Ed Robertson and Frankie Montiforte Broadcast LIVE every other Monday at 9pm ET, 6pm PT (immediately following STU'S SHOW) on Shokus Internet Radio. The program will then be repeated Tuesday thru Sunday at the same time (9pm ET, 6pm PT)on Shokus Radio for the next two weeks, and then will be posted on line at our archives page at TVConfidential.net. We are also on Share-a-Vision Radio (KSAV.org) Friday at 7pm PT and ET, either before or after the DUSTY RECORDS show, depending on where you live.
As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
Oct 18, 1988
Roseanne debuts on ABC. The show was considered groundbreaking for its realistic portrayal of a working-class family and the issues they faced. Barr’s portrayal of the loud, abrasive, overweight Roseanne Conner was a sharp contrast to the stereotypical TV housewife in the mold of Leave It to Beaver’s June Cleaver and The Brady Bunch’s Carol Brady. The show was an instant ratings hit, airing for nine seasons, collecting numerous awards and turning Barr into a big star.
Roseanne was set in the fictional town of Langford, Illinois, where the wisecracking Conner lives with her husband Dan (played by John Goodman), daughters Becky (alternately Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke) and Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and son D.J. (Michael Fishman). Roseanne’s younger sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) is also a prominent member of the family. The show featured a large cast of supporting characters, which over the years included a young George Clooney (as Roseanne’s boss Booker Brooks of Wellman Plastics), Estelle Parsons (as Roseanne and Jackie’s mother), Shelley Winters, Martin Mull and Sandra Bernhard, among others.
Roseanne Barr was born on November 3, 1952, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She began doing stand-up comedy at clubs in Denver and used her experiences as a wife and mother of three children as fodder for her routines. She became known for using the term “domestic goddess” to refer to a housewife. By the mid-1980s, Barr had risen to national fame, and in 1988 her self-titled TV show debuted on ABC.
During her years on TV, the outspoken Barr became a tabloid target, and her family, personal appearance and romantic relationships were all heavily scrutinized. Barr was married to her second husband, the actor Tom Arnold, from 1990 to 1994. From 1995 to 2002, she was married to Ben Thomas, who worked as her security guard. In June 1990, Barr stirred up controversy when she performed a screeching, off-key version of the “Star Spangled Banner” at a Major League baseball game in San Diego. After her song, she spit and grabbed her crotch in what she said was a humorous imitation of baseball players. She was heavily criticized for the incident, which was later parodied on multiple occasions, including by Barr herself.
The final original episode of Roseanne aired on May 20, 1997. Barr went on to host her own talk show, from 1998 to 2000, and has subsequently been involved in a variety of film and television projects.
October 21, 1962
Chubby Checker sings his 1960 No. 1 hit, "The Twist," on Ed Sullivan's variety show.
His appearance boosted sales of the record, which became increasingly popular until January, when the song hit No. 1 again, making "The Twist" the only record ever to top the charts twice. The song is still considered one of the most successful singles of all time, having stayed in the Top 100 charts for 39 weeks.
October 22, 1942
Annette Funicello is born in Utica, New York. Funicello became a featured Mouseketeer on Disney's Mickey Mouse Club and later starred in several Disney features, including The Shaggy Dog (1959).
Her popularity continued into her teenage years. She starred in a series of beach movies with singer Frankie Avalon, including Beach Party in 1963 and Muscle Beach Party in 1964. Decades later, the pair reunited in Back to the Beach (1987).
October 23, 1925
Talk show host Johnny Carson is born in Corning, Iowa.
After studying journalism in college, Carson began working in radio and television. He began writing for TV shows in the 1950s and hosted his own show, Carson's Cellar, in 1951. He began occasionally guest hosting for Jack Paar on The Tonight Show and became the show's permanent host in 1962. He retired in 1992 and died in Los Angeles on January 23, 2005.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
As always, the further we go back in Hollywood history, the more that fact and legend become intertwined. It's hard to say where the truth really lies.
Oct 18, 1988
Roseanne debuts on ABC. The show was considered groundbreaking for its realistic portrayal of a working-class family and the issues they faced. Barr’s portrayal of the loud, abrasive, overweight Roseanne Conner was a sharp contrast to the stereotypical TV housewife in the mold of Leave It to Beaver’s June Cleaver and The Brady Bunch’s Carol Brady. The show was an instant ratings hit, airing for nine seasons, collecting numerous awards and turning Barr into a big star.
Roseanne was set in the fictional town of Langford, Illinois, where the wisecracking Conner lives with her husband Dan (played by John Goodman), daughters Becky (alternately Lecy Goranson and Sarah Chalke) and Darlene (Sara Gilbert) and son D.J. (Michael Fishman). Roseanne’s younger sister Jackie (Laurie Metcalf) is also a prominent member of the family. The show featured a large cast of supporting characters, which over the years included a young George Clooney (as Roseanne’s boss Booker Brooks of Wellman Plastics), Estelle Parsons (as Roseanne and Jackie’s mother), Shelley Winters, Martin Mull and Sandra Bernhard, among others.
Roseanne Barr was born on November 3, 1952, and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. She began doing stand-up comedy at clubs in Denver and used her experiences as a wife and mother of three children as fodder for her routines. She became known for using the term “domestic goddess” to refer to a housewife. By the mid-1980s, Barr had risen to national fame, and in 1988 her self-titled TV show debuted on ABC.
During her years on TV, the outspoken Barr became a tabloid target, and her family, personal appearance and romantic relationships were all heavily scrutinized. Barr was married to her second husband, the actor Tom Arnold, from 1990 to 1994. From 1995 to 2002, she was married to Ben Thomas, who worked as her security guard. In June 1990, Barr stirred up controversy when she performed a screeching, off-key version of the “Star Spangled Banner” at a Major League baseball game in San Diego. After her song, she spit and grabbed her crotch in what she said was a humorous imitation of baseball players. She was heavily criticized for the incident, which was later parodied on multiple occasions, including by Barr herself.
The final original episode of Roseanne aired on May 20, 1997. Barr went on to host her own talk show, from 1998 to 2000, and has subsequently been involved in a variety of film and television projects.
October 21, 1962
Chubby Checker sings his 1960 No. 1 hit, "The Twist," on Ed Sullivan's variety show.
His appearance boosted sales of the record, which became increasingly popular until January, when the song hit No. 1 again, making "The Twist" the only record ever to top the charts twice. The song is still considered one of the most successful singles of all time, having stayed in the Top 100 charts for 39 weeks.
October 22, 1942
Annette Funicello is born in Utica, New York. Funicello became a featured Mouseketeer on Disney's Mickey Mouse Club and later starred in several Disney features, including The Shaggy Dog (1959).
Her popularity continued into her teenage years. She starred in a series of beach movies with singer Frankie Avalon, including Beach Party in 1963 and Muscle Beach Party in 1964. Decades later, the pair reunited in Back to the Beach (1987).
October 23, 1925
Talk show host Johnny Carson is born in Corning, Iowa.
After studying journalism in college, Carson began working in radio and television. He began writing for TV shows in the 1950s and hosted his own show, Carson's Cellar, in 1951. He began occasionally guest hosting for Jack Paar on The Tonight Show and became the show's permanent host in 1962. He retired in 1992 and died in Los Angeles on January 23, 2005.
To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Barbara Billingsley
Barbara Billingsley died died today, two months before her 95th birthday. She was best-known role, that of June Cleaver on Leave it to Beaver and its sequel Still the Beaver (also known as The New Leave It to Beaver).With a year at Los Angeles Junior College behind her, Billingsley traveled to Broadway, when Straw Hat, a revue in which she was appearing, attracted enough attention to send it to New York. When, after five days, the show closed, she took an apartment on 57th Street and went to work as a $60-a-week fashion model. She also landed a contract with MGM Studios in 1945. While in one of William Self's plays, she followed Ronald Reagan, after co-starring in one of her plays.
She usually had uncredited roles in major motion picture productions in the 1940s. These roles continued into the first half of the 1950s with The Bad and the Beautiful, Three Guys Named Mike, opposite Jane Wyman, as well as the sci-fi story Invaders from Mars (1953). Her film experience led to roles on the sitcoms Professional Father (with Stephen Dunne and Beverly Washburn) and The Brothers as well as an appearance with David Niven on his anthology series Four Star Playhouse. In 1957, she guest starred in the episode "That Magazine" of the CBS sitcom Mr. Adams and Eve, starring Howard Duff and Ida Lupino. She co-starred opposite Dean Stockwell and Natalie Trundy in The Careless Years, which was her first and only major role in the movies.
In 1952, Billingsley had her first guest-starring role on an episode of The Abbott and Costello Show. The part led to other roles on The Lone Wolf, two episodes of City Detective, The Pride of the Family, Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, Letter to Loretta, General Electric Summer Originals, You Are There, Cavalcade of America, Panic!, Mr. Adams and Eve, The Love Boat, Silver Spoons, Parker Lewis Can't Lose, Mike Hammer, Empty Nest, among many others. She reprised her June Cleaver role three times, in Amazing Stories, Baby Boom and Roseanne. She also guest-starred on an episode of Make Room For Daddy, which she played the character of Danny Thomas's TV date, which producers strongly considered casting her as his second wife, though they decided against it.
After Billingsley signed a contract with Universal Studios in 1957, she made her mark on TV as everyday mother June Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver, which proved to be a match for other 1950s family sitcoms such as Father Knows Best, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Make Room For Daddy and The Donna Reed Show. It debuted on CBS in 1957, to mediocre ratings and was soon cancelled. However, the show moved to ABC the following year and stayed there for the next five seasons. The show was featured in over 100 countries. Also starring on Beaver were Hugh Beaumont, in the role of Ward Cleaver, June's husband and the kids' father, as well as two unfamiliar child actors, Tony Dow in the role of Wally Cleaver and Jerry Mathers as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver.
In the show, Billingsley often could be seen doing household chores wearing pearls and earrings. The pearls were her idea, which in real-life is actually her trademark. The actress has what she termed "a hollow" on her neck and thought that wearing a strand of pearls could cover it up for the cameras. In later seasons of the show, she also started wearing high heels to compensate for the fact that the actors who played her sons were growing up and getting taller than she was. The sitcom proved to be very lucrative for Billingsley.
After six seasons and 234 episodes, the still-popular series was finally canceled due to Billingsley and the rest of her castmates wanting to move on to other projects, especially Mathers, who retired from acting to enter his freshman year in high school. All the Leave It to Beaver actors got along well on-camera and off with Billingsley, especially Mathers, who once stated: "Barbara Billingsley has always been great. Barbara Billingsley is one of my favorite people, and she knows it."
After the show's cancellation, Mathers remained her close friend for over 45 years. They were reunited on The New Leave It to Beaver. Billingsley, Mathers, Dow, Frank Bank and Ken Osmond also celebrated the show's 50th anniversary.
When production of the show ended in 1963, Billingsley had become typecast as saccharine sweet and had trouble obtaining acting jobs for years. She traveled extensively abroad until the late 1970s. After an absence of 17 years from the public eye (other than appearing in two episodes of The F.B.I. in 1971), Billingsley spoofed her wholesome image with a brief appearance in the comedy Airplane! (1980), as a passenger who could "speak jive". She became the voice of Nanny and The Little Train on Muppet Babies from 1984 to 1991.
Billingsley appeared with Robin Williams and Pam Dawber in a 1982 episode of Mork & Mindy. She appeared in a Leave It to Beaver reunion television movie entitled Still the Beaver in 1983. Hugh Beaumont had died the year before of a heart attack, so she played the widow. She also appeared in the subsequent revival of the series, The New Leave It to Beaver (1985–1989). In the 1997 film version of Leave It to Beaver, Billingsley played the character "Aunt Martha". In 1998, she appeared on Candid Camera, along with June Lockhart and Isabel Sanford, as audience members in a spoof seminar on motherhood.
To quote June Cleaver, "Ward, I'm very worried about the Beaver".Well Good Night Mrs. Cleaver
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
Directed by Ron Satlof: Next on TV CONFIDENTIAL
Emmy-and-Oscar-nominated director Ron Satlof will join us on the next edition of TV CONFIDENTIAL, premiering Monday, Oct. 18 at 9pm ET, 6pm PT on Shokus Internet Radio, with encore presentations Tuesday, Oct. 19 at 11:05pm ET, 8:05pm on PIV World Radio, Friday, Oct. 22 at 7pm ET and PT on Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org, plus three times a day on ShokusRadio.com through Sunday, Oct. 24.
Long active in network television as a producer and director, Ron Satlof produced the long-running NBC detective series McCloud starring Dennis Weaver, for which he received an Emmy nomination, as well as directed episodes of such popular series as Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones, Quincy, M.E., The Amazing Spiderman, Magnum, p.i., The A Team, Hunter, Jake and the Fatman and Diagnosis Murder, as well as the Perry Mason TV movies from the late 1980s. Ron's latest movie is Misconceptions, a comedy-drama about the changing perceptions of family that also touches on topical social issues. We'll be talking about this and more when Ron joins us in our second hour.
In our first hour, we'll continue our look at some of the recent network television premieres, as well as read comments from listeners.
If you have thoughts on any of the new fall series, and would like to be part of our conversation, send us an email at talk@tvconfidential.net. We will incorporate your comments into the program on our next show.
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Tuesdays 11:05pm, 8:05pm PTPIV World Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Three times a day, every day on Shokus Internet Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
Find us now on Facebook
Long active in network television as a producer and director, Ron Satlof produced the long-running NBC detective series McCloud starring Dennis Weaver, for which he received an Emmy nomination, as well as directed episodes of such popular series as Hawaii Five-O, Barnaby Jones, Quincy, M.E., The Amazing Spiderman, Magnum, p.i., The A Team, Hunter, Jake and the Fatman and Diagnosis Murder, as well as the Perry Mason TV movies from the late 1980s. Ron's latest movie is Misconceptions, a comedy-drama about the changing perceptions of family that also touches on topical social issues. We'll be talking about this and more when Ron joins us in our second hour.
In our first hour, we'll continue our look at some of the recent network television premieres, as well as read comments from listeners.
If you have thoughts on any of the new fall series, and would like to be part of our conversation, send us an email at talk@tvconfidential.net. We will incorporate your comments into the program on our next show.
TV CONFIDENTIAL: A radio talk show about television
Tuesdays 11:05pm, 8:05pm PTPIV World Radio
Fridays 7pm ET and PT Share-a-Vision Radio, KSAV.org
Three times a day, every day on Shokus Internet Radio
www.tvconfidential.net
blog.tvconfidential.net
Also available as a podcast via iTunes and FeedBurner
Find us now on Facebook
Friday, October 15, 2010
Your Mental Sorbet: ABBOTT & COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN
Here is another "Mental Sorbet" that we could use to momentarily forget about those things that leave a bad taste in our mouths.The 1948 comedy horror film directed by Charles Barton and starring the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. It is the first of several films where the comedy duo meets classic characters from Universal's horror film stable. In this film, they encounter Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and the Wolf Man.
1n 1959 Castle starts selling condensations of their horror films, beginning with Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.
Stay Tuned
Tony Figueroa
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