Della Reese

So whatever it is you want,

need or desire or just like to have,

you better try to get it now,

'cause this is the only time there is.

-Della Reese

Della Reese
July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017

Della Reese died yesterday at her home in California. Della Reese was born Delloreese Patricia Early on July 6, 1931, in the historic Black Bottom neighborhood of Detroit, Michigan. At the age of 13, she was hired to sing with Mahalia Jackson's gospel group. Delloreese entered Detroit's popular Cass Technical High School (where she attended the same year as Edna Rae Gillooly, later known as Ellen Burstyn). She also continued with her touring with Jackson. With higher grades, she was the first in her family to graduate from high school in 1947, at only 15.

Afterwards, she formed her own gospel group, the Meditation Singers. However, due in part to the death of her mother and her father's serious illness, Reese had to interrupt her schooling at Wayne State University to help support her family. Faithful to the memory of her mother, Delloreese moved out of her father's house when she disapproved of him taking up with a new girlfriend. She then took on odd jobs, such as truck driver, dental receptionist, and elevator operator, after 1949. Performing in clubs, Early soon decided to shorten her name from "Delloreese Early" to "Della Reese".

In 1969, she began a transition into acting work which would eventually lead to her highest profile. Her first attempt at television stardom was a talk show series, Della, which was cancelled after 197 episodes (June 9, 1969 – March 13, 1970).

In 1970, Reese became the first black woman to guest host The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She appeared in several TV movies and miniseries, was a regular on Chico and the Man and played the mother of B. A. Baracus in The A-Team episode "Lease with an Option to Die". In 1991, she starred opposite her old friend Redd Foxx in his final sitcom, The Royal Family, but his death halted production of the series for several months. Reese also did voice-over for the late 1980s Hanna-Barbera animated series A Pup Named Scooby-Doo on ABC. In 1989, she starred alongside Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx in the film Harlem Nights, in which she performed a fight scene with Eddie Murphy. Reese appeared as a panelist on several episodes of the popular television game show Match Game.

Reese has had a wide variety of guest-starring roles, beginning with an episode of The Mod Squad. This led to other roles in such series as: The Bold Ones: The New Doctors, Getting Together, Police Woman,Petrocelli, Joe Forrester, Police Story, The Rookies, McCloud, Sanford and Son with old friend Redd Foxx, Vega$, Insight and two episodes of The Love Boat. She also had a recurring role on It Takes Two opposite Richard Crenna and Patty Duke, three episodes of Crazy Like a Fox, four episodes of Charlie & Co. opposite Flip Wilson, 227 with best friend Marla Gibbs, MacGyver, Night Court, Dream On,Designing Women, Picket Fences, Disney Channel's That's So Raven and The Young and the Restless.

After coping with the death of one of her best friends, Redd Foxx, in 1991, she was reluctant to play an older female lead in the inspirational television drama Touched by an Angel, but went ahead and auditioned for the role of Tess. She wanted to have a one-shot agreement between CBS and producer Martha Williamson, but ordered more episodes. Reese was widely seen as a key component of the show's success. Already starring on Touched by an Angel was the lesser-known Irish actress Roma Downey, who played the role of case worker Tess's angel/employee, Monica. In numerous interviews, there was an on- and off-screen chemistry between both Reese and Downey.

The character of Tess was the angelic supervisor who sent the other angels out on missions to help people redeem their lives and show them God's love, while at the same time, she was sassy and had a no-nonsense attitude. The show often featured a climactic monologue delivered by the angel Monica in which she reveals herself as an angel to a human with the words: "I am an angel sent by God to tell you that He loves you." The character of Tess was portrayed by Reese as down-to-earth, experienced and direct. Reese also sang the show's theme song, "Walk with You", and was featured prominently on the soundtrack album produced in conjunction with the show.

During its first season in 1994, many critics were skeptical about the show, it being the second overtly religious prime-time fantasy series, after Highway to Heaven. The show had a rocky start, low ratings and was cancelled 11 episodes into the first season. However, with the help of a massive letter-writing campaign, the show was resuscitated the following season and became a huge ratings winner for the next seven seasons. At the beginning of the fourth season in 1997, Reese threatened to leave the show because she was making less than her co-stars; CBS ended up raising her salary. Touched by an Angel was cancelled in 2003, but it continued re-running heavily in syndication and on Ion Television (formerly PAX-TV), The Hallmark Channel, Up, and later MeTV.

Good Night Ms. Reese

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: November 2017 PART III

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.

November 20, 1942

Stewart Robert "Bob" Einstein is born. 

Actor and comedy writer who portrayed the fictional stuntman Super Dave Osborne.

Einstein got his start as a writer on several TV variety shows, including The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour. Einstein is also known for his roles as Marty Funkhouser in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Larry Middleman on Arrested Development.

He won two Emmy Awards as a writer and was nominated four other times. He also won a CableACE Award for acting as Super Dave, along with five other nominations. His parents were the comic Harry Einstein, best known for playing the character Parkyakarkus on radio and in the movies, and the actress-singer Thelma Leeds. His younger brother is comedian and writer Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein), and his older brother, Cliff Einstein, is a retired advertising executive in Los Angeles.

November 21, 1937

Margaret Julia ”Marlo“ Thomas is born. 

Actress, producer, and social activist known for her starring role on the TV series That Girl (1966–1971) and her award-winning feminist children’s franchise, Free to Be… You and Me. 

For her work in television, she has received four Emmys, a Golden Globe, the George Foster Peabody Award and has been inducted into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. 

She also received a Grammy award for her children’s album Thanks & Giving All Year Long.

November 21, 1972

Maude's Dilemma Part two. 

Maude Findlay (Beatrice Arthur) discovers she is pregnant and opts for an abortion. To comfort Maude, her grown daughter said "When you were young, abortion was a dirty word. It's not anymore."

Two CBS affiliates canceled the episodes and 32 CBS affiliates were pressured not to rerun the segments in the summer of 1973 by anti-abortion factions.
The second airing of the program gave the show a 41 percent share with 65 million people tuning in. The first time the show aired CBS received 7,000 letters; the second time around 17,000 letters of protest poured in.

This program appeared at a time when the Supreme Court had not yet protected legalized abortion (The Roe vs. Wade decision was still one year away). Reportedly, Pro-Life groups mailed Norman Lear photographs of aborted fetuses in protest. 

November 22, 1932

Robert Francis Vaughn is born. 

Actor noted for his stage, film and television work. His best-known TV roles include the suave spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the wealthy detective Harry Rule in the 1970s series The Protectors. In film, he portrayed one of the title characters in The Magnificent Seven and Major Paul Krueger in The Bridge at Remagen, and provided the voice of Proteus IV, the computer villain of Demon Seed.

November 23, 2012

Larry Hagman, star of "Dallas" and "I Dream of Jeannie," dies.

Larry Hagman dies at age 81 of complications from cancer at a hospital in Dallas. Hagman was best known for his role as the villainous Texas oil baron J.R. Ewing on “Dallas,” which aired from 1978 to 1991 and was revived in 2012.

November 25, 1947

John Bernard Larroquette III is born. 

His roles include Dan Fielding on the 1984–1992 sitcom Night Court (winning a then-unprecedented four consecutive Emmy Awards for his role), Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, Lionel Tribbey on The West Wing and Carl Sack in Boston Legal.

November 26, 1922

Cartoonist Charles M. Schulz is born in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

The son of a barber, Schulz showed an early interest in art and took a correspondence course in cartooning. After serving in the army in World War II, Schulz returned to St. Paul and took a job lettering comics for a small magazine. In 1947, Schulz began drawing a comic strip for the St. Paul Pioneer Press called "L'il Folks," featuring Charlie Brown and his gang of friends. In 1950, after several rejections, Schulz sold syndication rights to United Features, which renamed the strip "Peanuts." Schulz drew the comic himself, without assistants, until his retirement in 1999. Peanuts ran in some 2,600 papers, in 75 countries and 21 languages, earning Schulz some $30 million a year. Schulz died in 2000.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: B.C. The First Thanksgiving (1973)

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

The characters were featured in two animated television specials. B.C.: The First Thanksgiving, first aired on NBC in 1973, was directed by Abe Levitow, and featured the voice talents of Daws Butler (as B.C. and Clumsy), Don Messick as Peter and Thor, Bob Holt as Wiley and Grog, and Joanie Sommers as Fat Broad and Cute Chick.

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: November 2017 PART II

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.

November 18, 1942

Linda Evans is born. 

Known primarily for her roles on television. In the 1960s, she first gained fame after playing Audra Barkley in the Western television series, The Big Valley (1965–1969). 

However she is most prominently known for the role of Krystle Carrington in the 1980s ABC prime time soap opera Dynasty, a role she played from 1981 to 1989.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

Your Mental Sorbet: Garfield's Thanksgiving

Here is another "Mental Sorbet" 

A little spark of madness

that we could use to momentarily forget about those

things that leave a bad taste in our mouths

Garfield's Thanksgiving is a 1989 animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast November 22, 1989 on CBS. It has been released on both VHS and DVD home video. On overseas DVD copies of Garfield's Holiday Celebrations, this special is replaced with Garfield in the Rough.

Stay Tuned


Tony Figueroa

John Hillerman

John Benedict HillermanDecember 20, 1932 – November 9, 2017

John Hillerman died today at his home in Houston at the age of 84. He was in declining health with the cause of death remaining undisclosed.

Hillerman was born in Denison, Texas, the son of Christopher Benedict Hillerman, a gas station owner, and Lenora Joan (née Medlinger). His father was the grandson of immigrants from Germany and France. His mother was the daughter of immigrants from Austria and Germany.

When he was 10 years old, Hillerman developed an interest in opera; when he was 12, he took a train to see performances when Metropolitan Opera productions were presented in Dallas. Young Hillerman grew up in Denison and attended St. Xavier's Academy.

After graduation, he attended the University of Texas at Austin for three years, majoring in journalism.

In 1953, Hillerman joined the United States Air Force, working in maintenance in a B-36 wing of the Strategic Air Command. He served for four years and achieved the rank of Sergeant. During his years of military service, he worked with various theatrical groups. He said of his early work with a Fort Worth community theater group: "I was bored with barracks life. I got into it to meet people in town. A light went on." On his discharge he moved to New York City to study at the American Theatre Wing. In 1957, he began his career in professional theater.

had "more than 100 leading roles on and off Broadway". He appeared on Broadway in 1959 in both King Henry IV, Part II and The Great God Brown and worked in live performances in a variety of venues before making his motion picture debut in 1970.

Hillerman had roles in 20 films, including The Last Picture Show (1971), What's Up, Doc? (1972), High Plains Drifter (1973), Paper Moon (1973), Blazing Saddles (1974), and Chinatown (1974). His other roles include Lucky Lady (1975), At Long Last Love (1975), and a small appearance in the comedy film Up the Creek (1984).

was probably best remembered for his role as former British Army Sergeant Major Jonathan Quayle Higgins III ("Higgins") on the television series Magnum, P.I. (1980–88). Hillerman learned to speak with the English accent of Higgins as "he spent most of his days listening to a recorded Lawrence Olivier recite 'Hamlet.'" He had acted as Magnum's foil and often used Higgins's catchphrase, "Oh my God!" whenever Magnum did something Hillerman's character would probably call, "Utterly ridiculous and stupid!" In 1975, Hillerman was a co-star in Ellery Queen as Simon Brimmer, a radio detective who hosted a live radio show and tried to outsmart Ellery Queen (Jim Hutton). From 1976 to 1980, he had a recurring role as Mr. Conners on the television series One Day at a Time and he co-starred as Betty White's estranged husband on The Betty White Show (1977-1978).

In 1982, Hillerman played in the television pilot of Tales of the Gold Monkey, where he played a German villain by the name of "Fritz the Monocle".

In 1984, he hosted the David Hemmings-directed puzzle video Money Hunt: The Mystery of the Missing Link. In 1990, Hillerman returned to television to perform for one season as Lloyd Hogan in the series The Hogan Family. That same year, Hillerman portrayed Dr Watson to Edward Woodward's Sherlock Holmes in Hands of a Murderer.

In 1993, he appeared in Berlin Break for one season. He played the role of Mac Mackenzie, a former spy and currently the proprietor of "Mac's", a bar in West Berlinconsidered to be neutral territory during the Cold War. He teamed up with two jobless spies as investigators: Valentin Renko (Nicholas Clay), an ex-KGB agent, and Willy Richter (Kai Wulff), an ex-BND (West German secret service) operative. The show reunited him with Jeff MacKay, who portrayed "Mac" MacReynolds in Magnum P.I..

retired in 1999, and resided in his home state of Texas. Since 2010 until his death, he relied on a mobility scooter to get around.

Good Night Mr. Hillerman 

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa

This Week in Television History: November 2017 PART I

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.

November 6, 1967

Phil Donahue began a TV talk show in Dayton, OH. The show, "Donahue," was on the air for 29 years. 

In 1967, Phil Donahue left his positions as news reporter and interviewer at WHIO radio and television in Dayton and became the host of a new television program, Phil Donahue Show on WLWD (now WDTN), also in Dayton. His new program replaced The Johnny Gilbert Show, when Gilbert left on short notice for Los Angelesfor a hosting job. On November 6, 1967, Donahue hosted his first guest, atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair. Though he would later call her message of atheism "very important", he also stated she was rather unpleasant and that, off-camera, she mocked him for being Catholic.

Initially, the program was shown only on other stations owned by the Crosley Broadcasting Corporation (which would later take the name of its parent Avco Company), which also owned WLWD. But, on January 5, 1970, The Donahue Show entered nationwide syndication.

Donahue relocated the show's home base to Chicago in 1974, first housing it at then-independent station WGN-TV. Around this time the show's popularity increased, and in the process it became a national phenomenon. When the Avco Company divested their broadcasting properties in 1976, Multimedia Inc.assumed production and syndication of the program, which was now known as simply Donahue. In 1982, Donahue moved the show to CBS-owned WBBM-TV for its final years based in Chicago and the Midwest.

In 1984, Donahue introduced many viewers to hip-hop culture, as a program featured breakdancing for the first time on national television, accompanied by a performance from the hip hop group UTFO. In 1985, Donahue left Chicago for New York City and began recording in Studio 8-G at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the home of his New York affiliate WNBC-TV. Prior to the move, a month-long series of commercials heralded the move, and NBC's late-night talk host David Letterman would use portions of his national program counting down the days to Donahue's move with a huge calendar in his studio. One of the most talked-about incidents in Donahue's history came on January 21, 1985, soon after the show moved to New York. On this day's program, seven members of the audience appeared to faint during the broadcast, which was seen live in New York. Donahue, fearing the fainting was caused by both anxiety at being on television and an overheated studio, eventually cleared the studio of audience members and then resumed the show. It turned out the fainting "spell" was cooked up by media hoaxer Alan Abel in what Abel said was a protest against what he termed as poor-quality television.

In 1992, Donahue celebrated the 25th anniversary of his long-running television program with a NBC special produced at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York, in which he was lauded by his talk-show peers. Ironically, in many corners, he was seen as having been bypassed both by Oprah Winfrey, whose own hugely successful national show was based in Donahue's former Chicago home base; and Sally Jessy Raphael, whose own talk show was distributed by Do The talk show field became increasingly saturated as the 1990s progressed, leading to a decline in ratings. The show also lost support after Donahue expressed his feelings regarding the first Gulf War. In the fall of 1995, ABC-owned KGO-TV in San Francisco dropped Donahue after carrying it for several years and, weeks later, New York's WNBC-TV also canceled it. Donahue was also evicted from its Rockefeller Plaza home, and relocated to new studios in Manhattan. Many other stations, such as KTRK-TV (another ABC O&O) in Houston, and KYW-TV in Philadelphia either began dropping Donahue or moving it to late-night and early-morning time slots, causing a further loss of viewers. Donahue never aired on another station in New York or San Francisco, two of the largest U.S. television markets.

After 29 years (26 of which in syndication) and nearly 7,000 shows, the final episode aired on September 13, 1996, culminating in what continues to be the longest continuous run of any syndicated talk show in U.S. television history.

 nahue's syndicator, Multimedia.

The end of Donahue. The talk show field became increasingly saturated as the 1990s progressed, leading to a decline in ratings. The show also lost support after Donahue expressed his feelings regarding the first Gulf War. In the fall of 1995, ABC-owned KGO-TV in San Francisco dropped Donahue after carrying it for several years and, weeks later, New York's WNBC-TV also canceled it. Donahue was also evicted from its Rockefeller Plaza home, and relocated to new studios in Manhattan. Many other stations, such as KTRK-TV (another ABC O&O) in Houston, and KYW-TV in Philadelphia either began dropping Donahue or moving it to late-night and early-morning time slots, causing a further loss of viewers. Donahue never aired on another station in New York or San Francisco, two of the largest U.S. television markets.

After 29 years (26 of which in syndication) and nearly 7,000 shows, the final episode aired on September 13, 1996, culminating in what continues to be the longest continuous run of any syndicated talk show in U.S. television history.

November 7, 1957

Christopher Anton Knight is born. Best known for playing Peter Brady on the 1970s series, The Brady Bunch. He has since gone on to become a successful businessman and enjoyed a semi-resurgence in the public eye with television appearances in the 2000s. His father, Edward Knight, was also an actor.

November 8, 1972

Home Box Office, aka HBO, made its debut. The first film to run on pay cable service was Sometimes a Great Notion, an Oscar-nominated adaptation of the second novel by One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest author Ken Kesey starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda.

To quote the Bicentennial Minute, "And that's the way it was".

Stay Tuned

Tony Figueroa