The Ornery Boss

Edward Andrews had an amazing career. He was always the ornery boss or crabby father or the slight untrustworthy executive.  He worked a lot once hit his 40's until that time he managed to get by but when he came to his age he rocketed to character actor stardom. 
Edward Andrews was born in Georgia in 1914 to an Episcopal minster and moved many times throughout his childhood. After studying at the University of Virginia Andres made his Broadway debut in 1935 at the age of 21. He toiled in the New York theater scene until he was in his 40's and made the move to Hollywood. Andrews appeared in films such as "Send Me No Flowers" with Rock Hudson and Doris Day, "Elmer Gantry", "How to Frame a Figg", "Tora,Tora,Tora" the list goes on and on.
Andrews also did lots of television. He was a constant on sitcoms and in dramas. He also had reoccurring roles including a regular role in the 60's drama Broadside on ABC. He once played a drug dealing mortician on "Mod Squad".  One of his last roles was Jack Tripper's grandfather on "Threes Company".
Edward Andrews died in 1985 from a heart attack. He was 70 years old.

Kravitz vs Kravitz

When one thinks nosy neighbor the first thing you think of is Gladys Kravitz the neighbor of Samantha and Darren Stephens on the television show "Bewitched". Mrs. Kravitz was played by two women the first was Lice Pearce from 1964 until her death at age 48 in 1966. She was replaced by Sandra Gould who played the role until the shows ending in 1971.

Both actresses played the nosy neighbor to the hilt. Pearce played the role a little more manically than Gould. Gould's Gladys Kravitz was more insane and institutionalized. They both played Mrs. Kravitz hilariously. She is the one mortal character on the show who was  aware that there was something funny going on in the house across the street. Her long suffering husband Abner tolerated her but also thought she was insane. 

The last of the "Two Fat Ladies" has died

Clarissa Theresa Philomena Aileen Mary Josephine Agnes Elsie Trilby Louise Esmeralda Dickson Wright, 66, died today in Scotland.   Known for her BBC television Show "Two Fat Ladies" died in an hospital in Edinburgh of a long illness. She started her career in law but because of an alcohol problem she could no longer "work in the law". Dickson Wright went on to open two very successful bookstores in London and Edinburgh. It was there she was discovered and asked to do the cooking show with Jennifer Patterson. They didn't know each other until the show. Clarissa was surprised by the success of the show as she had never written a cookbook.
She was also cast in an episode of "Absolutely Fabulous" as a games keeper in a country lodge.

Oscar Madison Who Played Him Better

The other day I happened to see the 1969 film version of "The Odd Couple". I had forgotten that Walter Matthau had played the role of Oscar Madison. Not only did he play the role in the movie he originated the role on Broadway. Funnily enough he was replace on Broadway with Jack Klugman who made the role of Oscar his own in the 1970's television series.
I then had to re-watch some Odd Couple episodes and my conundrum is who played Oscar best. I decided that as it was originally written Matthau's version is masterful but Klugman's version is more fully fleshed out as he had more time and situations to be in. 

My Guilty Pleasure

I should be ashamed to say this but oddly I am not. I am obsessed with the Home and Garden Channel's shows especially House Hunters and House Hunter's International. If i had to pick House International is my favorite. The thing I really like is the American's moving to Europe and Asia leaving their suburban tract houses to live in a foreign land but wanting their split level ranch house.  There always seems to be one of the couple who is pretty much a pill when the real estate agents show them properties. The wives all seem to want huge kitchens and the husbands all seem to want enormous showers and "man caves". They always seemed shocked that Parisian apartments are small or expensive or Asian homes are tiny. It is like they have never been to the country they are moving to. One of my favorite things is the shock over refrigerators. It seems Americans are also obsessed with closet space.
I do wish Home and Garden would do some reverse shows with Europeans moving to the US to see what it is they are appalled by. What do we take for granted that foreigners find horrid? 

Julia

There was a time on American television that African American actors were relegated to playing servants and criminals. This changed on September 17, 1968 when the sitcom "Julia" premiered starring Diahann Carroll. Ms. Carroll didn't play a maid she played Julia, a nurse in a doctors office.  Julia was also a widow with a young son. Her husband had been in the army and killed in Viet Nam.
On the show Ms. Carroll worked in the office of a doctor played by the always curmudgeonly  Lloyd Nolan. Her son Corey was played by Marc Copage.
Julia was a hit and Ms. Carroll won an Emmy Award for her performance. It did have its critics who claimed that the show was too white and that Diahann Carroll was not black enough. It was derided in Gil Scott-Heron's song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". The show ran for three seasons and ended when both Ms. Carroll and the show's creator Hal Kanter decided they had other projects that captured their interests.
Julia has been re-run on various networks showing old shows from time to time. It is a sweet comedy and worth the watch.

Nora (Dodo) Denney

If you were a kid in the 1970's you know the face of Nora (Dodo) Denney. Dodo Denney was Mrs. Teevee the elementary school teacher mother of Mike Teevee in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". She played the sort of know it all mother of TV obsessed Mike who does not enjoy her trip to the Wonka factory. 
Dodo Denney was a comic character actress and through out the 1960's and 70's she appeared on scores of television shows like "Green Acres", "Bewitched" and "Get Smart". Her career started out in Kansas City, MO where she was Marilyn the Witch a hostess of horror movies. She moved to Los Angeles in the 60's and started acting in sitcoms and then made for TV Movies. It was in 1971 when she got the role in Willy Wonka only after the producers first choice Jean Stapleton couldn't take the role as she was signed to "All in the Family".
Dodo was married to Alan Denney a successful art director and greeting card designer. She had two sons John and Dix Denney the founders of the seminal LA punk rock band The Weirdos.
After her husband died she retired to the Lake Arrowhead area and became an expert gardener. Nora Dodo Denney died in November of 2005 in her home. She was 78 at the time of her death.

Bay Area TV and Radio Personality Jerry Graham Has Died

I found out from a Facebook posting that long time Jerry Graham has died from a heart attack at age 78 in his Santa Cruz home. Jerry was the host of the iconic Bay Are Backroads on local San Francisco television station KRON starting in 1983. Jerry would hop into the car with his camera man and head out onto the byways of the Bay Area interviewing people and finding oddities and treasures along the way. His show was not unlike Huell Howser's "California's Gold" but was more Bay Area-centric.
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana with the name Gerald Granowsky he got a degree in Radio-TV Production and started his career in the mid-west. Jerry changed his name to Graham when he got his first job as his given named was deemed to difficult to pronounce. He was old school TV-radio you did everything. He hosted a kids show, call in shows and Weatherman he is most remembered for both his career at KSAN and KRON in the Bay Area.
Jerry Graham was a Bay Area gem!

Shopping for Freaks

Are you a freak? Normally that is a rude question but if you are a freak and you know you are and admit it; there is a store for you. If you are a real freak you already know about it but if you are a closet freak you might not know about Obscura. Obscura is a shop in the East Village of Manhattan and has its own TV show called "Oddities" on the Science Channel.
Do you need a mummified something or other or maybe a demonic whatnot? Mike Zohn and Evan Michelson might be able to help you out. Maybe you have an evil clown or maybe a two headed pig you would like to get rid of; they might just take it off you hands. So you need to get yourself down to 207 Ave. A in the East Village and check this joint out. If for some reason you don't find yourself below 13th St in Manhattan very often you can check out their show on TV.
The television show itself is a total laugh riot and filled with freaks and kooks who so know how freaky and kooky they are. many of the people appearing on the show are performers and side show freaks. The staff of Obscura obviously love them and cultivate a coterie of kooks. The shop is a hot spot of the off beat and it sells things no one needs but they want. I guess someone might need the things they sell but that is a special kind of shopper.
The show is a lot of fun to watch and is presented in a tongue in cheek manner that it not at all insulting to the people they encounter but it rather regals their clientele. The people who come onto the show know stuff you probably don't know and make you want to hear what they have to say. Some of their customers are off putting but when you listen to them they really shine. There is a very Punk Rock esthetic to the place, staff and clientele.
So get your freaky ass self down to the East Village and check them out or watch the show on The Science Channel.

I'll Take Paul Lynde to Block

One of the most iconic American game show is "Hollywood Squares".  Anyone could play and win the format was the simple Tic Tac Toe game with a celebrity twist. The large square set with it's nine cubicles and spiral staircases is the ultimate in simplicity. Each square held a celebrity and contestants either agreed or disagreed with them. Mr X and Miss Circle picked celebrities and host Peter Marshall would ask a question. The celebrity than answered and it was the contestants job to decide if they were right or wrong. The celebrities were often given the questions before hand so they could come up with witty bon mots or have the shows writers supply them with something funny. Many of the celebrity guests were know for their fast thinking humor and supplied their own retorts. Paul Lynde, the center square, was a master of the fast and funny double entendre. Over the show's 15 year intital run there were many regular celebrities such as Rose Marie who answered questions about romance or lack there of, Charlie Weaver who answered history questions, George Goeble who was often asked questions about being old and Charo who's questions were about her mangling of English.
Hollywood Square ran from 1966 to 1981 with Peter Marshall as the host and to tbe fair there were later incarnations with different hosts but the original was always the best.

Peter Marshall: Paul, Why do Hell's Angels wear leather?
Paul Lynde: Because Chiffon wrinkles so easily.

Maila Nurmi aka Vampira

The original queen of the dead way before Elvira was Vampira. Maila Nurmi was Vampira movie hostess and actress. She was born in Finland in 1922 and moved to the US when she was two. Vampira was raised in Ohio before moving to Oregon and then finally finding herself in Los Angeles in late 1940's. She worked as a model for some major photographers but never hit the big time. It was when at a costume party dressed in an outfit inspired by Mortcia Addams in 1953 she was discovered. Television producer Hunt Stromberg was at the party and looking for a woman to host a night time horror movie show for local Los Angeles television. He had one problem he didn't know her name. Stromberg eventually hunted her down by asking fashion design Rudi Gernreich. Gernreich had her number. The character's name was thought of by her then husband screen writer Heny Reisner. Vampira based her character partly on the Evil Queen from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"
"Dig Me Later" was the name of the first show Vampira hosted. It aired on April 30, 1953. The next night her regular weekly show started airing. On the show she would introduce and mock the horror movies that ran. The show would open with her walking down a long corridor in clouds of dry ice. She would lounge on a sofa and make bad jokes and ghoulish puns. The show was a hit! Vampira would drive around Hollywood in the back of an old chauffeur-driven 1932 Packard touring car with the top down, where she sat holding a black parasol. She also ran for Night Mayor of Hollywood on a platform of dead issues.
The series was eventually cancelled but she retained rights to the name. She was Vampira. Later there was yet another TV show that was nationally known. She hosted nights of Universal's horror films. She was nominated for an Emmy.
Later she made a handful of terrible but ever so good movies. Most of them are classics now. Her most famous being Ed Wood's "Plan 9 From Outer Space".
Around the time she was becoming famous she would hang out in Googie's Coffee Shop and became friendly with actor James Dean. They claimed to share the same neuroses. It was during this time a crazed fan broke into her apartment and terrorized her.
In the 1960's Maila was making her living installing linoleum flooring. Later she opened a shop on Melrose called Vampira's Closet. She also designed and made clothes. Grace Slick was one of her customers.
In 1981 was signed to be a producer of a new show reviving the Vampira character but the other producers suddenly hired Cassandra Peterson with out consulting Nurmi. She abruptly walked away taking the name with her. Elvira was born. Vampira sued Elvira but lost.

Vampira died in her home in 2008, she was 85 years old. Her remains are in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

The Price is Rude

The long running game show "The Price is Right" just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Bob Barker the host for 35 of those 40 years wasn't asked to be involved with the show. The show included past participants and winners but not the long time host. They did show clips of him but he was not invited to attend the taping which is shot oddly enough in the Bob Barker Studio at CBS. Bob Barker has long been a supporter of PETA and has donated millions of dollars to animal rights causes. He closed every show with a plea to spay and neuter pets.

Bob Barker is the longest running host of any game show. Mr Barker was also the first TV host to not dye his hair but to let it go white. In the 1990's Bob Barker and the "Price is Right" were sued by a handful of models and female production staff for wrongful termination and sexual harrassment.
It still would have been nice to invite Bob Barker to attend the taping of the anniversary show. When asked about his exclusion Bob Barker said he was "fine" with it.

Give it up for Ruth Buzzi

Ruth Buzzi needs to be given more respect! She was a riot and frankly still is. Ruth Buzzi was an comic actress most famous for her stint on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" and her most famous of character's Gladys Ormphby, spinster. Buzzi was a fixture on Laugh-In after making her mark on  The Steve Allen and  Gary Moore Shows.

Born in Westerly, Rhode Island and raised a minute away in Stonington, Connecticut Ruth Buzzi studied acting at the Pasadena Playhouse. She appeared on Broadway and did a lot of TV appearances.One of her first big roles was on "That Girl" playing Marlo Thomas' friend. After Laugh-In she went on to do a Sid and Marty Kroft show co-starring with Jim Nabors. Buzzi has notably made appearances on The Muppet Show and Sesame Street where she played Ruthie on many episodes.

Despite all of her later work she will forever be remembered as an original Laugh-in cast member. She along with Joanne Worley, Goldie Hawn, Atre Johnson and Lily Tomlin and many others went on to be stars because of that short run show but ground breaking show.

Have you ever Heard of Huell Howser?

If you don't watch much Californian Public Television you most likely haven't heard of Huell Howser. If you have you most definitely do know who Huell is.  Huell Howser is a true "gee golly" television presenter. He is based out of Los Angeles' KCET studios. His shows are presented on all the PBS stations in California. Some may deride him for being too corny but that is really part of his charm.
Huell is a native of Tennessee and there is no doubt about it he is a good ole southern boy. Not the scary kind but the Mayberry kind of good ole boy. Ah Shucks! The thing is; he is the real thing. Well as real as Hollywood gets. Huell does hale from a small town in Tennessee, he got a BA in history from University of Tennessee. His career started in the local news doing Human Interest Stories. He moved to Los Angeles in 1981 when he started with KCET. Noted for restating the obvious Huell asks some of the least probing questions. When on a chicken farm he is will ask the chicken farmer "This is a Chicken Farm, you farm chickens here don't you?" You have to love him or hate him for that. Oddly he is loved as well as being hated by the viewing public. If you are a kid he is so cool until you are about 9 or 10 years old. Then he's annoying until you are about 30. Then he is a riot.

Huell was also once buff! Very buff. He adapted to the LA lifestyle very well. Huell lives in a swanky old school Hollywood building in Hancock Park. El Royale gleams at night in neon for all to see. Palm Springs and its mid-century modern architecture has also drawn Howser. A long term bachelor Huell isn't a swinger but he can get into any place in LA he wants. He's Huell Howser and Hollywood loves a celebrity.

Antenna TV Retro TV at its Best

There is a television network I am obessed with. It is Antenna TV. Launched in January of 2011 Antenna TV broadcasts old televisions shows from the 50's, 60's 70's and the 80's. If you love old television this is the network for you. AntennaTV is not avialable in every market but it is expanding. I have always been a huge fan of Gracie Allen and because of this networks reruns of "The Burns and Allen Show" I am able to watch her on a nightly basis. Old television programs like "Adam 12" and "Dragnet" play daily as do "Hazel", "Alfred Hitchcock Presents", "Too Close for Comfort" and "McHale's Navy". There are also movies there is an upcoming Gidget movie marathon. Keeping with the retro style Antenna TV also uses the voice over talent of Gary Owens of "Laugh In" fame. The majority of the programming comes from the Sony Pictures library. Most recently Universal's library has also been added. So if you want to reaquaint your self with "Soap" or the genius comedies of Norman Lear this is the station for you!

A New Version of the Munsters

It has been announced that NBC is remaking the Munsters. This time instead of it being a half an hour comedy it will be an hour long drama. This seems counter intuitive. Why would you take a very funny show and make it into a drama. Why would you make a drama about a vampire, a Frankenstienesque monster, his vampira wife and their werewolf son into a drama/ Then it gets even weirder. Jerry O'Connell is slated to play Herman and Eddy Izzard has been signed to play Grandpa. This just seems doomed to fail. Maybe it is genius but common sense says no it is a huge mistake.
The original was an iconic comedy of the 1960's. There was a dreadful attempt at a remake in the 1980's that was so bad that only the laugh track got laughs. The new version is being called "Mockingbird Lane". The producers are saying it will be Gothic and "Harry Potter" like version with the family just living in an American neighborhood. Perhaps it will be a hit but is just seems doomed.

Mrs. Brown's Boys

I was sent a link to a you-tube video this week and I am now obsessed with a new TV show. Mrs. Brown's Boys. Created by Irish writer and performer Brenden O'Carroll Mrs. Brown's Boys is a co-production between Ireland's RTE and BBC Scotland. Sitcoms on the BBC have more of an edge than most American sitcoms and Mrs. Brown's Boys has a sharper edge than most BBC sitcoms.
Mrs. Brown's Boys is adapted from a series of books written by Brenden O'Carroll the cast of the show is mainly made up of members of his family. Brenden O'Carroll himself plays the lead character Agnes Brown. Mrs. Brown is a tart nasty mouthed matriarch with 4 sons and a daughter living in Dublin. There is also Grandad Agnes' father-in-law her senile nemesis living in her home. Winnie McGoogan is Agnes's best friend and slow witted next door neighbor. Relationships with her children and Winnie are the basises of the plot. Agnes loves them but tortures them with her insanity. If you don't like bad language you won't care for Mrs. Brown. She is filthy mouthed but hysterically funny. Unfortunately Mrs. Brown's Boys isn't available in the US on anything other than DVD or short you-tube clips.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U430rpfjIIQ&feature=BFa&list=SPB45CC9BA4B4A72BC

Click the link to see Mrs. Brown in action!