TV treasures who are still with us (and some now sadly saying goodbye since this thread began)

[Mass Haas]

This is not a death-watch thread.

 

Simply acknowledging some of the TV favorites of my youth (and in subsequent repeats) who are still with us today --

 

I get a big kick that both Mr. and Mrs. Oleson of Little House on the Prairie (Richard Bull, Katherine McGregor) are still with us, 89 and 88, respectively. Guess Nellie and Willie weren't bad for longevity after all.

 

Al Molinaro of Happy Days fame (don't forget Odd Couple) is 94.

 

Wilbur!!! Mr. Ed's owner, Alan Young, is also 94. Sadly, we lost his TV wife, one of the most underrated TV hotties of all time, Connie Hines, in 2009 at age 78.

 

The original People's Court justice, Judge Joseph Wapner, is 94.

 

Yes, "Fish" is still alive, Barney Miller's Abe Vigoda, also of

, 92.

 

Monty Hall of "Let's Make A Deal" is dealing at 92.

 

Betty White is 91, or maybe you hadn't heard? She keeps such a low profile.

 

Thank you, Norman Lear, TV genius. 91.

 

Larry Storch (Agarn on F-Troop), is 90. My crush on "Wrangler Jane", Melody Patterson, continues -- she's only 64.

 

Rose Marie of the Dick Van Dyke Show, who always looked older than she was (sorry, Rose), is 90.

 

Mr. Dick Van Dyke himself is 88.

 

Yes, spayed and neutered, Bob Barker is with us at 90.

 

The Professor Lives! Russell Johnson of Gilligan's Island turned 89 last month.

 

The beloved June Lockhart of "Lassie" and "Lost in Space" is 88.

 

Robert Clary, Cpl. LeBeau on "Hogan's Heroes", is 87.

 

Mrs. Garrett of the Facts of Life, Charlotte Rae, is 87 (don't forget Diff'rent Strokes). On a baseball note, the Charlotte Rays of the Florida State League were named after her (they are now the Stone Crabs).

 

Ann B. Davis, everybody's favorite maid from the Brady Bunch, is 87.

 

Bill Daily, with quite the daily double via Major Healy on "I Dream of Jeannie" and Howard Borden on "The Bob Newhart Show", is 86.

 

Benson's Robert Guillaume is 86. Remember Soap?

 

Peter Marshall of Hollywood Squares, who of course gave baseball his son, Pete LaCock, is 86.

 

Jim Rockford, I mean James Garner, is 85, as is Ralph Waite (Waltons), Katherine Helmond (Soap, Who's the Boss?), and Orson Bean (Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and countless game shows).

 

Also 85? Adam West (Batman), Marion Ross (Mrs. C of Happy Days), and Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough).

 

***

 

Wondering about some of your favorites? Here's the "Dead or Alive" site.

[whizkid]

Charlotte Rae was born in Milwaukee and graduated from Shorewood HS. Al Molinaro was born in Kenosha and lived there into his 30s.

[chadomac]

Bob Newhart is still going strong at 84. I saw him a few weeks ago in Green Bay and he still has the timing and humor that made him famous many many years ago.

[1992casey]

Betty White is 91, or maybe you hadn't heard? She keeps such a low profile.

 

Fixed : Betty White is 91, or maybe you hadn't heard? [sarcasm]She keeps such a low profile.[/sarcasm]

 

We should add:

 

Cloris Leachman, 87, has been around forever and is remembered for many roles. She was Lassie's mother for one season before being replaced by June Lockhart in 1958. She's probably best remembered for her role as Phyllis on [cite]The Mary Tyler Moore Show[/cite] and [cite]Phyllis[/cite]. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in [cite]The Last Picture Show[/cite]. And you can't forget her role as Anthony Fremont's mother in the 1961 [cite]Twilight Zone[/cite] episode [cite]It's a Good Life[/cite] and its 2002 sequel [cite]It's Still a Good Life[/cite].

 

[cite]It's a Good Life[/cite] (free Hulu Link)

 

[cite]It's Still a Good Life[/cite] (full episode, YouTube):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnOjkJVLi_U

[hawing]

I'd have guessed for sure Cloris Leachman was in her 90s, but that shows what I know.

 

I was mildly surprised by the omission of Mary Tyler Moore, but Wikipedia shows me she's but a spring chicken at 76. Family legend says that my parents only had a boy's name ready for me; when I turned out to be not a boy they had to scramble, and my dad named me for MTM's Laura Petrie character from the Dick Van Dyke Show.

[bjkrautk]

Bill Cosby recorded a comedy special last month(?), and has made some late night talk show appearances recently to promote it.

[1992casey]

Bill Cosby is also a youngster. Like Mary Tyler Moore, he's 76. His recent special, [cite]Far From Finished[/cite], aired on November 23rd. In the 1960s, he won three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Alexander Scott in [cite]I Spy[/cite]. Cosby currently has an app.

 

Sadly, Mary Tyler Moore's health doesn't appear to be all that good. Back in 2003 when she did [cite]The Gin Game[/cite] opposite Dick Van Dyke, she had to be heavily made up for her role as an elderly retirement home resident. I recall an interview where Van Dyke said he found it tough getting used to performing the R-rated language in the script. Moore said that that she had no trouble doing the R-rated language.

 

You can spot June Lockhart as Belinda Cratchit in the 1938 MGM version of [cite]A Christmas Carol[/cite]. Her parents, Gene Lockhart and Kathleen Lockhart, played Bob and Mrs. Cratchit. June's daughter, Anne Lockhart, played Lieutenant Sheba in the original [cite]Battlestar Galactica[/cite].

 

People who imitate Cary Grant like to use the phrase "Judy, Judy, Judy." It's been established that Grant never uttered those words in a movie. It's likely that the origin of that phrase was a Larry Storch stand-up comedy act in the 1950s.

 

[ap=schallert]Another notable[/ap] that needs to be acknowledged is William Schallert, 91. A very short sampling of his numerous roles includes:

 

• Patty Duke's father on [cite]The Patty Duke Show[/cite]
  
• Leander Pomfritt on [cite]The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis[/cite]
  
• Admiral Harold Harmon Hargrade, the 91-year old retired Chief of CONTROL on [cite]Get Smart[/cite]
  
• Undersecretary of Agriculture Nilz Baris on the [cite]Star Trek[/cite] episode [cite]The Trouble With Tribbles[/cite].

[BrewersSuperCollector]

Florence Henderson will hit the big 80 in a couple of months.

 

Jim Nabors is 83. I loved Gomer Pyle USMC

[LouisEly]

No mention of Mel Brooks (87), but he was more movies than TV (but how many times did we get to see the edited version of Blazing Saddles on various UHF channels; saw the edited version many times before finally seeing the unedited version, and I fell off the couch the first time I saw the full "bean scene"). No mention of Joan Rivers (80) either - tied for the second most appearances on the Johnny Carson show - but she is "only" 80.

 

I'm not closely related enough to James Rockford, or James Garner, or James Bumgarner to know him personally but I'm closely related enough to not need to look at Wikipedia to know that Bumgarner is his real last name.

Edited December 22, 2013 by LouisEly

[1992casey]

Mel Brooks and Buck Henry (83) created [cite]Get Smart[/cite].

 

As long as we're into youngsters, Carol Burnett is 80. She's multi-talented. Everyone knows about her comedy and singing skills, but it's easy to forget that she's also a very good dramatic actress.

[BrewersSuperCollector]

I know its not TV, but the big screen but Shirley Temple is 85. She seems like she would be much older, because of her age when preforming. TV wasn't invented during her hey-day.

 

Kirk Douglas is 97.

 

I hope to live to the youngster age of 80.

[SeriesFinale]

I love this thread.

 

James Best, my man Roscoe P. Coltrane from The Dukes Of Hazzard, is 87.

 

Joyce Randolph, Alice Kramden from The Homeymooners (which I only ever knew as a revered one-from-the-vaults rerun in the 80s but watched faithfully) is still around at 88.

 

Marla Gibbs from The Jeffersons (I had a great conversation with her when I worked for Actors Equity in which she was friendly but occasionally spoke to me like I was George Jefferson) is a spry 82.

[1992casey]

Joyce Randolph played Trixie Norton.

 

Shirley Temple has TV connections. She hosted and narrated a children's anthology series in 1958 and 1960–61 and acted in several of the episodes. Notables who appeared in 2 or more episodes included Pernell Roberts, Agnes Moorehead, Jonathan Harris, Jonathan Winters, Barbara Pepper, Sebastian Cabot, E.G. Marshall, Jackie Coogan, Alice Pearce, and Mary Wickes. Temple once fired a cameraman for dropping the expletive beginning with "s" on set. In addition to her series, her movies would have been run frequently during TV's early years.

 

Betty White's (third, last, and best known) husband, Allen Ludden of [cite]Password[/cite] fame, was born and is buried in Mineral Point. She donated his papers to the Mineral Point Public Library, and Lake Ludden in southwest Iowa County is named for him.

 

Clint Eastwood, 83, holds a significant spot in TV history, having played Rowdy Yates on [cite]Rawhide[/cite] for seven years (eight seasons). He also had a memorable guest appearance on [cite]Mr. Ed[/cite] in the episode [cite]Clint Eastwood Meets Mister Ed[/cite]. Donna Douglas, 80, who's best known as Elly May Clampett on [cite]The Beverly Hillbillies[/cite], had a small role as Eastwood's girlfriend in that episode.

 

Douglas also has a couple of [cite]Twilight Zone[/cite] episodes under her belt. In [cite]Cavender Is Coming[/cite], starring Jesse White (the Maytag repairman) and Carol Burnett, she appears briefly as a (drunk) debutante. More memorable is her role as the "revealed" Janet Tyler in [cite]The Eye of the Beholder[/cite]. In the first part of the episode, the character's face is bandaged, and the role is played by Maxine Stuart. When the character's face is unbandaged, Douglas takes over the role. Although she appears on screen for several minutes, she only has one line, which was originally supposed to be dubbed by Stuart. However, Douglas imitated Stuart so well that her voice was left in.

 

[cite]Clint Eastwood Meets Mister Ed[/cite], free Hulu link

 

[cite]The Eye of the Beholder, free Hulu link[/cite]

 

[cite]Cavender Is Coming[/cite], YouTube:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdGWnaNwx4Y

[hawing]

I wonder if Betty White will opt to be buried near Allen Ludden. That'd put Mineral Point on the map for a new (if not 100% welcome) reason.

[SeriesFinale]

Joyce Randolph played Trixie Norton.

 

Yeah, sorry, that's what I meant but I think I was reliving my strange childhood crush on Audrey Meadows when I typed the post!

[1992casey]

…I think I was reliving my strange childhood crush on Audrey Meadows when I typed the post!

Wikipedia has this to say about Audrey Meadows as Alice:

 

Before receiving the role, Meadows had to overcome Gleason's reservations about her being too attractive to make a credible Alice. To accomplish this, she hired a photographer to come to her apartment early in the morning and take pictures of her with no make-up on, wearing a torn housecoat, and with her hair undone. When the pictures were delivered to Gleason, he looked at them and said, "That's our Alice." When it was explained to him who it was he said, "Any dame who has a sense of humor like that deserves the job."

The role of Alice was actually played by several actors. Pert Kelton originated the role and played Alice until she was blacklisted during that Communist thing. After Kelton's blacklisting, Ginger Jones played the role on a promotional tour. Jones, who was also blacklisted, was replaced by Meadows. Sue Ane Langdon, a youngster at 77, played Alice a couple of times in 1962. Sheila MacRae, 89, played Alice in hour-long musical Honeymooners episodes between 1966–70 and once in 1973.

 

Meadows reprised the role of Alice in 1966, 1976, 1977, and 1978. In her 1966 appearance, the Kramdens adopted a baby girl. They gave the baby up when the birth mother wanted her back.

 

Trixie was also played by multiple actresses. The role was introduced by Elaine Stritch, 88. Stritch is one of those people who seems to pop up everywhere. Some might remember her as teacher Mrs. McGee on [cite]The Cosby Show[/cite]. More recently, she played Colleen, the mother of Alec Baldwin's character on [cite]30 Rock[/cite]. Jane Kean played Trixie from 1966–70 and 1976–78. Stritch's original Trixie was a burlesque dancer. Other versions of Trixie were more "wholesome."

[1992casey]

Here's a 1955 Cloris Leachman clip where she shares a kiss with a very recognizable co-star:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RUufFkv97M

 

Here's the full episode (Let it Rain, General Electric Theater):

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwTt2RNlkiY

[Mass Haas]

YouTube:

 

The young lady does talk as though she's talking to a youngster, circle of life, I guess....

 

 

And of course, Mister Ed fan pages exist, here's a good one.

[1992casey]

I can't believe we've missed Carl Reiner, 91. He's still piling up credits. Most recently, he's appeared in [cite]Two and a Half Men[/cite] (3 episodes), [cite]Parks and Recreation[/cite] (1 episode), and [cite]Hot in Cleveland[/cite] (7 episodes).

 

While we're thinking in terms of [cite]The Dick Van Dyke Show[/cite], we can't forget the other living cast members: Ann Morgan Guilbert, 85, and Jerry Van Dyke, 82. Guilbert graduated from Solomon Juneau High School in Milwaukee in 1946.

[TURBO]

Was Jerry Van Dyke the guy who played Luther in the tv series COACH?

 

I loved that show!

[Mass Haas]

Was Jerry Van Dyke the guy who played Luther in the tv series COACH?

 

I loved that show!

 

Yes, and now occasionally appears on "The Middle" as Frankie's (Patricia Heaton's) father.

[LouisEly]

No mention of another Milwaukee product, Gene Wilder (80). More known for movies, but he and Mel Brooks I think are the only ones still left from the cast of Blazing Saddles.

[1992casey]

Mel Brooks qualifies as a TV pioneer, having written for [cite]Your Show of Shows[/cite] along with Carl Reiner and Neil Simon (86) from 1950–54.

 

If we're talking about Jerry Van Dyke, we need to mention his role on [cite]My Mother the Car[/cite], a 1965–66 show about a man whose deceased mother is reincarnated as a 1928 car. The mother/car, voiced by the late Ann Sothern, talks to Jerry (and of course, only to Jerry) through the radio.

 

The TV career of Doris Roberts (88) goes back to 1951, although she really picked up steam during the 1960s. She was cast to play the role of "Vivian" on [cite]Maude[/cite] but was replaced by Rue McClanahan because Norman Lear felt that she was too much like Bea Arthur. In the 1980s, Roberts played "Mildred Krebs" on [cite]Remington Steele[/cite] with Pierce Brosnan. And of course, she's widely recognized for her role as "Marie Barone" on [cite]Everybody Loves Raymond[/cite].

 

Hal Holbrook (88) is remembered for a lot, but if you have to pick out one thing, the fact that he played Mark Twain in one-man shows numerous times over the course of his career stands out.

 

And of course, Don Rickles (87) is still around.

[1992casey]

The Dabney Coleman Rule is named after Dabney Coleman, 82. The rule states that the lead character or protagonist on a TV series needs to have likeable qualities. Coleman had series that failed because people didn't like his characters. He makes for a good antagonist, though.

 

Barbara Walters, 84, joined [cite]The Today Show[/cite] in 1961 after the job was turned down by Betty White. She stayed with the program until moving to ABC in 1976.

 

The long résumé of Estelle Parsons, 86, includes gigs as Roseanne Barr's mother on [cite]Roseanne[/cite] and as Blanche Hefner on [cite]All in the Family[/cite] / [cite]Archie Bunker's Place[/cite]. She was the first to hold the "female" job on [cite]The Today Show[/cite], from 1952–54. At the time, the job was referred to as "women's editor."

[whizkid]

One of my favorite shows ever was St. Elsewhere in the '80s. Norman Lloyd(99) played Dr. Auschlander, one of the 3 "elder statesmen" doctors on the show. He was something of a protégé of Alfred Hitchcock appearing in a number of his movies, appearing in a number of Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes and directing and producing many of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes.