Mary Grace Canfield Passes On

Mary Grace Canfield, who played Ralph Monroe on Green Acres, died on 15 February at the age of 89. The cause was lung cancer.

Mary Grace Canfield was born on 3 September 1924 in Rochester, New York. She had wanted to act ever since she was a child and studied acting under Jasper Deeter in Rose Valley, Pennsylvania. She made her debut on Broadway in 1947 in the play Galileo. In the Fifties she appeared on Broadway in the productions The Grey-Eyed People, The Frogs of Spring,  and The Waltz of the Toreadors. She made her television debut in 1954 in an episode of Goodyear Playhouse. In the Fifties she made appearances on the TV shows The Best of Broadway, Robert Montgomery Presents, and Play of the Week. She made her film debut in an uncredited role in That Kind of Woman (1959) and played Angelica in Pollyanna (1960).

In the Sixties she had a recurring role on the short lived sitcom The Hathaways. It was in 1965 that she first appeared as Ralph Monroe on Green Acres. With her brother  Alf (Sid Melton), Ralph was one of the Monroe Brothers, carpenters who were continuously working on Oliver Wendell Douglas' (Eddie Albert) farmhouse. Miss Canfield remained with the show for its entire run. During the Sixties she also appeared on the shows Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Hazel, The Joey Bishop Show, The Eleventh Hour, The Andy Griffith Show, The Farmer's Daughter, Bewitched, and Adam-12. She appeared in the films The Interns (1962), Come Blow Your Horn (1963),  and Don't Make Waves (1967). She appeared on Broadway in Beekman Place.

From the Seventies to the Nineties she appeared in such shows as The New Doctors; Love, American Style; General Hospital; The Love Boat; Tabitha; Cagney & Lacey; and Alice. She appeared in the television reunion film Return to Green Acres in 1990. She appeared in the films Half a House (1975), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), South of Reno (1988), and Young Goodman Brown (1993).

If Mary Grace Canfield appeared frequently on television in the Sixties and Seventies, it was perhaps because she was rather versatile as an actress. On Green Acres Ralph Monroe was strong willed and self assertive, constantly quarrelling with her brother Alf. In contrast, in a guest appearance in The Andy Griifth Show episode "A Date for Gomer" she played a shy, laid-back, socially awkward young woman who is the equally shy, laid-back, socially awkward Gomer Pyle's date. On Bewitched she appeared in four episodes as Abner Kravitz's slightly clueless, overly suspicious sister Harriet. Over the years she played a variety of characters, from housekeepers to nurses, and performed all of them well.

Shirley Temple R.I.P.

Shirley Temple died on 10 February 2014 at the age of 85. For a period during the Great Depression she was the top box office star in the United States.

Shirley Temple was born on  23 April 1928 in Santa, Monica California.  She was only three years old when her mother enrolled her in Meglin Kiddies' dance school in Los Angeles, California. It was while young Shirley was with the Meglin Kiddies that she was discovered by Charles Lamont, the casting director for Educational Pictures. She was then cast in Educational Pictures' series of "Baby Burlesks" film shorts (the first one to feature little Shirley was a parody of The Front Page, "The Runt Page"). It wasn't long before Shirley Temple was starring in her own series of two reelers produced by Educational Pictures. It also wasn't long before she started appearing in feature films. Little Shirley made her feature film debut in a bit part in Red Haired Alibi in 1932. She also appeared in the Randolph Scott Western To the Last Man It was in 1933, when Shirley was 5 1/2 years old, that her mother subtracted a year from her age so she could pass her daughter off as younger than she was.

It was in 1934 that young Shirley's career began to take off. She was cast in the musical comedy Stand Up and Cheer. She appeared in such films as Change of Heart (1934) and Little Miss Marker (1934) before receiving her first starring role in Baby Take a Bow (1934). After appearing in Now and Forever (1934) opposite Gary Cooper and Carole Lombard, young Shirley achieved stardom with the success of Bright Eyes (1934). The film was very successful and for the year 1934 young Shirley ranked #8 in Quigley Publishing's Top Ten Money Making Stars. Over the course of the next several years young Shirley starred in such films as The Little Colonel (1935), The Littlest Rebel (1935), Captain January (1936), Poor Little Rich Girl (1936), Wee Willie Winkie (1937), Heidi (1937), and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1938), . She was the top money making star in Quigley Publishing's Top Ten Money Making Stars from 1935 to 1938.

It was in 1939 that young Shirley's career began to falter. Despite appearing in The Little Princess (1939) and Susannah of the Mounties (1939), she dropped from the top spot in Quigley's Top Ten Money Making Stars to #5. With the failure of her film The Blue Bird (1940) she would not rank in the Top Ten Money Making Stars poll for the first time in literally years. Based on Maurice Maeterlinck's 1908 play of the same name, The Blue Bird was meant to be 20th Century Fox's response to MGM's hit The Wizard of Oz. Her next film, Young People (1940), would also be a flop. Her mother then decided to buy out Shirley's contract with 20th Century Fox and sent the young actress to Westlake School for Girls in Los Angeles.

MGM signed Miss Temple to a contract in 1941. She starred in only one film under her new contract with the studio, Kathleen, in 1941. Unfortunately the film was a failure. MGM and Miss Temple both agreed to cancel the contract. She made Miss Annie Rooney for United Artists in 1942. The film was based on Mary Pickford's silent film, Little Annie Rooney (1925), which in turn was based on the King Features Syndicate comic strip of the same name. Sadly Miss Annie Rooney would not be a success.

Shirley Temple then left the film industry for two years before signing a contract with David O. Selznick in 1944. She made Since You Went Away (1944) and I'll Be Seeing You (1944) for Mr. Selznick. Mr. Selznick loaned her out to other studios for such films as Kiss and Tell (1945), The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947), That Hagen Girl (1947), and Fort Apache (1948).  Her last few years as an actress were spent in such films as Mr. Belvedere Goes to College (1949), The Story of Seabiscuit (1949), and her final film A Kiss for Corliss (1949).  Shirley Temple then retired from show business at the young age of 22.

Miss Temple would return to show business as the host of the television show Shirley Temple's Storybook in 1958. The show ran for three years and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Children's Programming. She made one last appearance as an entertainer in a 1963 episode of The Red Skelton Show.

While I am not a fan of most of the films Shirley Temple made as a child, there is no denying that she was a genuine superstar during the Depression.  She ranked in Quigley Publishing's yearly poll of the Top Ten Money Making Stars for five straight years, three of those years being spent at the #1 spot. Not only were the films Miss Temple made as a little girl phenomenally successful, but Miss Temple turned out to be a merchandising bonanza. Ideal Toy and Novelty Company manufactured a Shirley Temple doll that sold in the millions. There were Shirley Temple dishes, dresses, mirrors, notebooks, paper dolls, and too many other items to list. Wheaties even offered a Shirley Temple cereal bowl, mug, and pitcher as one of their premiums. As to the reason for the phenomenal success of Shirley Temple in the Thirties, it was perhaps because her films offered an escape from the harsh realities of the Depression. The films Miss Temple made as a child were always optimistic, upbeat, and always had a happy ending. Quite simply, Shirley Temple offered much needed optimism in a very dark time in American history.

While I am not a fan of the films she made as a child,  I do think Miss Temple became a very good actress as a young lady. While Priscilla Lyon had originated Corliss Archer on radio and Ann Baker would play her on television, it is always Shirley Temple that I picture as the character. Shirley Temple had a genuine gift for comedy. She was excellent in The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer. She could also do quite well in dramas, as shown by her performance as Philadelphia Thursday in Fort Apache. I find it regrettable that in most films she was cast as the ingénue, as in her better films Miss Temple showed that she was capable of much more. Indeed, while some of her last few films were lacklustre, I think it's sad that Shirley Temple retired when she was only 22. I suspect had she continued acting the best years of her career would have been ahead of her.

Ralph Waite and Richard Bull Pass On

Ralph Waite

Ralph Waite, best known for playing John Walton on the TV show The Waltons, died on 13 February 2014 at the age of 85.

Ralph Waite was born on  22 June 1928 in White Plains, New York. He served in the United States Marines Corps from 1946 to 1948. Afterwards he attended Bucknell University, from which he graduated with a bachelors degree. He then attended  the New School in New York City as a post-graduate before enrolling in the Yale University Divinity School. He was ordained as a Presbyterian minister and even served as the pastor of a church for a year. Deciding that being a church pastor was not for him, Mr. Waite then took a position as an editor at Harper & Row. He then decided to try acting. 

Ralph Waite made his debut on Broadway in 1964 in the play Marathon .33. In the Sixties he went on to appear on Broadway in such productions as Blues for Mister Charlie, Traveller Without Luggage, Slapstick Tragedy, The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald, and The Watering Place. He made his television debut in an episode of Hawk in 1966 and during the decade went onto appear on the shows N.Y.P.D. and Bonanza. He made his film debut in Cool Hand Luke (1967). In the Sixties he also appeared in such films as A Lovely Way to Die (1968), Last Summer (1969), and Five Easy Pieces (1970). 

It was in 1972 that  Ralph Waite first appeared in his best known role, John Walton on The Waltons, The show came out of the 1971 television film The Homecoming: A Christmas Story, which had a slightly different cast (Andrew Duggan played John Walton in it).  Based on Earl Hamner Jr.'s novel The Homecoming, the television movie proved quite successful and led to the television series The Waltons. On the show Ralph Waite played John Walton, the father of seven children in Virginia during the Great Depression. The show proved to be the surprise hit of the 1972-1973 season and ultimately ran for 9 seasons. After it ended its run a number of reunion movies were made. On television during the Seventies Ralph Waite guest starred on the show Nichols and appeared in the mini-series Roots. He appeared in the films The Pursuit of Happiness (1971), The Sporting Club (1971), Lawman (1971), The Grissom Gang (1971), Chato's Land (1972), Hot Summer Week (1972), The Magnificent Seven Ride! (1972), Trouble Man (1972), Kid Blue (1973), The Stone Killer (1973), and On the Nickel (1980). In 1975 Mr. Waite founded the Los Angeles Actors Theatre. He produced and directed plays there, as well as acted in them.

In the Eighties Ralph Waite starred in the short lived television series The Mississippi. He guest starred on the shows Murder, She Wrote and Shannon's Deal and also appeared in several television films (including reunion movies of The Waltons). He narrated the film The River Pirates (1988) and appeared in the film Desperate Hours (1990). He also appeared on Broadway in a revival of The Father.

 In the Nineties Mr. Waite starred in the television show Murder One. He guest starred on the shows Orleans, Time Trax and The Outer Limits. He appeared in the films The Bodyguard (1992), Cliffhanger (1993), Sioux City (1994), and Timequest (2000). He provided the voice of Shadow in Homeward Bound 2: Lost in San Francisco (1996). He appeared on Broadway in An American Daughter. 

In the Naughts Ralph Waite starred as Reverend Norman Balthus in the television show Carnivale  He played the recurring role of Leroy J. Gibbs' father, Jackson Gibbs, on NCIS and the recurring role of Booth's grandfather Hank Booth on Bones. He appeared in the role of Father Matt on the soap opera Days of Our Lives. He guest starred on The Practice, Cold Case, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Grey's Anatomy. He appeared in the films Sunshine State (2002), Silver City (2004), Letters to God (2010), 25 Hill (2011), and Gabe the Cupid Dog (2012).

Ralph Waite did so well in the role of John Walton and The Waltons ran so long that many forget that Ralph Waite performed many other roles over the years. Some of these roles could be dramatically from the Waltons' patriarch. A prime example of this was his role as Slater, the third mate on the slaver ship in Roots. Slater was a wholly repugnant human being, who had no objection to hurting the slaves aboard the ship. Despite being utterly unlike his best known role (and himself in real life), Mr. Waite was utterly convincing in the role. Indeed, he nominated for an Emmy for his performance. On Murder One he played ruthless billionaire Malcolm Dietrich, a man as corrupt as John Walton was honest and kind. Ralph Waite also gave impressive performances in the various films in which he appeared, even when the parts were small (as they were in Cool Hand Luke and Five Easy Pieces). One of the best roles in his career was that of bounty hunter Jim McKay in The Magnificent Seven Ride.

Of course, Ralph Waite may be best remembered for playing paternal figures such as John Walton. Even then there was a variety in the sorts of fathers he played. It is quite possible that Mr. Waite's most famous role besides John Walton is that of Jackson Gibbs on NCIS. While John Walton and Jackson Gibbs had a good deal in common, they were also different in many ways. Quite unlike John Walton, Jackson Gibbs was in an unhappy marriage (both his wife and he had affairs all throughout). Furthermore, he and his son Leroy would be estranged for a good number of years (to the point that Leroy once claimed his father was dead). Mr. Waite shined in both roles, despite the fact that they were in many ways quite different. While there can be little doubt that Ralph Waite will be remembered as John Walton, his career consisted of so much more.

Richard Bull

Richard Bull, who played Doc on the TV show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Nels Oleson on Little House on the Prairie, died on 3 February 2014 at the age of 89. 

Richard Bull was born on 26 June 1924 in Zion, Illinois. He spent a portion of his childhood in Chicago. It was while he was in high school that he studied drama at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. During World War II Mr. Bull served in the United States Army Air Forces.  After the war he returned home to Chicago. It was there that he married fellow actor Barbara Collentine. The two of them eventually migrated to California to pursue their acting careers.

Richard Bull made his television debut in an episode of the TV show Medic in 1956. In the late Fifties he appeared on such shows as The Man Called X, Panic!,  Perry Mason, Highway Patrol, Men into Space, and Shotgun Slade. He appeared in such films as Full of Life (1956), Fear Strikes Out (1957), Operation Mad Ball (1957), The True Story of Lynn Stuart (1958), and But Not for Me (1959). 

In the Sixties Richard Bull played the recurring role of Doc on the television show Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He was a frequent guest star on television, appearing on such shows as The Virginian, The Dick Powell Theatre, The Bill Dana Show, The Richard Boone Show, Ben Casey, Slattery's People, The Fugitive, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, I Spy, Gomer Pyle USMC, The Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., and Ironside.  He appeared in the films Then There Were Three (1961), Della (1964), The Satan Bug (1965), In Like Flint (1967), Hour of the Gun (1967), The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), The Secret Life of an American Wife (1968), The Stalking Moon (1968), and Moonfire (1970).

In the Seventies Richard Bull played the recurring role of Judge Thatcher on the short lived TV series Nichols. It was in 1974 that he was cast in the regular role of storekeeper Nels Oleson on Little House on the Prairie. He remained with the show for the entirety of its run. He guest starred on such shows as Marcus Welby M.D., The F.B.I., Mission: Impossible, Bonanza, Gunsmoke, Mannix, and Barnaby Jones. He appeared in the films The Andromeda Strain (1971), Man and Boy (1971), High Plains Drifter (1973), Executive Action (1973), Breezy (1973), The Parallax View (1974), and A Different Story (1978). 

From the Eighties to the Naughts Mr. Bull appeared on such shows as Sara, Knot's Landing, Amazing Stories, It's Garry Shandling's Show, Highway to Heaven, Designing Women, Paradise, and Boss. He appeared in the films A Day in a Life (2000), Sugar (2008), Witless Protection (2008), and Osso Bucco (2008). 

While I can't say I am a fan of Little House on the Prairie as an adult, I have to admit that Richard Bull consistently delivered a good performance in the role of Nels. Indeed, he was always my favourite character. And while he is best known as Nels Oleson, he played many other roles as well. In fact, he generally played roles quite unlike the henpecked Nels: authority figures such as attorneys, judges, military officers, and, most often, doctors. Indeed, his second most famous role may well have been Doc on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. The fact that Richard Bull could be convincing as Nels Oleson, Doc, and the many authority figures he played over the years showed that he was a very versatile actor.

The Late Great Sid Caesar

Comic and television pioneer Sid Caesar died 12 February 2014 at the age of 91. He was perhaps best known for the television programmes Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour.

Sid Caesar was born 8 September 1922 in Yonkers, New York. His parents, Max and Ida Caesar, operated a luncheonette that catered to a multi-ethnic clientèle. It was while listening to the customers at the luncheonette speak in their native tongues that young Mr. Caesar developed the technique he called "double talk", essentially sounding as if one was speaking a foreign tongue without actually saying anything. He also learned the saxophone while very young. He was only 14 when he went to work as a saxophonist in the Catskills over his summer vacation. He would also occasionally appeared in comedy sketches.

Sid Caesar graduated from Yonkers High School in 1939. He moved to New York City in the hope of creating a career as a musician there. He found work as an usher and a doorman at the Capitol Theatre. He audited classes at the Juilliard School of Music, where he studied clarinet and saxophone. Eventually he found a job with the Shep Fields Orchestra. It was while he was with the Shep Fields Orchestra that Mr. Caesar made his film debut in the short "Shep Fields and His New Music with Ken Curtis" (1941). Following his stint with Shep Fields he found a job as a saxophonist at the Vacationland resort in the Catskills. Sid Caesar followed Don Appel, the entertainment director at Vacationland, when he took a position at Kutscher's Hotel in Monticello, New York. The two would later move to the Avon Lodge in Woodridge, New York.

With the United States' entry into World War II Mr. Caesar enlisted in the United States Coast Guard. He was stationed in Brooklyn. It was while he was stationed in Brooklyn that he wrote sketches for a Coast Guard musical revue Six On, Twelve Off. Sid Caesar was later transferred to Palm Beach, Florida, where he was cast in the Coast Guard musical revue Tars and Spars. Tars and Spars was directed by Max Liebman, who would play a pivotal role in his career.

Following the end of the war Sid Caesar made his feature film debut in the movie version  of Tars and Spars (1946). He was signed to Columbia Pictures, but he only appeared in one other film for the studio, The Guilt of Janet Ames in 1947. Sid Caesar then returned to New York City and started a career as a night club comic. He reconnected with Max Liebman, who would help a good deal with Mr. Caesar's career. It was because of Mr. Liebman that Sid Caesar was cast in the Broadway production Make Mine Manhattan in 1948. Despite his success on Broadway, Sid Caesar's future would be in television. He made his television debut in 1948 on Tonight on Broadway when the show aired Make Mine Manhattan live. This was followed by appearances on Texaco Star Theatre (starring Milton Berle)  the same year.

It was in 1949 that Sid Caesar became the host of his own show, The Admiral Broadway Revue, created by Max Liebman. In many respects the hour long show was a dry run for Your Show of Shows. Imongene Coca was a member of the cast and among its writers were Mel Brooks and Mel Tonkin. While The Admiral Broadway Revue proved popular, in the end it lasted only 19 weeks. The reason for its cancellation was that Admiral simply decided to spend the money it cost to produce the show on manufacturing its television sets instead. Max Liebman, Sid Caesar, and Imogene Coca would not be off the air long. NBC executive and legendary television programmer Pat Weaver admired their work and as a result Your Show of Shows debuted on 25 February 1950.

In many respects Your Show of Shows was revolutionary. Quite simply, it was the direct ancestor of every sketch comedy show that has aired ever since, from Saturday Night Live to In Living Colour. What is more its sketches ran the gamut from parodies of films (their spoof of From Here to Eternity being among the most famous) to situation comedies (the recurring "Hickenloopers" sketches) to parodies of operas by Verdi. In addition to Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca the cast also included Carl Reiner (who also served as a writer on the show) and Howard Morris. Writers on Your Show of Shows included some now famous names, among them Mel Brooks, Danny Simon, Neil Simon, and Mel Tonkin.

Sadly, Your Show of Shows proved to be a victim of its own success. According to Sid Caesar in an interview with the Archive of American Television, NBC decided that they could have even more success if they gave Sid Caesar his own show, Imogene Coca her own show, and assigned Max Liebman to making specials. Sid Caesar's next show, Caesar's Hour, debuted the same year that Your Show of Shows went off the air. It could largely be considered a continuation of Your Show of Shows. Carl Reiner and Howard Morris were both members of the cast (with Nanette Fabray taking Imogene Coca's place). Mel Brooks, Danny Simon, Neil Simon, and Mel Tonkin were all writers on the show, joined by Larry Gelbart. The format was also largely the same, although Caesar's Hour differed from Your Show of Shows in that some sketches ran a half hour or longer. Caesar's Hour ran for three years before going off the air on 25 May 1957. He appeared in a special on NBC, The Sid Caesar Show, on 2 November 1958. The special not only featured Imogene Coca, but was written by Larry Gelbart and Woody Allen.

Sid Caesar would not be off the air for long. He returned to television in the 1957-1958 season, but not on NBC. Sid Caesar Invites You debuted on ABC on 26 January 1958. It also reunited Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner with Imogene Coca. Sid Caesar Invites You also boasted some of the same writers as Caesar's Hour, including Larry Gelbart, Danny Simon, and Neil Simon. Unfortunately, it repeated neither the success of Your Show of Shows or Caesar's Hour and left the air on 25 May 1958; however, ABC's cancellation of Sid Caesar Invites You would not mean the end of the show. The BBC approached Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca about reviving Sid Caesar Invites You in the United Kingdom. The British edition of Sid Caesar Invites You debuted on 23 July 1958. Unfortunately it proved no more success in Britain than it did here and ran only 13 weeks.

During the Fifties Sid Caesar appeared on shows other than his own, including The Colgate Comedy Hour, Producer's Showcase, The Paul Winchell Show, Person to Person, Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, and The United States Steel Hour.

Unfortunately, Sid Caesar would not see the success in the Sixties that he had in the Fifties. He had his own show again during the 1963-1964 season. The Sid Caesar Show featured Bea Arthur from Caesar's Hour and Woody Allen was among its writers, but it would not be a hit. The Sid Caesar Show debuted on ABC on 3 November 1963 and left the air on 26 March 1964. He starred in the specials As Caesar Sees It and Sid Caesar - Edie Adams Together, as well as The Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Howard Morris Special, which reunited the cast of Your Show of Shows. He guest starred on such shows as G. E. Theatre, Checkmate, The Jerry Lewis Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Gary Moore Show, The Carol Burnett Show, The Danny Thomas Hour, That Girl, The Steve Allen Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, and Rowan & Martin's Laugh In, and The Jackie Gleason Show He also appeared in the films It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Busy Body (1967), A Guide for the Married Man (1967), and The Spirit Is Willing (1967). He appeared on Broadway in Little Me in 1963.

In the Seventies Sid Caesar appeared on such shows as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Flip Wilson Show, The David Frost Show, Love, American Style, various Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, Dinah!, Good Heavens, When Things Were Rotten, Van Dyke and Company, Vega$, and The Merv Griffin Show. He appeared in the films Airport 1975 (1974). Silent Movie (1976), Fire Sale (1977), The Cheap Detective (1978), Grease (1978), and The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu (1980). He appeared on Broadway in Four on a Garden.

From the Eighties to the Naughts Mr. Caesar appeared on such shows as The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo, Matt Houston, Saturday Night Live, The Love Boat, Amazing Stories, The Tonight Show, The Pat Sajack Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Love & War, Mad About You, and Whose Line is It Anyway. He appeared in the films History of the World: Part I (1981), Grease 2 (1982), Over the Brooklyn Bridge (1984), Stoogemania (1986), Vegas Vacation (1997), The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998), Lunch (2012), The Outrageous Sophie Tucker (2013), and When Comedy Went to School (2013). He appeared on Broadway one last time in the revue Sid Caesar & Company in 1989.

In some respects it is not enough to say that Sid Caesar was a television pioneer. Mr. Caesar, Max Liebman, his fellow cast members of Your Show of Shows, and the writers on Your Show of Shows truly revolutionised the medium of television. Prior to the debut of Your Show of Shows television comedy was dominated by variety shows that owed a good deal to vaudeville (one liners, seltzer bottles, and slapstick) and situation comedies that had migrated from radio. Sid Caesar and his colleagues at Your Show of Shows developed a style of comedy that was entirely unique to television. Indeed, unlike many comedy programmes of the era, Your Show of Shows entirely avoided one-liners. Instead the show relied on clever dialogue, well developed characters, satire, and outrageous plots for its comedy. Indeed, much of the comedy on Your Show of Shows (and on Caesar's Hour as well) was purely visual, with some sketches performed entirely in pantomime.

Of course, in reinventing comedy for the small screen, Sid Caesar and his colleagues at Your Show of Shows and Caesar's Hour virtually laid the blueprint for all sketch comedy shows to come. In fact, it would be fair to say that Saturday Night Live is little more than Your Show of Shows with a different cast and title (although Your Show of Shows was much, much funnier). There has probably never been an American sketch comedy show that did not feel Sid Caesar's influence. The Carol Burnett Show, Rowan and Martin's Laugh In, In Living Colour, and virtually every other sketch comedy show owes something to Your Show of Shows and Sid Caesar.

 Here it must be pointed out that the impact of Your Show of Shows would go beyond sketch comedy. It would have a lasting impact in other ways as well. Carl Reiner has said that his experiences on Your Show of Shows inspired The Dick Van Dyke Show. He also drew upon his experiences on the show for his film My Favourite Year (1982). Neil Simon based his play Laughter on the 23rd Floor on his experiences on the show. The recurring "Professor" sketches from Your Show of Shows would inspire Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks'  comedy skit "The Two Thousand Year Old Man". Beyond The Dick Van Dyke Show, Your Show of Shows would even have a lasting impact on sitcoms. The recurring "Hickenloopers" sketches featured what may have been television's first squabbling married couple, pre-dating even The Honeymooners.

The debt television owes to Sid Caesar and his colleagues at Your Show of Shows is probably immeasurable. In a time when slapstick and one-liners were still the rule of the day on American television, Sid Caesar and his collaborators reinvented comedy for television and set the pace for all sketch comedy shows to come. It is quite possible that American television would be very different had it not been for Sid Caesar.

Beatles Promotional Films Guest Post at The Black Maria

I have a guest post on The Beatles' promotional films and their impact on music video at the website The Black Maria.

The Centennial of Kevin McCarthy's Birth

It was 100 years ago today that actor Kevin McCarthy was born. Classic film buffs might well remember him best as Dr. Miles J. Bennell in the sci-fi horror classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Classic television fans might remember him best from his many guest appearances through the years on such shows as The Twilight Zone, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Wild Wild West, and The Golden Girls. He appeared several times on Broadway, in such productions as Abe Lincoln in Illinois, Advise and Consent, Cactus Flower, and Happy Birthday, Wanda June. Indeed, Mr. McCarthy had an incredibly long career. He made his debut on Broadway in Abe Lincoln in Illinois in 1939. His final credit was in the feature film The Ghastly Love of Johnny X in 2012. Although he slowed down his pace in later years, Kevin McCarthy never quite stopped working.

There should be little wonder that Kevin McCarthy's career lasted so long and that he appeared in so many films, so many plays, and on so many television shows. He had the looks of a leading man and could easily have made a career of playing standard, lead roles. Along with his rugged good looks, however, Kevin McCarthy had the sort of talent to play any role he put his mind to. Over the years he played everything from heroes to villains, generals to medical doctors. What is more he did all of them well. Following is a pictorial tribute to a legendary character actor whose versatility insured he was always busy, but never typecast.

Kevin McCarthy as Biff Lohman in Death of a Salesman (1951)

Dana Wynter and Kevin McCarthy from Invasion of the Body Snatchers

 

Henry Fonda, Lee Tracy, and Kevin McCarthy from The Best Man

 

Kevin McCarthy in a screen cap from A Big Hand for the Little Lady

 

A press photo from the TV show The Survivors featuring Kevin McCarthy and Lana Turner

Kevin McCarthy from the movie Piranha

 

Kevin McCarthy and the Cast of 80's soap Flamingo Road

 

 

Kevin McCarthy with William Schalert, Katheleen Quinlan, & Patricia Barry from Twilight Zone: The Movie

Kevin McCarthy with Hope Lange from the film Just Cause

 

Kevin McCarthy in a scene from Looney Tunes: Back in Action

 

Kevin McCarthy in his final role as The Grand Inquisitor in The Ghastly Love of Johnny X

For more information on the life and career of Kevin McCarthy you might want to read my eulogy for him on the occasion of his death here.

The 120th Birthday of Jack Benny

It was 120 years ago today that legendary comedian Jack Benny was born. Of course, if Jack was still alive today he would  insist that he was only 39.  It was one of the many quirks of a persona Mr. Benny created for his comedy routines and one that would become immortalised on his radio and television show. Not only was this persona perpetually 39, but he was incredibly cheap (he continued driving a 1923 Maxwell because he refused to buy a new car), petty, and vain. He continued trying to play the violin even though he was horrible at it. Of course, in reality Jack Benny was nothing like his comic persona. Not only was Mr. Benny one of the kindest, most generous, and selfless people in show business, but in reality he was very good on the violin.

Jack Benny was born  Benjamin Kubelsky on 14 February 1894 in Chicago. It would be his parents who would largely be responsible for his career in entertainment. In the hope that he would become a great classical violinist, they enrolled him in violin lessons when he was only six years old. He proved extremely proficient on the violin, enough that by the time he was 17 he was playing the instrument on vaudeville. His vaudeville career would be interrupted by World War I, during which time he served in the United States Navy. He resumed his career after the war and also adopted a new stage name, after having gone through a number of others: Jack Benny.

Jack Benny proved very successful in vaudeville. In fact, it is a little known fact that he had a brief film career before the debut of his radio show. In 1929 MGM head of production Irving Thalberg saw Jack Benny at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, California at the behest of Jack's agent Sam Lyons. Mr. Benny then made his film debut in The Hollywood Revue of 1929. Unfortunately his early film career would not prove to be a success and MGM eventually released him from his contract.

While the movies did not turn Jack Benny into a star, radio did. On 29 March 1932 Jack Benny made a guest appearance on the radio show The Ed Sullivan Show (related only to the later TV show of the same name in that it shared the same host). Jack's guest appearance was so successful that NBC's Commercial Programme Department held an audition for Jack with the advertising agency N. W. Ayer and its client Canada Dry. Both N. W. Ayer and Canada Dry liked Jack so much that on 2 May 1932 The Canada Dry Programme made its debut. It was the first incarnation of what would later be called The Jack Benny Programme.

The Jack Benny Programme would change sponsors and even networks over the years. Despite this it proved phenomenally successful. In fact, including its run on television, The Jack Benny Programme ran for a total of 33 years, from the debut of the radio show on 2 May 1932 to the end of the television show on 16 April 1965. It was on the radio show that Jack Benny perfected his comic persona of a self-centred, vain, petty skinflint who played the violin very poorly. Over the years The Jack Benny Programme developed one of the best ensembles of any radio or television show. Indeed, so central was the character of Jack's valet and chauffeur Rochester (played by Eddie Anderson) to the show that it is perhaps best to regard him as Jack's partner and equal rather than a supporting character. As a comedy team Jack Benny and Rochester were not unlike P. G. Wodehouse's Wooster and Jeeves, in which the valet is the true master of the house. There was little doubt that Rochester was brighter than Jack. It was to Rochester that Jack turned when he had to know how to spell words like "superfluous" and to Rochester that he would turn when he needed someone to get him out of trouble. Like every other character on the show Rochester belittled and mocked Jack, but at the same time it was clear that the two men cared deeply for each other. Together they made one of the best comedy teams of the 20th Century.

While there can be little doubt that Jack Benny and Eddie Anderson were the stars of the show, The Jack Benny Programme had a cast of regular and recurring characters that could make producers of other shows envious. Jack Benny's real life wife Mary Livingstone played his whip smart, wisecracking not-quite-a-girlfriend who always got the better of him. Dennis Day was the singer on the show, good natured but not terribly bright. Don Wilson was the announcer on the show, and often the target of Jack's jokes. Legendary voice artist Mel Blanc played multiple roles on the show. He is perhaps best remembered on The Jack Benny Programme as Jack's long suffering violin instructor Professor Pierre LeBlanc, but he also played uck the Plumber, the voice of Jack's parrot Polly, and assorted other characters. Other characters on the show included Sheldon Leonard as a racetrack tout, Bea Benaderet as the switchboard operator Gertrude, Joseph Kearns as Ed (the apparently immortal guard of Jack's bank vault), and Frank Nelson in various roles as clerks, doormen, and so on (he was known for answering, "Yeeee-essss?"). A running joke on The Jack Benny Programme was Jack's feud with fellow radio star Fred Allen. Despite the barbs the two of them exchanged on their respective programmes, Jack Benny and Fred Allen were actually close friends.

The Jack Benny Programme would continue to be successful after it made its transition to television. It debuted as a series of specials on 2 January 1949. It was on  28 October 1950 that it made its debut as a regularly scheduled programme. The radio version continued to air alongside its counterpart on television until 1955. As to the television version of The Jack Benny Programme, it differed very little from the radio version, with the cast and the format of the show transferred the new medium largely intact. It proved highly successful, running until 1965.

The Jack Benny Programme was still doing well in the ratings when it left the air, Jack Benny having tired of the weekly grind of a television series. Afterwards Jack Benny would make a series of specials for NBC, as well as appearing on various other television shows.

Of course, while Jack Benny's film career had an inauspicious start, the success of his radio show would eventually lead to some success in films. Along with  Eleanor Powell and Robert Taylor, he was one of the stars of the highly successful Broadway Melody of 1936 (1936). Perhaps Jack's best known movie role would be that of actor Josef Tura in the Ernst Lubitsch classic To Be or Not To Be (1942). Jack Benny gave a bravura performance as Tura, the high strung, vain actor who finds himself in an impossible situation. Jack's co-star on the film was the legendary Carole Lombard, with whom he had no difficulty keeping up. To Be or Not To Be is now regarded as one of Ernst Lubitsch's best films, if not his very best. There can be little doubt much of it is due to his inspired casting of Jack Benny in the lead role.

Ironically, what may now be Jack Benny's second most famous film was one that he turned into a running joke on his radio show, constantly claiming that it had been a dud. While The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) did not do particularly well at the box office, it was hardy the bomb that Jack always made it out to be. What is more, it could well be his second best film after To Be Or Not To Be. The Horn Blows at Midnight was one of those charming fantasy comedies that simply aren't made any more, in which Jack plays the trumpet player Athanael,who dreams he is an angel who is sadly given the job of blowing the trumpet that will signal Earth's destruction. Worse yet, his mission is complicated by two fallen angels who do not particularly want him to finish his assigned job. Jack does a marvellous job of playing Athanael, ably assisted by a supporting cast included such actors as Reginald Gardiner and Guy Kibbee. Despite Jack's constant jokes about The Horn Blows at Midnight, it is now a very well respected film. Indeed, it boasts a rating of 89% at Rotten Tomatoes, an extremely high rating for any film.

Jack Benny would make other notable films besides To Be Or Not To Be and The Horn Blows at Midnight. George Washington Slept Here (1942), based on the hit Broadway play of the same name, cast Jack opposite the Oomph Girl herself, Ann Sheridan. Charley's Aunt (1941) saw him play opposite Kay Francis. Of course, given the success of The Jack Benny Programme it should be no surprise that some of his films would draw inspiration from it. In fact, the Western Buck Benny Rides Again (1940)  not only featured major characters from The Jack Benny Programme, but also adapted many of its skits. Love Thy Neighbour could very nearly be considered an adaptation of both The Jack Benny Programme and The Fred Allen Show, with Jack, Fred, and Eddie Anderson playing their radio personas.

Sadly, The Horn Blows at Midnight would be Jack Benny's last starring role in a feature film. Jack Benny would make several cameos in films over the years, including the Bob Hope film The Great Lover (1949), Gypsy (1962), It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1964), and A Guide for the Married Man (1967). Jack Benny, Eddie Anderson, Don Wilson, Mary Livingstone, and Mel Blanc would play mouse caricatures of themselves in the 1959 Warner Brothers animated short "The Mouse That Jack Built", which was more or less a cartoon parody of The Jack Benny Programme. The cartoon ended with an appearance of the live action Jack Benny.

Despite Jack Benny's comic persona as a self-centred cheapskate, in reality he was a very generous man who cared deeply about his friends and others. Reportedly he once donated $1 million to a retirement home for actors. In 1957 he donated a  Stradivarius violin to the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra. Throughout his life he would play the violin at charity events. During World War II he toured extensively on behalf of the USO. Before he died Jack Benny donated radio and television show scripts, copies of episodes of both his radio show and television show, personal and professional papers, and other memorabilia to the UCLA Library. And while his eye may have wandered from time to time, Jack Benny was apparently very much in love with his wife Mary Livngstone. His will specified that she should be delivered a single, long-stemmed rose every day for the rest of her life.

It must also be pointed out that Jack Benny was also known to take a stand against racial segregation on more than one occasion. When a hotel in St. Joseph, Missouri refused Eddie Anderson a room, Jack Benny told them, "If he doesn't stay, neither then do I." The hotel quickly relented. When a hotel in New York asked for Eddie Anderson to leave because racist guests were complaining about his presence there, Jack Benny and his entire cast and crew checked out of the hotel and found lodgings elsewhere. Of course, it must be considered that Jack Benny and Eddie Anderson weren't simply a comedy team on radio, on television, and on film, but very close friends in real life. Indeed, Eddie Anderson openly wept at Jack Benny's funeral.

It was on 26 December 1974 Jack Benny died from pancreatic cancer. His last appearance on television was on The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast for Lucille Ball. It aired on 7 February 1975, a few weeks after his death. Jack Benny would leave behind a legacy that only a very few other comedians could match. The Jack Benny Programme was pivotal in the development of the situation comedies of radio and television, evolving from the sketch and variety format familiar from vaudeville into the sitcom format we recognise today. What is more, it is one of the few radio sitcoms that successfully made the transition from radio to television, running for fifteen years on the new medium

Jack Benny would also have a lasting impact on future generations of comedians. The influence of Jack Benny can be seen in comics and actors as diverse as Johnny Carson, Phil Hartman, Eugene Levy, Kelsey Grammar, and Jerry Seinfeld.

Of course, Jack Benny's greatest legacy may well be the works he left behind. His radio show is still widely available, on CDs, in digital form, and through streaming media on the internet. His television show is also widely available, with possibly the entire run available on DVD and many episodes available through streaming media. While many classic radio and television stars have long been forgotten, Jack Benny remains recognisable even to people who were born long after his death. One hundred and twenty years after his birth, Jack Benny is still regarded as one of the greatest comics of all time.