Klout Gets Into Content Sharing

I have always had a bit of a love/hate relationship with Klout. On the one hand I am not sure that influence on the web can truly be quantified. Even if I accepted that it could be, over the years I have come to doubt the accuracy of Klout scores (there are people I consider influential on the web who have rather low Klout scores). On the other hand, Klout can be useful insofar as one can view his or her posts from several social media sites across the web in one place, which can be helpful in determining those subjects in which one's followers are most interested. I must also admit that I have received several nice Perks through Klout.

Given my conflicting feelings about Klout, it is then perhaps natural that I had my doubts when I heard that Klout was moving into the arena of recommending content for one to share on his or her social media sites. Now when one logs into his or her Klout account, the first thing he or she will see is a stream of news stories relevant to those topics in which one is an expert. For instance, if one is an expert in classic film, then he or she will see articles relevant to classic film in his or her stream. With regards to these various articles, Klout will let one know if it is "Hot Off the Press" (that is, published very recently), a "Hidden Gem" (an article that there is only a small chance one's followers have seen it), or "On the Rise" (an article that is trending higher than normal). Klout also allows the user to mark articles as "Show me less content like this" or "Show me more content like this", thus letting Klout know what sort of articles one finds most appealing.

While I had my doubts that Klout could provide interesting content, I have to admit that I have found quite a few interesting stories in the content stream on my account. I also have to say that I rather doubt that I would have run onto some of these articles on my own. What is more, I have to confess that knowing if an article is "Hot Off the Press", a "Hidden Gem", or "On the Rise" has proven useful. Indeed, articles that are "Hot Off the Press" or a "Hidden Gem" actually seem to do better than those that are supposedly "On the Rise" (which generally don't do was well at all). Now I have to point out that the content I find on Klout does not perform as well as content I create myself or content I find on my own, but it does prove useful as, for lack of better term, "filler material".

Of course, there are some problems with Klout's content sharing service. One is determining the relevance of any given article to a topic. For instance in my stream tonight there was an article on video apps that Klout claimed was relevant to the topic of "Cats", despite the fact that felines were mentioned nowhere in the article. Tonight Klout also claimed that an article on President Obama wanting to raise the minimum wage was somehow relevant to "The Beatles". These are not isolated cases. Indeed, it happens often enough that at any given time there will be quite a few articles that simply aren't to relevant to certain topics at any given time. I think Klout should really give users some means of  alerting them that a particular article is not relevant to the topic to which they have assigned it.

Another problem with Klout's content sharing service is that even when an article is relevant to a particular topic, it might not be of interest to one's followers. One of my topics on Klout is "music". This is pretty much because I post a good deal about classic rock and rhythm and blues on Google+ and Twitter. Unfortunately, Klout often fills my stream with articles on rap What is more, most of these articles are from a specific web site devoted to the genre. Now I would think Klout could tell by my posts across the web that I am not interested in rap as I have never posted about it on any social media site. It would then be nice if Klout would give users a means of blocking content from specific websites. If we had this ability, then I could block that rap website and thus keep its articles from appearing in my stream.

In the end I have to say that, for now at least, it appears that Klout has been more successful in providing interesting content than it has been in determining one's influence on the Web. Of course, there are some rough edges As I mentioned earlier, Klout needs to improve how it determines the relevance of an article to any given topic. They also need to give users a way to block content from sites that consistently publish  articles that simply aren't of interest to them. Over all, however, I have to say I am actually impressed by Klout's content sharing. Given I've never been impressed by Klout before, that is a first.

Godspeed Gabriel Axel and Bob Casale

Gabriel Axel

Director Gabriel Axel died on 9 February 2014 at the age of 95.

Gabriel Axel was born Gabriel Axel Moerch on 18 April 1918 in Aarhus, Denmark. Much of his childhood was spent in Paris, where his father operated a factory. Upon turning 18 he returned to Denmark to pursue a career as a furniture carpenter. He became interested in acting and studied the craft at the Danish Royal Theatre. He later joined Louis Javet's acting troupe in Paris, at which time he dropped his last name and simply became "Gabriel Axel". It was in 1951 that he began directing programmes for Denmark's public television broadcaster,  Danmarks Radio. From 1951 to 1958 he directed several programmes for Danish television. He also continued acting, appearing in such films as Vi som går køkkenvejen (1953), Karen, Maren og Mette (1954), Bruden fra Dragstrup (1955), and Styrmand Karlsen (1958). The first feature film he directed was Altid ballade in 1955. In the Fifties Mr. Axel followed it with the films En kvinde er overflødig (1957), Guld og grønne skove (1958--English title The Girls are Willing), Helle for Helene (1959), and Flemming og Kvik (1960).

In the Sixties he directed the films Det tossede paradis (1962--in English, Crazy for Paradise), Oskar (1962), Vi har det jo dejligt (1963--English title We're Doing Alright), Tre piger i Paris (1963--English title Three Girls in Paris), Paradis retur (1964, in English Paradise ad Back), Den røde kappe (1967, English title Hagbard and Signe),  Det kære legetøj (1968, English title Sex and the Law), and Amour (1970, English title The Ways of Women). He also continued to act, appearing in such films as Peters baby (1961), Han, Hun, Dirch og Dario (1962), En ven i bolignøden (1965), and Jeg - en marki (1967).

In the Seventies Gabriel Axel directed the films Med kærlig hilsen (1971), Die Auto-Nummer - Sex auf Rädern (1972), Familien Gyldenkål (1975--the English title The Goldcabbage Family), Familien Gyldenkål sprænger banken (1976, English title--The Goldcabbage Family Breaks the Bank), and Alt på et bræt (1977--English title Going for Broke).  In the late Seventies and early Eighties he returned to directing television. As an actor he appeared in Med kærlig hilsen (1971) and Nu går den på Dagmar (1972).

It was in 1987 that his film Babettes gæstebud (English title, Babette's Feast) was released. The film was based on a story by Isak Dinesen (the pen name of Karen Blixen) and took Mr. Axel 14 years to complete. It received widespread acclaim, and won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, the BAFTA Award for Best Film not in the English Language, the Cannes Film Festival Prize of the Ecumenical Jury - Special Mention, and many others. From the late Eighties to the Naughts he directed the films Christian (1989), Amled, prinsen af Jylland (1994--released in the States as Royal Deceit), and Leïla (2001).

Gabriel Axel was no small talent as a director. While many focus upon his masterpiece Babette's Feast, the fact is that he made a large array of various types of films. My personal favourites tend to be those based on Danish legends, such as Hagbard and Signe and Royal Deceit. Not only was he one of the few directors to ever develop films based on Danish legends, but the films themselves were very well done and fairly faithful to their source material. He also had a gift for comedy, as shown by the two "Gyldenkål" films. Although best known for Babette's Feast, his career consisted of so much more.


Bob Casale
Bob Casale, guitarist  for the band Devo, died on 17 February 2014 at the age of 61. The cause was heart failure.

Bob Casale was born on 14 July 1952 in Kent, Ohio. His older brother was Gerald Casale, who would found Devo with Bob Lewis and Mark Mothersbaugh. He was a medical radiation technologist when his brother recruited him into Devo. The band Devo had grown out of  Gerald Casale and Bob Lewis' idea of de-volution (the idea of a species regressing towards a more primitive form), which they developed as a joke while at Kent State University in the late Sixties. Their idea of devolution took on a more serious tone following the 4 May 1970 Kent State shootings, in which unarmed college students were gunned down by the Ohio National Guard.

Devo began to take shape around 1973, with Bob Casale on guitar alongside Gerald Casale, Mark Mothersbaugh, Bob Lewis, and others. In 1976 they filmed the video In The Beginning Was The End: The Truth About De-Evolution, which featured two songs: "Secret Agent Man" (their cover of the Johnny Rivers song) and "Jocko Homo". It won a a prize at the Ann Arbor Film Festival in 1977. It was in 1977 that Devo released their first single, "Mongoloid", backed with "Jocko Homo". That same year would see the release of their first EP, Be Stiff. By this time Devo had come to the attention of such artists as David Bowie and Iggy Pop. As a result they were signed to Warner Bros. Records.

Devo's first long play album, Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!, was released in July 1978. The album performed well, peaking at #78 on the Billboard albums chart and #12 on the UK albums chart. It was followed in Duty Now for the Future in 1979, did not do quite as well as Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!. Fortunately their next album, Freedom of Choice (released in 1980), would prove to be their breakthrough. The album went to #22 on the Billboard albums chart and to #47 on the UK albums chart. The album also produced the singles "Girl U Want", which received a good deal of FM airplay, as well as "Whip It", which went all the way to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100.

As a result of the success of Freedom of Choice the early Eighties would see Devo at the peak of their popularity. Their follow up, New Traditionalists was released in 1981 and performed fairly well. While its singles did not crack the Billboard Hot 100, they did receive a good deal of FM airplay. Unfortunately, Devo's success would be short lived. Their next album, Oh, No! It's Devo (1982), sold more poorly than Freedom of Choice, and did not even chart in the UK. Their next album, Shout (1984), sold even more poorly despite their cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Are You Experienced" ("R U Experienced") receiving some airplay. Bob Casale served as the sound engineer on Shout and would continue to do so for the rest of Devo's albums.

As a result of the failure of Shout Warner Bros.dropped Devo from the label. Bob Casale began working as a sound engineer, serving in that capacity on the first solo album of Andy Summers of The Police in 1986. Devo eventually reformed and released the album Total Devo on Enigma Records in 1988. It was followed by Smooth Noodle Maps in 1990. Devo broke not long after the release of Smooth Noodle Maps in the wake of poor ticket sales for a European tour and dissension in the band.

In 1992 with the TV special Frosty Returns, Bob Casale started working a music engineer and music mixer for various films and TV shows. He worked on such films as Four Rooms (1995), Happy Gilmore (1996), Rushmore (1998), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000), The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Rugrats Go Wild (2003), Herbie Fully Loaded (2005), and Mama's Boy (2007).

In 1995 Devo regrouped. They appeared as part of the 1996 Lollapalooza tour and returned for the 1997 Lollapalooza tour. They recorded songs for various films. Bob Casale would be a part of his brother Gerald's solo project Jihad Jerry & the Evildoers and performed on the albums Army Girls Gone Wild (2005) and Mine Is Not a Holy War (2006). In 2010 Devo released their first studio album in years, Something for Everybody.

Bob Casale was with Devo for the entirety of it history, playing with the band from their earliest gigs to their final album. And while he stayed out of the spotlight centred upon his brother Gerald and band mate  Mark Mothersbaugh, there can be little doubt he was central to the band's success. Bob Casale not only played guitar in the band, but also did much of the band's production. It was in part due to Bob Casale that Devo did not sound like any other band. Indeed, it seems likely that Bob Casale gone that Devo will not continue. Indeed, it seems inconceivable for there to be Devo without him.

Godspeed Harold Ramis

Director, writer, and actor Harold Ramis died today at the age of 69. The cause was complications from autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis. He left behind a body of work that included Animal House, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day.

Harold Ramis was born on 21 November 1944 in Chicago. His parents, Ruth and Nathan Ramis, owned and operated Ace Food & Liquor Mart on Chicago's West Side. He graduated from Nicholas Senn High School in Chicago. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis. Following his graduation he worked for a time as a mental health orderly at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. It was in Chicago that he first emerged as a freelance writer, contributing articles to the now defunct Chicago Daily News. He went onto edit and write the "party jokes" section of Playboy magazine. It was while he was with Playboy that he made his television debut, on the programme Playboy After Dark.

It was in 1969 that he became part of the legendary improvisational comedy troupe Second City. He would leave Second City for a time before returning in 1972. In 1973 Mr. Ramis would join John Belushi and Bill Murray (both Second City alumni) to work on the radio show The National Lampoon Hour. He also appeared in the stage revue The National Lampoon Show, which also featured John Belushi, Bill Murray,  Christopher Guest, and Gilda Radner among others. During the Seventies he also participated in the video collective known as TVTV.

It was in 1976 that the television show spin off of Second City, SCTV, debuted. Harold Ramis served as both the head writer and a performer on SCTV. SCTV ran for three years and while SCTV would not see the lasting success of its contemporary, Saturday Night Live, it developed a cult following that has lasted to this day. Harold Ramis also wrote the TVTV specials TVTV Looks at the Academy Awards,  The TVTV Show, and TVTV Goes to the Superbowl, all in 1976. It was in 1978 that he made what could be considered his breakthrough, as one of the writers on Animal House (with Douglas Kenney and Chris Miller). While Animal House received mixed reviews upon its release, it proved to be a hit at the box office. It has since then become regarded as one of the best comedies of its era.

Harold Ramis followed the success of Animal House with two more screenplays, Meatballs in 1979 (co-written by Len Blum, Daniel Goldberg, and Janis Allen) and Caddyshack in 1980 (co-written by  Brian Doyle-Murray and  Douglas Kenney). Caddyshack also marked Harold Ramis' directorial debut. Like Animal House before it, Caddyshack received mixed reviews upon its release but is more highly regarded now.

The Eighties would see Harold Ramis continue his success. He co-wrote Stripes (1981) with Len Blum and Daniel Goldberg, and starred in the film alongside Bill Murray. He also wrote episodes of the short lived SCTV Network as well as appearing in several episodes. He directed National Lampoon's Vacation (1983). What may have been his biggest success came in 1984. Ghostbusters was co-written by Harold Ramis and Dan Akroyd. It starred Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, and Harold Ramis. The film would prove incredibly successful, becoming a franchise that would produce two separate animated cartoon series, video games, comic books, and a great deal of merchandise. Mr. Ramis reprised his role as Egon in its sequel, Ghostbusters II (1989). He also wrote (with Brian Doyle-Murray) and directed Club Paradise (1986). He wrote the film Armed and Dangerous (1986) with Brian Grazer, James Keach, and Peter Torokvei. Mr. Ramis appeared in the films Baby Boom (1987) and Stealing Home (1988). 

In the Nineties Harold Ramis developed the story for the animated film Rover Dangerfield with Rodney Dangerfield. He also directed and wrote (with Danny Rubin) one of the most successful films of his career, Groundhog Day (1993). The film would not only be a success at the box office, but would have a lasting impact on pop culture, with the film often referenced with regards to recurring situations. He directed the films Stuart Saves His Family (1995), Multiplicity (1996), Analyse This (1999), and Bedazzled (2000). He co-wrote Analyse This with Peter Toland and Kenneth Lonergan. Bedazzled was based on the 1967 Peter Cook and Dudley Moore comedy of the same name. Mr. Ramis co-wrote the screenplay with Larry Gelbart and Peter Tolan. He appeared in the films Airheads (1994), Love Affair (1994), and As Good as It Gets (1997).

In the Naughts Mr. Ramis directed the films Analyse That (2002), The Ice Harvest (2005), and Year One (2009). He also directed episodes of The Office. He co-wrote Analyse That with Peter Steinfeld and Peter Tolan, and co-wrote Year One with Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg. He appeared in the films Orange County (2002), I'm with Lucy (2002), The Last Kiss (2006), Knocked Up (2007), Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) and Year One.

While Harold Ramis had his share of misses, I honestly believe that he was one of the very few consistently funny, modern day comedy writers and directors. Indeed, he either wrote or directed (sometimes both) some of the most popular and highly regarded comedies of the past forty years. Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day are still watched today and audiences still find them as funny today as audiences did when they were first released.

Harold Ramis' success as a writer and director of comedies may have been due to the fact that he made comedies like no one else. In many respects Harold Ramis' films were like live-action, Warner Brothers cartoons, with the humour often tending towards being wild and even outré. At the same time, however, his comedies usually had a very cerebral element to them. This is true even of his earliest comedies, from Animal House to Stripes. They could be nearly anarchic and often even downright gross, but they were also much more intellectual than some of their contemporaries.His films either portrayed the struggle of individuals with authority (Delta House with Faber College, Winger and Ziskey with the U.S. Army) or individuals struggling with themselves (Groundhog Day and Analyse This), and sometime both (Caddyshack is an example of this). In some respects one could say the theme of Harold Ramis' oeuvre was self actualisation.

Beyond being a true talent in the field of comedy, it is also to be noted that Harold Ramis was recognised by many as simply being a nice guy.  Everyone who worked with him always had kind words to say about Harold Ramis. Those lucky enough to meet him always described him as a sweet, funny, and unassuming man. Indeed, it is not every man who would leave the bright lights of Hollywood to return to his hometown of Chicago. It is perhaps not enough to say that Harold Ramis made what were some of the last few truly funny comedies in film history. He was also a true gentleman.

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.