F-Troop: Braving Fort Courage

July 6, 2026January 22, 2026 / thewritelife61 / Leave a comment

As we start our July blogs, the theme is Military Upended. We’re taking a look at military sitcoms and up first is F Troop. This was a western sitcom set in the 1860s. It debuted on CBS in September of 1965 and ran for two seasons.

If you and your siblings argue about whether this show was in color or black and white, you’re both right. The first season was in black and white, and the second season was produced in color.

The characters lived at Fort Courage, an army outpost. Captain Wilton Parmenter (Ken Berry) runs, or tries to run, the fort. One of the running gags is that Parmenter comes from a long line of military heroes that stopped with him. However, he served during the Civil War. After being told to pick up the general’s laundry near Appomattox, he begins sneezing. Union soldiers think it’s a command to charge which turns the tide of the battle. Then while Parmenter’s father is pinning the Medal of Honor on him for this feat, he pricks his chest, drawing blood for which they gave him a Purple Heart.

Parmenter is sent to Fort Courage where all the captains have failed. Two of the three commanders before him deserted, and one had a nervous breakdown there.

Parmenter is “aided” by Sergeant O’Rourke (Forrest Tucker) and Corporal Agarn (Larry Storch). However, these two are there just to make a quick buck however they can; they often work with Chief Wild Eagle (Frank de Kova) to find the next shady business deal. For example, the government thinks 30 men are at the fort; in reality, it’s 17 and the pay for the other 13 is put into a fund by the two men to fund their plans. However, the two men, while willing to take advantage of his gullibility, do like Parmenter and protect him. Parmenter is kind and well meaning.

What Wil really needs protection from is marriage. The local store owner-postmistress Jane (Melody Patterson) has set her cap for him. She’s a beautiful tomboy who knows what she wants and usually gets it. She is also a telegrapher and is the best sharpshooter in the territory. She often rescues Wil with her good aim.

Patterson auditioned for this role at age 15, lying about her age. The show didn’t find about that till half-way through the first season. When the series started, she was 16 and Berry was 32. During the second season, when she turned 17, the producers allowed a more serious relationship between the two.

Rounding out the cast was Private Dobbs (James Hampton), a bugler who only knows two songs; Trooper Vanderbilt (Joe Brooks), the lookout who is almost blind; and Trooper Duffy (Bob Steele) the lone survivor of the Alamo who is too old to help much.

We also get to know several members of the Hekawis tribe headed by Chief Wild Eagle. They are 50/50 partners with O’Rourke and Agarn. They make souvenirs for sale and produce whiskey. They claim to be a peaceful nation because most of them are cowards like the men at the fort. The Chief has many wise sayings and often gives advice although when asked to explain some of them, he says he has no idea. His second in charge is Crazy Cat (Don Diamond).

Not surprisingly for the time, none of the tribal members are played by Native Americans. There is a lot of politically incorrect dialogue on the show. The Hekawe (pronounced “heck-ow-ee”) tell the story of how they got their name: Two indigenous people fell off a cliff and one asked “Where the heck are we?” which they chose for their name.

A lot of stereotypes exist not only about Native Americans but military heroes and the west in general. History is presented tongue in cheek with characters showing up who never would have been there and sly references to things that were happening in the sixties.

A number of guest stars somehow end up at Fort Courage. These include Jamie Farr, Bernard Fox, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Harvey Korman, Paul Lynde, Lee Meriwether, Julie Newmar, Vincent Price, and Don Rickles.

The popular theme music was composed by William Lava with lyrics by Irving Taylor. Lava had more than 500 television credits for composing. While he worked in animation a lot, he composed for Dr. Kildare, The Twilight Zone, Wagon Train, and 77 Sunset Strip. His collaborators included Henry Mancini and Sammy Kahn.

The series featured a lot of great writers including Stan Dreben who wrote for Green Acres, Seaman Jacobs and Howard Merrill from The Dick Van Dyke Show, and James B. Allardice who wrote for a lot of shows including My Three Sons and Hogan’s Heroes.

Storch was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role. His competition included Brian Keith for Family Affair, Bob Crane from Hogan’s Heroes, and Don Adams from Get Smart who won. I admit I was surprised to see his nomination given the classic television sitcoms that were on the air at the time.

ABC placed the show on Tuesday nights for season one which helped its ratings because there wasn’t a lot of competition. It was up against Red Skelton which was waning in its popularity, and it followed McHale’s Navy, and the same type of audience who enjoyed that show probably liked F-Troop as well.

After the second season, the show was ranked 40^th out of 113 shows. According to Forrest Tucker, Warners Brothers was sold to Seven Arts, and they made the decision to cancel the show because they felt it used too much of the Warner Ranch for its setting and they weren’t thrilled about the added costs of producing this one in color.

Fun fact, a replica of the fort was built in Houck, Arizona on Route 66. The Fort displayed F-Troop props, and they sold F-Troop merchandise. Among the amenities were a coffee shop, gas station, grocery store, pancake house, trading post, motel units, trailer park, and campground.

This show is a tougher one to evaluate now. Like so many shows from this era, Native Americans were not portrayed respectfully. However, truth be told, Natives were often portrayed as smarter than white men on this show. Like The Simpsons, everyone on this show was made fun of. It could be compared to The Phil Silvers Show or Hogan’s Heroes. It does have the military money-making schemes that Sergeant Bilko attempted but that was seen as a small part of a respectable military.

For me there was too much emphasis on slapstick humor apart from some of the uncomfortable dialogue. If you want to check it out and see what you think, which is what I always recommend, the series is available on DVD. It’s also on Prime and Roku.

Ichabod and Me: Critics Were Not Fans

June 29, 2026January 4, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Today we wind up our Funny Duos theme with Ichabod and Me. The show was on for one season from 1961-1962. Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher served as executive producers for the show. They were also the creatives behind Leave it to Beaver.

Widower Bob Major (Robert Sterling) and his six-year-old son Benje (Jimmy Mathers) relocate from New York City where he worked for the New York Times to Phippsboro in New Hampshire. Bob purchased the newspaper there from its longtime owner Ichabod Adams (George Chandler). Ichabod and Bob don’t see eye to eye very often as Bob tries to move the town to a new progressive direction. However, Ichabod not only owns much of the town, but he is the mayor, the school superintendent, and traffic commissioner. Ichabod tries to advise Bob with fatherly wisdom about navigating local conflicts.

Had the show been more successful, Jimmy Mathers might have become as well known as his brother Jerry Mathers who was the Beaver.

Eventually Bob dates Ichabod’s daughter Abby (Christine White). Rounding out the cast is housekeeper Aunt Livvy (Reta Shaw), high school employee Jonathan (Jimmy Hawkins), townsmen Olaf (Burt Mustin) and Colby (Forrest Lewis), hardware store owner Martin (Guy Raymond). Many of Bob’s conflicts are with Olaf and Colby who are on the City Council and listen in on the town’s party line to many of the phone calls in the town.

The characters of Bob and Ichabod were originally created for a dramatic episode that aired on Robert Montgomery Presents titled “Goodbye, Grey Flannel.”

The opening and closing numbers were performed by Pete Rugolo and His Orchestra.

Unfortunately, the critics were not kind to the show. Associated Press critic Cynthia Lowry wrote that “Ichabod and Me amounted to a pretty tired, clumsy effort” and that it was more likely to offend New Englanders than attract them as viewers. Harriet Van Horne said that “a network that would by Ichabod for prime evening time would buy the Brooklyn Bridge from a tavern drunk—and pay cash.” And Variety said it was “just another run-of-the-mill situation comedy, typically innocuous in its content and wholly bland in its approach . . . there were no surprises and few laughs on its first outing.”

The show aired on Tuesday nights. The series competed against The New Breed on ABC and The Dick Powell Show on NBC. After the miserable reviews, it wasn’t surprising that the show failed to attract viewers and it was cancelled after 36 episodes.

Sometimes critics get it wrong, but it sounds like this show was not a great one. That’s too bad because they had a great cast. There were not a lot of successful shows debuting this year. The only ones that are remembered today include The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ben Casey, Mister Ed, and Hazel.

Mr. Adams and Eve: Not Quite Paradise

June 22, 2026January 4, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Funny Duos is our blog theme for June. Today we look at a partnership that’s a little different than the other shows we checked out so far. Mr. Adams and Eve, starred Howard Duff and Ida Lupino, a couple that was married in real life. Another difference with this series is that it made it two seasons before being canceled.

In an interview with the Television Academy, Sol Saks said he was very proud of this show. He said it was the first time Lupino had done comedy and she was great to work with. He said he met with the couple and just hanging out at their home, he heard several plots for shows. For example, he heard their maid making horse bets on the phone and at one time, Lupino answered the door and a vacuum salesman was there and wanted to sell her an appliance, but she said she would have to ask their financial people and get back to him. Saks then learned that Lupino didn’t know how to purchase an appliance by herself. So many of the stories from their real life ended up in scripts.

Saks left this show because he was tired of always writing for one show over and over and decided to write movie scripts and pilots.

The show debuted on CBS in January 1957. The series follows two Hollywood stars who live in Beverly Hills. Eve (Lupino) grew up in a family in the entertainment business and is more dramatic and over the top while her husband Howard (Duff) is a humble and quiet man.

There was a large supporting cast in this show. It includes their studio boss Joe J.B. Hafter (Alan Reed), director Max Cassolini (Lawrence Dobkin/Christopher Dark), agent Steve (Hayden Rorke), housekeeper Elsie (Olive Carey), Eve’s mother Connie (Lee Patrick), and the Stewarts (Frances Robinson and Dan Tobin), their good friends. Their daughter Bridget also pops up on one episode portraying Mary Pickford.

While some of the plots are about their domestic life, most of the action involves their professional challenges.

David Rose was brought on as composer. I’m not sure how awkward it was or was not, but Lupino’s ex-husband Collier Young was the creator and executive producer.

The show originally aired on Friday nights. Its competition was Treasure Hunt and The Joseph Cotton Show. I would think with two stars of their magnitude, they would win the ratings for this time slot, but the show was moved to Tuesdays during the second season. The competition that night was a bit tougher with established shows Cheyenne and The Eddie Fisher Show.

Lupino and Duff made the decision to end the show when they didn’t get the viewership they were hoping for to pursue individual projects for the following year. Duff starred in Dante about a nightclub owner which only lasted one season. While both stars appeared in many different television series over the decades, neither of them starred in another show. The couple’s marriage lasted much longer than their show but it did end in divorce in 1984.

Lupino was nominated for an Emmy both years and Richard Kinon was nominated for director. Lupino had some tough competition. In 1958 she competed against Spring Byington (December Bride), Eve Arden (The Eve Arden Show), Jane Wyatt (Father Knows Best), and Jan Clayton (Lassie). In 1959 other nominees were Byington, Wyatt, Ann Sothern (The Ann Sothern Show), Gracie Allen (Burns and Allen), and Donna Reed (The Donna Reed Show.) Wyatt won both years, and the directing Emmy went to Peter Tewksbury also for Father Knows Best.

Perhaps one of the best things about this show was its opening. It had cartoonish figures similar to the Bewitched opening, but they were in a real setting, another show Sol Saks worked on. One of my favorite characters was Eve’s mother Connie who Eve called Connie. She brought a lot of fun to every scene she was in.

The episodes I watched were pretty good, especially for the late fifties. At least the Duffs made a successful transition from the movies to television and ended the show on their own terms. There is a DVD of shows out there as well as episodes on YouTube.

Wendy and Me: We Liked Wendy, But We Loved Gracie

June 15, 2026June 15, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we continue our theme of Funny Duos, today we delve into Wendy and Me, starring George Burns. This one debuted on ABC in fall of 1964 and was canceled by the next season.

Gracie Allen passed away from a heart attack in 1964. She had quit the Burns and Allen show to get away from the fast pace of show business. Burns wasn’t ready to retire, so he agreed to star in this sitcom with Connie Stevens.

Burns, a former entertainment performer, owns an apartment building where Wendy Conway (Stevens) lives with her husband Jeff (Ron Harper). Burns practices singing for five or six hours a day just in case he is able to make a comeback. There were a lot of complaints, so he had to buy the building to keep practicing. Also in the cast was Danny Adams (James T. Callahan), a friend of Jeff‘s who’s a playboy, and Mr. Bundy (J. Pat O’Malley), the superintendent.

Like his previous show, Burns can watch a television playing Wendy and Me and talk to the audience about the events. This show was also similar to Burn and Allen in that George is the straight man while Stevens is the naïve, bit ditzy, scatterbrained blonde who is an airline stewardess and Jeff is a pilot. As George says, “having Wendy help you is like being lost in a desert for four days and then having someone give you a glass of sand.”

A running gag on the show is that Wendy celebrates everything from when she and Jeff had their first date to when she first put sugar in his coffee.

The show aired Monday nights. It was sandwiched between No Time for Sergeants, a military comedy, and The Jack Benny Show. However, its competition was The Lucy Show and The Andy Williams Show. The Andy Griffith Show was on before The Lucy Show, and both were top-ten hits so the struggle for viewers was challenging.

Actually the show was well written and I thought the dialogue was great. If this had been the original version of this show, it probably would have been a big hit. I’m guessing that it was hard to compete with Gracie and with her having just passed away, it felt wrong to cheer for me to root for someone else in her place. While those feelings might have come into some of the audience draw, I’m guessing the tough competition was this show’s biggest hurdle. It probably could have drawn viewers from younger generations who never saw the original Burns and Allen, but when it was up against The Lucy Show that followed The Andy Griffith Show, the viewers chose NBC. The Andy Williams Show also struggled in this time slot. If you want to check out a fun show from the sixties, this would definitely be a fun one to watch.

I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster: Building Comedy Into Every Episode

June 8, 2026June 8, 2026 / thewritelife61 / Leave a comment

June’s blog theme is Funny Duos. Last week we learned about the Governor and J.J., a show created by Leonard Stern. Today it’s another show created and produced by Stern, I’m Dickens, He’s Fenster.

This show debuted on ABC in September 1962 and was canceled after one season. It starred John Astin and Marty Ingels.

The plot is that two carpenters are best friends. Harry Dickens (Astin) is married to Kate (Emmaline Henry) while Arch Fenster (Ingels) is a swinging bachelor whose lifestyle is not okay with Kate. The two often clash with their boss, Mr. Bannister (one of my favorites, Frank DeVol). Rounding out the cast are coworkers Mel (Dave Ketchum), Bob (Henry Beckman), and Bentley (Noam Pitlik). We also meet a few of Fenster’s girls including Yvonne Craig, Ellen Burstyn, and Lee Meriwether.

Stern talked about casting for the show in his interview with the Television Academy. He had Ingels hired and then Stern and his wife saw Astin in a play at UCLA, and he was added to the cast. Stern said he needed a director who liked comedy and could bond with the actors well and was innovative because Stern didn’t like the three-camera shot. He hired Arthur Hiller who fit all three qualifications.

The show, unusual for the time, was filmed in front of a live audience. The comedy combined witty comments with slapstick comedy.

ABC placed it on Friday nights between The Flintstones, which was created for adult viewing, and 77 Sunset Strip. This should have provided a built-in audience, even though it was competing against Sing Along with Mitch and Route 66. At the end of the first season, it beat the competition in the ratings but was still canceled. One of the problems measuring viewership at this time was that a person watching was a person watching whether they were 6, 26, 56, or 106, so it was hard to tell which shows appealed to adults.

Astin discussed the reviews for this show during one of his interviews and said that “some of the critics said it’s the kind of humor that makes you laugh out loud in the living room, and that’s an accomplishment. How often do we really laugh out loud in the living room when we’re watching a television show? We’re lucky if we smile.”

The idea for this show occurred when Stern had some work done at his home. On Christmas Eve 1961, the builders were in a hurry to finish work and get home to celebrate with their families. They were finishing a new fireplace with a built-in brick chimney. Unfortunately, one of the crew forgot to remove the ladder when they were finished in the chimney and they bricked up the hearth before realizing they had now lost their ladder. Stern thought the misadventures of a couple of construction workers might make a great sitcom.

In an interview with the Television Academy, Stern said he asked musician Irving Szathmary for a theme that evoked a Laurel and Hardy feeling. (Szathmary was also the composer behind the unforgettable Get Smart theme.) It must have worked because Stan Laurel said he thought this series was “one of the funniest and most highly imaginative comedies to have its thirty minutes of fame on television.”

One of the running gags on the show was just like the cobbler’s children have no shoes, Dickens’ house was always in a state of upheaval with paint samples on the wall and cabinet doors not working properly; it was in constant renovation. We see this immediately in the pilot as Fenster stops by to pick up Dickens and sees Kate trying to work with the various kitchen issues under construction.

The pilot was a typical plot line for not only this show but most early sixties sitcoms. Dickens is up for a promotion to foreman and is afraid he won’t get the job. In the past, whenever Dickens is waiting for something special, he gets nervous and always ruins the opportunity. When the boss shows up at the project, he doesn’t seem to know Harry Dickens’ name, so the two friends decide to put it into his subconscious by whispering it here and there when they walk by him. That evening Fenster brings his girlfriend over. Harry doesn’t want to spend the evening with them, but once he meets the girlfriend, he falls all over himself being nice to her. Lorna mentions to Fenster that he should try for the foreman job himself.

The next morning, Fenster comes to get Dickens, and Harry is rude to him because he thinks he wants the foreman job. At the end of the day, Bannister calls Dickens into the office to give him the promotion and tells him that Fenster must be fired because he overheard a lot of bad things about him when the crew was talking. When Dickens talks to the other guys, they said that they never complained about Fenster, although they did repeat some of the funny things Dickens said about Fenster. Fenster tells Bannister that he just got fired by Dickens and then Dickens comes in to say it’s been a misunderstanding and Fenster should not be fired and would make a better foreman than Dickens. Bannister said he’ll let them know what decision has been made the next morning.

That night Fenster shows up with a different girlfriend who just happens to be Bannister’s daughter. There was a great mixture of slapstick and witty banter during the episode. Something did feel a bit off with the characters. I think the characters should have reversed roles; Aston seems more the playboy type, and Ingels seems more the married man for typical sixties sitcoms.

Astin would go on to star in The Addams Family while Henry would marry Dr. Bellows on I Dream of Jeannie. Unfortunately, with only 32 episodes, the show didn’t qualify for syndication. The first sixteen episodes are included on a DVD set released in 2012 if you want to check out the show. You can also find some of them online in different sites.

Like The Governor and J.J., this series also made it to Dell Comics; if you’re a collector of comic books about old television series, you can take a look.

I had heard a lot about this show but never watched it till now. It was different and funnier than I thought it would be.

The Governor and J.J.: You Didn’t Often Hear “Yes, Guv’nor”

June 1, 2026June 8, 2026 / thewritelife61 / Leave a comment

In June, our theme is “Funny Duos,” and we are taking a look at a few shows that are not so well-known.

Up first is The Governor & J.J. This show debuted in September of 1969 and ran for one season on CBS. Starring Dan Dailey and Julie Sommars, it was about a Midwestern governor and his daughter Jennifer Jo, or JJ, who acted as first lady for him. Her day job was an assistant curator at a local zoo. Of course, she and her dad had very different opinions as he was more conservative and she was more liberal. Although in real life, Sommars was a dedicated Republican. Rounding out the cast were secretary Maggie (Neva Patterson), press secretary George (James T. Callahan), and housekeeper Sara (Nora Marlowe). Eventually the Drinkwaters’ basset hound Guv also became a character.

The casting of Sommars and Dailey was true chemistry. Dailey became a surrogate father for Sommars and was reportedly the first one at the hospital pacing the floors when she had her baby.

Leonard Stern created the show. He was the producer and writer behind many successful shows including McMillan and Wife, Holmes and Yo-Yo, The Honeymooners, The Phil Silvers Show, and the amazing Get Smart.

Although it didn’t get nominated for any Emmys, it did win the Golden Globe for best comedy, best actress in a comedy and best actor in a comedy. Dailey was a well-known and respected actor when this show began and would have been a big draw for the show, although it was created to showcase Sommars.

The show was on Tuesday nights for the first few months and then was switched to Wednesday nights an hour earlier. Tuesdays it was up against the movie of the week on both ABC and NBC. When it moved to Wednesdays, if faced Room 222 and The Men from Shiloh.

Leonard Stern discussed the casting of the show during his interview with the Television Academy. He said one night his kids were watching The Man from UNCLE and he heard a voice and called his wife in and said he wanted to write a script for the character. He watched the rest of the show, trying to find the actress’s name and later asked Casting to send her over for a meeting. When the woman showed up, it was the wrong actress. He said it was a Bronx accent he heard on the show and this was a very Midwestern actress wearing gloves. However, he subsequently learned that she was the same actress when she went into her Bronx accent. So, he wrote the show for her. Then Sommars and Stern went to see Dan Dailey in “The Odd Couple” and he was hired. Carroll O’Connor was brought in as an Archie Bunker type of character, Orrin Hacker. He had starred in the pilot for All in the Family, but it had not sold. However, during this show, another network bought it and O’Connor left. Stern replaced him with one of his favorite actors from Get Smart, Edward Platt.

Fun fact is that in 1970 three comic books were issued by Gold Key.

Many viewers seemed to enjoy the show. However, one of the faults might have been that father and daughter, while on separate sides of political issues, they really weren’t in much conflict. I would say their differences of opinion weren’t so much left vs right as doing things the way they have always been done vs trying something new. That might have been fine for the show had All in the Family not debuted the same season. The differences between Archie Bunker and his son-in-law Mike were truly conflicting. When the Governor and J.J. was canceled after 39 episodes, it was replaced with To Rome with Love which got displaced for All in the Family. To Rome with Love made it 48 episodes before its removal while All in the Family not only lasted for 207 episodes but then morphed into Archie Bunker’s Place about Archie’s life after Edith passed away; it ran for another 97 episodes.

This seemed to be a well-written and well-casted show. In the episodes I watched for this blog, I admit that I had a hard time with the shows. I liked the interactions between the Governor and JJ, but I found the laugh track annoying and some of the characters like Jack Cassidy’s role as a speech consultant were a bit grating. If it had debuted five years earlier, it would probably have been a hit for a few seasons, but things were changing so much in television at this time, it never caught on.

Hugh Beaumont: The Best Father on Television

May 25, 2026May 25, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we wind up our blog theme Model Parents, we concentrate on the career of Hugh Beaumont, the man many of us recall as Ward Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver.

Beaumont was born in Kansas in 1909. After high school, he enrolled in the University of Chattanooga where he played football. Later he studied at the University of Southern California, receiving his master of theology in 1946.

In 1941, Beaumont married actress Kathryn Adams. They were divorced in 1974. Hugh was a lay minister in the Methodist church, and during WWII he was a medic.

His passion for acting led him to appear in an impressive 99 films over his career. In the mid-1940s, Beaumont stepped into the shoes of private detective Michael Shayne in a string of five films — roles that showcased the quiet charisma and moral strength that would later define his most famous television character.

During the fifties, he transitioned to television where he had roles in many of the dramatic shows that were so popular then. In 1957 he got his big break with the role of Ward Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver. Beaumont also tried his hand at directing during the run of the show, directing 23 episodes.

📷laura’smiscellaneousmusings.com As Michael Shayne

The cast was a close one. Jerry Mathers shared his first memory of Beaumont which was not from Leave It to Beaver: “I actually worked with Hugh Beaumont even before we started shooting Leave It to Beaver. I was cast with him in a promotional film for Rose Hills Memorial Park. One thing I remember is that during a scene, I was supposed to cry on cue. Hugh asked me if I had ever done that before and I told him no. He said, ‘Put your face into your hands and laugh really hard.’ It’s an old actor’s trick because the sound of laughter and crying are very closely related. I tried and it worked.”

When Mathers came in for Hugh’s audition, he remembered the actor and they had good chemistry right from the start. Mathers said that he and Hugh had a wonderful relationship for his entire life. He fondly remembered Hugh coming over to his house to play cards with Jerry’s father and some of his friends.

During the sixties and seventies, Hugh was involved with community theater taking roles on several television shows including Lassie, Petticoat Junction, Marcus Welby MD, Mannix, and Medical Center. He also wrote several television screenplays and radio scripts, as well as short stories. His last role was in 1971 when he retired from entertainment to start a Christmas tree farm in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.

Beaumont died in 1982 while visiting his son in Germany.

Beaumont always kept his integrity. He once said that “sometimes my work as an actor presents a conflict with my ideals as a clergyman. I don’t believe in the old saying that the end justifies the means and no money that I can earn as an actor can accomplish so much good that I would feel justified in violating my ideals to earn it. , . . If the question ever arises in a serious way, of course, I would have to give up my acting.”

Hugh Beaumont was kindly remembered by everyone he worked with. He had dual careers with one foot in Hollywood and one in the church which isn’t always easy. He then took on a third profession selling Christmas trees. He seemed to be a man who enjoyed what he did and chose the right path for himself at each stage of his journey.

Barbara Billingsley: She Knows Jive

May 18, 2026April 17, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

We are in the midst of our blog theme, Model Parents, and today we get to know June Cleaver, also known as Barbara Billingsley.

Billingsley was born in Los Angeles in 1915. Barbara’s parents divorced when she was under five; her dad was a policeman, who was eventually appointed the assistant Chief of Police, and her mom worked at a knitting mill.

Her mother used to take her and her sister to the movies quite often, so she was exposed to all the top actors growing up. She also loved tennis and she said you could play at night. You put a quarter in this machine and it lit up the court so you got an hour to play.

Billingsley left college after a year to appear in a Broadway review. When the show closed after only five days, Barbara decided to stay and began working as a fashion model for Stephen Sondheim’s mother and later Hattie Carnegie. She didn’t have an easy time there; she said she was so innocent and no one had talked to her about life, so she grew up quickly.

She married her husband Glenn in 1941 and four years later she was offered a contract with MGM Studios. The couple moved to Los Angeles where Glenn opened a steakhouse. Unfortunately, their marriage didn’t last and they divorced in 1947, with two young sons.

She would appear in 46 films, most of them in the forties. One of her last movie roles was probably her most famous when she appeared in Airplane!

After 1950 most of her roles were on television. Her first exposure to television was in 1939 in a friend’s New York apartment. Unlike Jane Wyatt and her friends, Billingsley thought it was fascinating.

During the fifties she appeared in a lot of the dramatic playhouse series that were so popular that decade. Her first recurring role was as Barbara on The Box Brothers. In this show, imdb.com states “the two Box brothers were polar opposites who ran a photography studio in San Francisco. Gilly (Bob Sweeney) is the shy retiring sibling, while excitable Harvey (Gale Gordon) is domineering. Harvey dates self-assured Margaret while Gilly’s girl is quiet Marilee.”

In 1953 she married director Roy Kellino, and the marriage lasted for three years when he passed away. Her last marriage to Dr. William S. Mortenson began in 1959 and ended in 1981 when he passed away.

Her next recurring role would make her a household name. In 1957 she accepted the offer to star in Leave It to Beaver. The series was created for Buddy Ebsen and that’s who Billingsley tested with. She went for the audition even though she and her husband at the time were getting ready to leave for Spain where he was directing a movie. Her husband passed away before they left, so when she was asked about taking the part for the new sitcom, she said yes. In the pilot Ebsen was replaced by Max Showalter. It was an episode of Playhouse 57 called “It’s a Small World.” She said she was happy that Hugh Beaumont ended up with the part once the show was ready to begin taping, and she said that he was the best father on television.

The show became a big hit, airing for five seasons. She starred with Beaumont, who we’ll talk about next week; Jerry Mathers; and Tony Dow.

Billingsley was often stereotyped as the typical suburban mother cleaning her house while wearing pearls. However, the real story behind the pearls is a much simpler one. Barbara had a hollow in her neck that she was self-conscious about, so she thought wearing a string of pearls would help hide it. She was also made fun of vacuuming in high heels. She said she wore flats the first year or two, but when the boys began getting taller, the producers wanted her to wear heels, so they didn’t surpass her in height.

Barbara defended June Cleaver when others complained about sitcom life not being realistic. Billingsley said June “was the love in that family. She set a good example for what a wife could be. I had two boys at home when I did the show. I think the character became kind of like me and vice versa. I’ve never known where one started and where one stopped.” She said she thought most people would appreciate a mother like June. “Wouldn’t it be nice if you came home from school and there was Mom standing there with her little apron and cookies waiting?” Her “sons” on the show considered her a mentor and a second mother.

The one thing Billingsley regretted about the show was signing the typical contract that paid actors residuals for up to six reruns. Who knew Leave it To Beaver would still be on the air almost seventy years after it debuted.

She stayed close to the cast of Leave It to Beaver. She said, “No father on television was better than Hugh.” After his death, she said she missed “him very much because we were so close.” She was also close to Richard Deacon who she, like almost everyone else who knew him, described as incredibly funny.

Jerry Mathers talked about his friendship with Barbara after her death. “For me she was like the favorite teacher that we all had in school. I was lucky enough to work with her for six years and have a life-long relationship with her. She was a very kind woman and a generous philanthropist who supported many charities, always ready to give anyone in need a helping hand.

After the show ended, Barbara was typecast and couldn’t find a role she wanted. She traveled abroad off and on for about seventeen years. With the exception of an appearance on The FBI, she would not be seen on tv again until the 1980s after her role on the satire Airplane! While she is only on camera a couple of minutes, her role in the movie is memorable. As a jab at her very white suburban mom role of June Cleaver, Barbara comes to the aid of a stewardess who can’t understand two passengers having an argument. The passengers were Al White and Norman Alexander Gibbs, and the sweet, grandmotherly Barbara tells the stewardess that she knows jive and she proceeds to talk to and berate the two for arguing. The script initially just said “speak jive,” so Billingsley went to lunch with Al White and Norman Alexander Gibbs (the “Jive Dudes”) and they improvised the dialogue together.While she doesn’t even have a name in the movie, this cameo sparked her career and she continued to get fan mail for years.

During the 1980s she appeared on several shows including Mork & Mindy, Silver Spoons, and The Love Boat. From 1985-1989 she reprised her role of June Cleaver on The New Leave It to Beaver show.

She showed up in several shows in the nineties including Empty Nest and Murphy Brown. Her final credit was in a made-for-tv movie, Secret Santa, in 2003.

Billingsley passed away in her home in 2010.

When she wasn’t acting, her interests included gardening, watching movies, playing tennis, sewing, traveling, and spending time with her family.

One thing Barbara said she regretted was not getting an education in drama before becoming an actress. She said she was able to take some classes later, but the people who came to Hollywood with education degrees had much more confidence. And later she learned that the two key skills for actors are relaxation and concentration. Without both, the job is too hard.

When asked how she wanted to be remembered, she echoed Jane Wyatt, saying that she wanted to be known as a good mother and wife. She said she’d like people to remember Leave it to Beaver, but if they think she raised a good family, that’s important and she wants to be a good example.

I think it’s fascinating that our two moms in our “Model Parents” theme both focused on their family life rather than their professional life. They came from very different backgrounds with Wyatt growing up in a wealthy family where both parents chose to work and Billingsley growing up in a middle-class family where her mother had to work to help support her family. They proved by their actions that the mothers on Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver did live realistic lives, and these two moms chose to live this same life off the set as well.

Robert Young: Pretty Successful for a Guy with “No Sex Appeal”

May 11, 2026April 17, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

Our theme this month is Model Parents and today we are learning about the career of Robert Young, otherwise known as Jim Anderson on Father Knows Best.

Young was born in Chicago in 1907. Young’s family moved around while he was growing up, landing in Los Angeles. When he was ten, his father abandoned the family and Young ended up with a paper route to help make ends meet. After high school, Robert attended the Pasadena Playhouse. While he was learning acting skills, he worked as a bank clerk and a reporter, as well as an extra in the Keystone Cops movies. While touring with a stock company, he was offered a contract from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Young appeared in more than 100 films during his career. After his contract ended, he worked for 20^th Century Fox, United Artists, and RKO Radio Pictures. Louis B. Mayer claimed Young “had no sex appeal.” Most of his films were B films, so despite the number of films he made, television is where he made his mark in entertainment. He only had about 15 acting credits in television, but in four of those shows, he was part of the cast.

In 1933 Young married Betty Henderson and they were together until her death in 1994.

His first tv role was on The Ford Television Theater in 1954. That same year he was offered the role of Jim Anderson on Father Knows Best. That show produced 202 episodes, lasting till 1960. Young was the only member of the cast who had been on the radio show. His character was ranked #6 on TV Guide’s list of the “Fifty Greatest TV Dads of All Time in 2004.

The cast was close, and Jane Wyatt got along well with her sitcom husband. When he passed away in 1998, she said he was “simply one of the finest people to grace our industry.” She went on to say that “though we never socialized off the set, we were together every day for six years, and during that time he never pulled rank and always treated his on-screen family with the same affection and courtesy he showed his loved ones in private life.”

Perhaps part of why they were so close is that they had to endure producer Eugene Rodney and his many rules. Elinor Donahue said that Robert Young called him a Benevolent Despot. He wouldn’t allow them to ask to change a line or action. He made everyone who was in the show audition for a part no matter how small it was or how many acting credits they had.

Wyatt, Billy Gray, who played his son, and Elinor Donohue, who played his oldest daughter, all attended his 90^th birthday party in 1997.

In 1961 he was offered another starring role in a television show. This one isn’t remembered as well. Window on Main Street only lasted one season. In addition to acting, Young was the creator and producer of this sitcom.

During the next decade, he accepted roles on ten different shows including Dr. Kildare, The Name of the Game, and Owen Marshall Counselor at Law.

In 1966, Young had a nervous breakdown, and it took him almost four years to recover. When he did, he had another offer waiting for him. From 1969-1976. Young once again got the starring role in a television series when he put on a white coat for Marcus Welby MD. Young earned his only Emmy for Dr. Welby.

While he appeared in a handful of made-for-television movies during the seventies, the only show he became part of the cast on was Little Women in 1979.

His last television performance was in the made-for-tv movie reunion for Father Knows Best in 1988.

Young also showed up in several commercials including a long-running campaign for Sanka coffee.

Sadly, Young suffered from depression and alcoholism. In 1991, he attempted suicide. Afterward he encouraged others who were suffering and in honor of his work, the Robert Young Community Mental Health Center was named for him. The center began in Illinois and now has branches in Iowa as well.

In 1998, Robert died from respiratory failure.

Young was a reserved and quiet man despite his outgoing television personalities. He said that he “was an introvert in an extrovert profession.” Perhaps it’s not surprising that one of his closest friends was Robert Board, his stand-in for twenty years.

Yet, his two most famous roles were as outgoing men: Robert Anderson, insurance salesman and Marcus Welby, doctor. I was sorry to hear how many struggles he had in his personal life. Despite his suffering, he put together an amazing and successful career. If you are remembered for two major roles, you can’t do much better than Jim Anderson and Marcus Welby.

Jane Wyatt: Proving That Mother Knows Best

May 4, 2026April 17, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 5 Comments

This month we are learning about “Model Parents” as we learn more about the careers of Jane Wyatt and Robert Young from Father Knows Best and Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont from Leave it to Beaver.

First up is Jane Wyatt. Jane was born in New Jersey in 1910 because her mother, who lived in New York, was at a resort when she was born. The doctor had to come by horse and buggy, so she was born before he got there. Her father was an investment banker on Wall Street, and her mother was a drama critic and playwright. Jane attended Chapin School and after high school enrolled at Barnard College. Halfway through her college studies, she left school to join the apprentice school at the Berkshire Playhouse in Massachusetts. She wanted to be a horse jockey or an actress and after acting throughout her private schooling and college, acting it was.

After working on Broadway for a bit, she was given a contract at Universal, appearing in One More River in 1934. Wyatt said the road to the studio was barely paved and it ran next to a trolley path. Make-up and hair people didn’t come to the studio, so the actors had to hire their own maids who brought their equipment to the studio by trolley.

A year later she married an investment banker, Edgar Bethune Ward, and they were together until his death in 2000. The couple met when they were house guests of Franklin D. Roosevelt at his Hyde Park home.

She would go on to appear in 34 films, the two most famous coming at the end and beginning of her career. She appeared in Lost Horizon in 1937. Later in her career in an interview with St. Anthony Messenger, she said that she felt the movie was ruined because “during the war, they cut out all the pacifist parts of the film—the High Lama talking about peace in the world. All that was cut because they were trying to inspire those GIs to get out there go bang, bang, bang.”

At the end of her career, she took a role in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Wyatt’s career might have looked very different. She was up for the role of Melanie Hamilton on Gone with the Wind, but she didn’t get the part.

During the forties, her film career suffered because she was an outspoken critic of Joseph McCarthy. She said she was able to work in New York but not in California.

Wyatt recalled seeing television for the first time at Benny Goodman’s house. He had this “tiny square thing on his bar,” and they watched a western for a bit and then everyone at the dinner party agreed that it would never amount to anything. Ironically, she ended up becoming well known because of television.

Wyatt began her television career in 1951 on Nash Airflyte Theatre. These drama series kept her employed during the early to mid-fifties. Then in 1954 Wyatt was given the role of Margaret Anderson on Father Knows Best. She would continue with the role until 1960.

Wyatt was a three-time Emmy winner, winning for her role of Margaret Anderson from 1958-1960.

Jane talked about her time on the hit series. She said the shows “were written to be entertaining, but the writers had something to say. Every script always solved a little problem that was universal. It appealed to everyone. I think the world is hankering for a family. People may want to be free, but they still want a nuclear family.”

She admitted to The Washington Post that she got frustrated at times because “she was never seen reading a book or having a hobby . . . for the time, it was okay.” She also felt strongly that Margaret was an equal to Jim intellectually. She recalled an episode when Margaret became a successful fly fisherman.

It sounds like everyone was ready for the show to end. Wyatt said “The first year was pure joy. The second year was when the problems set in. We licked them, and the third year was smooth going. Fatigue began to set in during the fourth year. We got through the fifth year because we all thought it would be the last. The sixth? Pure hell.”

Wyatt did get along with her sitcom husband well. When he passed away in 1998, she said he was “simply one of the finest people to grace our industry.” She went on to say that “though we never socialized off the set, we were together every day for six years, and during that time he never pulled rank and always treated his on-screen family with the same affection and courtesy he showed his loved ones in private life.”

The cast was close. Elinor Donahue said in her Television Academy interview that Jane Wyatt was a friend of hers all her life as was Billy Gray. Jane was the one who disciplined the kids on the set. Elinor never had a nuclear family of her own and never had a typical high school day until she started at Hollywood High while the show was being worked on.

Perhaps part of why they were so close is that they had to endure producer Eugene Rodney and his many rules. Elinor said that Robert Young called him a Benevolent Despot. He wouldn’t allow them to ask to change a line or action. He made everyone who was in the show audition for a part no matter how small it was or how many acting credits they had.

Although Wyatt must have received a lot of fan mail during her time on the series, she later said she received the most fan mail for two other roles: her Star Trek roles.

Though she never joined the cast for another show, she was kept busy for the next three decades. During the sixties you can see her on Wagon Train and Star Trek. Ironically when Gene Roddenberry presented his idea for Star Trek to the network officials, he compared it to a space-themed Wagon Train. These were two of her favorite appearances.

In 1964, she was part of the very first made-for-tv movie, See How They Run. This was about three children who are stalked by hired killers after they unknowingly take evidence pointing to the existence of a corrupt international cartel, which has just murdered their father.

She did another first in the sixties, appearing in Season 1, Episode 1 of Love American Style, “Love and the Pill.”

During the seventies, Wyatt continued her appearances, and you will see her in reruns from The Virginian, Marcus Welby MD, and Medical Center, as well as several made-for-tv movies reunions for Father Knows Best.

The eighties kept her busy in Qunicy, ME; Happy Days; The Love Boat; and St. Elsewhere. Her last role was in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1992.

Wyatt began fundraising for the March of Dimes in 1943 and continued with the organization until her death. She also enjoyed gardening and birding with Betty White.

Wyatt was offered the role of Rose in her later years for Titanic in 1997, but she turned it down. In 2006 she died in her sleep from natural causes at home. Her son said her mind was sharp until the end.

Listening to her interview with the Television Academy, it’s obvious she truly loved acting. She discussed how tough of a profession it was with the long hours, the rejections, and the unending preparation.

Fun fact, Jane said there is a Mount Wyatt in Antarctica. Her boyfriend at the time was with Byrd there and Admiral Byrd later sent her a letter telling her that they named the mountain for her.

She said she would like to be remembered as having a happy marriage and family life. She did have to give up some of her acting offers in order to do that well.

Jane Wyatt certainly had a successful marriage, family life, and career. You can’t ask for more than that.