Herbert Anderson: A Menacing Situation

August 24, 2026February 17, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are learning about the careers of the cast of Dennis the Menace in our theme “They Are a Menace.” Today it’s Herbert Anderson’s turn; he played Dennis’s father Henry on the show.

Anderson was born in California in 1917. His parents immigrated to Oakland from Norway, and his father was the city treasurer while he was growing up. After high school, Anderson attended the University of California, Berkeley.

Anderson was focused on being an actor and began working for Warner Brothers; his first role was in 1939 as a reporter. In 1941 he was cast in Navy Blues with Martha Raye and Ann Sheriden followed by The Male Animal with Henry Fonda and Olivia de Havilland. In Navy Blues, he replaced Eddie Albert who was no longer available. Anderson had done some national defense shots in uniform and seeing those photos is what got him the job. According to the Oakland Tribune, he sent for his grandmother who traveled by train to see her grandson in action in Hollywood.

He continued acting throughout the forties and after he established himself in television, he would occasionally take on a big-screen offer including My Man Godfrey, The Caine Mutiny, and The Benny Goodman Story.

During these years he met and married Mary Palmer and they were together until his death.

In 1949, he jumped to the small screen to appear on Your Show Time. By the mid-fifties, he was working primarily on television, appearing in many popular shows in the fifties and sixties, including Father Knows Best and Perry Mason.

In 1959 he was offered the role of Henry Mitchell on Dennis the Menace. For the next four years, he was busy trying to stay a step ahead of Dennis and the situations he got the entire neighborhood into. During the third season, Joseph Kearns, George Wilson on the show, passed away and the show declined in ratings and was cancelled the next year.

Anderson kept busy in television and didn’t seem to be pigeonholed into father roles the way his onscreen wife, Gloria Henry, was. He would appear on another 34 shows during the decade after Dennis ended. You can catch him on episodes of Gunsmoke, Petticoat Junction, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman, My Three Sons, Bewitched, Green Acres, The Brady Bunch, and his last appearance in 1975 was on The Waltons.

I always enjoyed his Brady Bunch role. When the kids get sick, their parents decide they should call the doctor, back when doctors still made house calls. They are both surprised when two doctors show up. Of course, Carol called the girls pediatrician played by Marion Ross and Mike called the boys’ doctor played by Anderson. Both doctors assure them that whichever one they choose to be the family doctor is fine with them, but when all is said and done, they retain both doctors.

In 1982, Anderson underwent heart surgery and decided to retire. He passed away in 1994 from complications after a stroke.

Like so many of these actors it was hard to find much information on the private life of Anderson. I couldn’t find out if he was happy with his career or if he had wanted to stay in films longer. I appreciate getting to know him as Henry Mitchell in the Dennis the Menace episodes.

Jay North: No Longer a Menace

August 10, 2026August 18, 2026 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we continue our theme of “They Are a Menace,” today we get to know Jay North, who played Dennis on Dennis the Menace.

North was born in 1951 in Hollywood. His father was an alcoholic, and when he was four, his parents divorced. His mother worked for the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. She arranged for Dennis to appear on his favorite program, Cartoon Express. A talent agent noticed him and asked his mother if she could represent him. In 1958 and 1959, he appeared in eight television series and three movies, including The Donna Reed Show and 77 Sunset Strip.

A nationwide search was being held in 1958 for the casting of Dennis the Menace for a new show. Hundreds of boys auditioned, and North was asked to come in to test with Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry who would play his parents and Joseph Kearns, who would become George Wilson.

The show debuted in fall of 1959 on CBS on Sunday nights. North received about $500 an episode (equivalent today to about $4600). His aunt, who was his guardian on the set, often was abusive. North was not allowed to socialize with the other kids on the set and had to eat his lunch alone in his dressing room. By season three, North was earning $2500 per episode ($23,000 today). His aunt physically abused him when he messed up his lines. He kept this from his mother and coworkers.

Jay played Dennis for four seasons. During season three, Joseph Kearns passed away and he and his wife were written out of the show, with this brother and sister-in-law buying his house and moving next door to Dennis.

North was relieved when the series was cancelled. He was getting exhausted filming the show, doing commercials, and going to school on the set every day. He said in an interview with Filmfax that “between the pressures of the business and Joe’s dying, I became very serious, very morbid, and very withdrawn from the world. I was the antithesis of the little kid that I played on the television show.”

Jay was typecast as Dennis and had a hard time finding roles after the show was done. He took roles on several series, starring in another show, Maya which was canceled after a season. At that point he began providing voices for animation characters. He was married and divorced within a year in the mid-seventies.

Jay became disillusioned with the acting profession and joined the Navy. He was assigned to the USS Iwo Jima, stationed in Virginia in 1977. He received an honorable discharge in 1979.

He received a few roles when he returned, including some time on General Hospital. Luckily his mother had invested his money in real estate, so he was in a good financial situation. For several years he worked in the food industry.

When Paul Petersen, who had played Jeff Stone on The Donna Reed Show, phoned him to say a former childhood star, Rusty Hamer who was the son on The Danny Thomas Show, had committed suicide. North was given the name of a therapist Stan W. Ziegler who helped former childhood stars. Petersen started a new organization, A Minor Consideration, that North helped get running. This nonprofit, still around today, helps minors deal with the stress of show business.

📷extratv.com North with Jeannie Russell and Gloria Henry

North tried marriage again in 1991, but the couple separated after three months. In 1992, he met Cindy Hackney, a caterer. They were married a year later, and the couple moved to Cindy’s hometown of Lake Butler, Florida. He gained three daughters in the marriage. North made a break with Hollywood and worked as a correctional officer in Florida and helped troubled youth through the justice department.

He did keep a foot in the acting door appearing on talk shows, at memorabilia conventions, and he had a cameo on The Simpsons. In 1999, in an interview with E! he said that “I am so happy that I was able to have such a positive impact on people’s lives. I’m going to write my autobiography and then I’m just going to live a contented, happy life here in Lake Butler with the people I love, and kind of just vanish into the mists of time.”

North continued his friendship with Jeannie Russell who played Margaret on Dennis the Menace. She became a chiropractor, and he was one of her clients. He also was close to Gloria Henry after the show and always credited her as being his mentor.

Unfortunately, I could not find the book North wanted to write, but there is a book about his life and the inspiration he became to others. It’s by Richard Mayday and titled “Jay North: Beyond Dennis the Menace: The Life, Legacy, and Untold Struggles from Child Star to Advocate and Survivor of Hollywood’s Golden Age. Sadly, he passed away from colorectal cancer in 2025.The book was published the year North passed away, so I’m not sure if he contributed to the book or not.

North’s career started off out of his control, and once he was able to make his own decisions about his roles, he found himself typecast and unable to get the roles he wanted. However, he continued in the business, finding new ways to contribute with his talents. Luckily, his mother invested all his earnings. North said despite the large amounts of money he was making, she never lived off any of his proceeds. That enabled him to find happiness in Florida with a family he loved and a career that he found satisfaction in helping others. You can’t ask for a more rewarding life than that.

Dennis the Menace: A Well-Meaning Kid

August 3, 2026August 2, 2026 / thewritelife61 / Leave a comment

This month our blog theme is “They Are a Menace,” and we are spending time with some of the cast of the Dennis the Menace show. But, today, we are going to learn a bit about the show itself.

Dennis the Menace debuted in the fall of 1959. It was based on the comic strip by Hank Ketcham that began in 1951. Produced by Dariell Productions and Screen Gems, it was about a young boy and the trouble he mistakenly causes for his family and neighbors. Dennis (Jay North) lives with his parents Henry (Herbert Anderson) and Alice (Gloria Henry). He often causes difficulties for his neighbor George Wilson (Joseph Kearns), but Martha Wilson (Sylvia Field) is much more sympathetic to Dennis’s heartfelt attempts to “help” them. Dennis often refers to his neighbor as “Good Old Mr. Wilson.” George, despite his agitation with the mischief Dennis causes, does care about him.

Also seen on the show were Dennis’s friend Tommy (Billy Booth) and Margaret (Jeannie Russell), who has a crush on Dennis. We also get to know a lot of the community residents Dennis encounters on a regular basis. In six of these episodes, Ron Howard plays Stewart, one of Dennis’s friends before he moved to Mayberry.

Howard discussed his time on the show during his Television Academy interview. He said the thing he remembered most about this show was that the agony North had to endure with his hair style. The producers were trying to force North’s hair into the tuft that the comic strip Dennis the Menace had. They put him in hair nets off to the side of the set when he wasn’t working and kept using gels and sprays to make it work. Howard said he looked miserable, and the second season, they just let his hair do its natural thing.

CBS placed the show on Sunday nights following Lassie. However, after reviewing the first three episodes, the network asked the “antics” to be toned down because they were afraid that children watching the show might try to imitate Dennis’s hijinks.

Sadly in 1962, Kearns passed away from a cerebral hemorrhage. After two episodes without the Wilsons, Gale Gordon moved in as George’s brother John. In the fourth season, John buys the house from George and Martha. Field was let go, and John’s wife Eloise (Sara Seegar) lives in the house and interacts with Dennis.

The show was canceled after that year. The series was #16 in season one, moved up to #11 in season two, stayed in the top twenty in season three at #17 but then fell out of the top thirty shows during the final season. Part of the loss of viewers probably had to do with Kearns and Field leaving the show. However, North was now 12 years old and no longer “fit” the well-meaning boy who causes trouble for everyone.

After the show was cancelled, North got into voice acting, playing the teenage Bamm Bamm on The Flintstones. He also voiced Prince Turhan on The Banana Splits Hour. In 1960 North released his first album, “Look Who’s Singing!”

North left the acting profession about 1990. He teamed up with Paul Petersen (Jeff on The Donna Reed Show) to start A Minor Consideration, dedicated to helping kids in the entertainment industry. North revealed that because his mom worked full time, he needed a guardian on the set, and his Aunt Marie took on that role, but she was often physically and verbally abusive, and he never told his mother or any of his coworkers. A Minor Consideration is still doing good work today. Later North worked with troubled youths in Florida’s juvenile justice system and as a correctional officer.

The other two kids on the show also left the acting profession. Booth became an attorney and taught business law at Cuesta College and Cal Poly, while Russell became a chiropractor, although she did take on a handful of acting jobs now and then.

If you’ve read my blog about the Warners Ranch lot, this show was part of it. The Mitchell house was the same house the Stones resided in on The Donna Reed Show. The Wilson home was the previous home of the Andersons on Father Knows Best and would later be where Jeannie caused mischief for Tony on I Dream of Jeannie.

Not surprisingly, this family show was sponsored by Kellogg’s and Skippy Peanut Butter. The sponsors wanted Dennis to do commercials for them, so he was in ads for Kellogg’s cereals, Skippy, Best Foods mayonnaise, and Bosco chocolate milk. They even talked Kearns into doing some peanut butter commercials with North.

One of the sad things I learned about the show was the unhappy life of the real Dennis Mitchell. Ketcham based the show on his son Dennis. His mother died from a drug overdose when he was 12. His parents had just divorced and three weeks after her death, his dad remarried. Ketcham moved his son to Switzerland, but he had trouble adjusting, so his father sent him to a boarding school in the states. Ketcham stayed in Switzerland with his second family until a divorce in 1968. Hank later remarried and returned to the United States. Dennis joined the military and fought in Vietnam. However, when he returned home, he suffered from PTSD. Even though he turned his life around before he joined the military, he had no relationship with his father. A New York Times reporter who interviewed the cartoonist in 1994 asked about this, and Ketcham said, “He’s living in the East somewhere doing his own thing. That’s just a chapter that was a short one that closed, which unfortunately happens in some families.” Very sad.

Dennis the Menace was popular in the fifties and early sixties. I understand the show lost viewers with the loss of Kearns and Field, but because of Dennis’ age and the change that was taking place in sitcoms in the mid-to-late sixties, the show would not have lasted much longer. It’s hard to learn that both Dennis Ketchum and Jay North suffered mental health issues and abuse during their youth. I’m glad they both were able to go on to live happier lives as adults.

The Show That Never Really Ended

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

The past few weeks we have been exploring the shows that were part of the Friday night schedule from 1970-1972. We end this series by getting to know The Brady Bunch.

How It All Began

Sherwood Schwartz read a stat in LA Times that 31% of all marriages include children from a previous marriage. He put together a script for a show based on that statistic. All three networks liked it, but they all wanted significant changes, so he shelved it. In 1968, the films With Six You Get Eggroll and Yours, Mine, and Ours debuted. Schwartz’s script predated the two movies, but because the movies were so popular (Yours, Mine and Ours was the 11^th top grossing movie that year), ABC decided to put Sherwood’s show on the air. At the time, the title of the show was either “Yours and Mine” or “The Bradley Brood.”

ABC gave Schwartz a 13-week commitment. John Rich was brought on to direct the pilot, the cast was hired, and sets were built at the Paramount TV Stage 5. The filming began Oct 4, 1968 and lasted 8 days.

The show was supposed to reveal how a blended family overcomes daily problems, but by the second season, we forget that this was ever a blended family and the family deals with the same issues all siblings do.

Realizing how popular The Brady Bunch has been for decades, it’s surprising to learn that the show was never in the top 30 during its original run. When it had the number of episodes it needed for syndication, it was canceled by the network. The series found a new life in syndication becoming an American icon. When anyone says it was a “Brady Bunch” kitchen, dress, etc., everyone instinctively knows what that means.

Casting the Show

Shirley Jones was offered the role of Carol Brady first. Joyce Bulifant was then given the role. I’m not sure why she did not get the role; the only information I could find was that she was surprised because she had already signed the contract and had the wardrobe. But for some reason, they tested Florence after and thought she was the better choice for Carol.

THE BRADY BUNCH, Florence Henderson, 1969-74

Both Kathleen Freeman and Monty Margetts were auditioned for Alice. When Florence Henderson got the role, Ann B Davis was hired because they wanted a comedienne that seemed a better fit for Carol.

To find the 6 Brady kids, 464 were auditioned. Sherwood felt it would be more realistic if all the boys had dark hair like Reed and the girls were blonde like Henderson. Mike Lookinland, hired to play Bobby, was really a blonde and they had to dye his hair dark brown.

Allan Melvin played Sam Franklin, Alice’s boyfriend who owns the butcher shop. He was only in eight episodes but was mentioned often.

Tiger the dog appeared in half the episodes from season 1 but only six in season 2 and then disappeared altogether.

During the middle of season 5, Robbie Rist was introduced as Oliver, Carol’s nephew who came to live with them while his parents traveled overseas. It was an attempt to get the younger audience back since the youngest kids were now 11 and 12. The addition of Oliver felt forced and it wasn’t a popular change.

Schwartz’s daughter Hope was on the series four times: Jenny at a slumber party in season 2, episode 3; Rachel, Greg’s girlfriend in season 3, episode 18 and in season 4, episode 15; and in the series’ finale as Gretchen, a graduate in Greg’s class. Many of the script ideas came from her real life.

Many famous guest stars who played themselves met the Bradys: Davy Jones, Desi Arnaz Jr., Don Drysdale, Don Ho, Deacon Jones, NASA astronaut Brig. Gen James McDivitt, Joe Namath. Imogene Coca starred as Aunt Jenny. In an early episode Cindy and Bobby are ill; without discussing it, the parents each call their doctor to make a house call, so two doctors arrive at the same time played by Marion Ross from Happy Days and Herbert Anderson from Dennis the Menace. It worked out because the family decided to keep both doctors.

The Theme Song

The well-known theme was written by Schwartz and Frank De Vol with the famous and often-parodied tic-tac-toe board featuring the family members.

The Peppermint Trolley Co. recorded the theme in season 1. The Peppermint Trolley Co. was a pop band that is known for performing on The Beverly Hillbillies and Mannix. They released one album in 1968. When Christopher Knight was heard singing it on set, the producer decided to have the Brady kids sing the theme, and a new arrangement was recorded each year.

If you need a reminder, the words are:

Here’s the story of a lovely lady Who was bringing up three very lovely girls. All of them had hair of gold, like their mother, The youngest one in curls.

Here’s the story, of a man named Brady, Who was busy with three boys of his own, They were four men, living all together, Yet they were all alone.

Till the one day when the lady met this fellow And they knew it was much more than a hunch, That this group would somehow form a family. That’s the way we all became the Brady Bunch.

The Brady Bunch, the Brady Bunch That’s the way we became the Brady Bunch.

The Brady House

The house was a mid-century modern split-level home at 11222 Dilling St., Studio City, CA. Schwartz chose it because he thought it looked like a home an architect would live in. To make it look like there was a second story, a window was placed on the A-frame. The interior was used in two Mannix episodes and one Mission: Impossible episode. It was also re-created for an X Files episode “Sunshine Days.” In that show, Scully and several agents investigate a bizarre murder case where the main suspect has an obsession with The Brady Bunch. The Bradys’ address was given as 4222 Clinton Way. To help with privacy when the show ended, the owners put up a fence and tried to let some of the greenery grow to block the house from the street.

Vehicles

The vehicles were provided mainly by Chrysler. Throughout the series, Carol drove a brown Plymouth Satellite station wagon, using different models each year.

Mike primarily drove convertibles: Pilot – a blue 1968 Dodge Polara 500 convertible, Season 1 and 2 – a blue 1969 Plymouth Fury III convertible, Season 3 – a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda convertible, Season 4 – a blue 1972 Chevy Impala convertible, and for something different Season 5 – a red 1973 Chevy Caprice Classic convertible.

In one episode, “The Winner,” from season 2, Carol and Mike take Bobby to a local television station to compete in an ice-cream eating contest. They leave in their blue convertible but return in the brown station wagon. Whoops!

Spin Offs

This show spawned a variety of spin-offs and reunion shows including The Brady Bunch Hour (1976-77), The Brady Kids (1977), The Brady Girls Get Married (1981), The Brady Brides (1981), A Very Brady Christmas (1988), The Bradys (1990), and a big-screen movie, The Brady Bunch Movie (1995).

Kelly’s Kids – a pilot for a spinoff was one of the episodes about the Bradys’ friend and neighbor Ken Kelly, played by Ken Berry. Ken and his wife Kathy adopt three boys, all of different racial backgrounds. One of the boys was played by Mike Lookinland’s younger brother. (Todd Lookinland went on to have a successful acting career.) The show was not picked up by the network.

The Brady Kids was a show from 1977 with 9 episodes. Eve Plumb declined the role, so Jan was played by Geri Reischl. It was scheduled sporadically and did not receive great ratings.

The Brady Girls Get Married was supposed to be a one-night tv movie. It ended up being split up into four half-hour weekly shows with the final one being the pilot for a show called The Brady Brides. In the movie, Jan and Marcia have a double wedding. It was the only time the entire cast worked together again after the original show. Mike is still an architect while Carol is a real estate agent. Marcia is a fashion designer, Jan is an architect, Greg is a doctor, Peter is in the Air Force and Bobby and Cindy are in college. Alice has married Sam. The concept of the series is that the two married couples buy a house and live together, but the guys are very different and don’t see eye to eye about much. After ten episodes, the show was cancelled.

When the show ended, the kids released a few albums; however only Barry Williams and Maureen McCormick stayed involved with the music business in their future careers.

In 1983, Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, and Cindy Olsen competed on Family Feud in a celebrity edition of the show.

Life After the Brady Bunch

The cast was close and remained friends after the series ended. Robert Reed did not always agree with Sherwood Schwartz on the details of certain episodes, but he was close with the crew, especially Florence Henderson. At his own expense, he took all the kids to London on the QEII in 1971. When he was dying in 1992, Florence called each of the kids to tell them personally.

Maureen McCormick battled several demons before finding herself after the series ended. She performed in Peter Pan and Grease. Maureen has appeared in many television guest spots and feature films, including Dogtown in 1997, Baby Huey’s Great East Adventure in 1999, and The Million Dollar Kid in 2000. She has released several albums and played country singer Barbara Mandrell in a tv movie. She wrote a memoir, Here’s the Story. She also recently competed on Dancing with the Stars.

Eve Plumb starred in Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway to combat getting locked into an image when the show was cancelled. She has done guest spots on a variety of television shows including One Day at a Time, Murder She Wrote, and The Love Boat. She played the mom on the Fudge series in the 1990s and was in the television special Grease: Live. She has become a well-known artist, primarily painting still lifes.

Susan Olsen sang on The Pat Boone Show and in the Elvis movie The Trouble with Girls before becoming Cindy Brady. She studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, became a radio talk show host, an artist, an animal advocate, and co-wrote a book titled Love to Love You Bradys about the variety show.

Barry Williams starred in Pippin after the show ended. He has been a radio host and co-wrote a tell-all book Growing Up Brady: I was a Teenage Brady. He also guest starred in many shows including Murder She Wrote, Three’s Company, and Highway to Heaven. He tours with music theater and does speaking engagements.

Christopher Knight has been employed as a businessman for many years in the high-tech industry. During the 2000s, he appeared in several reality shows.

Mike Lookinland also had his share of issues to deal with after the show ended as he grew up. He attended the University of Utah and became a camera technician for two decades. Currently, he creates concrete countertops. (Photo on right courtesy of huffingtonpost.com)

Ann B Davis rarely acted after life on The Brady Bunch. She was very involved with her church. (See my blog “Oh Alice” dated February 5, 2018). She passed away in June of 2014.

Robert Reed was a trained Shakespearian actor, studying at Northwestern and at the University of London. He continued to guest star in a variety of television shows after The Brady Bunch ended. He passed away in 1992.

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – APRIL 21: Actress Florence Henderson attends the 10th anniversary of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” at Greystone Manor on April 21, 2015 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

Florence Henderson continued to stay busy performing after the show. She and Shirley Jones traveled, performing together. She also wrote an autobiography titled Life is Not a Stage: From a Broadway Baby to a Lovely Lady and Beyond. She also spent much of her time raising money for charitable causes. She passed away in November of 2016. (see my blog “The Passing of a Pop-Culture Parent dated December 6, 2016.)

Allan Melvin continued to accumulate many acting credits after the show, primarily in animation. He passed away in 2008.

Conclusion

It’s amazing how popular the show has been for almost fifty years. Rarely does a show that aired for five seasons have so many spin-offs and show variations. It probably hurt the cast more than it helped because they could never overcome their strong identification as a Brady kid. The cast went on to do a variety of careers. Currently, The Brady Bunch can be seen on ME TV on Sundays for their “Brady Brunch” from 11 am to 1 pm central time.

In July of 2012, there was a lot of talk about a new version of The Brady Bunch. A reboot was approved by CBS to be produced by Vince Vaughn. The sequel apparently revolved around Bobby as an adult. I could not find any information about the status of the project.

While I enjoyed watching The Brady Bunch, I was a Partridge Family fan. I loved Alice though and always wanted to be Jan. I remember hoping I might have to get braces when she got them. I think it would be hard to find a show that had such an impact on so many different generations. Brady Bunch memorabilia is still being created and there are a ton of quizzes on the internet such as “Which Brady Kid Are You?”

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little more about these Friday night shows from the early 1970s. I am looking forward to a Friday night when I can sit back and watch a few episodes of each show for my own dream line-up.

1917 Was A Very Good Year

January 10, 2017January 10, 2017 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This week I was inspired by the blog “Once upon a screen . . .” to take a look at television pioneers who were born in 1917. (For some great articles on pop culture, movies, and television, check out her blog at aurorasginjoint.com.) Let’s get to know 17 of the stars who helped shape the direction of television during the golden age.

Herbert Anderson. Best known for his role as Henry Mitchell on Dennis the Menace, Anderson began his career making movies. He transitioned to television in 1953, appearing on 61 shows over the years. He appeared in episodes on such shows as Gunsmoke, Petticoat Junction, Batman, I Dream of Jeannie, Man from U.N.C.L.E., My Three Sons, Bewitched, and The Waltons. One of my favorites is the first season of The Brady Bunch. The kids are sick and both parents call a doctor. The girls were used to a woman played by Marion Ross while the boys always had a man, Anderson. After weighing factors to pick one of them, the family decides to keep both doctors. He died from a heart attack in 1994.

Carl Ballantine. Ballantine began his career as a magician and inspired many famous magicians since. He began working in Las Vegas and on television as a magician. Eventually he transferred to movie roles and after appearing in McHale’s Navy on the big screen, took on the same role of Lester Gruber on the television series. He went on to appear on 33 additional tv shows including That Girl, Laverne and Shirley, Trapper John MD, and Night Court. He passed away at his home in 2009.

Earl Bellamy. Earl Bellamy directed episodes for 101 different television shows. He is best known for The Lone Ranger and The Tales of Wells Fargo. He directed 82 episodes for Bachelor Father, one of my all-time favorite sitcoms. In the 1960s he specialized in sitcoms including That Girl, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, and My Three Sons while the 1970s saw him transition to dramas including Marcus Welby MD, The FBI, Medical Center, and Eight is Enough. In 2003 he passed away from a heart attack.

Ernest Borgnine. Best known of his Oscar-winning role of Marty in 1955, Ernest enlisted in the Navy in 1935 until 1941. In 1942 he re-enlisted and served until 1945. After doing some factory work, he decided to go to school to study acting and began his career on Broadway. He was also in the movie McHale’s Navy and went on to tackle the role in the television series. He loved working with Tim Conway and in later years they did the voices for Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy in SpongeBob SquarePants. He appeared in 47 different shows over the years, including the series Airwolf which he starred in. Borgnine appeared in the final episode of ER which he won an Emmy for. He was married five times, including a 32-day marriage to Ethel Merman. His last marriage to Tova lasted 39 years. He died of kidney failure in 2012.

Raymond Burr. Best known as Perry Mason, Burr started his career on Broadway in the 1940s and then appeared in 50 films from 1946-1957. In 1956 he auditioned for the role of Hamilton Burger, the DA in Perry Mason. He was told he could have the starring role if he lost about 60 pounds which he accomplished. He later starred in Ironside, another crime drama and appeared on a variety of other shows. Burr had many interests including raising and cross-breeding orchids; collecting wine, art, stamps and sea shells; reading; and breeding dogs. He was extremely generous, giving away much of his money over the years. He passed away from cancer in 1993.

Phyllis Diller. Known for her wild hair and clothing, Diller was one of the pioneering stand-up female comedians. She appeared in films in the 1940s, worked in radio in the 1950s, and began her stand-up career in 1955. Her first television appearance was in You Bet Your Life. She appeared in 40 shows including Batman, CHIPs, Full House, and The Drew Carey Show. She had her own show titled The Pruitts of Southampton, and in reruns The Phyllis Diller Show that ran from 1966-67. She recorded comedy albums in the 1960s, wrote several books during her career, was an accomplished pianist, performing with symphony orchestras across the US and taught herself painting which she continued throughout the 1960s and 70s. Her husband Fang was not real, but she used him in her comedy routines. She died of natural causes in 2012. My first memory of Diller was in the movie Boy Did I Dial a Wrong Number with Bob Hope which my parents took me to at the drive in.

Ross Elliott. A prolific actor on stage, film, and television, Elliott appeared in 184 different shows from sitcoms to westerns to medial dramas, all between 1951 and 1983. He passed away from cancer in 1999.

June Foray. One of the greatest voice actors ever, Foray has been active in the industry since she had her own radio show. She did off-air voices for many sitcoms including I Love Lucy, Father Knows Best, Jack Benny, Rawhide, Get Smart, Lost In Space, and Bewitched. She also appeared in more than 76 animated series. She is perhaps best known as Rocky in Rocky and Bullwinkle and as Cindy Lou Who in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Karen and other voices in Frosty the Snowman. Foray is still alive today.

Zsa Zsa Gabor. Unlike her sister Eva who became known as Lisa Douglas on Green Acres, Zsa Zsa seemed to make a career out of playing herself. Of the 80 appearances she made in film and television, 20 of them were as herself. She was a true celebrity. Crowned Miss Hungary in 1936, she came to the US in 1941 and began her career. She was known for her extravagant lifestyle and many marriages: 9 with 7 divorces (including one to Conrad Hilton) and 1 annulment.

Sid Melton. Known to most viewers today as handyman Alf Monroe on Green Acres, Melton began as a film star and went on to appear in 71 shows including Topper, Bachelor Father, Make Room for Daddy, That Girl, Petticoat Junction, I Dream of Jeannie, and Empty Nest. He died from pneumonia in 2011.

Alice Pearce. Although her career was cut short due to illness, I included Alice Pearce because her role as Gladys Kravitz in so memorable. After spending her childhood in Europe, Pearce started on Broadway and after appearing in On the Town, she was brought to Hollywood to reprise her role in the movie version. She began specializing in comedy in the 1940s. In 1964 she turned down the role of Grandmama in The Addams Family and shortly after was offered the role of Gladys in Bewitched. She was already diagnosed with ovarian cancer when she began her role but didn’t tell anyone and was able to act for two seasons before she passed away from the disease. She received an Emmy for her work on Bewitched.

Gene Rayburn. One of the kings of game shows, Rayburn began his career as an actor, taking over for Dick Van Dyke in Bye Bye Birdie when Van Dyke began his television show. While he was on numerous game shows as a panelist or host over the years, Rayburn is best known for Match Game which first ran from 1962-69. It was revived again in 1973 and took several formats in the following years. He died from heart failure in 1999.

Isabel Sanford. Best known as Louise Jefferson, she grew up in Harlem and performed in amateur nights at the Apollo Theatre. Her Broadway debut was in 1965. After appearing as a maid in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, she was cast by Norman Lear in All in the Family which led to the series The Jeffersons. When the show ended in 1985, she appeared in a variety of other shows until 2002. She passed away from natural causes in 2004.

Sidney Sheldon. A writer and producer, Sheldon created The Patty Duke Show, I Dream of Jeannie, and Hart to Hart, writing many of the scripts for all three series. After he turned 50, he began a career writing romantic suspense novels. He died from pneumonia in 2007.

Robert Sterling. A clothing salesman before getting into acting, Sterling was best known for his role as George Kerby in Topper from 1953-55. His wife, Anne Jeffreys played his wife in the show. From 1943-49 he was married to Ann Sothern. He appeared in 36 shows between 1951 and 1986. He passed away from natural causes in 2006.

Jesse White. While White was a hard-working character actor, he is best known for his commercials as the Maytag repairman from 1967-88. After appearing in films for many years, he transitioned to television in the 1950s. His daughter Carole Ita White also became an actress best known for Laverne and Shirley. White appeared in 113 shows, never receiving a regular series.

Jane Wyman. Wyman began working at Warner Brothers at age 16, claiming to be 19. Although she was a successful film star and began in television in 1955 with her own show, Jane Wyman Presents Fireside Theater, she is probably best known for her role on Falcon’s Crest from 1981-90 and her marriage to Ronald Reagan. She died in her sleep from natural causes in 2007.

These are just a handful of television mavericks that influenced television as we know it today. I was amazed at the variety of different talents each of these stars displayed. In comparing their television appearances, it’s surprising how many of them overlap and worked on the same shows. What I found most surprising was that Ballantine, Diller, Melton, Sanford, Sterling, White and White’s daughter all appeared on Love American Style while Bellamy, Borgnine, Burr, Diller, Gabor, Rayburn, Sanford, White, and Wyman all guest starred on The Love Boat. During my research, I ran across many shows that will become future blog topics.

Another fun fact about celebrating stars born in 1917 is that this week we are traveling to Pennsylvania to celebrate my grandmother’s 100^th birthday who was also born in 1917. Happy Birthday Mamie.

thewritelife61

How pop culture influences us

herbert anderson