Kitty Carlisle Tries To Tell the Truth

February 20, 2023February 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

We are in the middle of learning more about four of the regular members of To Tell the Truth. We have looked at Orson Bean and Peggy Cass, and today Kitty Carlisle is up.

Kitty was born Catharine Conn in 1910 in New Orleans. Her grandfather was the mayor of Shreveport, a Confederate veteran of the Civil War. He was on the USS Virginia as a gunner during the battle with the USS Monitor. Her father, a gynecologist, died when she was only ten. Her mother took her to Europe the following year. Apparently, her mother thought European royalty would be more likely to marry a Jewish girl than a wealthy American. Kitty was enrolled at some of the best schools on the continent: Chateau Mont Chois in Switzerland, Sorbonne and the London School of Economics. She studied acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and studied singing with Estelle Liebling who taught Beverly Sills.

In 1932 she and her mother returned to the United States, settling in New York. Under her stage name, Kitty Carlisle, she appeared in several operettas and musical comedies. She apprenticed with the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania. She also appeared on the radio during the early thirties. She studied with Julliard teacher Anna E. Schoen-Rene and appeared in 16 theater productions.

Kitty dated George Gershwin for a while in the 1930s. In April of 2007 in an interview on NPR, Kitty talked about her relationship with George: “Oh, George was fun. George was a really most interesting man. He was an egomaniac, but then I’d grown up with egomaniacs, so that didn’t bother me. He did ask me to marry him, but he wasn’t in love with me, nor was I in love with him.”

Not long after her arrival back home, she began her movie career. Her first film was Murder at the Vanities in 1934. She appeared with the Marx Brothers in A Night at the Opera. That must have been quite an experience. In a trivia post on imdb, Kitty is quoted as saying during her filming, “Groucho would come up to me from time to time to ask me, ‘Is this funny?’ Then totally deadpan he’d try out the line. I’d say, ‘No I don’t think it is funny,’ and he would go away absolutely crushed and try it out on everyone else in the cast. Chico was always playing cards in the back room and had to be called on the set. Harpo would work until about eleven o’clock. Then he’s stretch out on the nearest piece of furniture and start calling out at the top of his voice, ‘Lunchie. Lunchie.’”

Carlisle also made several films with Bing Crosby. However, her movie career never took the direction she was hoping for, and she only appeared in six movies, two as herself.

In 1946, she married playwright Moss Hart. The first time she met him was in Hollywood when she was introduced to several theater playwrights and musicians. She was so excited that she tripped over a cable and fell right in front of Moss. A few years later she was introduced to Moss at a dinner party at Lillian Hellman’s house. They would have two children. She appeared in several of his productions including “The Man Who Came to Dinner” in 1949.

They were married until 1961 when he passed away at their home. She never remarried; at one time she said, “When you’ve had the best of it, why fiddle around? He was so wonderful. He was so witty and it was such fun to be with him. I loved it and I loved him.” Carlisle lived another 46 years after his death and she did have several important romances, including a long-time relationship with Ivo John Lederer, a historian for sixteen years until his death in 1998.

In 1966, Kitty made her debut with the Metropolitan Opera in Strauss’s “Die Fledermaus.” Her final performance with the company was in 1973.

She also showed up on a couple of television shows: Nash Airflyte Theater in 1951 and Max Liebman Spectaculars in 1956, as well as one made-for-tv movie, Kojak: Flowers for Matty in 1990.

Carlisle appeared on To Tell the Truth from 1956 to 1978 and again in reboots in 1980, 1990, and one episode in 2000. In fact, she was the only panelist to appear on every version of the game show. She always showed up elegantly dressed in evening gowns or beautiful dresses and jewelry. The show has a reboot currently on television, but if you have not seen it, the format was that three contestants all claimed to be the same person. The panelists ask them questions to try to figure out which one was really the person. Some of the original contestants on the show included aviator Douglas Wrong-Way Corrigan, a concert pianist who was also a judo expert; a female bullfighter, Winston Churchill’s butler, President Eisenhower’s barber, and a gondolier from Venice. Kitty also appeared on Password, Match Game, Missing Links, and What’s My Line.

After her fame on To Tell the Truth, she was probably best known for her support of the arts. She participated in a variety of councils and was chairman of the New York State Council of the Arts for two decades from 1976-1996, as well as other cultural institutions.

Later in her career, she performed in a one-woman show, telling anecdotes about the men she knew from musical theater including Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Oscar Hammerstein, Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe, and Kurt Weill, performing some of their more famous songs.

Kitty died in 2007 from congestive heart failure after a battle with pneumonia.

Both Kitty and Moss wrote autobiographies. Carlisle’s is called Kitty: An Autobiography. Hart’s was Act One. Kitty said that she believed it was the best book ever written about theater life. Both books have a 4.5 rating. I have not had a chance to read Kitty’s book, but I did read Hart’s. It is a detailed look at how a boy born into poverty in New York was able to become a musical playwright. The book ends before Moss becomes famous. If you love the theater, it’s an amazing piece of history of early theater life in New York City.

I had a lot of fun learning about Kitty Carlisle. She overcame life with an overbearing mother who often criticized her and constantly reminded her she wasn’t the prettiest girl or the best singer or actress. She had a lot of interesting romantic relationships including a wonderful marriage, had two children, performed on stage and in movies and on television, and did an incredible amount of work to support the arts. I hope she knows how much we appreciate her. I am looking forward to reading her book to continue learning about her interesting life.

Peggy Cass Has To Tell the Truth

February 13, 2023February 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

As we continue getting to know several of the panelists from To Tell The Truth, today we look at the career of Peggy Cass.

Mary Margaret Cass was born in 1924 in Boston. She attended Cambridge Latin School and after graduation became interested in acting. She joined the HB Studio in New York City, probably about the same time Orson Bean was there.

In New York, she was employed in various positions while waiting for her big break, including secretary, telephone operator, advertising solicitor, and model. She traveled to Australia with the USO for seven months. Her first role was in a traveling production of “Born Yesterday” where she was an understudy to Jan Sterling.

Cass married Carl Fisher in 1948; they divorced in 1965.

As Agnes Gooch in glasses Photo: imdb.com

Peggy’s Broadway debut came for “Touch and Go” in 1949. One of her next shows was Agnes Gooch in “Auntie Mame” (based on a book written by Patrick Dennis) which she won a Tony for. She was cast in “A Thurber Carnival,” a 1960 Broadway revue of James Thurber’s works.

She also tried her hand at movies. Her first movie was 1951’s The Marrying Kind. In 1958 she reprised her role as Agnes in Auntie Mame, receiving an Oscar nomination, 1961 found her in Gidget Goes Hawaiian. She would be cast in three movies in 1969 and 1970.

Cass accepted her first television role in a show I’ve never heard of in 1950: Nash Airflyte Theater. In addition to playhouse dramas, she was on The Phil Silver Show in 1958 and 1959. In 1961 she was a regular on The Hathaways, a show we discussed a few months ago. Cass as Elinor raised three monkeys (The Marquis Chimps) along with her husband (Jack Weston); the monkeys were stars, and Elinor was also their agent. After 26 episodes, the show was canceled.

After the cancellation, she would take roles in thirteen other television shows including Love American Style, The Love Boat, and Hotel. In two of the shows, she had regular roles: The Doctors with 145 episodes, an afternoon soap opera; and Women in Prison. This is another show I have never heard of; it was set in my home state. The synopsis on imdb lists it as a “comedy taking place in Cell Block J of the Bass Women’s Prison in Wisconsin. Some of the inmates are Vicki, a yuppie housewife framed for shoplifting by her husband; Dawn, who murdered her husband; Bonnie, an English prostitute; Eve, the old lady who has been there for at least 10 years; and Pam, serving time for computer crimes. Meg is the guard and Blake is the assistant warden. Cass played Eve.

Cass was also in the pilot of Major Dad. She played Esther Nettleton a secretary working for Major MacGillis.

With Jack Paar and JFK Photo: collectors.com

Cass appeared on The Tonight Show with Jack Paar in 86 episodes as one of his regular cast members. She also appeared on The Mike Douglas Show ten times and on The Merv Griffith Show 26 times.

I guess the reason I recognize her as a game show celebrity is because she was on 21 different game shows. I remember her best from To Tell the Truth which is also not a surprise because if you count episodes of the various versions, she appeared in 481 episodes.

Cass remarried late in life in 1980. Her second husband was Eugene Feeney. He was a former Jesuit priest and educator. That same year she had an interesting experience we all think about but don’t think really happens much. She needed a left-knee operation and engaged the services of Dr. Norman Scott, doctor for the New York Knicks. After the operation, while Cass was in the recovery room, she realized they had operated on her right knee, and they had to take her back in for a second surgery.

In 1999 Cass died from heart failure.

I have to admit Cass’s role as Agnes Gooch is one of my favorite supporting actress roles. I’m not sure what her hopes and dreams were. I wish she had been cast in a second sitcom; it might have changed the trajectory of her career drastically. It was fun to learn a bit more about the woman behind Agnes.

Orson Bean Likes to Tell the Truth

February 6, 2023February 5, 2023 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are looking back at a few of the game show celebrities from To Tell the Truth. These are four individuals who were stars in their own right before they did the game show circuit. Although I know the game shows were typically at the end of their illustrious careers, for better or worse, it is how most of us know these interesting personalities.

We are beginning the month with Orson Bean. Bean expressed the sentiment I was discussing above by saying that the was a “neocelebrity,” someone who is famous for being famous for his appearances on prime-time game shows. While I agree with this conclusion, part of what I want us to learn today is why he is a memorable star even without the game show fame.

Bean was born in 1928 in Vermont as Dallas Frederick Burrows. Silent Cal Coolidge was a first cousin twice removed. His father was one of the founding members of the ACLU and chief of police on the Harvard campus. When Bean was sixteen, his mother committed suicide, and he left home.

Bean attended the Rindge Technical School in Massachusetts, and after graduation, he joined the army and was sent to Japan. He spent some time at the HB Studio in New York, studying drama. After returning to the US, Bean began working as a stage musician before trying his hand at stand-up comedy in the early fifties.

Bean tells a fun story about how he came up with his stage name on The Tonight Show. When he was performing at a nightclub in Boston, the piano player would give him a different silly name to use every night. One night it was Orson Bean, and it went over great with the crowd.

In 1952 Bean started his radio career with an appearance on The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street. When the show was renewed for 13 weeks, Bean was the full-time host.

In 1954 he was the house comedian at the Blue Angel Comedy Club in New York. Unfortunately, Bean was dating a girl who was a member of the Communist Party, and he was blacklisted as well. Ed Sullivan canceled his appearance on his show; he did later book him years later for five different episodes.

In 1956 Bean married Jacqueline de Sibour (stage name Rain Winslow). They had one child before divorcing in 1962.

In the fifties and sixties, Orson also was a regular on the Broadway stage. His first production was Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter with Walter Matthau and Jayne Mansfield. He continued on Broadway shows throughout the sixties, getting a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for “Subways Are for Sleeping.”

The Twilight Zone Photo: wikimediacommons.com

It was also during this decade that Bean began appearing on television where he earned 84 acting credits. He started in the many drama and playhouse series that were on television in the fifties and sixties. He also had his fair share of sitcoms including The Phil Silvers Show, Love American Style, Will and Grace, Becker, Two and A Half Men, How I Met Your Mother, and Modern Family. His dramatic appearances included The Twilight Zone, Ellery Queen, The Fall Guy, Murder She Wrote, Diagnosis Murder, and Seventh Heaven. During his career he was a regular cast member on Doctor Quinn Medicine Woman, Normal Ohio, and Desperate Housewives.

In 1965 he tried marriage again to fashion designer and actress Carolyn Maxwell. They had three children before they divorced in 1981.

The same year he married Maxwell, he entered into another new relationship. He was one of the founding members of The Sons of the Desert, an international organization that was started to share information about the lives of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy and to preserve their films.

In 1966 Bean founded the 15^th Street School, a primary school in New York City. It was modeled on the Summerhill School in England.

He also showed up on the big screen for 23 movies, the two-best known being Innerspace in 1987 and Being John Malkovich in 1999.

In the 1970s, Bean moved his family to Australia to live in a commune with a hippie lifestyle. They later became bored and returned to the US where he resumed his career.

Orson was popular on the talk and variety shows. In addition to Ed Sullivan, he appeared on The Mike Douglas Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The David Frost Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and was on The Tonight Show more than 200 times.

With wife Alley Mills Photo: soaphub.com

Bean was a competitor on many game shows including I’ve Got a Secret, What’s My Line, Super Password, Tattletales, $10,000 Pyramid, and Match Game. He was best known for being a regular on To Tell the Truth. In addition to being in 317 episodes of To Tell the Truth with Peggy Cass, the two were also regulars on two other game shows: Keep Talking and Call My Bluff.

In 1993, Bean tried marriage again. He wed Alley Mills, best known as the mom on The Wonder Years. They were married until his death. The couple were members of the First Lutheran Church in LA and participated in the church’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol.”

Bean had a terrible death. In February of 2020 when he was 91, he was crossing Venice Boulevard when he was struck by a car. He fell down and a driver of another vehicle, distracted by people trying to tell him to slow down, hit him again before realizing what they were trying to tell him and that hit caused Bean’s death.

Certainly, game shows were only a small part of this celebrity’s career. However, I admit before I wrote this blog, I only knew him for his To Tell the Truth appearances. Now I have a much better appreciation for his long and successful career. I’m glad we are getting a chance to know some panelists from that show this month in more detail.

The Hathaways: Getting Paid to Monkey Around on TV

May 2, 2022May 2, 2022 / thewritelife61 / 2 Comments

This month we are taking a look at our favorite unusual pet sitcoms. We start our series with a show that began in 1961: The Hathaways.

This one-season show was on ABC. Elinore (Peggy Cass) and Walter (Jack Weston) Hathaway were a suburban Los Angeles couple who took in a trio of chimps (Candy, Charlie, and Enoch) which they were surrogate parents for. Walter was a real estate agent, while Elinore looked after the chimps. The chimps had their own bedroom and a full wardrobe of children’s clothing. Before becoming sitcom stars, the chimps had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Jack Benny Show, and a variety of commercials.

Rounding out the cast were the great Mary Grace Canfield as housekeeper Amanda; Elinore’s best friend and neighbor, Thelma Brockway (Barbara Perry); theatrical agent Jerry Roper (Harvey Lembeck); and Belle Montrose who was another neighbor (and in real life was the mother of Steve Allen). Montrose’s only other acting credits were for the two Disney movies, Son of Flubber and The Absentminded Professor.

Eleven different writers wrote the 26 episodes and four men took on the role of director. The show was on Friday night before The Flintstones but it went up against Clint Eastwood’s western, Rawhide.

The storylines were similar to other sitcoms from the early sixties. In the first episode, the Brockways move in next door and don’t like pets. In the succeeding episodes, Elinor winds up in jail for an unpaid parking ticket that Charlie pocketed before she saw it, Elinor is worried when they leave the chimps with a babysitter while they vacation in Palm Springs, and Elinor and Walter try to find their housekeeper a boyfriend.

The Hathaways with Jack Weston and Peggy Cass | Classic tv, And peggy, 60s sitcoms — Photo: pinterest.com

It sounds like the type of show that would have been very popular in that era, but ratings were extremely low. In 1982, critics Castleman and Podrazik called the show “possibly the worst series ever to air on a network,” due to the “utterly degrading” premise, bad scripts, inept production, and the “total worthlessness” of the program. The pair wrote seven books about pop culture.

The show was specifically created to star the Marquis Chimps, and when that was shared in 1961, TV columnist Bill Fiset, wrote, “Heaven help us all? It may be that by the time you read this I’ll have taken the gas pipe, a victim of sheer frustration from trying to work as a serious essayist on a subject matter put into the hands of monkeys.”

Star Peggy Cass had mixed feelings. She admitted that she took the job for the money because she did not think the pilot would sell. While the show was on the air, she did an interview, stating that “Those chimps are natural comics. And believe me, they’re hard to top.”

TV When I was Born: 07/09/16 — Photo: tvwhenIwasborn.com

Cass would go on to a variety of television series and guest appearances. She was a regular on the game show circuit and might best be remembered for more than 270 episodes of To Tell the Truth. Weston also stayed very busy on television till the 1980s. And the chimps? Don’t feel too bad for them. They continued to show up on variety shows, including numerous appearances with Ed Sullivan. Ironically, they appeared on more Ed Sullivan episodes than they did their own sitcom. When they weren’t working, they could relax on their Las Vegas ranch. I’m sure they were treated to many luxuries there since they were making a quarter of a million dollars at the peak of their career!