Here's a Frank Gorshin story I read about a couple of years ago, and I hope I recall it accurately.
Frank was on Ed Sullivan, the night the beatles first appeared. The executives at CBS had no clue what they were in for with the mania surrounding the audience that night. As an executive pulled up to the Ed Sullivan Theater, and saw the screaming kids waiting to get in, he remarked in all seriousness that he didn't know Frank Gorshin was that popular!
I watched the full hour of that Ed Sullivan show recently, and I have to say that while it wasn't Frank's best performance, he was a trooper gamely doing his impersonations as an audience full of teenagers squirmed in their seats waiting for the beatles to come on.
Frank made an otherwise awful episode of Star Trek memorable by playing an alien who's face is literally half black and half white.
Of course the Riddler was his character-forget Jim Carrey and John Astin.
I'm sure plenty of people under 45 have seen the Batman TV show though, and know who he was.
Re:"Frank made an otherwise awful episode of Star Trek memorable by playing an alien who's face is literally half black and half white"
Hey! I remember that episode but didn't realize it was Frank Gorshin. It was one of those episodes where they tried to teach a lesson. And the lesson was racism. Seems on this planet all people were half white faced and half black faced but... they differed on which side was which.
Ya'll might not know but Frank was here in Memphis last month doing his George Burns one man show and got good reviews. Nobody knew he was that sick. Funny how these performers just can't seem to stop sometimes. He knew he had terminal cancer and yet spent the last days of his life performing on a stage.
I miss Julie Newmar too, George-but that's Lee Meriweather as Catwoman in the pic. Julie was somehow unavailable(Lord knows why )for the Batman movie made to cash in on the hot TV series, so Lee Meriweather played her.
Lee was pretty hot also, but there was no replacing Julie- especially when Eartha Kitt took on the role in the 3rd season.
Frank Gorshin was the 'real deal', and it is interesting that he kept working right up till the end, even tho he knew he was dying. That's a different secnario than poor Dick Shawn , who died in the middle of his act of a heart attack, and probably never saw it coming.
I wonder how much of the fact that Julie Newmar's only son who was born with Down Syndrome and also deaf when she was in her late 40's had to do with her decision to not be in the limelight. I read an article about her years ago in People and I'm quite sure they mentioned she had given up acting to care for him.
I've seen Julie show up in Batman 'reunion' shows over the years. She still looks like she could slip into the Catwoman suit , which is more than I can say for Burt (Robin ) Ward. I saw Burt at a 'nostalgia' show last year, and he looks like he swallowed Batman.
Those Hollywood Collectible shows are really interesting, in that they feature lots of 'has been' celebrities from long ago, signing pictures, and meeting old fans.
I guess there is a morbid curiosity element to it, but I enjoy seeing actors I grew up with up close. Sometimes they still look great, and in other cases the less said the better, but maybe that's another topic.
David McCallum (Ilya Kuriakin) also appeared in a series playing the Invisible Man.
The funny thing was he had to strip off to become invisible and hence appeared naked on the screen which being invisible, meant you couldn't see anything.
Whenever he dropped his trousers, it was clear he didn't bother with underwear! :D-->
He also used to appear on Juke Box Jury over here with his wife. The latest pop releases were played and the jury had to decide whether or not it would be a Hit or a Miss.
Sorry to hear about Frank Gorshin - I had only just watched a DVD production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida in which he played the hideous King Gama. So few people of the original Batman series are still with us. :(-->
Yeah.. Good to see your font around here!! I've gots a question for you. How much American TV is shown over there in the UK? I've heard that popular shows like Baywatch or Dallas were broadcast there. Are they shown in prime time on major channels?? What about our less popular shows?
When I was taking the advanced PFAL class in Scotland in '81, people were shocked to hear my Southern accent. One person told me I sounded like Deputy Dawg and I was flabbergasted. Not that he thought I sounded like the cartoon character but that he was familiar with a little known (in America anyways) cartoon.
sudo
P.S. Here's the intro that I found. Click HERE! Believe me.. I don't sound like him but I understand that to a Brit.. we all must kinda' sound alike :D-->.
Deputy Dawg little known??I thought Muskie Muskrat and Vincent van Gopher were household names ! Stay out of the persimmon patch!!
Ralph Bakshi-who went on to make Fritz the Cat, animated Lord of the Rings, Wizards, and lots of other stuff, like the Might heroes, got his first break directing deputy dawg cartoons in the early 60's.
Re:"So Deputy Dawg has ground the board to a halt. He never did get any respect."
I didn't mean by saying that since he was (relatively) little known that he didn't deserve respect. Even Don Corleone got respect. Look! He was able to ground the board to halt wasn't he?? Actually, I was kinda' waiting for Trefor to get back to us but it looks like he was a one post wonder. I shoulda' known he'd be a love you and leave you kind !!!! Hee-hee!
But yes I DO happen to have a theme song you guys might remember. It's an animal theme like Deputy Dawg. Click HERE! and listen to it. Does that not sound like a 60's folk song? I thought so but this was made in the 70's.
I liked the show but I think it ran only two seasons.
I was being somewhat tongue in cheek, when I blamed Deputy Dawg for the board slowing down.
Welll-I don't think I've ever heard that theme song. I'm pretty darn curious to know where it's from now.
Here's a quiz question, concerning the old ventriliquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy. I just found this tidbit and thought I'd pass it on. Charlie did not originally wear a monocle and top hat, but was given them after Edgar failed to get permission to make a dummy out of another american icon. Who am I talking about?
Hiway29...I'm just guessing here, but since they wouldn't let him make a dummy out of said American icon, and he had a monocle and top hat, would it have been a certain former president who wore both? :)-->
The Charlie McCarthy question requires a process of elimination, where you need to think about iconic figures that sported a top hat and monocle. That there are a few to choose some is what fascinates me. Maybe we're due for a top hat and monocle revival.
I got this information from a book I'm reading on ventriloquists and their dummies. I'm currently reading about paul Winchell, who turns out to be a most amazing man. Besides being the 'father' of Jerry Mahoney, and Knucklehead Smiff, he invented the first patented artificial human heart!!
Good guess Bluzeman, but no cigar. That's the kind of thinking required for this tho.
A hint. The product the icon represented is still around today, though I haven't bought it in years. if you think about Playboy and the woman in the black stockings icon they used to use(do they still?) you're on the right track, tho this product doesn't contain nude photos.
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Pirate1974
Frank Gorshin died yesterday at the age of 72.
He was an actor and a terrific impressionist and most people under the age of 45 probably have no idea who he was.
But to some of us old guys, he'll always be The Riddler
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hiway29
Here's a Frank Gorshin story I read about a couple of years ago, and I hope I recall it accurately.
Frank was on Ed Sullivan, the night the beatles first appeared. The executives at CBS had no clue what they were in for with the mania surrounding the audience that night. As an executive pulled up to the Ed Sullivan Theater, and saw the screaming kids waiting to get in, he remarked in all seriousness that he didn't know Frank Gorshin was that popular!
I watched the full hour of that Ed Sullivan show recently, and I have to say that while it wasn't Frank's best performance, he was a trooper gamely doing his impersonations as an audience full of teenagers squirmed in their seats waiting for the beatles to come on.
Frank made an otherwise awful episode of Star Trek memorable by playing an alien who's face is literally half black and half white.
Of course the Riddler was his character-forget Jim Carrey and John Astin.
I'm sure plenty of people under 45 have seen the Batman TV show though, and know who he was.
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ChattyKathy
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George Aar
Oh! Julie Newmar my love!
Where have you been?
(Was she the ultimate femme-fatal 'er what? Well, for a 13-year-old anyway)
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George Aar
Oh, and sorry to hear about Frank Gorshin. I always liked his act, though I haven't seen him in years...
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Sudo
Hiway29,
Re:"Frank made an otherwise awful episode of Star Trek memorable by playing an alien who's face is literally half black and half white"
Hey! I remember that episode but didn't realize it was Frank Gorshin. It was one of those episodes where they tried to teach a lesson. And the lesson was racism. Seems on this planet all people were half white faced and half black faced but... they differed on which side was which.
Ya'll might not know but Frank was here in Memphis last month doing his George Burns one man show and got good reviews. Nobody knew he was that sick. Funny how these performers just can't seem to stop sometimes. He knew he had terminal cancer and yet spent the last days of his life performing on a stage.
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hiway29
I miss Julie Newmar too, George-but that's Lee Meriweather as Catwoman in the pic. Julie was somehow unavailable(Lord knows why )for the Batman movie made to cash in on the hot TV series, so Lee Meriweather played her.
Lee was pretty hot also, but there was no replacing Julie- especially when Eartha Kitt took on the role in the 3rd season.
Frank Gorshin was the 'real deal', and it is interesting that he kept working right up till the end, even tho he knew he was dying. That's a different secnario than poor Dick Shawn , who died in the middle of his act of a heart attack, and probably never saw it coming.
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ChattyKathy
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ChattyKathy
I wonder how much of the fact that Julie Newmar's only son who was born with Down Syndrome and also deaf when she was in her late 40's had to do with her decision to not be in the limelight. I read an article about her years ago in People and I'm quite sure they mentioned she had given up acting to care for him.
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hiway29
I've seen Julie show up in Batman 'reunion' shows over the years. She still looks like she could slip into the Catwoman suit , which is more than I can say for Burt (Robin ) Ward. I saw Burt at a 'nostalgia' show last year, and he looks like he swallowed Batman.
Those Hollywood Collectible shows are really interesting, in that they feature lots of 'has been' celebrities from long ago, signing pictures, and meeting old fans.
I guess there is a morbid curiosity element to it, but I enjoy seeing actors I grew up with up close. Sometimes they still look great, and in other cases the less said the better, but maybe that's another topic.
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Trefor Heywood
David McCallum (Ilya Kuriakin) also appeared in a series playing the Invisible Man.
The funny thing was he had to strip off to become invisible and hence appeared naked on the screen which being invisible, meant you couldn't see anything.
Whenever he dropped his trousers, it was clear he didn't bother with underwear!
:D-->
He also used to appear on Juke Box Jury over here with his wife. The latest pop releases were played and the jury had to decide whether or not it would be a Hit or a Miss.
Sorry to hear about Frank Gorshin - I had only just watched a DVD production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida in which he played the hideous King Gama. So few people of the original Batman series are still with us.
:(-->
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ChattyKathy
Hey Trefor! Welcome to this part of the neighborhood.
:)-->
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Sudo
Trefor,
Yeah.. Good to see your font around here!! I've gots a question for you. How much American TV is shown over there in the UK? I've heard that popular shows like Baywatch or Dallas were broadcast there. Are they shown in prime time on major channels?? What about our less popular shows?
When I was taking the advanced PFAL class in Scotland in '81, people were shocked to hear my Southern accent. One person told me I sounded like Deputy Dawg and I was flabbergasted. Not that he thought I sounded like the cartoon character but that he was familiar with a little known (in America anyways) cartoon.
P.S. Here's the intro that I found. Click HERE! Believe me.. I don't sound like him but I understand that to a Brit.. we all must kinda' sound alike
:D-->.
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hiway29
Deputy Dawg little known??I thought Muskie Muskrat and Vincent van Gopher were household names ! Stay out of the persimmon patch!!
Ralph Bakshi-who went on to make Fritz the Cat, animated Lord of the Rings, Wizards, and lots of other stuff, like the Might heroes, got his first break directing deputy dawg cartoons in the early 60's.
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George Aar
And don't forget 'Ol Fighter (the catfish).
Deputy Dawg was a staple of mine in the early '60s...
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ChattyKathy
Morning!
-->
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hiway29
So Deputy Dawg has ground the board to a halt. He never did get any respect.
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Sudo
Hiway29,
Re:"So Deputy Dawg has ground the board to a halt. He never did get any respect."
I didn't mean by saying that since he was (relatively) little known that he didn't deserve respect. Even Don Corleone got respect. Look! He was able to ground the board to halt wasn't he?? Actually, I was kinda' waiting for Trefor to get back to us but it looks like he was a one post wonder. I shoulda' known he'd be a love you and leave you kind
!!!! Hee-hee!
But yes I DO happen to have a theme song you guys might remember. It's an animal theme like Deputy Dawg. Click HERE! and listen to it. Does that not sound like a 60's folk song? I thought so but this was made in the 70's.
I liked the show but I think it ran only two seasons.
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hiway29
I was being somewhat tongue in cheek, when I blamed Deputy Dawg for the board slowing down.
Welll-I don't think I've ever heard that theme song. I'm pretty darn curious to know where it's from now.
Here's a quiz question, concerning the old ventriliquist Edgar Bergen and his dummy, Charlie McCarthy. I just found this tidbit and thought I'd pass it on. Charlie did not originally wear a monocle and top hat, but was given them after Edgar failed to get permission to make a dummy out of another american icon. Who am I talking about?
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ChattyKathy
Hiway29, Interesting! But I don't know the answer.
Sudo, if it's what I think it is then part of the subject matter is something I LOVE!
And I reckon it's just plain dumb but I really hate having a missing face.
:(-->
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Bluzeman
A man and his bear...good show Sudo!
Hiway29...I'm just guessing here, but since they wouldn't let him make a dummy out of said American icon, and he had a monocle and top hat, would it have been a certain former president who wore both?
:)-->
Rick
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hiway29
The Charlie McCarthy question requires a process of elimination, where you need to think about iconic figures that sported a top hat and monocle. That there are a few to choose some is what fascinates me. Maybe we're due for a top hat and monocle revival.
I got this information from a book I'm reading on ventriloquists and their dummies. I'm currently reading about paul Winchell, who turns out to be a most amazing man. Besides being the 'father' of Jerry Mahoney, and Knucklehead Smiff, he invented the first patented artificial human heart!!
I still can't get Sudo's theme song.
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hiway29
Good guess Bluzeman, but no cigar. That's the kind of thinking required for this tho.
A hint. The product the icon represented is still around today, though I haven't bought it in years. if you think about Playboy and the woman in the black stockings icon they used to use(do they still?) you're on the right track, tho this product doesn't contain nude photos.
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hiway29
Oh was the show Gentle Ben?
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