Obit: Richard Dawson, 79

[firepoint525]

I remember the last time I saw him on TV about two years ago.......and he didn't look that well
back then.

Yeah, I thought he was 90 years old!

 

[FreddyE1977]

Dawson also did one of the best affected American accents of any British actor I can recall.
RIP.

 

[DToTheJ]

See you there on the celestial Feud.

Think he'll continue hugging and kissing female contestants, like he was wont to do on the original Feud?

 

[TroyG]

A favorite quote from my favorite movie classic, "The Running Man": "Well, Ladies & Gentleman... This is just plain horrible. Words can't express what we're all feeling at this very moment... A great champion, That is all... We'll be back... Right after these very important messages." *Fade to Black, 2 secs later, cue commercial*

Dawson retired out on top his of own game. Since He retired, Dawson went on to spend time with gorgeous wife Gretchen. and leaves behind two sons, a daughter, and 4 grandchildren. Besides "Hogan's Heroes", "Match Game", and of course, The "Feud", Dawson played Game Show Host & Arch-Nemesis Damon Killian in The 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie classic "The Running Man", as Dawson played a real bad guy, and he did it very well.

RIP, Mr. Dawson. We'll see you right here in Heaven, On The "Feud"!

 

[John1]

Saw him last night on a Dick Van Dyke Show rerun on ME-TV playing a brash young British TV host filling in for Alan Brady pre Hogan's Heroes. Not sure if they ran it now on purpose (didn't see any 'tribute' announcement) or it hust came up in the rotation.

 

[recto101]

Eerie coincidence that Richard died 16 years after Ray Combs (June 2, 1996).

RIP Dawson Best Host of the 1970's edition of Family Feud.

 

[ixnay]

Keeping my promise (I forgot to do it last night)...

When I was in 12th grade (fall 1978, showing my age again) our HS's yearbook staff put on a Family Feud-themed skit promoting the yb (rich family vs. poor family) and promoting the features that would be in it when it came out the following June. I forget who won. :-[ ;D

Also, another time during the Dawson Feud's heyday, I heard a story on KYW-1060 Phila. (I forget the topic) datelined Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. The anchor stated that that town was "somewhere east of Family Feud, Arizona".

Proof of the popularity of the Feud in those days...

ixnay

 

[formeraa]

It's too bad that Dawson didn't tame his ego on the later MG episodes where he wouldn't smile and engage in the show. That tarnished his image in an otherwise great career.

 

[Ultimajock]

...well, Goodson-Todman *were* working Dawson for more hours a week at that time than they did even Bill Cullen at his busiest. Dawson may have overdone it, but he did have a legitimate point...

 

[azumanga]

It's too bad that Dawson didn't tame his ego on the later MG episodes where he wouldn't smile and engage in the show. That tarnished his image in an otherwise great career.

In his last appearance on "Match Game PM" in 1978, Richard never smiled or even joked around, except at one instance in the Super match, and during the closing credits:

http://www.angelfire.com/stars3/lasteps/lastrich.htm

 

[only1moore]

A favorite quote from my favorite movie classic, "The Running Man": "Well, Ladies & Gentleman... This is just plain horrible. Words can't express what we're all feeling at this very moment... A great champion, That is all... We'll be back... Right after these very important messages." *Fade to Black, 2 secs later, cue commercial*

That part I liked, especially after Arnold shows up to pull the plug on Killian's show by giving him a "final" sendoff.

To this day when I think about that movie, this 1992 song from Messiah comes to mind...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKduhUXa0rg

 

[firepoint525]

Somewhat unknown about him: his real name was Colin Emm.

http://www.topfamousbiography.com/biography/8719/colin_emm_biography.html

 

[firepoint525]

It's too bad that Dawson didn't tame his ego on the later MG episodes where he wouldn't smile and engage in the show. That tarnished his image in an otherwise great career.

Dawson was definitely one of my faves on the '70s-era Match Games. Even enjoyed seeing them again in reruns on GSN.

...well, Goodson-Todman *were* working Dawson for more hours a week at that time than they did even Bill Cullen at his busiest. Dawson may have overdone it, but he did have a legitimate point...

He would have been considered a piker compared to Ryan Seacrest! ;D

It's too bad that Dawson didn't tame his ego on the later MG episodes where he wouldn't smile and engage in the show. That tarnished his image in an otherwise great career.

In his last appearance on "Match Game PM" in 1978, Richard never smiled or even joked around, except at one instance in the Super match, and during the closing credits:

I've said this before, but in addition to Dawson's ego, the "star wheel" and that new blue set killed off Match Game for me. But by then, I was in high school, and probably didn't have as many opportunities to watch it anymore.

 

[firepoint525]

Some irony here: Dawson kisses Vicki Lawrence, aka "mama," in the Mama's Family episode in which the Harpers appear as contestants on "the Feud" in one of those "cross-promotion" episodes, as I like to call them! ;D

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2485499136/nm0206241

Lawrence would later go on to become the "Richard Dawson" of the short-lived 1998 revival of Match Game.

 

[formeraa]

I've said this before, but in addition to Dawson's ego, the "star wheel" and that new blue set killed off Match Game for me. But by then, I was in high school, and probably didn't have as many opportunities to watch it anymore.
[/quote]

I must be about your same age. I, too, was in high school by the end and didn't get home in time to watch it. I did watch Match Game PM, though, whenever it aired.

 

[formeraa]

...well, Goodson-Todman *were* working Dawson for more hours a week at that time than they did even Bill Cullen at his busiest. Dawson may have overdone it, but he did have a legitimate point...

Must be rough being a contestant on a game show one day a week and a host of another game show one day per week. Presumably, he was being PAID to do both and was under contract. Well, he had his years of fame and, then, was blackballed from the game show industry. It's sad because he was in good enough shape to take over after Ray Combs' death or, even, the current version of Feud back in the early 2000's.

That said, Dawson was hilarious on MG and FF's best host. Hands down!!!

 

[firepoint525]

I've said this before, but in addition to Dawson's ego, the "star wheel" and that new blue set killed off Match Game for me. But by then, I was in high school, and probably didn't have as many opportunities to watch it anymore.

I must be about your same age. I, too, was in high school by the end and didn't get home in time to watch it. I did watch Match Game PM, though, whenever it aired.

I'm 48. I think! ;D (class of '82)

Must be rough being a contestant on a game show one day a week and a host of another game show one day per week. Presumably, he was being PAID to do both and was under contract. Well, he had his years of fame and, then, was blackballed from the game show industry. It's sad because he was in good enough shape to take over after Ray Combs' death or, even, the current version of Feud back in the early 2000's.
That said, Dawson was hilarious on MG and FF's best host. Hands down!!!

Yeah, didn't they tape like a week's worth of episodes on a single day? Yeah, Dawson was great, until he put on those dark sunglasses and started sulking. Then I wanted to give him a hard swift kick in the ass! Wasn't Combs fired (or resigned) from the Feud for a year or two before his death?

 

[bpatrick]

I think the actors who played the Germans far outclassed those of the POW's (including Bob Crane).

An irony of Hogan's Heroes was that the actors playing Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer), Sergeant Schultz (John Banner), General Burkhalter (Leon Askin), and Major Hochstetter (Howard Caine) were all Jewish. Klemperer had fled Germany with his family in 1933 (his father was the famous conductor Otto Klemperer) and Banner and Askin got out of Austria around the beginning of WWII. Both Banner and Askin lost family members in the Holocaust, as did Robert Clary, who was also Jewish.

Klemperer, Banner, Askin, and Caine also served in the U.S. military during WWII.

I recall that when Hogan's Heroes premiered, there was a lot of complaints from people (Jewish and otherwise) who felt that Nazis shouldn't be fodder for comedy - that the Holocaust and WW2 meant that the subject should never be taken lightly.

In the mid 60s, VW Beetles became very popular, but there were a lot of people who still wouldn't be caught dead owning one because they were conceived as "the People's Car" during the Nazi era.

It's easy to forget that 1965 (when Hogan premiered) was only 20 years after the end of World War 2 - and 21 years after D Day.

I think a lot of people were led to believe that "Hogan's Heroes" was to take place in a concentration camp, not a POW camp. I think, too, that if that had been the case CBS would have gotten plenty of complaints from Gentiles as well as Jews because there is nothing funny about the Holocaust. What "Hogan's Heroes" was, to me, was a farcical version of "Stalag 17." And don't forget that the Germans were not portrayed as being very bright; in fact, the only show of that era set in World War II where the Germans did show intelligence was Robert Goulet's short-lived spy series "Blue Light." I've described the show before, but suffice it to say here that Goulet's character, OSS agent David March, part of a special team code-named "Blue Light" and assigned to get as close to the Nazi high command as possible, played the role of a Nazi a little too well--they figured out what he really was and wanted to kill him, the Americans thought he was a traitor and wanted to kill him, and he was lucky to survive the few episodes that aired.

 

[LKellerIII]

I think the actors who played the Germans far outclassed those of the POW's (including Bob Crane).

An irony of Hogan's Heroes was that the actors playing Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer), Sergeant Schultz (John Banner), General Burkhalter (Leon Askin), and Major Hochstetter (Howard Caine) were all Jewish. Klemperer had fled Germany with his family in 1933 (his father was the famous conductor Otto Klemperer) and Banner and Askin got out of Austria around the beginning of WWII. Both Banner and Askin lost family members in the Holocaust, as did Robert Clary, who was also Jewish.

Klemperer, Banner, Askin, and Caine also served in the U.S. military during WWII.

baptrick - you may be right, at least in part. But the film Stalag 17 had been released a decade earlier, in 1953. Though it was a comedy, or sorts, it didn't portray comically incompetent 9and therefore somewhat lovable) Nazis, which was the objection by many Americans to Hogan's Heroes.

As I said in a previous post, remember that it was only 20 years after Germany's defeat in WW2.

I recall that when Hogan's Heroes premiered, there was a lot of complaints from people (Jewish and otherwise) who felt that Nazis shouldn't be fodder for comedy - that the Holocaust and WW2 meant that the subject should never be taken lightly.

In the mid 60s, VW Beetles became very popular, but there were a lot of people who still wouldn't be caught dead owning one because they were conceived as "the People's Car" during the Nazi era.

It's easy to forget that 1965 (when Hogan premiered) was only 20 years after the end of World War 2 - and 21 years after D Day.

I think a lot of people were led to believe that "Hogan's Heroes" was to take place in a concentration camp, not a POW camp. I think, too, that if that had been the case CBS would have gotten plenty of complaints from Gentiles as well as Jews because there is nothing funny about the Holocaust. What "Hogan's Heroes" was, to me, was a farcical version of "Stalag 17." And don't forget that the Germans were not portrayed as being very bright; in fact, the only show of that era set in World War II where the Germans did show intelligence was Robert Goulet's short-lived spy series "Blue Light." I've described the show before, but suffice it to say here that Goulet's character, OSS agent David March, part of a special team code-named "Blue Light" and assigned to get as close to the Nazi high command as possible, played the role of a Nazi a little too well--they figured out what he really was and wanted to kill him, the Americans thought he was a traitor and wanted to kill him, and he was lucky to survive the few episodes that aired.

bpatrick - I think you are right, in part. But remember that when Hogan premiered, only 20 years after the end of WW2, many Americans (Jewish and otherwise) still hated Germany. Many believed that Germany should be destroyed by partitioning the country into many little parts, and given to surrounding countries (not just in half, in other words). Many others boycotted Volkswagens, even as they were getting more popular.

The film Stalag 17 had been released a full decade earlier - in 1953. I don't think too many viewers had a German POW camp confused with a concentration camp. Though Stalag 17 was nominally a comedy, it didn't feature comically incompetent Nazis, as Hogan did.

Interestingly, both Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink) and John Banner (Corporal Schultz) were Jewish - Klemperer from Germany (his family left in 1935, before Nazi control) and Banner from Austria. Reportedly, Klemperer only agreed to play Klink with the understanding that he was incompetent, and would never succeed at anything. Ironically, pre-Hogan, Banner was mostly typecast as dramatic Nazis in films before he gained the weight that made him comical in Hogan.

 

[rnigma1]

The story I heard was that "Hogan's Heroes" was originally to be set in an American prison, with the prisoners pulling Bilko-esque schemes behind the back of the warden. The NAB Television Code forbade the sympathetic portrayal of criminals, so the concept was changed to Allied POWs outwitting their Nazi captors - especially after it was learned that NBC was planning a sitcom about an Italian POW camp called "Campo 44."