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Obit: Sid Melton, 94 (Captain Midnight, Danny Thomas Show, Green Acres, etc.)

Stanislav,

Thanks for posting the Sid Melton obit. I am a hopeless tracker of classic TV sit-coms, particularly the whereabouts today of their players. I have not seen Melton's obit.

In 2007, Ronnie Burns, the adopted son of George & Gracie, died of cancer. In his day, he was as hot as TV hearthrobs Dobie Gilllis and Ricky Nelson, and even recorded a doo-wap song, DOUBLE DATE. But I never saw his obit in the newspapers nor on-line.

Speaking of Melton's misplaced eastern dialect, Lorne Green made his Brooklyn Brogue work on Bonanza. Great actors know how to pull this off.
 
Lorne Green made his Brooklyn Brogue work on Bonanza. Great actors know how to pull this off.



Uh, wasn't Lorne Green a Canadian- eh?
 
I always enjoyed watching Sid Melton work. Last time I think I saw him he was playing Sophia's late husband on The Golden Girls.
 
therealjm12 said:
Lorne Green made his Brooklyn Brogue work on Bonanza. Great actors know how to pull this off.



Uh, wasn't Lorne Green a Canadian- eh?
Click to expand...
...indeed, he was. Born and raised in Ottawa, went to Queen's University in Kingston, ON, and spent the Second World War as a newscaster for the CBC in Toronto, where he'd been nicknamed "The Voice of Doom" while reporting on the less-than-successful early years of Canadian involvement in the War. Can't get a whole lot more Canadian than that ;D ...
 
Have a great time in the next world Sid, you always cracked me up in all the shows you were in! We will always remember you with laughter in our memories. Sid also played con man "Friendly Freddie" in the Gomer Pyle, USMC television series back in the day. I always thought he was great with Mary Grace Canfield in "Green Acres." We should all get to be the wonderful old age of 94. Rest In Peace Sid and say "Hey" to all your old castmates, and a good story to crack up ol Frank Sutton for all of us here left behind. You will be missed!
 
jfrancispastirchak said:
Ooops! I meant John Travolta, not Lorne Greene.
Click to expand...
...now you're really losing it. Travolta was never on Bonanza, and the only series he was a regular on, Welcome Back, Kotter, was set in Brooklyn, so "covering the accent" was not needed...
 
Sid will definitely be missed by people who saw his work, and people who worked with him. Had a chance last year to interview Pat Carroll when she was in town for a film festival, and she recalled Sid (who played her husband on the Danny Thomas show from about 1960 to 1964) as a delightful guy to work with, and a good friend.
 
RIP. 94 is a pretty good run in anyone's book.

I was always a big Green Acres fan and enjoyed his work as Alf Monroe.
Also the episode of Gomer Pyle where he was selling suits out of his car trunk
(made from 100% Virgin Krackalack)
 
Ultimajock said:
jfrancispastirchak said:
Ooops! I meant John Travolta, not Lorne Greene.
Click to expand...
...now you're really losing it. Travolta was never on Bonanza, and the only series he was a regular on, Welcome Back, Kotter, was set in Brooklyn, so "covering the accent" was not needed...
Click to expand...

Ultimajock, relax, I was only joking!
 
FreddyE1977 said:
RIP. 94 is a pretty good run in anyone's book.

I was always a big Green Acres fan and enjoyed his work as Alf Monroe.
Also the episode of Gomer Pyle where he was selling suits out of his car trunk
(made from 100% Virgin Krackalack)
Click to expand...
SHAZAM!
 
Last time I remember seeing him on TV was on an episode of "Major Dad" that aired around the time of Desert Storm, where he and a couple other guys played retired Marines who wanted to re-up.
 
KyDXIn said:
On "Green Acres", between Sid Melton with the Brooklyn accent, Eva Gabor with the Hungarian accent, and Arnold Ziffel with what I guess was Pig Latin, Hooterville was quite a multilingual society!

This has been a Filmways Production dahling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxh0Nx2q48E
Click to expand...
"Multilingual society"-- Now that is funny! Speaking of Hooterville, until his death in '07, the oldest of the surviving Green Acres cast was Charles Lane. He played the antagonist, the frustrated railroad exec whose passion for closing down the Hooterville link was always foiled. Lane remained lucid nearly til the end. Interviewing with TV reporters on his 100th birthday in 2005, he accurately called himself the most recognized face on the screen whose real name nobody ever knew.
 
jfrancispastirchak said:
KyDXIn said:
On "Green Acres", between Sid Melton with the Brooklyn accent, Eva Gabor with the Hungarian accent, and Arnold Ziffel with what I guess was Pig Latin, Hooterville was quite a multilingual society!

This has been a Filmways Production dahling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxh0Nx2q48E
Click to expand...
"Multilingual society"-- Now that is funny! Speaking of Hooterville, until his death in '07, the oldest of the surviving Green Acres cast was Charles Lane. He played the antagonist, the frustrated railroad exec whose passion for closing down the Hooterville link was always foiled. Lane remained lucid nearly til the end. Interviewing with TV reporters on his 100th birthday in 2005, he accurately called himself the most recognized face on the screen whose real name nobody ever knew.
Click to expand...

Well that was their sister show "Petticoat Junction" where Lane appeared. I cannot recall an Acres ep he was in, unless it was one of those crossovers w/ PJ where Edgar Buchanan & Bea Benaderet appreared. (I was much more into Acres than PJ.)

I think Frank Cady (Mr. Drucker on both shows) is still with us, as well.

cd
 
cd637299 said:
jfrancispastirchak said:
KyDXIn said:
On "Green Acres", between Sid Melton with the Brooklyn accent, Eva Gabor with the Hungarian accent, and Arnold Ziffel with what I guess was Pig Latin, Hooterville was quite a multilingual society!

This has been a Filmways Production dahling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxh0Nx2q48E
Click to expand...
"Multilingual society"-- Now that is funny! Speaking of Hooterville, until his death in '07, the oldest of the surviving Green Acres cast was Charles Lane. He played the antagonist, the frustrated railroad exec whose passion for closing down the Hooterville link was always foiled. Lane remained lucid nearly til the end. Interviewing with TV reporters on his 100th birthday in 2005, he accurately called himself the most recognized face on the screen whose real name nobody ever knew.
Click to expand...

Well that was their sister show "Petticoat Junction" where Lane appeared. I cannot recall an Acres ep he was in, unless it was one of those crossovers w/ PJ where Edgar Buchanan & Bea Benaderet appreared. (I was much more into Acres than PJ.)

I think Frank Cady (Mr. Drucker on both shows) is still with us, as well.

cd
Click to expand...

Yes, Frank is still around -- he turned 96 in September. He has 3 great-grandchildren, and the way he's going, he may be around long enough to have great-great-grandchildren!
 
Stanislav said:
cd637299 said:
jfrancispastirchak said:
KyDXIn said:
On "Green Acres", between Sid Melton with the Brooklyn accent, Eva Gabor with the Hungarian accent, and Arnold Ziffel with what I guess was Pig Latin, Hooterville was quite a multilingual society!

This has been a Filmways Production dahling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxh0Nx2q48E
Click to expand...
"Multilingual society"-- Now that is funny! Speaking of Hooterville, until his death in '07, the oldest of the surviving Green Acres cast was Charles Lane. He played the antagonist, the frustrated railroad exec whose passion for closing down the Hooterville link was always foiled. Lane remained lucid nearly til the end. Interviewing with TV reporters on his 100th birthday in 2005, he accurately called himself the most recognized face on the screen whose real name nobody ever knew.
Click to expand...

Well that was their sister show "Petticoat Junction" where Lane appeared. I cannot recall an Acres ep he was in, unless it was one of those crossovers w/ PJ where Edgar Buchanan & Bea Benaderet appreared. (I was much more into Acres than PJ.)

I think Frank Cady (Mr. Drucker on both shows) is still with us, as well.

cd
Click to expand...

Yes, Frank is still around -- he turned 96 in September. He has 3 great-grandchildren, and the way he's going, he may be around long enough to have great-great-grandchildren!
Click to expand...
Frank Cady atttended Eddy Albert's funeral a few years ago. He appeared to be quite vigorous for a man in his '90s
 
KyDXIn said:
On "Green Acres", between Sid Melton with the Brooklyn accent, Eva Gabor with the Hungarian accent, and Arnold Ziffel with what I guess was Pig Latin, Hooterville was quite a multilingual society!

This has been a Filmways Production dahling!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxh0Nx2q48E
Click to expand...

I'm not sure "multi-lingual" is the word you're looking for, maybe "multi-accent." Not that Green Acres needed to be realistic, but I've noticed that - at least these days - regional accents are becoming uncommon. I heard a news story this morning on the impending bankruptcy of Jefferson County, Alabama (Birmingham is there). Not a single person they interviewed (including a waitress in a diner) had a deep-south accent.

I spent a couple of weeks in New York City this summer, and noticed that most people had the same accent as people on the West Coast. I heard very few "New Yawk" accents.

This may be the influence of the media, particularly TV, where most people speak with West Coast accents. Another factor is that the country has become so mobile, and people move around more. that diner waitress might have been from Cleveland, for all I know.
 
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