Supporting Actors Who Really Made A Difference On TV

[bpatrick]

I believe the highest rating "The Andy Griffith Show"
ever got was "Barney Hosts A Summit Meeting," from
1968, the show's last season. In fact, the show was
number one for the 1967-68 season, before Andy handed
the reins to Ken Berry and the show became "Mayberry
RFD."

Did anyone mention Ken Osmond, aka Eddie Haskell?
His complete insincerity around Ward and June Cleaver,
followed by his constant verbal abuse of Beaver as well
as his self-image as the epitome of cool, made him the
reason to watch "Leave It To Beaver," especially in the
later years.

 

[LKellerIII]

Concerning Andy Griffith, he should be considered the supporting actor since he played straight man to just about everyone on the show. He was smart enough to know who the real stars were on his show and allowed them to show their talent.

I get your point, but that did not make Andy the supporting actor. Maybe there should be another term...like "anchor" actor. It's pretty typical to have the "lead actor" in a TV show (especially sitcoms) be the straight man off of which the comical supporting actors bounce their material. Examples - George Burns on Burns and Allen, Eddie Albert on Green Acres, Bea Benadaret on Petticoat Junction, etc. The lead is often the sane one in the middle of a group of supporting actors who play eccentrics, neurotics, or stupid people.

 

[Limp73]

I always felt sorry for the McHale's Navy character Lt. Elroy Carpenter (played by Bob Hastings) who always took the full brunt of Capt. Binghamton's verbal assaults and Moe Howard-like mental abuse. Aside from this sympatheic underdog, Tim Conway as Ensign Parker was a hoot.

Maurice Gosfield at Pvt. Doberman on The Phil Silvers Show

Mel Blanc as Sy The Little Mexican (and recurring "Si..Si...Sy...Sue" routine) on The Jack Benny Program.

John Dye as Andrew and Vallerie Bertinelli as Gloria on Touched By An Angel
(credit also due for blues musician Keb' Mo' as Issac,the Angel of Music singing "Hand It Over" on one episode.)

Diana Rigg as Emma Peel on The Avengers

 

[radioman148]

I believe the highest rating "The Andy Griffith Show"
ever got was "Barney Hosts A Summit Meeting," from
1968, the show's last season. In fact, the show was
number one for the 1967-68 season, before Andy handed
the reins to Ken Berry and the show became "Mayberry
RFD."

Did anyone mention Ken Osmond, aka Eddie Haskell?
His complete insincerity around Ward and June Cleaver,
followed by his constant verbal abuse of Beaver as well
as his self-image as the epitome of cool, made him the
reason to watch "Leave It To Beaver," especially in the
later years.

Eddie Haskell is a good example. Especially as you pointed out in the later years. I also seem to remember an episode in the later years where Eddie was exposed as being a lonely guy who needed attention. Ward & June explained it to the boys that they should actually feel sorry for him.

 

[The King Bee]

Even though "F Troop" was only on ABC for two years, Larry Storch as Cpl. Randolph Agarn was roaringly, laugh-out-loud funny. Overall, "F Troop" was a very hip, under-appreciated comedy. Go back and listen to some of the many puns and especially check out the beautifully choreographed sight gags...crazy!

 

[KeithE4]

Concerning Andy Griffith, he should be considered the supporting actor since he played straight man to just about everyone on the show. He was smart enough to know who the real stars were on his show and allowed them to show their talent.

I get your point, but that did not make Andy the supporting actor. Maybe there should be another term...like "anchor" actor. It's pretty typical to have the "lead actor" in a TV show (especially sitcoms) be the straight man off of which the comical supporting actors bounce their material. Examples - George Burns on Burns and Allen, Eddie Albert on Green Acres, Bea Benadaret on Petticoat Junction, etc. The lead is often the sane one in the middle of a group of supporting actors who play eccentrics, neurotics, or stupid people.

Bob Newhart.

 

[biggguy]

Eddie Haskell is a good example. Especially as you pointed out in the later years. I also seem to remember an episode in the later years where Eddie was exposed as being a lonely guy who needed attention. Ward & June explained it to the boys that they should actually feel sorry for him.
[/quote]

Wasn't that the episode where Eddie moved into his own apartment?

 

[Firebird]

Emil Sitka - The Three Stooges, "Hold hands, you lovebirds" ;D ;D

 

[Legend City]

Eve Plumb as Jan Brady.

Jan was such a psychopath.

Andy Dick on News Radio
David Cross on Arrested Development
The guy who played the boss on "Fall on Rise of Reginald Perrin" I didn't get to where I am today....
The daughter on Absolutely Fabulous
Dave Madden as Rueben Kincaid
Alice Ghostley in anything.

 

[bpatrick]

Concerning Andy Griffith, he should be considered the supporting actor since he played straight man to just about everyone on the show. He was smart enough to know who the real stars were on his show and allowed them to show their talent.

I get your point, but that did not make Andy the supporting actor. Maybe there should be another term...like "anchor" actor. It's pretty typical to have the "lead actor" in a TV show (especially sitcoms) be the straight man off of which the comical supporting actors bounce their material. Examples - George Burns on Burns and Allen, Eddie Albert on Green Acres, Bea Benadaret on Petticoat Junction, etc. The lead is often the sane one in the middle of a group of supporting actors who play eccentrics, neurotics, or stupid people.

Bob Newhart.

Mary Tyler Moore, Hal Linden ("Barney Miller"), and Judd Hirsch
("Taxi") would all come under the heading of "anchor" actors as
well. But I don't think that's what the person who started this
thread intended.

As for "The Andy Griffith Show," how about Howard McNear
(Floyd the barber) in the supporting-actor category? His
befuddlement (and--how do I say this without being tasteless?--
this was before his stroke) and tendency to go off on tangents
make him, I think, possibly the funniest supporting character on
the show. I also think Jerry Van Dyke could have worked as
Andy's deputy after Don Knotts left; he's another who doesn't
give the image of being in control. I don't know what happened;
he did that one episode where he became Andy's temporary deputy,
and ended up doing "My Mother The Car."

Again, I don't know if anyone's mentioned it, but Raymond Burr had
a great supporting cast on "Perry Mason": Barbara Hale, William Hopper,
William Talman. The supporting cast on "Ironside" was good, maybe not
great, but it lost something when Elizabeth Baur replaced Barbara Anderson.

Finally, I would not consider Diana Rigg a "supporting actress." If any
two people were on an equal footing on a show (as actors and as
characters), she and Patrick Macnee were it.

 

[radioman148]

Eddie Haskell is a good example. Especially as you pointed out in the later years. I also seem to remember an episode in the later years where Eddie was exposed as being a lonely guy who needed attention. Ward & June explained it to the boys that they should actually feel sorry for him.

Wasn't that the episode where Eddie moved into his own apartment?
[/quote]

I believe your correct.

 

[radioman148]

Emil Sitka - The Three Stooges, "Hold hands, you lovebirds" ;D ;D

Emil Sitka was in alot of Stooges episodes. He was basically a regular in the late 40s & 50s.

 

[onairb]

Sitka was almost a Stooge himself, in the early '70s; Larry Fine had suffered a stroke, and Moe and Curly Joe wanted to carry on by doing a TV pilot with Emil. However, Sitka, and soon afterward Moe, had health concerns of their own, and the project never got anywhere.

 

[KeithE4]

Sitka was almost a Stooge himself, in the early '70s; Larry Fine had suffered a stroke, and Moe and Curly Joe wanted to carry on by doing a TV pilot with Emil. However, Sitka, and soon afterward Moe, had health concerns of their own, and the project never got anywhere.

They were set to do a movie called Blazing Stewardesses. Sitka was to play the middle-stooge role using the name "Harry." He wasn't going to impersonate Larry Fine, but do a different type of character. Publicity photos were made and one is on Sitka's Wikipedia page.

Trouble was, right after Fine died in early 1975, Moe Howard was diagnosed with cancer, and died a few months later at age 78. Since it was impossible to replace Moe, the act died with him. The movie was made, but starred the Ritz Brothers (Jimmy & Harry - Al had died in 1965) instead of the Three Stooges.

Emil Sitka died in 1998 at age 83. His famous line, "Hold hands, you lovebirds," is on his gravestone.

 

[LKellerIII]

Concerning Andy Griffith, he should be considered the supporting actor since he played straight man to just about everyone on the show. He was smart enough to know who the real stars were on his show and allowed them to show their talent.

I get your point, but that did not make Andy the supporting actor. Maybe there should be another term...like "anchor" actor. It's pretty typical to have the "lead actor" in a TV show (especially sitcoms) be the straight man off of which the comical supporting actors bounce their material. Examples - George Burns on Burns and Allen, Eddie Albert on Green Acres, Bea Benadaret on Petticoat Junction, etc. The lead is often the sane one in the middle of a group of supporting actors who play eccentrics, neurotics, or stupid people.

Bob Newhart.

Yes! A perfect example of a lead actor in sit-coms whose main purpose was to react with restrained frustration and rapid eye blinks to Dr. Jerry Robinson, Howard Borden, Carol the Secretary, Mr. Carlin, George Utley, Michael Harris, Stephanie Vanderkellen, Larry, Darryl, Darryl, the weird guy who called him "DICKKK" and a legion of other eccentrics.

 

[bpatrick]

Let's go back to 1966-67 and Phyllis Diller's short-lived
"The Pruitts Of Southampton" (retitled "The Phyllis Diller
Show" in January 1967). Phyllis played Phyllis Pruitt,
widowed head of a once-wealthy Long Island family that
has blown its fortune. She makes a deal with the IRS:
they won't publicize it (fearing a financial panic--is that
what's happening now?) but she has to pay off her back
taxes, which apparently are considerable. So every week
she'd take on some new scheme to raise some money (ABC
was trying to make her into another Lucy, and Phyllis knew
her style of comedy was not the same).

Come January, Phyllis turned the Pruitt mansion into a
boardinghouse and here's where one of the great groups
of supporting actors comes in: John Astin, Marty Ingels,
Paul Lynde, Louis Nye, Richard Deacon, and Billy DeWolfe.
Except for Nye, who played one of Phyllis's relatives, the
rest were boarders, IIRC. It must have been a fun time on
that set! Maybe if the show had started that way it might
have made it; then again, Phyllis was one of those comedians
about whom it can be said that "a little goes a long way."

 

[radioman148]

Sitka was almost a Stooge himself, in the early '70s; Larry Fine had suffered a stroke, and Moe and Curly Joe wanted to carry on by doing a TV pilot with Emil. However, Sitka, and soon afterward Moe, had health concerns of their own, and the project never got anywhere.

They were set to do a movie called Blazing Stewardesses. Sitka was to play the middle-stooge role using the name "Harry." He wasn't going to impersonate Larry Fine, but do a different type of character. Publicity photos were made and one is on Sitka's Wikipedia page.

Trouble was, right after Fine died in early 1975, Moe Howard was diagnosed with cancer, and died a few months later at age 78. Since it was impossible to replace Moe, the act died with him. The movie was made, but starred the Ritz Brothers (Jimmy & Harry - Al had died in 1965) instead of the Three Stooges.

Emil Sitka died in 1998 at age 83. His famous line, "Hold hands, you lovebirds," is on his gravestone.

Moe was on the Mike Douglas show just a few months before he died. Although a bit frail he had no trouble demonstrating the art of face slapping and eye poking.

 

[Bob1370]

Jason Alexander.

Does any more need to be said?

 

[mleach]

Even though "F Troop" was only on ABC for two years, Larry Storch as Cpl. Randolph Agarn was roaringly, laugh-out-loud funny. Overall, "F Troop" was a very hip, under-appreciated comedy. Go back and listen to some of the many puns and especially check out the beautifully choreographed sight gags...crazy!

Larry Storch is very funny in a family innocent way..sometimes I wonder if Storch himself had felt the same way since he tried to do other things though unsucessful like doing horror flicks ( Without Warning ) and I believe some years back Storch actually tried his hand at doing the "adult" thing, telling x-rated sex jokes at comedy clubs. That didn't last either.

Very surprised nobody has mentioned Vivian Vance, William Frawley, Gale Gordon and Lucie Arnaz from the many of Lucy shows over the years.

 

[KeithE4]

Jason Alexander.

Does any more need to be said?

Yeah. He's not qualified to carry the script of anyone else that has been mentioned on this thread so far. In fact, he gets my vote as the second-worst supporting actor of all time, after Robbie "Cousin Oliver Brady" Rist.