Unknowns On Sitcoms That Went On To Become Stars

[cspotrun]

Jamie Farr also appeared in several episodes of DVDS as the deli delivery man.

...I was amazed to see Jamie Farr in a bit part of a sketch in a 1955 Johnny Carson Show...

Ya he's older than dirt! hard to imagine he's been around that long..
the last i heard he was traveling the country doing a 1 man show as george burns(hard to picture that but OK).. in fact he was scheduled to come to my town to do the show, he was sick or had some kind of surgery , so Frank Gorshin did the show in his place, i don't know how good farr was at doing george burns, But Gorshin was AMAZING! the Best performance i've ever seen by anybody! it had to be one of gorshin's last performances, he died 3 months later, as it turns out he was suffering from cancer.

 

[anotherguyTN]

Farr was in his late 30's when he started playing Klinger on MASH, and in his late 40's when it ended. That's kind of old for a guy who was supposed to be a draftee corporal. But in most programs I saw him he looked about the same age until his hair turned gray in the 80's.

 

[onairb]

Farr was in his late 30's when he started playing Klinger on MASH, and in his late 40's when it ended. That's kind of old for a guy who was supposed to be a draftee corporal. But in most programs I saw him he looked about the same age until his hair turned gray in the 80's.

Everyone on the show looked too old after about 5 years. I think Klinger was a private in his first few episodes(before he became a regular). And, by the end of the series, and possibly a nod to age, he was promoted to sergeant.

 

[LKellerIII]

Farr was in his late 30's when he started playing Klinger on MASH, and in his late 40's when it ended. That's kind of old for a guy who was supposed to be a draftee corporal. But in most programs I saw him he looked about the same age until his hair turned gray in the 80's.

Everyone on the show looked too old after about 5 years. I think Klinger was a private in his first few episodes(before he became a regular). And, by the end of the series, and possibly a nod to age, he was promoted to sergeant.

Yeah - they WERE too old, but that's what happens when your show is a hit for 11 years. What always bugged me were the long shaggy 70s haircuts and facial hair.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

What always bugged me were the long shaggy 70s haircuts and facial hair.

And the men were just as bad.

 

[FredLeonard]

You think they were old on MASH? How about the privates in Bilko's motor pool platoon on The Phil Silver's Show.

Speaking of: George Kennedy played various supporting roles in different episodes. He was actually in the army at the time and assigned as the show's technical advisor. Silver's advised him to get his union card and he could pick up some extra cash doing bit parts.

In addition to Dick Van Dyke (already mentioned), Alan Alda also made an appearance on Bilko.

 

[KeithE4]

Farr was in his late 30's when he started playing Klinger on MASH, and in his late 40's when it ended. That's kind of old for a guy who was supposed to be a draftee corporal. But in most programs I saw him he looked about the same age until his hair turned gray in the 80's.

Everyone on the show looked too old after about 5 years. I think Klinger was a private in his first few episodes(before he became a regular). And, by the end of the series, and possibly a nod to age, he was promoted to sergeant.

That's a problem when you are dealing with an 11-year series about a 3-year-long war. Hogan's Heroes had similar issues - the show lasted 6 years and our direct involvement in the European end of WW2 lasted about 3 years.

 

[landtuna]

You think they were old on MASH? How about the privates in Bilko's motor pool platoon on The Phil Silver's Show.

And the crew of PT73 (McHale's Navy).

 

[vjm]

Shows like MASH, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, etc. that were designed as period pieces always seem to after awhile lose all pretense and almost morph into "modern" shows with only perfunctory mentions of the time period they're "supposed" to be taking place in.

Think about it...in the early/mid 50s, would we be really seeing guys with hairdos like B.J. Honeycutt or Chachi running around?

How about Hot Lips Hoolihan's early 80s "Farrah" do, or Joanie's jeri-curl?

Wouldn't Laverne and Shirley be more apt to have been wearing Jackie O or Laura Petrie style hair once they moved to L.A. (mid 60s) than the feathered dos they had?

 

[BD Sullivan]

You think they were old on MASH? How about the privates in Bilko's motor pool platoon on The Phil Silver's Show.

And the crew of PT73 (McHale's Navy).

The "students" on Room 222 and Welcome Back Kotter.

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

The "students" on Room 222 and Welcome Back Kotter.

The same students who broke historical precedent, earning their high school diplomas and AARP membership cards in the same week.

 

[PirateJohnny]

In the episode of Leave It To Beaver where The Beav got his first kiss, the mother of the lucky girl was Majel Barrett (Mrs. Gene Roddenberry and the voice of all the Enterprises computers).

 

[FredLeonard]

In the episode of Leave It To Beaver where The Beav got his first kiss, the mother of the lucky girl was Majel Barrett (Mrs. Gene Roddenberry and the voice of all the Enterprises computers).

A little context: The girl giving the kiss to the Beav was Veronica Cartwright, later Danlel Boone's daughter. The girl was Lumpy Rutherford's (RIP) sister. The mother was married to Fred Rutherford (aka Mel Cooley, Alan Brady's brother in law).

 

[bpatrick]

I can't say she became a star, but she certainly became a
familiar face to Lucy fans: Elizabeth Patterson, aka Mrs. Trumbull.
I was watching the Hallmark Channel this morning, and they were
showing the "I Love Lucy" episode where Lucy doesn't think her
marriage license is valid and wants to do the whole ceremony all
over again at the same place in Connecticut where she and Ricky
(and Desi, in real life) were married. This older couple holds every
position in the little burg, and the wife is--sure enough--Elizabeth
Patterson. A couple of years later she would be a virtual regular
on the show as Little Ricky's babysitter.

Also, Marlo Thomas as Joey Bishop's sister in the first season of
his sitcom, when he played a PR guy. The second year, when he
became a talk-show host, Marlo was out and Abby Dalton was in
as Joey's wife.

 

[FredLeonard]

This could be a whole new thread: One shot guest appearance where the actor came back as somebody else in a recurring role.

Uncle Arthur in Bewitched (originally a diaper service driver spying on Darrin's ad work for another company).
Col. Potter on MASH (originally a crazy general).
Lt. Buntz on Hill Street Blues (originally a corrupt detective who gets killed off)
Det. Lenny Briscoe on Law & Order (originally a defense attorney)

 

[Braves2005]

This could be a whole new thread: One shot guest appearance where the actor came back as somebody else in a recurring role.

Uncle Arthur in Bewitched (originally a diaper service driver spying on Darrin's ad work for another company).

Paul Lynde played the driving instructor who teaches Samantha how to drive. Marty Ingels played Diaper Dan the Diaper Man who was spying on Darrin's ad work for another company.

 

[MHB]

In the episode of Leave It To Beaver where The Beav got his first kiss, the mother of the lucky girl was Majel Barrett (Mrs. Gene Roddenberry and the voice of all the Enterprises computers).

A little context: The girl giving the kiss to the Beav was Veronica Cartwright, later Danlel Boone's daughter. The girl was Lumpy Rutherford's (RIP) sister. The mother was married to Fred Rutherford (aka Mel Cooley, Alan Brady's brother in law).

More Leave It to Beaver:

Ryan O'Neal - Wally's older married friend Tom, who played softball with him: appeared in one episode (later appeared in Peyton Place and movies)

Barbara Parkins - Beaver's babysitter Judy (not his classmate Judy): appeared in one episode (also appeared in Peyton Place)

Lee Meriwether - one of the Cleavers' neighbors when Beaver was collecting for the Community Chest (later appeared in Barnaby Jones)

Jean Vander Pyl - appears at least twice as mothers of girls Beaver and Wally knew (later appeared in The Flintstones, The Jetsons, lots of other Hanna-Barbera cartoons)

 

[firepoint525]

The "students" on Room 222 and Welcome Back Kotter.

The same students who broke historical precedent, earning their high school diplomas and AARP membership cards in the same week.

Ditto the "kids" on Beverly Hills, 90210!

 

[firepoint525]

Shows like MASH, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, etc. that were designed as period pieces always seem to after awhile lose all pretense and almost morph into "modern" shows with only perfunctory mentions of the time period they're "supposed" to be taking place in.

And the only reason why most other "period piece" shows don't do that is because they didn't last long enough. Once a show like this lasts longer than about three years, they do indeed tend to lose focus, and "forget where they came from."

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

More Leave It to Beaver:

Ryan O'Neal - Wally's older married friend Tom, who played softball with him: appeared in one episode (later appeared in Peyton Place and movies)

Barbara Parkins - Beaver's babysitter Judy (not his classmate Judy): appeared in one episode (also appeared in Peyton Place)

Lee Meriwether - one of the Cleavers' neighbors when Beaver was collecting for the Community Chest (later appeared in Barnaby Jones)

Jean Vander Pyl - appears at least twice as mothers of girls Beaver and Wally knew (later appeared in The Flintstones, The Jetsons, lots of other Hanna-Barbera cartoons)
[/quote]

Another veteran of the Beaver follies: Tim Mathison