My Three Sons Quiz

TV BANTER QUIZ #17

I've just started watching a DVD of the first season of My Three Sons starring Fred MacMurray as widowed patriarch Steve Douglas.  The long-running series was broadcast on ABC from 1960 to 1965 and on CBS from 1965 until 1972.  The show ran for 12 seasons and more than 360 episodes were produced. Why don't you test your knowledge of this series about the Douglas family.  Get ready and good luck!


My Three Sons Quiz and Trivia

Note:  Above is a photo of the original cast of My Three Sons (Clockwise from left: William Frawley as Michael Francis "Bub" O'Casey, Tim Considine as Mike Douglas, Fred MacMurray as Steve Douglas, Don Grady as Robbie Douglas and Stanley Livingston as Chip Douglas.


1. The eldest of the Douglas sons was Mike, played by Tim Considine. When Considine left the show, his character married a woman named Sally Anne Morrison and the couple moved away.  Who played Sally?

A.  Sally Field

B.  Karen Valentine

C.  Sally Struthers

D. Meredith Baxter

E.  Meredith MacRae

2.  What was Chip Douglas' real first name?

A.  Clifford

B.  Richard

C.  Charles

D.  Steven Douglas, Jr.

E.  Chester



3.  Why did My Three Sons move from the ABC network to CBS for the 1965-66 season?

A.  Its ratings had dropped on ABC.

B.  Fred MacMurray had some disagreements with ABC over the scripts.

C.  ABC refused to spend the money needed to produce the show in colour.

D. ABC was tired of the series and wanted to replace it with a fresher and newer show.

E.  ABC decided to move the show to a time slot that was less desirable to MacMurray and the other stars of the show.



4.  What did Fred MacMurray's character, Steve Douglas, do for a living?

A.  Steve Douglas was a lawyer.

B.  He was an aeronautical engineer.

C.  He was an architect.

D.  He was employed as an accountant.

E.  He was an insurance salesman.



5.  William Frawley, best known for his role of Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy, played the boys' maternal grandfather Michael Francis "Bub" O'Casey.  He lived with the family and served as housekeeper.  Frawley, however, left the show in 1965.  Why?

A. Frawley left My Three Sons because he was considered too ill to work.

B.  He decided it was time to retire from acting.

C.  He was not comfortable with the out-of-sequence filming method used on My Three Sons.

D.  He was tired of the show and had opportunities to perform on Broadway.

E.  He didn't think his "Bub" character was getting enough screen time.



6.  After eldest son Mike married Sally and moved away, the Douglas family adopted Ernie Thompson, an orphaned boy who had been moved from one foster home to another.  In real-life, the actor who played Ernie is related to one of the stars of the series.  Who is his relative?

A.  In real life, Ernie is Fred MacMurray's nephew.

B.  He is the grandson of William Frawley (Bub).

C.  He is Don Grady's younger brother.

D.  He is the younger brother of Stanley Livingston (Chip Douglas).

E.  He is Tim Considine's cousin.



7.  What was the name of the fictional town where the Douglas family lived until 1967?

A,  Oak Woods

B.  Pinewood

C.  Bryant Park

D.  Spruce Hill

D.  Forest Park



8.  After the Douglas family moved to California, Robbie married Katie Miller, a fellow college student.  They had triplets, all male.  What were the names of Robbie and Katie's three sons?

Tina Cole as Katie bringing the triplets home from hospital

A.  The triplets were named Michael, Robert and Thomas

B.  James, Steven and Robert

C.  Charles, Thomas and Robert

D.  Steven, Robert and Charles

E.  Robert, Charles and Michael




9.  What was the name of the Douglas family dog?

A.  Tramp

B.  Stripe

C.  Patch

D.  Frosty

E.  Leo



10.  In 1969, Steve Douglas fell in love with Ernie's widowed school teacher, Barbara Harper, played by Beverly Garland and they were married during the season.  Barbara had a young daughter.  What was the name of her daughter?

A.  Debbie

B.  Dodie

C.  Dora

D.  Dee Dee

E.  Dina



11.  In 1970, Chip eloped with his college girlfriend, Polly Williams (Ronne Troup).  Why did they elope?

A.  They eloped because they couldn't afford a formal wedding.

B.  The couple had simple tastes and did not want a fancy wedding.

C. Their families thought they were too young to get married.

D.  Chip was drafted into the army and there was no time to plan a formal wedding.

E.  Polly wanted to get away from her strict father.



12.  By the final season of the series, Don Grady had decided to leave the show and his character was written out.  Robbie, a structural engineer, was sent to another country to work on the construction of a bridge. Where was Robbie Douglas sent?

A.  Morocco

B.  Peru

C.  Mexico

D.  Australia

E.  Belgium



13.  My Three Sons was originally supposed have another title.  What was it?

A.  The Fred MacMurray Show

B..  My Three Boys

C.  Steve's Boys

D.  The Trio

E.  The Douglas Family



ANSWERS


1.  E

Tim Considine and Meridith MacRae 1965

The late Meredith MacRae played the role of Sally on My Three Sons.   In the first CBS episode entitled "The First Marriage" (Season 6, Episode 1, Air Date: September 16, 1965), Mike and Sally got married. and moved "east" so that Mike could accept a job as an assistant psychology instructor at a college.  In a later episode, they are said to be living in Arizona.  Trivia Note: "The First Marriage" was the first colour episode of My Three Sons and it marked Tim Considine's last appearance on the show.


2.  B

Richard "Chip" Douglas was the third son of Steve Douglas and as a toddler, he pronounced his name "Chipper."  The character was portrayed by actor Stanley Livingston.  Livingston, born November 24, 1950, is now 62 years old.  After My Three Sons left the air, he became a producer and director in Los Angeles.

In 1968, at the age of 18, Stanley secretly married a go-go dancer named Sandra L. Gable.  The couple divorced in 1974 but the marriage produced one child, a daughter named Samantha.


3.  C

My Three Sons moved to CBS for the 1964-65 because ABC was not willing to finance the series' switch from a black and white production to a colour production.


4.  B

Steve Douglas was an aeronautical engineer.


5.  A

William Frawley

When My Three Sons moved to the CBS television network for the 1965–66 season, along with the change in networks and the transition to colour, Desilu Studios deemed William Frawley too ill to work since the company was notified that it would be very expensive to insure him.  Frawley retained his role as Bub until he was replaced at midseason by veteran actor William Demarest.  Demarest had played Bub's curmudgeonly brother Charley part way through the 1964–65 season (the last on ABC).  The explanation for Bub's absence was that he had gone to Ireland to help his Auntie Kate celebrate her 104th birthday. Uncle Charley O'Casey later paid the Douglas family another visit and ended up staying as their housekeeper.  Bub never returned from Ireland.

On March 3, 1966, William Frawley collapsed of a heart attack while walking along Hollywood Boulevard after viewing a movie.  He died at the age of 79.


6.  D

Barry and Stanley Livingston

Barry Livingston played the role of Ernie.  Barry is the real life younger brother of Stanley Livingston, who played Chip Douglas.


7.  C

The Douglas house in Bryant Park

The Douglas family lived in the fictional American Midwest town of Bryant Park.  The state, however, was never identified.  In the fall of 1967, Steve Douglas moved the family to North Hollywood, California due to a job transfer.


8.  D

The triplets were named Steven, Robert and Charles after grandfather Steve, father Robbie and Uncle Charley.  From 1970 until 1972, they were played by Joseph Todd (Steve Jr.), Daniel Todd (Robbie II) and Michael Todd (Charley Douglas).


9.  A

Tramp

The name of the Douglas family's sheepdog was Tramp.  If you are wondering about his breed, he was a Briard.  Tramp was played by a dog named Spud and owned by Frank Inn.  Another dog in the series was Wilson, Ernie's dog.


10.  B

Dawn Lyn as Dodie

Barbara's daughter was named Dodie.  Dodie was portrayed by Dawn Lyn.  Lyn, born January 11, 1963 is 50 years old now.  Her older brother is 1970s teen heartthrob Leif Garrett.



11.  E

Chip and Polly eloped because Polly's disciplinarian father, Tom Williams (Norman Alden) did not approve of their relationship and Polly wanted to escape from his dominance (He even sent a private detective on their trail). After their honeymoon, the newlyweds moved into a college dormitory.


12.  B

Robbie was sent off to Peru, leaving Katie and the triplets to live with the Douglas family until they could join him there.


13.  A

The series was originally going to be called The Fred MacMurray Show but Fred himself objected to that title.


END NOTES

* Prior to his relationship with Sally Morrison, Mike Douglas (Tim Considine) dated Jean Pearson, played by Cynthia Pepper.  Jean was literally "the girl next door" as she and Mike were next door neighbours who opened their upstairs windows to speak to each other.  In 1961, Cynthia Pepper left My Three Sons to star in her own show, ABC's Margie.  In 1964, Cynthia made a guest appearance on an episode of My Three Sons entiteled "Goodbye Again (Season 5, Episode 9, Air Date: November 12, 1964). In the episode, Jean returns to Bryant Park hoping to connect with Mike again. Brother Robbie, however, tells her that Mike is engaged to Sally and she quickly leaves town.  Now 72 years old, Cynthia is retired and resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Tim Considine and Cynthiia Pepper as Mike and Jean

* Sebastian Cabot, best known as Mr. French on Family Affair, played Sally father, Tom Morrison, in a 1964 episode of My Three Sons entitled "The In-Law Whammy" (Season 5, Episode 14, Air Date: December 17, 1964).

* In 1971, the late Anne Francis portrayed portrayed a cocktail waitress named Terri Dowling.  Terri was the love interest of Steve's look-a-like Scottish cousin, Fergus McBain Douglas (played by Fred MacMurray).

* Don Grady, who played Robbie Douglas, passed away on June 27, 2012 after a battle with cancer.  He died in Thousand Oaks, California at the age of 68.

* Fred MacMurray died on November 5, 1991 in Santa Monica California at the age of 83.  He had suffered from throat cancer in the late 1970s and a major stroke at Christmas 1988.

* Barry Livingston, born December 17. 1953, is now 59 years old.  He married Karen Huntsman in 1983 and they have two children, Spencer (born 1989) and Hailey (born 1992).  It was Barry who announced the death of  his co-star Don Grady on Facebook.  He wrote, "My dear friend and TV brother Don Grady passed away today.  He was an inspiration to me in so many ways."

* Tim Considine, born December 31, 1940, is now 72 years old.  After leaving My Three Sons, he became an automobile historian and a photo-journalist specializing in motor sports.  He is the author of The Photographic Dictionary of Soccer (1979), The Language of Sport (1982) and American Grand Prix Racing: A Century of Drivers and Cars (1997).  Considine has been married twice.  His first wife, whom he wed in 1965, was actress Charlotte Stewart.  Stewart is best recognized for her role as Miss Beadle, the school teacher on Little House on the Prairie.  She and Considine divorced in 1972.  Considine subsequently wed Willette Hunt in 1979 and they have one child, a son named Chris.  In early 2007, Chris Considine founded CXC Simulations, a company that describes itself on its website as "a high-tech engineering firm that has revolutionized the design and manufacture of advanced personal racing simulation equipment."
* William Demarest played the boys' Uncle Charley O'Casey, a gruff former Merchant Marine.  Demarest died of prostate cancer on December 28, 1983.  He was 91 years old.

William Demarest

* Beverly Garland died at her home in Hollywood on December 5, 2008.  The talented actress was 82 at the time of her death.  In the 1980s, she played the role of Kate Jackson's widowed mother, Dottie West, in the television series Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

* Ronne Troup, born June 10, 1945, is 68 years old now.  She is the daughter of musician/actor Bobby Troup.  In 1967, prior to her stint as Polly Williams Douglas on My Three Sons, Ronne was cast as Sister Bertrille in The Flying Nun.  When Sally Field, Columbia/Screen Gems' first choice for the role, became available, the studio dropped Troup and replaced her with Field.  Troup was 22 years old at the time. Given that Field is an Academy Awared-winning actress, one wonders how successful The Flying Nun would have been if Troup had remained in the lead role.

To watch a "Polly" montage featuring Ronne Troup, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uyh4pQ4BkPc

* A 50th anniversary My Three Sons Reunion was held at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills, California.on June 19, 2010.  All the surviving cast members were in attendance except for Don Grady who was undergoing cancer treatment in Europe and Dawn Lyn who was residing in Germany.


- Joanne

Joyce Randolph: The Honeymooners' Trixie Norton

Joyce Randolph is best known for her role as Trixie, the wife of happy-go-lucky sewer worker Ed Norton (Art Carney) in the "Classic 39" episodes of The Honeymooners.  Trixie and Ed were the best friends and upstairs neighbours of Brooklyn bus driver Ralph Kramden (Jackie Gleason) and his no-nonsense wife, Alice (Audrey Meadows).

Born Joyce Sirola in Detroit, Michigan on October 21, 1924, Randoph is of Finnish descent. Her acting career was launched when, as a 19-year-old, she joined a touring company of the play Stage Door.  In 1943, she arrived in New York City to further pursue her career and appeared on Broadway in productions such as A Goose for the Gander with Gloria Swanson.

Although Joyce continued to perform in Broadway shows throughout the 1940s and into the early 1950s, she became more and more involved in early television.  She worked with such legendary performers as Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Danny Thomas, Fred Allen and Jack Benny.  In 1954, she had the uncredited role of Judy in an episode of The Jack Benny Program entitled "How Jack Found Mary." (Season 5, Episode 3, Air Date: October 31, 1954).

As far back as 1946 , Joyce Randolph made her first TV appearance on experimental station WRGB in Scenectady, New York.  She later had roles on the old DuMont television network in Martin Kane Private Eye and The Plainclothesman.  In 1949, she appeared in some episodes of Famous Jury Trials, a half hour courtroom drama on DuMont.

In 1951, she began playing Thelma "Trixie" Norton in The Honeymooners skit on The Cavalcade of Stars, Jackie Gleason's variety show, also on DuMont,   Randolph won the role of Trixie after appearing on live Clorets breath-mint commercials on the show.  She never auditioned for the role.  She was merely informed that Jackie Gleason wanted her to work with him in a dramatic skit on The Calvacade of Stars. "I  just sat there like a lump," she told Jane Woolman Rusoff in a July 2012 New York Times interview.

Joyce appeared in the dramatic skit and a fortnight later she received a call that Gleason wanted `"that serious actress" to play Trixie.  She had never heard of The Honeymooners but she got the part without an agent negotiating anything for her

Some New York writers dubbed Joyce Randolph "the Garbo of Detroit."  "That's still a mystery," she stated in a New York Times article (January 27, 2007) entitled "For TV's Trixie, the Honeymoon Lives On."  "I was a nobody in Detroit," she added.  "Why Garbo?  Well, she was Scandinavian - and so was I."

Joyce Randolph as Trixie Norton

In the autumn of 1952, according to The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network TV Shows: 1946-Present, "the lure of money" brought Jackie Gleason to CBS.  The comedian had been the star of The Cavalcade of Stars on DuMont since the summer of 1950.  DuMont was struggling financially (it ceased broadcasting in 1956) and CBS offered Gleason a hefty increase in weekly pay with enough funding to improve the his show's production.  It was an offer he did not refuse.

When the show moved to CBS, it was retitled The Jackie Gleason Show and Audrey Meadows replaced Pert Kelton, who had been blacklisted during the McCarthy era, in the role of Alice Kramden.  Joyce Randolph had actually worked with Audrey prior to The Honeymooners.when the two women appeared in a summer stock production of the musical No, No, Nanette.in Louisville, Kentucky.  They got to know each other on the train to Louisville because it was delayed behind a "troop train" of soldiers during the Korean War.  They had no idea they would be working together on television.

In her two-hour interview with the Archive of American Television, Joyce described Meadows as "very quick-witted and very sweet."  She said that "Audrey was a very talented lady - a great singer.  She started out as a singer."  Randolph also told The York Times in 2012 that "Audrey was very smart.  She learned every word of The Honeymooners scripts so she could get Jackie back on track if she had to."

By 1955, Jackie Gleason wanted a break from the demands of a one hour variety program.  A decision was made to film a complete season of The Honeymooners, consisting of 39 episodes, and fill the other half of Gleason's allotted hour on CBS with Stage Show, a musical variety series.  Stage Show, owned by Gleason, featured Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey and the June Taylor Dancers.

On October 1, 1955, The Honeymooners debuted as a half-hour comedy series in its own right on CBS.  Its fiercest competition came from The Perry Como Show on the NBC network.  All of the classic 39 episodes were filmed before a live audience and continue to be rerun on local stations.

L to R : Jackie Gleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney and Joyce Randolph

On October 2, 1955, just one day after the debut of The Honeymooners on CBS, Joyce married wealthy marketing executive Richard Lincoln "Dick" Charles.  The wedding took place in a Baptist church on Long Island, New York.  The couple had one son, Randolph Richard "Randy" Charles, born in 1960.  Dick passed away in 1997 at the age of 74.

Their son Randy, now 53, attended Harvard Business School and was a marketing executive in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He is currently President of Elsevier Business Intelligence, the world's leading publisher of medical, scientific and technical information and is located in the West Palm Beach, Florida area.

Randy Charles

In the fall of 1956, with Stage Show's lack of success and The Perry Como Show's dominance of The Honeymooners, Gleason reverted to his regular variety show format.  Art Carney left The Jackie Gleason Show in 1957.  When he returned for the 1966-67 season, The Honeymooners was revived in the form of full-hour colour episodes.  There were other changes too.  At Gleason's insistence, the show had been moved from New York to Miami.  Sheila MacRae had replaced Audrey Meadows in the role of Alice Kramden and Jane Kean had replaced Joyce Randolph as Trixie Norton.  This Honeymooners quartet travelled and sang musical numbers.

In 1964, Joyce made a guest appearance in the CBS medical drama The Doctors and Nurses.  She played Alice Loring in an episode entitled "The Prisoner: Part 2" (Season 3, Episode 3, Air Date: October 6, 1964).  In 1991, she portrayed Trixie Norton in an episode of Hi Honey, I'm Home!, an unusual show about a 1950s sitcom family, the Nielsens (named after the Nielsen ratings), that was transferred to 1990s suburbia via the Sitcom Relocation Program.  Randolph appeared in an episode of the series entitled "Fur Flies" (Season 1, Episode 3, Air Date: August 2, 1991).  She also portrayed a dog walker in the 2000 feature film drama Everything's Jake, about a homeless man in New York City.

Now 88 years old, Joyce Randolph has resided in the same Manhattan apartment building since 1959 and she is the only survivor of the 1950s Honeymooners quartet. Jackie Gleason died on June 24, 1987 of colon cancer.  He was 71 years old.  Audrey Meadows passed away on February 3, 1996 at the age 73 after suffering from lung cancer.  Art Carney died in his sleep of natural causes on November 9, 2003 near his Connecticut home.  He was 85 at the time of his death.

Of her television husband Art Carney, Joyce told the Archive of American Television that "he's a very shy, quiet man.  You don't get to know Art right away at all - ever maybe  He's not as expansive as Jackie."  She also referred to him a "genius." and stated that she didn't think "Mr. Gleason would have gotten as far as he did without Art Carney."

END NOTES

* Joyce Randolph was not the original Thelma "Trixie" Norton.  Elaine Stitch played Trixie for one sketch on The Cavalcade of Stars before being replaced by Randolph. Stitch's Trixie had a background as a burlesque dancer at a theatre called Minsky's.

* Of her role as Trixie Norton, Joyce made the following statement to the Archive of American Television.

Trixie was married to a sewer worker and I guess she considered herself a little better than the character of Ed Norton. But she was just a housewife - she and Alice didn't have jobs. They stayed home all the time, which was kind of amazing, but the husbands didn't want them to work. But twice during the course of all of our years it was mentioned that probably Trixie had been in burlesque. They never expanded on that, but mention was made that she could have been a dancer in burlesque

* In the 1980s, the so-called "Lost Episodes" of The Honeymooners showed up on Shotime's pay-cable network.  The episodes were not actually lost.  The were Honeymooners sketches that had been originally broadcast in the 1950s. Jackie Gleason had released  kinescopes of the sketches to Viacom, Showtime's parent company.

* Joyce Randolph is the great-aunt of professional baseball pitcher Tim Redding. During his career, Redding, 35, has played for the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Washington Nationals, New York Yankees, New York Mets and my hometown Toronto Blue Jays.  He is currently pitching in the Mexican League.

* Joyce is a strong supporter of the United Service Organization (US0) which provides recreation and welfare-type services for American soldiers.  She is a member of its Board of Directors.

* Joyce has attributed her longevity and good health to vitamins and dietary supplements.  She's been taking Omega-3 fish oil for many years.


Editor's Update (January 31, 2014):  Jane Kean, who played Trixie Norton in a series of hour-long Honeymooners episodes on The Jackie Gleason Show from 1966-1970, passed away on November 26, 2013.  She died at the age of 90 in Burbank, California after complications from a fall that led to a stroke.

Editor's Update (January 14, 2024):  Joyce Randolph passed away on January 13, 2024.  She died in her sleep at her home in New York City at the age of 99, her son confirmed.

- Joanne

Gerry Dee: The CBC's Mr. D.

 

My dad always said that if someone makes fun of you, you laugh and agree with them - and it was the best trick ever.

- Gerry Dee
Interview with George Stroumboulopoulos

Gerry Dee is a raspy-voiced Canadian comic whose humour has been compared that of an early Bill Cosby.  His comedy is clean and it strikes a chord with many, particularly his observations about educators and schools.

Gerry plays teacher Gerry Duncan on the hit CBC television series Mr. D.  Gerry is the creator, writer and star of the popular comedy set at high school called Xavier Academy.  Mr. D  premiered on January 9, 2012 to a large viewing audience and has run for two seasons.  According to the CBC, the show "shines the light on teaching from the teacher's point of view, and as it turns out, teachers don't know everything, especially Mr. D - who struggles to keep one step ahead of his students."

Gerry Duncan is certainly a different kind of teacher then the conventional television teachers of the past. He's definitely not an all-knowing and all-wise teacher.  He makes his share of mistakes and lapses in judgement.  His dithering and his disingenuity often get him into trouble

Gerry Dee, the man behind who portrays Mr. D, is the son of Scottish immigrants to Canada.  He was born Gerard Francis Donoghue in Scarborough, Ontario on December 31, 1968 and was later raised in the Willowdale area. of Toronto.  He attended high school at De La Salle College and then went on to study kinesiology at York University.

If Gerry Dee seems comfortable in the role of Gerry Ducan, it's because he actually spent a decade as a high school teacher.  After earning his teaching degree at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, Gerry found employment back in Toronto at his alma mater, De La Salle College (shades of Welcome Back, Kotter).  He eventually became a physical education instructor and a hockey coach there.

Mr. D is actually based on Gerry's experiences as a teacher before he decided to devote himself full time to stand-up comedy and acting in 2003 (He started performing stand-up in 1999 and was the winner of Toronto's Funniest New Comic contest that year).

“The show idea kind of came from my first few years, teaching history and geography and not really knowing that subject matter,” the comedian is quoted as saying in a December 5, 2012 article by Winnipeg writer Jared Story.for Metro.  “What I did on those days to get through the day is where the funny comes from. I delivered it in stand-up first and then we started thinking about it as a show.”

 In an April 2013 article for MoneySense Magazine, Gerry elaborated further on that period in his life.

Between teaching, hockey and comedy, 1999 to 2003 was a very busy time for me. However, I loved all three things I was doing, which made it more exciting. Then I had a decision to make: pursue comedy or pursue teaching and coaching hockey. I felt I had reached a stage in my stand-up comedy career where I could take a leave from my other jobs for one year. I had actually paid off all my debts, bought a condo and saved some money.

Gerry Dee moved to Los Angeles and remained there for a year and a half before returning home to Toronto.  In 2002, he won the first Canadian in 27 years to win the prestigious San Francisco Comedy Competition.  He made his debut on U.S. network television in 2003 when he appeared on CBS' Star Search with Arsenio Hall.  A year later, Dee performed on The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn.

In 2006, Gerry appeared in the CBC mini-series Canada Russia 72 in which he played the role of Canadian hockey player Wayne Cashman.  The following year, he had the distinction of finishing third on the fifth season of NBC's Last Comic Standing, the highest standing by a Canadian in the history of the competition.

To watch Gerry perform his stand-up comedy routine on the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2012, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69hG8kawLG4

END NOTES

* Gerry Dee is the author of a book titled Teaching: It's Harder Than it Looks.  It was published by Random House in 2012.and it is filled with anecdotes about Dee's years as a teacher, the kind of teacher who loses his students' exams or suddenly decides to hold a baseball game during history class just to pass some time. Actually, it tells the story of a teacher very similar to the fictional Mr. D.  The book contains a forward by Gerry's fellow Canadian comic, Russell Peters.

* Gerry and his wife Heather have two daughters, Faith Donoghue and Aly Donoghue. According to his CBC biography, Gerry divides his time between Los Angeles and Toronto.

* On an episode of the CBC's George Stroumboulopoulos, Tonight, Gerry told  talk show host  Stroumboulopoulos that his favourite possession is his Wayne Gretzky rookie hockey card.  He is much more of a jock than an intellectual.  He confessed to Stroumboulopoulos that he had only read five books in his life.

* Gerry is a good golfer and in 2004 he appeared in the CBS Sports reality series PGA Tour 18: Golf's Ultimate Round.

* Gerry is the former host of a weekly comedy segment on The Score (now Sportsnet 360), a Canadian cable station recently recently purchased and revamped by Rogers Media.  On his show, Gerry Dee Sports Reporter, he conducted humorous interviews with various sports celebrities including Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Charles Barkley and Cito Gaston and Chris Bosh.

* The CBC has renewed Mr. D for a third season.


EDITOR'S UPDATE  (February 22, 2014): The third season of Mr. D. will begin on Monday, February 24, 2014 at 9::00 p,m. on CBC.  Due to the Winter Olympics, it has been delayed and will be shortened to only eight episodes.  The special guest on the season opener will be 1972 hockey hero Paul Henderson.  

Before Season 3 kicks off, viewers can enoy a hidden camera special, Gerry Dee: The Substitute, airing Monday, February 24  at 8 p.m.  Gerry disguised himself and went undercover as a substitute at King’s-Edgehill School in Windsor, Nova Scotia for a week.


EDITOR'S UPDATE (January 6, 2015):  The fourth season of Mr. D will premiere on Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 9:30 pm on CBC.  

EDITOR'S UPDATE (January 15, 2016):  The fifth season of Mr. D will premiere on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 9:30 pm on CBC.

EDITOR'S UPDATE (August 26, 2016):  The sixth season of Mr. D will premiere on Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 9:30 pm on CBC.

EDITOR'S UPDATE (June 24, 2018): On March 11, 2018, Mr. D was renewed for an eighth season. Gerry Dee confirmed that this would the show's final season.  He stated via Twitter: "Hey all, Mr. D will be back for an 8th and FINAL season.  It's rare in TV to get a show let alone be able to decide when you want to wrap it up and I'm so thankful that CBC has allowed me to make this decision.  It feels like the right time.  So proud of what we did.  Thx!"



- Joanne

Jon Hamm: Is he anything like Don Draper?

Jon Hamm 2008 photo

                                Photo Attribution: Rachel Sklar


Don Draper of Mad Men is a notorious bad boy.  The suave advertising executive has been adulterous and deceitful.  A hard-drinking, chain-smoking man of the 1960s, Draper is the founding partner and Creative Directive of Sterling Cooper Draper Price, a fictional New York advertising firm.  He is handsome and elegantly attired and women find him difficult to resist.

Actor Jon Hamm has been playing the role of Don Draper since 2007.  How different is heartthrob Ham from the character he portrays on the popular AMC television series? Well, first of all, both Jon and Don had difficult childhoods but Draper's was far worse.

Donald Francis "Don" Draper was born Richard "Dick" Whitman in 1926,  the child of a prostitute who died in childbirth.  His father, Archie Whitman, was a brutish drunk and Dick was raised by his father's wife, Abigail, a cold-hearted disciplinarian.  When Dick was ten, his father died after being kicked in the face by a horse.  His stepmother then hooked up with another man, Max, with whom she had a son.  To escape his unhappy family life, Dick enlisted in the army and served in the Korean War.  During the war, he assumed the identity of  Lieutenant Don Draper, who was killed in an explosion while the two were on duty at an isolated base.  Dick switched identification tags with the dead officer and took on his name.  He then returned to the U.S. and started a new life as Don Draper, cutting off all contact with his family.

Jon Hamm as Don Draper

Joanthan Daniel Hamm was born on March 10, 1971 in St. Louis, Missouri.  His parents divorced when he was just a toddler and he lived with his mother, Deborah, until her death of colon cancer.  Hamm was only 10 years old when his mother passed away.  From then on, the youngster was raised by his paternal grandmother and his father, Daniel Hamm.

Dan, nicknamed "Whale" due to his 6 foot 3 inch, 300 pound frame, ran the family trucking business.  Dan's elderly mother, Jon told GQ magazine in 2008, was "not the nicest person."  "We were three generations living under one roof, which is difficult in the best of circumstances,” he explained.. “She probably felt like I was this weird kid who’d come along and was taking her son’s attention away in the winter of her years. The blessing was that school started at 8 a.m. and ended at 5 p.m., so I could spend a lot of time outside of the house.”

Jon Hamm first developed an interest in acting when he was asked to play Winnie the Pooh in grade school.  In 1988, during his firs year at John Burroughs Preperatory School in St. Louis, Jon portrayed Judas in the school's production of Godspell.  A fine athlete, he was also a linebacker on the school's football team.  In a January 2012 article in St. Louis Magazine, Ham's former drama teacher at Burroughs, Wayne Solomon, is quoted as saying, "I knew him as a football player and baseball player. It’s funny, but I think of him so much more when I see the football and baseball fields than when I go into the auditorium.”

Hamm as a high school football player

Nevertheless, Hamm's desire to act eventually won out over his athletic aspirations. He rejected offers to play football at several Ivy League universities and decided to attend the University of Texas instead.  After the deaths of his grandmother and his father, however, he returned home.  Jon's dad, who suffered from acute diabetes, had passed away on New Year's Day, 1991 and the 20-year-old chose to complete his studies at the University of Missouri.  The young man became very involved in the university's theatre program and spent two summers performing in the school's repertory company.  In 1993, he was awarded a bachelor's degree in English after which he found employment as a drama teacher at his old high school, John Burrroughs.  One of his students was actress Ellie Kemper.

In 1995, Jon Hamm packed his bags and headed for Hollywood to pursue an acting career.  In Los Angeles, the aspiring actor struggled at first, waiting on tables to make ends meet.  His first appearance on a television series was an uncredited cameo role as a good-looking guy at a bar in a 1997 episode of Ally McBeal entitled "Compromising Positions" (Season 1, Episode 2, Air Date: September 15, 1997).  Next came a guest appearance as Buzz on an episode of the sitcom The Hughleys ("Lies My Valentine Told Me," Season 2, Episode 15, Air Date: February 11, 2000).

Success came gradually for Jon but things started going his way when he won a small role as a pilot in the 2000 Clint Eastwood film, Space Cowboys.  From 2000 to 2001, he had a recurring role in 18 episodes of the NBC television drama Providence.  In the series, set in Rhode Island, Jon portrayed a firefighter named Burt Ridley.  Below is a photo of him with Paula Cole (as Joan "Joanie" Hansen) in a scene from the show.

From 2002 to 2004, Hamm had another recurring role, this time as Inspector Nate Basso in The Division, a police drama on Lifetime Television.  The series centred around the trials and tribulations of a team of female cops in the felony division of the San Francisco Police Department .  Below is a photo of the cast of The Division: (From Left) - Jon Hamm, Nancy McKeon, Bonnie Bedelia, Lisa Vidal, Tracey Needham and Taraji P. Henson.

In 2005, Jon appeared in two episodes of CSI: Miami as Dr. Brent Kessler.  The first episode, entitled "Thrree-Way," aired on October 17, 2005 (Season 4, Episode 5).  The second episode, "Payback," aired on December 19, 2005 (Season 4, Episode 11).  From 2006 until 2007, the actor had recurring roles in two  television series, What About Brian and The Unit.  He appeared in six episodes of the comedy/drama What About Brian in the role of Richard Povich.  He also portrayed Wilson James in five episodes of The Unit, an hour-long CBS action/drama series about a top-secret U.S. military unit.

Then came the role that rocketed Jon Hamm to television stardom, a role for which he didn't think he'd be chosen.  When Hamm auditioned for the part of Don Draper on Mad Men, he competed with more than 80 other hopefuls.  He didn't feel he had much of a chance of being selected for the role of the ruthless advertising executive.  In fact, he told David Wigg of the Daily Mail that he was "the complete outsider."  He was the least experienced and least known of the candidates.  "They'd said they wanted a sharp, stylish character to just play himself, and I thought I was too much of a nerd - and so did everyone else," stated Hamm.  To his astonishment, he was cast in the role of the 1960s advertising executive.

Jon Hamm is certainly more casual and laid-back than the impeccably-dressed Don Draper but does Hamm drink and smoke as much as his Draper character?  In a March 2012 interview in London's Daily Mail, Hamm, now 42, told reporter Elaine Lipworth that he doesn't drink as much as the martini-loving Don Draper.  "I would be unconscious if I did," he remarked.

In a 2010 episode of Mad Men, Jon's Draper character created quite a stir when he published a full-page anti-tobacco letter in the New York Times titled "Why I'm Quitting Tobacco."  The letter began with these words: "Recently my advertising company ended a long relationship with Lucky Strike, and I'm relieved."  Draper wrote his manifesto while puffing away on a cigarette in his Greenwich Village apartment.  As for John Hamm, he kicked the habit at the age of 24.

The cigarettes smoked on Mad Men are herbal cigarettes and they are nicotine-free. Yet, herbal cigarettes are not much better than tobacco because when burned, they produce carbon monoxide, tar and other potentially harmful chemicals.  Although the portrayal of smoking on the show has been greatly criticized,  Hamm has claimed that it is necessary because "we are going for verisimilitude." "People did smoke," he has argued."  "And it creates a mood on the show."

Draper smoking

Neither is Jon Hamm a philanderer like Draper, who repeatedly cheated on his first wife, Betty. Although not married, Jon has been in a long-term relationship with actress and filmmaker Jennifer Westfeldt since 1997.  Of his relationship with the 43-year-old Westfeldt, he told the New York Post's Page Six Magazine in 2007, "We may not have a piece of paper that says we're husband and wife, but after 10 years, Jennifer is more than just a girlfriend. What we have is much deeper and we both know that. To me, people [should] get married when they're ready to have kids, which I'm not ruling out."  

Jennifer Westfeldt

END NOTES

* As a native of St. Louis, John Hamm is an avid St. Louis Cardinals baseball fan and an avid St. Louis Blues hockey fan.  He narrated The Official 2011 World Series Film, a DVD chronicling the St. Louis Cardinals' 2011 World Series victory.

* Hamm is good friends with actor Paul Rudd.

* In early June of 2012, Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt were robbed in the U.K.  The couple were in  London. to promote their film Friends With Kids when, according to Life & Style magazine, Jennifer's handbag was swiped by a thief while they were dining at a restaurant.  The purse contained the key to their hotel room with the name of the hotel on it.  When they returned to the room, they found it ransacked and robbed.

* Jon Hamm lives in a 1920s-style Mediterranean house in Los Feliz, California, a trendy area of Los Angeles.  He and Jennifer Westfeldt have a dog named Cora, a German Shepherd mix.  To view a photo of the couple with their beloved pooch, click on the link below.

http://www.peoplepets.com/people/pets/gallery/0,,20576673_21130804,00.html

* Hamm is a fan of The Simpsons and provided the voice of an FBI investigator in an episode of the animated series entitled "Donnie Fatso" (Season 22, Episode 9, Air Date: December 12, 2010).

* Hamm has also appeared on three episodes of Saturday Night Live between 2011 and 2012.

* Today, June 23, 2013, AMC will air the finale of Mad Men's sixth and penultimate season.


- Joanne


EDITOR'S UPDATE (December 27, 2015):  In September of 2015, the press reported that Jon Hamm and Jennifer Westfeldt had ended their relationship after 18 years together.  In a statement to People magazine, the couple said, "With great sadness, we have decided to separate, after 18 years of love and shared history.  We will continue to be supportive of each other in every way possible moving forward."  The separation occurred just months after Hamm had completed a stint in rehabilitation for alcoholism.

George Reeves: Superman's Ghost

I don't want to be like old George Reeves
Stuck in a Superman role.
I've got a long way to go in my career
And some day my (fate/fame) will make it clear
That I had to be a Superman

Lyrics by Don McLean
From the song "Superman's Ghost"

Many years ago, I attended a Don McLean concert at the old Forum at Ontario Place in Toronto. McLean sang a song he had written called "Superman's Ghost."  It is a tribute to actor George Reeves and McLean explained how Reeves was typecast as Superman.  Yesterday was the 54th anniversary of Reeves' death. He died under mysterious circumstances in the early hours of June 16, 1959 at the age of 45.

George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer on January 5, 1914 in the tiny farming community of Woodstock, Iowa,  He was the son of Helen Lescher and Don C. Brewer, a pharmacist.  Helen was raised in Galesburg, Illinois where her father, George Lescher, operated the Lescher Drug Store.  She met Don Brewer at her father's pharmacy and the couple wed in late 1913 when Helen was about four months pregnant. For this reason, she later claimed an April 6, 1914 birth date for her child.

Helen and Don moved to Woodstock, Iowa where George was born.  Helen soon divorced Brewer and returned to her hometown of Galesburg with her son.  Brewer remained in Iowa where he married another Helen - Helen C. Schultz - about 1925 and had two children.  Don Brewer died on February 18, 1969 at the age of 79 without seeing his first child, George, again.

George and his mother eventually relocated to Pasadena, California where she met and married Italian-American Frank Joseph Bessolo.   According to documentation compiled by Serena Enger (with the assistance of Gail Carter, the granddaughter of Frank's second wife, Althea "Alice" Weaver, whom he married in 1935 in San Francisco), Bessolo was a veteran of World War I. He was employed in the banking profession until the stock market crash and subsequently became a salesman for Bohemian Distributing and LA Brewing.

A television episode of A&E Biography, asserts that Frank Bessolo legally adopted young George in 1927. As a result, the 14-year-old took his stepfather's name and became known as George Bessolo.  Helen's marriage to Frank, however, did not last. She divorced him in 1932.

George became a heavyweight boxer in amateur matches for a time.  He later attended Pasadena Junior College where he developed an interest in acting.  While studying drama, George performed in many productions at Pasadena Playhouse.  It was there that he met actress Ellanora Robinson Needles who came from a well-known circus family.  She was to become his wife.

George and Ellanora wed on the evening of September 21, 1940 at the Church of Our Saviour in San Marino, California,. George's friend and fellow actor, John Wilcox, served as best man.  Ellanora's uncle, John Stevens, walked her down the aisle. After a decade of marriage, the couple divorced in October of 1950. They had no children.

In 1939, George received his first film credit for his performance in the opening scenes of Gone with the Wind.  With his hair dyed a bright red, he portrayed Stuart Tarleton, one of the Tarleton twins who, along with brother Brent (played by Fred Crane), was a suitor of Scarlett O'Hara. George was erroneously listed as Brent Tarleton in the credits and his role was very minor.  Nevertheless, his appearance in the epic film provided a boost for his fledgling movie career.  At the time, the future certainly looked bright for the handsome young actor but, as it turned out, stardom would have to wait a while.

Reeves as Stuart Tarleton

Soon after being cast in Gone with the Wind, George signed a contract with Warner Brothers studio. The studio changed his professional surname from Bessolo to the more Hollywood-sounding Reeves. During the early 1940s, while at Warner Brothers, Reeves was given parts in B-films and Hopalong Cassidy westerns. In 1942, however, he was cast in the lead male role in So Proudly We Hail!, directed by Mark Sandrich. So Proudly We Hail! chronicles the experiences of a group of nurses returning from the war in the Philippines. When the film was released in 1943, Reeves won acclaim for his performance as Lieutenant John Summers opposite such prominent female stars as Claudette Colbert, Veronica Lake and Paulette Goddard.

With World War II raging, Geroge Reeves was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943. He served in the Army Air Corps as a member of the Special Theatrical Unit and performed in the US Army Air Forces' Broadway show Winged Victory. He then appeared in training and recruiting films such as Last Will and Testament of Tom Smith (1943).  After completing his military service, George returned to Hollywood to resume his film career.  After the war, he found it difficult to find leading roles in quality films.  He was, however, cast as Sergeant Maylon Stark, in the Academy Award-winning blockbuster From Here to Eternity.  The classic film was released in 1953 but Reeves' role was only a minor one.

With a lack of good film roles, George went to New York in an attempt to find work in the burgeoning television industry. He was offered the part of Superman in a feature film titled Superman and the Mole Men.  Superman and the Mole Man served as a vehicle for launching one of the most popular American television shows of the 1950s.  At the time, the frustrated actor had no way of knowing that he was headed for TV stardom.

The Adventures of Superman, with George Reeves in the title role, began airing in 1952 and ran for six seasons, until 1958.  During those years, George enjoyed great fame for his portrayal of the Man of Steel and he was a favourite with children.  The syndicated series, sponsored by Kellogg's cereal, was extremely successful.  104 episodes were produced during its run.  By the way, George Reeves and other cast members appeared in commercials for Kellogg's.  Reeves appeared as Clark Kent in TV ads for Sugar Frosted Flakes.  Click on the link below to watch a video about the Kellogg's commercials and to view the commercials featuring Reeves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBQG1vK_8ms

Prior to the launch of the Superman television series, George Reeves began an affair with ex-Zigfeld Follies showgirl Toni Mannix, the wife of MGM studio's general manager Edgar Joseph "Eddie" Mannix. Toni, an actress and dancer in early talking films, was almost eight years Reeves' senior.  Her husband reportedly approved of the relationship. Eddie Mannix, it seems, had a Japanese mistress himself.  He was also allegedly linked to the mob.

Toni Mannix

When The Adventures of Superman ended, George Reeves was typecast and had difficulty finding good roles.   In 1959, however, his fortunes began to improve - at least on the surface. There were reports that the producers of the Superman series had decided to film another season of the show for syndication and that filming was to begin in 1960.  After breaking off his relationship with Toni Mannix, George had begun a new romance with New York socialite Leonore Lemmon. 

Leonore Lemmon, born May 11, 1923, was almost nine years younger than George. She was the daughter of well-to-do Broadway ticket broker Arthur Lemmon.  The flamboyant Leonore was known for frequenting nightclubs and had the dubious distinction of being the first woman kicked out of Manhatten's famed Stork Club for engaging in a fist fight. Her first husband, whom she married in 1941, was Jacob L. "Jakie" Webb, a great-great grandson of wealthy American industrialist and philanthropist Cornelius Vanderbilt.  She left Webb after only eight days and later married and divorced musician Hamish Menzies.

On May 29, 1959, United Press International (UPI) reported in an article titled "Superman Takes A Bride" that George Reeves would soon marry Leonore Lemmon. Several sources reported that the wedding was set to take place on June 19, 1959 in Mexico, just three days after George's death.  Reeves was apparently scheduled on an international tour, including Mexico, to promote another season of The Adventures of Superman but wedding plans were never officially confirmed.

George and Leonore Lemmon

There were also reports that Reeves was scheduled to fight light-heavyweight boxing champion Archie Moore in an exhibition match.  George was quoted as telling reporters that the Moore fight "will be the biggest highlight of my life."   There was speculation, nevertheless, that it was all a publicity stunt.

Things seemed to be looking up for George Reeves until tragedy struck. The actor died of a gunshot wound to his head in the upstairs bedroom of his home at 1579 Benedict Canyon Drive in Beverly Hills, a home Toni Mannix had purchased for him. Although his death was officially ruled a suicide, questions remain as to whether he actually took his own life. Was it really suicide or was the shooting accidental?  Was there foul play involved.?  Was Superman murdered?

On the fateful evening of July 15, 1959, George and Leonore and a few guests were partying at George's home until the early hours of the morning.  Reeves left the revellers and headed upstairs to his room.  A shot rang out and George's body was found sprawled out on his bed.  There was no evidence of an intruder or forced entry and no suicide note was discovered.  A drunken Leonore and the inebriated houseguests waited approximately 30 to 45 minutes before calling the police.

The Benedict Canyon Dr. home

A high level of alcohol  (.27 per cent) was found in George's blood, well above the level of intoxication. The alcohol had been combined with painkillers the actor had begun taking after sustaining injuries in a car accident.  Over the years, dating back to 1956, George had been involved in a series of car accidents. Those who believe that he was murdered, point to the fact that he was involved in an automobile mishap just weeks prior to his death.  The Los Angeles Mirror reported that on April 8, 1959 Reeves' sports car skidded into an abutment on Benedict Canyon Drive, near his home.  The actor collapsed at the scene and was rushed to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital where he underwent surgery and was ordered to rest.  Although he had a concussion, his condition was not considered serious.  According to the Mirror, "police said Reeves suffered a deep 5-in (12.7 cm.) gash in his forehead when he hurled forward against his rearview mirror."  A mechanic discovered that the brake fluid in George's Jaguar had drained away.

In a 1989 interview, Leonore Lemmon stated that George was a "drinker" but denied that he was a drug user.  She elaborated further by describing him as a "social drinker."  Leonore stressed that George was "not a down person" and attributed George's "suicide" to his inability to get work and not having any hobbies. She declared, "What made him commit suicide was Superman.  It's as simple as that . . . He was just typecast into a thing he couldn't get out of.  And he could not work. And that's the whole story."  She repeated several times that directors and producers loved him but would not give him roles because of his Superman image.

According to Leonore, George had been receiving 10 to 20 strange phone calls per day.  She said there was music on the line or the caller just hung up.  Although George had changed his phone number, the calls continued. When asked if she knew who was responsible for the calls, Leonore claimed that Toni Mannix was responsible for them.  She also claimed that Toni had given George his gun, a .30 calibre German Luger pistol. No fingerprints were found on the gun. The pistol was found on the floor between Reeves' feet.  There were no gunpowder burns on Reeves' head wound, which would suggest that the gun was held a fair distance from his head at the time it was fired. - unusual for a suicide.  There were also bruises on George's body. Furthermore, George's hands were never tested for gunpowder residue and the spent shell was discovered underneath his body.  The bullet that killed Reeves was recovered from the bedroom ceiling and two additional bullet holes were also found in the bedroom floor.  Leonore claimed that she had been playing with the gun several days earlier and it had been discharged.

On the night of the tragedy, both Reeves and Leonore Lemmon not only drank heavily but argued openly. According to Lemmon, others present in the house at the time of George's death were William Bliss, Carol Van Ronkel, the wife of screenwriter Rip Van Ronkel, and author Robert Condon (Cordon was ghostwriting the memoirs of boxer Archie Moore). Lenore had neglected to turn the lights out and when Bliss arrived with Carol Van Ronkel, the pair were allowed into the house although Reeves had already gone to bed. Their late arrival disturbed George who came downstairs and complained about the noise. Lemmon admitted that when George stomped back upstairs, she remarked something to the effect of  "Oh, he'll probably go shoot himself now."



END NOTES 

* Some sources state that George Reeves was told by his mother that his stepfather, Frank Bessolo, had committed suicide.  In fact, according to further extensive research and documentation provided by Serena Enger, Bessolo died on March 4, 1944.from multiple brain embolisms.

"Mr. Bessolo, who had been treated for hypertension by his doctor since February, 23, 1944, died of multiple brain embolisms in his brain stem with the possibility of a coronary embolism. No autopsy was conducted. He died in an ambulance on route to the hospital at 9:45 p.m. He was 51."  

At the time of his death, Bessolo was a resident of Manhattan Beach, California and his occupation was described as a "liquor store proprietor."

* Ellanora Needles married Beverly Hills attorney Edward M. Rose around 1950.  She and Rose had two daughters and remained together until his death in 1984.  Ellanora died on February 7, 2002 in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 83.

* Toni Mannix died in Beverly Hills of complications from Alzheimer's Disease on September 2, 1983.  She was 77 years old at the time of her passing.  Her husband Eddie died of a heart attack on August 30, 1963 at the age of 72.  In his will, George Reeves bequeathed his entire estate or the bulk of his estate to Toni Mannix.  Toni said that he must have intended the money and the Benedict Canyon house to be donated to the charities with which they were both involved.  Leonore complained to the press that Toni got a house for charity while all she got was a broken heart.

*  In 1999, a Los Angeles publicist named Edward Lozzi told E-Entertainment Television and Extra! that Toni had made a confession to a Catholic priest that she and her husband had arranged for a hit-man to murder George Reeves.  Lozzi, who had befriended Mannix, claimed to have overheard the confession while holding the hand of his bedridden friend. According to the publicist, the reason Toni had confessed was that she had been "absolutely terrified of going to hell." The priest, he alleged, had warned him not say anything about what he had witnessed or his life would be in danger. Although, Toni was suffering from Alzheimer's at the time.of her alleged confession, Lozzi claimed that she still had periods of lucidity.  In 2006, he repeated his story to the Los Angeles Times and the tabloid The Globe.

Lozzi, became a Whte House Press Advamce staffer during the George H.W. Bush administration.  He is an occasional contributor to CNN and The Huffington Post.

* Jack Larson, now 85 years old, portrayed cub reporter Jimmy Olsen on The Adverntures of Superman After George's passing, Toni Mannix decided to secretly visit the scene of George's death.  Larson accompanied her and was sickened by what he saw.  To watch a video of Jack Larson discussing the death of George Reeves on PBS, click on the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDLeGum6elg

* Noel Neill, who played reporter Lois Lane in The Adventures of Superman, stated she knew of no one who wanted George Reeves dead and that he always seemed happy to her.  Noel is now 92 years old.  She was the second actress to portray Lois Lane on the show, replacing Phyllis Coates who left after the first season.  On July 23, 2010, Noel had a devastating fall in her home in Tucson, Arizona and fractured her hip. According to Larry Ward, her friend and biographer, she has since relocated permanently to Metropolis, Illinois where a statue of her as Lois Lane was erected in 2010.

Reeves as Superman and  Noel as Lois

* According to U.S. Federal Census records, George Reeves' mother, Helen Bessolo, was born in Illinois in September of  1892.  She passed away in Pasadena, California on June 18, 1964 at the age of 71. In a September 2006 article in the Galesburg Register-Mail in his Tracking History column, local historian Tom Wilson states that Helen owned "several properties" in her hometown of Galesburg at the time of her death and that she willed her estate to her four dogs.  (Note: According to her birth date in U,S. Federal Census data, Helen was 21 years old when she gave birth to George since he was born in January of 1914. According to historian Tom Wilson, Helen was 65 when she died, which would make her about 16 years old when George was born.)

Helen refused to believe that her son had taken his own life and always maintained that George had been been murdered.  She had his body exhumed and a second autopsy took place.  The body was then cremated.  Helen also hired a private investigator, the Nick Harris Detective Agency, to probe the circumstances of her son's death and the investigator concluded that suicide was not the cause of death. Helen denied that George had been planning to marry Leonore Lemmon because he had never informed her.

* After George's death, Leonore Lemmon left California (She never really liked California and referred to herself as a "New York girl."   Her body was discovered in her New York apartment on January 4, 1990. She was 66 years old.

* An urban myth has been circulating for years that George's role in From Here to Eternity was drastically edited when preview audiences reacted after recognizing him as TV's Superman.  Director Fred Zinnemann, screenwriter Daniel Taradash and assistant director Earl Bellamy have all denied that the rumour is true.

* A 2006 movie called Hollywoodland speculated about the death of George Reeves.  The film starred Ben Affleck in the lead role.as Reeves and Diane Lane as Tonni Mannix.

* The Adventures of Superman was one of the first television series filmed in colour.

* On August 11, 1956, George Reeves sang and played guitar on the very first episode of NBC's The Tony Bennett Show in New York.  The day before George's appearance on the show, Hal Humphrey's column in the Mirror-News was entitled "Elvis, Look Out! Here Comes Superman!"  Humphrey declared that George was distressed because he was unable to find many film roles since he began playing Superman.  He quoted Reeves as saying. "That's why I was glad to get this spot with Tony Bennettt.  It will give me an opportunity to prove again that I haven't always been Superman."

* George appeared as Superman in a 1957 episode of I Love Lucy entitled "Lucy Meets Superman" (Season 6, Episode 13, Air Date: January 14, 1957).  In the episode, Lucy attempts to get Superman to entertain the children at Little Ricky's birthday party.  Believing that he is not going to show up, she dresses up in a Superman costume herself and manages to get caught on the ledge of her apartment building. Reeves, however, arrives in time to save her from the ledge.  It is one of my favourite episodes of I Love Lucy and Reeves delivers the best line in the episode when he wryly declares, "And they call me Superman!" in response to being told that Ricky Ricardo had been married to Lucy for 15 years.  It's a shame he didn't have more comedic roles

* Several books have been written about George Reeves including Serial to Cereal, by Gary Grossman; Speeding Bullet, by Jan Hendersen; and Hollywood Kryptonite: The Bulldog, the Lady, and the Death of Superman, by Sam Kashner and Nancy Schoenberger.

* Despite the forensic evidence suggesting that a suicide did not take place, no one was ever charged in connection with the death of George Reeves.

- Joanne

Mind Your Language starring Barry Evans: The politically incorrect show about an ESL teacher

There have been many American television series about schools and teachers, from Our Miss Brooks in the 1950s to Mr. Novak in the 1960s to Room 222 and Welcome Back, Kotter in the 1970s.  The British sitcom, Mind Your Language, was the first one I know that focused on a teacher of English as a second language.

Mind Your Language premiered on ITV in late 1977.  It starred Barry Evans as Jeremy Brown, a teacher of English to immigrants at an adult education college in London. The show was politically incorrect and it was highly criticized for its ethnic stereotyping.  Among  Jeremy's students, for example, were Giovanni Cupello, a macho Italian chef; Chung Su-Lee, a zealous Chinese communist; Taro Nagazumi; a Japanese businessman; Anna Schmidt, a dour German and Danielle Favre, an alluring French woman.  In addition to dealing with his motley crew of international students, Brown had to face the criticisms of Miss Dolores Courtney, the stiff, overbearing headmistress of the college, played by Zara Nutley.

Mind Your Language was cancelled in 1979 by Michael Grade, who was then Deputy Controller for London Weekend Television (now ITV London), which produced the show.  Grade considered its stereotyping of immigrants to be offensive.  Mind Your Language returned, however, in 1986 for another 13 episodes.  The show was extremely popular in the UK and around the world, particularly in the countries that the students represented.  Many dismiss Mind Your Language as racist and outdated. Its defenders argue that even the English characters on the show were stereotyped.and that it was good-natured satire.

As for Barry Evans, the show's star, he had a very sad demise.  Barry Joseph Evans was born in Guildford, Surrey, England.  IMdb.com gives his birthdate as June 18, 1943 (According to Halliwell's Filmgoer's and Video Viewer's Companion, he was born in 1945 although his obituary in The Independent says 1943).  Abandoned as a baby, young Barry was raised in an orphanage at Twickenham, Middlesex.  He took an interest in theatre and won a John Gielgud Scholarship to train as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.  His first major role on television was that of  Michael Upton, a medical student on the British comedy Doctor in the House. Doctor in the House was produced by London Weekend Television and ran from 1969 to 1970.  The show was based on a series of novels by Richard Gordon and it centred on the mishaps of a group of medical students.  Barry Evans reprised his role as Upton in the 1971 sequel to the series, Doctor at Large.

Although in his forties when Mind Your Language ended its run, Evans was continually typecast due to his fresh-faced, boyish appearance.  To his frustration, he was not considered for more mature roles and his acting work diminished.   As a result, he switched to driving a taxi in order to earn a living.  He was, nevertheless, cast in the role of Bazzard in the 1993 film adaptation of The Mystery of Edwin Drood.  The film, which did not make much of an impact, turned out to be Barry's last role.

With his acting career in severe decline, Barry left London.  By the late 1990s, he had become a minicab driver in Leicestershire, England.  On February 9, 1997, he was found dead at his bungalow in the Leicestershire village of Claybrooke Magna.  Police discovered his body after his stolen car was traced to his home.  There was an empty whisky bottle and a spilled aspirin container beside him.

The circumstances of Barry's death remain shrouded in mystery.  An 18-year-old was charged with theft.  and attempted murder but the charges against him were dropped due to "lack of evidence."  The coroner's report ruled that Barry had died as a result of an alcohol overdose, suggesting suicide or accidental death.   According to coroner Martin Symington, however, there was insufficient evidence to prove Evans had intended to commit suicide.  "Was he perhaps contemplating taking the tablets and the alcohol together, but passed out, before he could use the tablets?" Symington asked.

Some sources list Barry Evans' age at the time of his passing as 53 while others say he was 52.  He never married and had no children.  To watch a video tribute to Barry, click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlPEhAeaHDU

Barry Evans

END NOTE

There was a 1986-1987 U.S. version of Mind Your Language entitled What a Country! What a Country! was set in Los Angeles where Taylor Brown (Garrett M. Brown) taught a night class for foreigners hoping to become American citizens.  The series was syndicated and only 26 episodes were produced.

What a Country! starred real-life Russian immigrant Yakov Smirnoff as Nikolai Rostapovich, a taxi driver and class member.  It revolved around the students' difficulties with language and customs in America.  It's interesting to note that Don Knotts of Andy Griffith Show fame, joined the cast in early 1987 as principal F, Jerry "Bud" McPherson.

- Joanne