Before we get any farther into the New Year, I would like to acknowledge some of the celebrities who passed away in 2007.
This is in no way a complete list of celebrity deaths...it is merely a list of those with whom I am familiar and will therefore miss at least a bit now that they are no longer here to entertain.
Since I am youngest in a large family, I was exposed to television and movies that were considerably before my time by my older siblings, parents and grandmother. I come from a family of TV and movie trivia buffs, too. These things must have rubbed off on me, explaining why so many of these older personalities are familiar to me.
I can't think of a better example to illustrate the depth of my trivial knowledge than the following list of deceased celebrities with whom I am familiar:
Yvonne De Carlo (84 yrs.) She was a great beauty who appeared in dozens of movies long before she added television to her repertoire. I preferred the Addams Family, but what TV addict doesn't know Lily Munster?
Ron Carey (71 yrs.) No one could play an
everyday New York guy better than Ron! Whether he's Swiftus from
History of the World, Part I or Officer Carl Levitt from
Barney Miller, he never failed to make you laugh!
Sidney Sheldon (89 yrs.) If all he did in his career was write and produce
I Dream of Jeannie, I would love this man! But he did do much more....he wrote numerous novels and screenplays, too. Oh, and he directed as well.
Calvert DeForest (85 yrs.) Back in the days when I could stay awake past 9:00 P.M. I enjoyed watching his Larry "Bud" Melman character on both of David Letterman's late night shows. His career also included some roles on TV and in movies.
Barry Nelson (86 yrs.) One of those character actors who was just in
everything since TV began. I am familiar with many of his roles in throughout the '70s and 80s, and reruns of older shows.
Roscoe Lee Browne (81 yrs.) Distinctive-looking guy who played Saunders on
Soap. He used his distinctive voice to narrate one of my very favorite movies,
Babe - that's right,
the pig movie...
Don Ho (76 yrs.) One of those unforgettably quirky characters from the '70s who was known for singing an equally quirky song, Tiny Bubbles. If a Hawaiian entertainer was called for, Don was the guy.
Kitty Carlisle Hart (96 yrs.) From her role in the 1935 Marx Brothers'
A Night at the Opera to
Professional Game Show Panelist in the '60s, her career was a constant throughout my lifetime. She even did Broadway!
Dabbs Greer (90 yrs.) Another character actor whose career began in the early days of TV. I've seen him on shows consistently through my entire life as a TV addict. I think everyone will remember him as Reverend Alden on
Little House on the Prairie.
Tom Poston (85 yrs.) If you've watched TV
ever you've encountered this truly funny man! He was an absolute master of the low-key character. You may know him best as handyman George Utley from
Newhart. My favorite recurring role of his was as The Clown who lived in the closet on a short-lived, yet hilarious show called
Committed from just a couple years ago.
Charles Nelson Reilly (76 yrs.) Wow...what talent...acting on TV, in movies
and on the stage, doing comedy, drama and musicals! I probably first encountered his frequently silly persona on reruns of
The Ghost and Mrs Muir as Claymore Gregg. Subsequently, he went on to become a staple on the TV game show circuit...most notably on
Match Game (which I adored!). He and Brett Somers (
sadly, see below) were a wisecracking pair on
Match Game! He is another actor whose career spanned decades...his resume reads like the TV Guide!
Beverly Sills (78 yrs.) I am not any kind of opera enthusiast, but Beverly's talent was unmistakable! She frequently appeared in the mainstream...I remember seeing her on the
Muppet Show and variety and talk shows. I know her from numerous appearances on the
Carol Burnett Show, a show which I enjoyed enormously back in the '70s. I always got the impression that she and Carol were great friends who enjoyed working together very much, and shared great affection for one another.
Charles Lane (102 yrs.) Yes, you do know who this is...and that's because he really
has been in everything! One look at his "Grumpy Old Man" face and you'll recognize that you've seen him hundreds of times before! Although his career spanned seven decades, I think he was always cast as the "Grumpy Old Man!"
Merv Griffin (82 yrs.) His was a death that really touched me, as you will see when you
read what I wrote about Merv's influence on my childhood in my blog last Summer.
Brett Somers (83 yrs.) As mentioned above, Brett was a celebrity panelist on
Match Game who traded barbs with Charles Nelson Reilly - all in fun, of course. How strange that these two should die less than four months apart... I know her also from her many TV appearances, especially her role as Oscar Madison's ex-wife, Blanche, on
The Odd Couple. Interestingly, Brett was married to Jack Klugman (who played the role of Oscar Madison) at the time she was playing his ex-wife. Shortly thereafter, however, they separated.
Alice Ghostley (83 yrs.) Here's a character actress whose career spanned the life of television. I always thought she looked like a female Don Adams... She had a role on every show you can imagine, playing mainly comedic, or at least quirky, characters. Long before she was the lovable, yet ditsy, Bernice Clifton on
Designing Women, she played the lovable, yet ditsy, Esmerelda on
Bewitched.
Joey Bishop (89 yrs.) Joey was a fixture in my world. I would hear him from my bed (when I was supposed to be asleep) on the
Tonight Show, or catch one of his roles or cameos on some of the shows I watched. He also appeared on many of the game shows to which I was addicted. That whole Rat Pack thing always gave me a feel for what was considered cool in the '50s. I guess he was the last survivor of that group...
Robert Goulet (73 yrs.) Another fixture in entertainment. Mainly a singer with an amazing baritone voice, Robert acted as well. He often appeared in cameos as himself. I probably became acquainted with him from the huge number of appearances he made on talk shows, variety shows and game shows. Recently, he was in a series of bizarre commercials for Emerald Nuts...I think the guy had a sense of humor about his image! His most lasting legacy - at least for me - is as the singing voice of Wheezy the Penguin in
Toy Story!
Dick Wilson (91 yrs.) Yes, you know him, too! He was Mr. Whipple on the "Please don't squeeze the Charmin!" commercials! In addition, he was yet another character actor appeared on just about every show on television from the '50s to the 80s!
I would like to express my gratitude to each and every one of these people for being a thread in the fabric of my life...
