RIP Ken Berry ~ Actor, singer, dancer.  While Lucille Ball by no means ‘discovered’ Berry, she was instrumental in kick-starting his TV career. When he was performing in “The Billie Barnes Revue,” Ball offered him a job at Desilu for $50 a week in her Desilu Workshop. He made his TV debut in a 1960 episode of “Harrigan and Son” filmed at Desilu before being cast as Woody on “The Ann Sothern Show" (another Desilu production). In the fall of 1968 “The Andy Griffith Show was re-formatted to become “Mayberry R.F.D.” starring Ken Berry. As with its predecessor, it was filmed on the Desilu backlot. Lucy’s good friend Carol Burnett included him on her show and his final series was “Mama’s Family.” He is perhaps best remembered for his portrayal of Captain Parmenter on “F Troop.” He was 85 years old.

Lucy and Berry did one episode of “The Lucy Show” together in 1968.  Click here to read about it.