LYLE TALBOT

February 8, 1902

Lyle Talbot was born Lysle Francis Henderson in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, although he was raised in Brainard, Nebraska. He left home at 17, and began his career as a magician’s assistant. He went to Hollywood in 1931 and became a contract player at Warners.

“You have no idea what it was like to be young and beautiful in the ‘30s in Hollywood. Everyone was sleeping with everyone.” ~ Lyle Talbot

After several shorts, his first Warners feature was an uncredited role in 1932′s Miss Pinkerton, starring Joan Blondell.  Over the next 50 years he appeared in more than 150 films, and numerous television shows.  Surprisingly, none of his film credits were with Lucille Ball.  He would, however, appear with Ball on television. 

Before teaming with Ball, he made his TV debut with Jackie Gleason, in a 1950 episode of “The Life of Riley”. 

In 1953, Talbot’s career took a turn for the unusual when he teamed with B-movie director Ed Wood on Glen or Glenda, an early film about transgender identity that also featured Bela Lugosi.  This was the first of three collaborations with Wood, including what is considered the worst film of all time, Plan 9 From Outer Space in 1957. 

From 1954 to 1958, Talbot did five episodes (including on three-parter) of Desilu’s “December Bride.”  

In April 1959, he did a single episode of Desilu’s “The Ann Sothern Show”.  Lucille Ball played Lucy Ricardo on the series on October 5, 1959. 

From 1955 to 1959 he had been a regular on “The Bob Cummings Show.” Although not produced by Desilu, Cummings and Lucille Ball would collaborate on several episodes of her television shows.  In 1960, Talbot did an episode of Desilu’s short-lived series “Angel.” 

In February 1962, he was at Desilu Studios to do an episode of the long-running “Danny Thomas Show.”  The series did twin cross-over episodes with “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” in late 1958 and 1959. 

Finally, Talbot teamed with Lucille Ball in “Kiddie Parties Inc.” (TLS S2;E2)

filmed on June 6, 1963 and aired on October 7, 1963. 

Talbot plays a father looking to hire Lucy and Viv as party-planners for his son’s birthday. 

A couple of months later, Talbot was back for “Lucy’s College Reunion” (TLS S2;E11) on December 16, 1963.  Talbot played a former class-mate of Lucy’s named Howard Wilcox. The character was named for a college friend of writer Madelyn Martin. As a child, Lucille Ball once lived at Wilcox Apartments in Jamestown.

After wrapping up his run as a recurring character on “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” (95 episodes from 1955 to 1966), he appeared on “Here’s Lucy” in “Lucy Takes Over” (HL S2;E23) on February 23, 1970.  

He played Harry’s lawyer, helping him negotiate Lucy’s claim to the Unique Employment Agency.  

His final appearance with Lucille Ball was in “Lucy’s Wedding Party” (HL S3;E8) on November 2, 1970. Talbot played Freddy Fox, Harry’s old college chum. 

Eerily, his final screen appearance was on an episode of “Newhart” titled “It’s My Party and I’ll Die If I Want To” on January 19, 1987. Lyle Talbot died of natural causes on March 3, 1996, in his home in San Francisco, California, at the age of 94. He was working on his memoirs when he died.  He was married five times and had four children. 

“I used to have the attitude that it was better to work than sit home idle, and as a result I did a lot of things that weren’t the greatest. But that was my fault.” ~ Lyle Talbot