Tag: The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour
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RUDY VALLEE
July 28, 1901 Rudy Vallée was born Hubert Prior Vallée in Vermont and raised in Maine. He started his career as a saxophone player and singer and became a popular bandleader, hosting a hit radio program in the 1930s. His first film was 1929’s The Vagabond Lover. He also wrote a popular song of the same…
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HUMILIATED & UNHAPPY
July 16, 1960 TV Guide ~ July 16-22, 1960 (Vol.8, No.29 & Issue #381) Cover photo by Sherm Weisberg, Fashions by Sacks Fifth Avenue This was Lucille Ball’s tenth (of 39) TV Guide covers. “A VISIT WITH LUCILLE BALL” by Dan Jenkins On January 19, 1953, Desi Arnaz rushed exultantly into the Hollywood Brown Derby,…
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MILTON BERLE
July 12, 1908 Milton Berle was born Milton (Mendel) Berlinger in New York City on July 12, 1908. He started performing at the age of five. He perfected his comedy in vaudeville, early silent films, and then on radio, before taking his act to the small screen, where he would be proclaimed “Mr. Television” and later…
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BOB CUMMINGS
June 9, 1910 – December 2, 1990 Robert “Bob” Cummings was born in Joplin, Missouri. His godfather was the aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright, so naturally he got his pilot’s license and studied aeronautical engineering. After the stock market crash of 1929, he gave up flying to study drama in New York City, making his Broadway…
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MADGE BLAKE
May 31, 1899 – February 19, 1969 Madge Blake (née Cummings) was best remembered for her roles as Margaret Mondello on “Leave It to Beaver”, Flora MacMichael on “The Real McCoys,” and Aunt Harriet Cooper on “Batman”. Born in Kansas just before the turn of the last century, her father discouraged her from becoming an actress, so…
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SID MELTON
May 22, 1917 – November 2, 2011 Sid Melton (born Sidney Meltzer) played the roles of incompetent carpenter Alf Monroe in the CBS sitcom “Green Acres” and Uncle Charlie Halper, proprietor of the Copa Club, on “The Danny Thomas Show” and its spin-offs. He appeared in about 140 film and television projects in a career that…
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FRANK NELSON
1911-1986 Frank Nelson was born on May 6, 1911 (three months before Lucille Ball) in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He started working as a radio announcer at the age of 15. He later appeared on such popular radio shows as “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Burns and Allen,” and “Fibber McGee & Molly”. Aside from Lucille Ball, Nelson is…