# Forgotten Entertainers **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 12, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979 "2005-06-12T16:47:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/21 "2005-06-14T21:02:44Z")
Lately I’ve been wondering about Pete Barbutti(sp?). ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/22 "2005-06-14T21:15:27Z")
Stan Kann just celebrated his 80th birthday in St. Louis – several of the local media covered it. In addition to his vacuum collection (which he still has) he’s an organist and still appears for concerts at the Fox Theater, accompanying silent films and the like. He still swears he never deliberately screwed up a demonstration. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/23 "2005-06-14T21:29:47Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > Also, has anyone out there ever seen the movie “The Little Covered Wagon”, which was a western with an all-chimpanzee cast?? No, but I definitely remember the television series _Lancelot Link, the Secret Chimp_, which was actually pretty darned funny in its day. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/24 "2005-06-14T21:39:49Z")
How about **The Times Square Two**? ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/25 "2005-06-14T21:51:29Z")
I finally remembered the other act which I intended to list in my above post: _The Nairobi Trio_! ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/26 "2005-06-14T22:03:33Z")
I suspect that “forgotten” is a less operative word than “died off” for these folks, since their major work was in the 30’s-50’s (with some of them lasting into the TV era of the 60’s and later) but the old B Western stars who never did much other than those Republic and RKO Radio (and the like) B&W horse operas that I used to watch every Saturday afternoon are worthy for a little recognition. To recall a few of them for the sake of scratching somebody else’s memories, how about: Johnny Mack Brown Allan “Rocky” Lane Whip Wilson Lash LaRue Charles Starrett Al “Fuzzy” St. John “Wild Bill” Elliott Smiley Burnett Sunset Carson Jimmy Wakely Not to mention some of the supporting cast types like: Lane Bradford Roy Barcroft I. Sanford Jolly Even with reruns on channels that still manage to show some of those oldies, it’s hard to imagine many youngsters have any idea about these old guys. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/27 "2005-06-14T22:42:00Z")
> [@teela brown](#): > > I finally remembered the other act which I intended to list in my above post: > > _The Nairobi Trio_! That, of course, was one of the many creations of comic genius **Ernie Kovacs** , someone else who’s been forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/28 "2005-06-14T22:42:08Z")
Petite, effervescent Thirties blonde [Miriam Hopkins](http://imdb.com/name/nm0394244/). Aficionados may remember her as Fredric March & Gary Cooper’s love interest in 1933’s [Design for Living](http://imdb.com/title/tt0023940/). Big-eyed, wholesomely sexy Seventies heroine [Marilyn Hassett](http://imdb.com/name/nm0368472/). Best known for playing paraplegic skier Jill Kinmont, she drew on 5 months she had spent paralyzed after being stepped on by an elephant! ---
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/29 "2005-06-14T23:14:21Z")
I still don’t know whatever became of Bermuda Schwartz and Twinkle Watts, but I found a little more info. Bermuda Schwartz starred in a movie from 1968 called _Head Lady_. Twinkle Watts worked for Republic Studios starring in the 1944 movie _Lake Placid Serenade_, and she also starred in a film called _California Joe_, where she was billed as “Twinkle, a Girl of the Old West”. I also wonder whatever became of: Joy Bang Beverly Hills Cash Flagg Fuzzy St. John ---
**Author:** ![don\_Jaime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b4bc9f/32.png) [@don\_Jaime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_Jaime)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/30 "2005-06-15T03:15:27Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > Cash Flagg I believe that’s a pseudonym of Ray Dennis Steckler’s. He made a raft of B-movies and last I heard was in Vegas, still turning out slasher material when he can and being creepy as a sideline. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/31 "2005-06-15T04:52:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > That, of course, was one of the many creations of comic genius **Ernie Kovacs** , someone else who’s been forgotten. Not by me! He still shows up on BRAVO occasionally. I was lucky enough to discover Ernie through reruns on the local UHF independant channel back in the 70’s. Excellent. Just Excellent. Whatever happened to **Brother Theodore**? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/32 "2005-06-15T12:01:55Z")
> [@](#): > > I also wonder whatever became of: > > Joy Bang I remember **Joy Bang** from Woody Allen’s **Play it Again Sam**. According to the IMDB, she had a 5-year career: > **[Joy Bang - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0051916/)** > > Joy Bang, Actress: Play It Again, Sam. Cute, bubbly, and engaging blonde actress Joy Bang blithely epitomized the quintessential, free-spirited, groovy and funky late 1960s/early 1970s hippie girl, almost always playing with infectiously naughty,... I remember seeing something about her in one of those odd Hollywood books (maybe one of Michael Medved’s), but I can’t recall anything beyiond their suspicion that she got the part in PIAS because of her name (she plays one of Allen’s character’s abortive dates). Not even the IMDB seems to know what became of her. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/33 "2005-06-15T12:03:09Z")
Spoke too soon – the Bio on the IMDB noted that she was working as a nurse in Minnesota in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/34 "2005-06-15T12:20:37Z")
I suppose it’s reasonable for people to not know about character actors in old movies, but there are plenty of major stars whose names are only known to film buffs. **Eve** could list hundreds, but I’ll mention these: Irene Dunne Audie Murphy Eleanor Powell George Arliss Richard Barthelmess Bessie Love Bebe Daniels Hugh Herbert (often parodied in Looney Tunes) Melvyn Douglas ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/35 "2005-06-15T12:59:54Z")
**Dennis Wolfberg:** Gone but most definitely not forgotten. Back when Mr. S and I were both working the night shift, a local radio station had a “comedy hour” on Sunday nights that featured stand-up comedians doing their act, and sometimes interviews with them as well. Mr. S listened at work, and I listened in the car on my way in. Anyway, they played a show on Dennis Wolfberg three weeks in a row, and we were overjoyed. Fantastic stuff. I was ecstatic to come across a taped Wolfberg show on one of my VHS tapes that I thought I’d lost. His bits on teaching school and getting a colonoscopy were hi-larious. What delivery! He could give new life to old, old jokes by his, er, diction alone: “Ben Dover, and his sister, Ei-LEEEEEEEN Dover! The DOVER twins, ladies and gentlemen!!” What a loss. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/36 "2005-06-15T13:52:23Z")
I loved Wolfberg’s routine about a briss: " . . . and then they have a _party_! This is why Jewish men aren’t known for being party animals." ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/37 "2005-06-15T18:22:44Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Hugh Herbert (often parodied in Looney Tunes) Care to explain? More forgotten entertainers: King of the movie serial villians: George Zucor Lionel Atwill Charles Middleton Is Les Brown still around? If he is he may be the last big band era band leader still alive. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/38 "2005-06-15T18:27:02Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by RealityChuck > Hugh Herbert (often parodied in Looney Tunes) > > Care to explain? He’s the guy parodied, for instance, in the cartoon of “The Courtship of Miles Standish”. It’s obvious that he’s supposed to be _somebody_, but, like most Baby Boomers, I’ve never seen Herbert himself in anything, so I only know him from the cartoons. He’s in some other Warner Bothers cartoons, too. Priscilla in that cartoon is a caricature of Edna Mae Olliver, who I’ve also never seen in any movies (although I’ve seen stills of her) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/39 "2005-06-15T18:29:38Z")
Hugh Herbert: > **[Hugh Herbert - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001890/)** > > Hugh Herbert, Actor: Sh! The Octopus. Former stage actor and playwright - he wrote over 150 plays and vaudeville sketches - Hugh Herbert went in the early 30s to Hollywood as comedian. In the 30s he worked mostly for Warner, impersonating often... He worked for Warneer Brothers – no wonder he ended up parodied in their cartoons. Edna May Olliver: > **[Edna May Oliver - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0646829/bio)** > > She was born Edna May Nutter, a child of solid New England stock, on 9th November 1883 in Malden, Massachusetts. The daughter of Ida May and Charles ... ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979/40 "2005-06-15T18:31:04Z")
“The Hardship of Miles Standish”: > **[The Hardship of Miles Standish (Short 1940) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032569/)** > > The Hardship of Miles Standish: Directed by Friz Freleng. With Sara Berner, Mel Blanc, Robert C. Bruce, Arthur Q. Bryan. In this version of "The Courtship of Miles Standish", Elmer Fudd is messenger John Alden, sent to give Miles' love letter to... [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forgotten-entertainers/307979.md?page=3)