# Help Me ID This 1950s TV actor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2011, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445 "2011-04-23T08:49:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 8:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/1 "2011-04-23T08:49:53Z")
It’s bugging me for some reason. I feel compelled to know who this guy is, but I don’t know why. All I know is that he seemed to be in various second fiddle roles in the 1950s or so. He may have been on _I Love Lucy_. He typically played some random part, like a local merchant who gives Lucy a hard time … or someone’s boss … but I don’t think he was ever a major player. Maybe he showed up on an episode of _The Twilight Zone_. Who knows? He’s one of those guys you seem to see in a lot of two-bit parts on various shows. You might see him in a show and say, “Hey! There’s that guy again!” In that era, I’d say he was about late 40s or maybe into his 50s? White guy. Bald. He had a very unique voice… kind of high pitched and “whispery.” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/2 "2011-04-23T09:11:34Z")
Could be [Percy Helton](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_VBaOuJrZY). Though there’s another actor I’m trying to recall that it might also be. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/3 "2011-04-23T10:27:26Z")
The other guy I was trying to remember for you was [John Fiedler](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22John+Fiedler). ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/4 "2011-04-23T11:24:13Z")
There was the guy whose signature exclamation was a smarmy “ooooooo” and he played lots of obnoxious retailers on several shows in the 50’s and 60’s, but I forget his name. There was also this guy who played a lot of bosses. Charles Lane > **[Charles Lane (actor, born 1905)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Lane_(actor))** > > Charles Lane (born Charles Gerstle Levison; January 26, 1905 – July 9, 2007) was an American character actor and centenarian whose career spanned 72 years. > A prolific actor, with literally hundreds of roles in both film and TV, Lane often played sour, scowling and disagreeable clerks, doctors, judges, and middle-management authority figures. Recalling in 1981 his many roles, he said "They were all good parts, but they were jerks. If you have a type established, though, and you're any good, ... Neither of these guys has a “whispery” voice. ---
**Author:** ![Eutychus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Eutychus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eutychus)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/5 "2011-04-23T11:37:15Z")
Or maybe Billy de Wolf. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/6 "2011-04-23T11:52:21Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > The other guy I was trying to remember for you was [John Fiedler](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22John+Fiedler). So Percy Helton and John Fiedler are different people? ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/7 "2011-04-23T11:58:59Z")
> [@astro](#): > > There was the guy whose signature exclamation was a smarmy “ooooooo” and he played lots of obnoxious retailers on several shows in the 50’s and 60’s, but I forget his name. Do you mean [Frank Nelson?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Nelson_%28actor%29) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/8 "2011-04-23T12:12:49Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > The other guy I was trying to remember for you was [John Fiedler](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22John+Fiedler). Beratis! Kesla! Redjac! ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/9 "2011-04-23T12:27:46Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Do you mean [Frank Nelson?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Nelson_%28actor%29) That’s the guy I was gonna suggest. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/10 "2011-04-23T14:02:46Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Could be [Percy Helton](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_VBaOuJrZY). Though there’s another actor I’m trying to recall that it might also be. Percy Helton was the drunken Santa in the early scenes of _Miracle on 34th Street_. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/11 "2011-04-23T14:41:23Z")
You could browse through this site: [http://www.fametracker.com/hey\_its\_that\_guy/](http://www.fametracker.com/hey_its_that_guy/) ---
**Author:** ![Craneop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Craneop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Craneop2)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/12 "2011-04-23T14:50:39Z")
I bet it’s Gial(or Gale not sure how he spelled it). I don’t know how to link to it. I aint learned to do links… Hell I’m old! ---
**Author:** ![Craneop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Craneop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Craneop2)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/13 "2011-04-23T15:02:10Z")
Missed edit. He spelled it Gale Gordon. Seems he always played a salesman or a waiter or something like that . He had a distinctive “YEEEES” salutation in uplifting tone evry time he made an entrance. The pic in wiki is when he was quite a bit older. I think he played lucy’s boss in the lucy show. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/14 "2011-04-23T17:16:09Z")
> [@Craneop2](#): > > Missed edit. He spelled it Gale Gordon. Seems he always played a salesman or a waiter or something like that . He had a distinctive “YEEEES” salutation in uplifting tone evry time he made an entrance. > The pic in wiki is when he was quite a bit older. I think he played lucy’s boss in the lucy show. Re “Yessss” you’re thinking of Frank Nelson not Gale Gordon. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/15 "2011-04-23T20:45:05Z")
Gale Gordon _was_ on **The Lucy Show** , I think – but will check. He was known for being a master of perfect enuncit…enunsiat…Nevermind. I can’t say it right. I checked at IMDB. He was on three of Lucille Ball’s post **I Love Lucy** series. On the series mentioned above, **The Lucy Show** , he played Mr. Theodore J. Mooney, Lucy’s boss. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/16 "2011-04-23T21:19:32Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > The other guy I was trying to remember for you was [John Fiedler](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22John+Fiedler). Yep. We have a winner! That’s him. THANKS! ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/17 "2011-04-23T21:21:49Z")
Looks like his career was a lot busier than I imagined. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/18 "2011-04-23T21:27:21Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > Gale Gordon _was_ on **The Lucy Show** , I think – but will check. He was known for being a master of perfect enuncit…enunsiat…Nevermind. I can’t say it right. > > I checked at IMDB. He was on three of Lucille Ball’s post **I Love Lucy** series. On the series mentioned above, **The Lucy Show** , he played Mr. Theodore J. Mooney, Lucy’s boss. Gale Gordon also played Lucy’s husband’s boss on the radio show she starred in just before **I Love Lucy**. Frank Nelson also shows up as several characters, such as waiters and shop assistants, on the radio show–as noted, that YEEESS? of his is distinctive. You can hear episodes of the radio show, “My Favorite Husband,” on the **I Love Lucy** DVDs. They’re getting to be my favorite part of Netflixing Lucy. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/19 "2011-04-23T22:50:09Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > The other guy I was trying to remember for you was [John Fiedler](http://www.google.com/search?q=%22John+Fiedler). I’ll always remember him for the “Jack the Ripper” episode of \*Star Trek \*(TOS) and for being one of Bob Newhart’s patients. ---
**Author:** ![Craneop2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Craneop2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Craneop2)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445/20 "2011-04-23T23:55:08Z")
Good call Astro!. I get those guys that are a few years older than me mixed up sometimes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-id-this-1950s-tv-actor/579445.md?page=2)