# Who's left from early TV? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 13, 2014, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218 "2014-02-13T03:45:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/241 "2014-03-19T12:25:25Z")
In '49, a young actress appeared on TV with a pre-_I-Love-Lucy_ Vivian Vance and on the big screen with a pre-_I-Love-Lucy_ William Frawley. And pre-'56, you could see her on _Climax!_ and _Schlitz Playhouse_. And since she’d just married Ronald Reagan, you could of course see **Nancy Reagan** appearing with him on _General Electric Theater_ and _The Ford Television Theatre_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/242 "2014-03-20T10:51:54Z")
**Peter Mark Richman** made his TV debut in '53 with Eva Gabor on _Suspense_, and was soon picking up pre-'58 work on episodes of _Goodyear Playhouse_, and episodes of _Armstrong Circle Theatre_, and episodes of _Jane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre_ – along with _Playwrights '56_ and _Studio 57_, plus _Justice_ and _Kraft Theatre_ and _The United States Steel Hour_. By '99, he was in his seventies and still active to the point of writing and producing a movie he felt like acting in – and after turning eighty, he acted in a small film with everyone from Danny Glover to Martin Landau to Billy Zane. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/243 "2014-03-21T12:35:14Z")
**Lee Aaker** acted on _The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin_ from 1954 to 1959 after making the rounds on _Fireside Theatre_ and _The Ford Television Theatre_ in 1953 following his small-screen debut in 1952; his other pre-1957 television credits included everything from _The Lone Ranger_ to _The George Burns And Gracie Allen Show_, plus working with Walter Brennan and Chuck Connors on _Screen Directors Playhouse_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/244 "2014-03-22T12:10:26Z")
Before he was a Greek god on _Star Trek_, you could see **Michael Forest** on TV westerns like _Cheyenne_ and _Tombstone Territory_ in '57 – same year he was on the big screen with James Garner and Angie Dickinson in _Shoot-Out At Medicine Bend_ – after he made his small-screen debut on _Death Valley Days_ back in '53. Forest also picked up half-a-dozen other Golden-Age-Of-Television credits pre-'58 – on _Highway Patrol_, _Studio 57_, _Lux Video Theatre_, and so on – and is now still acting in his eighties. (In his seventies, you could see him in _Cast Away_ with Tom Hanks; in his sixties, he was the rich guy Madonna may have killed with sex in _Body of Evidence_; in his fifties, _King Kong Lives_ with Linda Hamilton; in his forties, _The Assassination of Trotsky_ with Richard Burton; and before that, he played everyone from Atlas to Achilles in the movies, which helps explain why he’s still up and around all these decades later.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/245 "2014-03-23T17:06:53Z")
Back before **Tommy Sands** of _Babes In Toyland_ fame was Frank Sinatra’s son-in-law, he acted on _Kraft Theatre_ and _Zane Grey Theater_ in '57 – the same year you could see him on _The Eddie Fisher Show_ and _The Spike Jones Show_ and _The Ed Sullivan Show_ and _The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show_ and _The Dinah Shore Chevy Show_. It’s also the same year he got his own _This Is Your Life_ episode. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/246 "2014-03-24T17:33:19Z")
**Felicia Farr** was on the big screen in '57 for the original _3:10 To Yuma_ after years of TV acting – on _Playhouse 90_ (and before that, _Celebrity Playhouse_), and _The Ford Television Theatre_ (and before that, _The Fireside Theatre_), and et cetera on back through to her small-screen debut on _The Lone Wolf_ in '54; she kept getting TV work in the sixties and seventies, and is now still alive in her eighties. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/247 "2014-03-25T11:39:11Z")
**Joe Turkel** – who played both the eerie bartender from _The Shining_ and Doctor Tyrell in _Blade Runner_ – was getting work on television back as early as '52, when he was on _Boston Blackie_ and _Dangerous Assignment_ and _The Unexpected_; pre-'57, you could also see him on _The Lone Ranger_ and _Four Star Playhouse_ and _I’m the Law_ and _Highway Patrol_ and _Public Defender_ and _Navy Log_ and _The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp_ and _Crossroads_ and _The Lineup_ and _I Led 3 Lives_ and _General Electric Theater_ and et cetera. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2014, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/248 "2014-03-25T16:16:06Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > **Joe Turkel** – who played both the eerie bartender from _The Shining_ and Doctor Tyrell in _Blade Runner_ – I thought he was mentioned earlier, but apparently not. Another _BR_ cast member, James Hong, has been mentioned twice and I knew Turkel might have qualified. I keep running into near misses. E.g., today is Anita Bryant’s birthday (74). She appeared on the old George Gobel show but her run didn’t start until 1959. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/249 "2014-03-26T00:20:37Z")
Martin Milner of _Adam-12_ fame is 82. He was on TV starting in 1950. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/250 "2014-03-26T00:50:03Z")
**Julius La Rosa** is still alive. Best known for his role on _ **The Arthur Godfrey Show** _ and being fired on-air by Godfrey, La Rosa was an outstanding singer on the series and for many years on his own, much to Godfrey’s dismay. ---
**Author:** ![Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/251 "2014-03-26T11:12:44Z")
Not really known for his acting, but I was surprised to learn recently that **Jake LaMotta** is still alive at age 92. His first [TV credit](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2279765/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_20) was in 1953. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2014, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/252 "2014-03-26T11:55:34Z")
**Tommy Kirk** and **Tim Considine** first started playing _The Hardy Boys_ on television back in '56 – Kirk after doing _Loretta Young Show_ episodes, and Considine after playing Spin in all those _Adventures of Spin and Marty_ episodes – and between the two of 'em you’ve got pre-'57 work on _Gunsmoke_ and _The Ford Television Theatre_ and _Crossroads_ and _Frontier_ and _Treasury Men In Action_ and _Big Town_ and _I’m The Law_ and _Chevron Theatre_ and _The Adventures Of Rin Tin Tin_ and et cetera. (In '56, Kirk did an episode of _Lux Video Theatre_ with **Carole Wells** , who (a) acted on _Medic_ and _Cavalcade of America_ later that year, and (b) is also still with us.) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/253 "2014-03-27T13:46:13Z")
The lovely **Anna Maria Alberghetti** was singing on _The Steve Allen Plymouth Show_ in '57 and _The Jimmy Durante Show_ in '56, the same years you could see her acting on _The Loretta Young Show_; her small-screen acting credits go back to 1952 (when she was on _The Colgate Comedy Hour_), and her singing ones back to 1950 (on _Cavalcade of Stars_), and in one capacity or another she was all over the place in the Golden Age Of Television: on _Ford Star Jubilee_ and on _The Ford Television Theatre_, and on _Matinee Theatre_ and _General Electric Theater_, and on _Red Skelton Revue_ and _The Red Skelton Hour_, and on _Schlitz Playhouse_ and _Make Room For Daddy_ and et cetera, all before '58. Oh, and she sang on _The Ed Sullivan Show_ a bunch of times before winning the Tony on Broadway; you’d see her on there in the same episode as Sugar Ray Robinson, or Gloria Swanson, or Nat King Cole, or any other big name of yesteryear. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/254 "2014-03-27T13:53:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > The lovely **Anna Maria Alberghetti** was singing on _The Steve Allen Plymouth Show_ in '57 and _The Jimmy Durante Show_ in '56, the same years you could see her acting on _The Loretta Young Show_; her small-screen acting credits go back to 1952 (when she was on _The Colgate Comedy Hour_), and her singing ones back to 1950 (on _Cavalcade of Stars_), and in one capacity or another she was all over the place in the Golden Age Of Television: on _Ford Star Jubilee_ and on _The Ford Television Theatre_, and on _Matinee Theatre_ and _General Electric Theater_, and on _Red Skelton Revue_ and _The Red Skelton Hour_, and on _Schlitz Playhouse_ and _Make Room For Daddy_ and et cetera, all before '58. > > Oh, and she sang on _The Ed Sullivan Show_ a bunch of times before winning the Tony on Broadway; you’d see her on there in the same episode as Sugar Ray Robinson, or Gloria Swanson, or Nat King Cole, or any other big name of yesteryear. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/meoDD1LqT9w/hqdefault.jpg "Anna Maria Alberghetti in a Taxi Honey - The Mary Tyler Moore Show") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meoDD1LqT9w) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq1iyP6iv4Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq1iyP6iv4Y)😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/255 "2014-03-27T14:28:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meoDD1LqT9w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meoDD1LqT9w) > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq1iyP6iv4Y](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq1iyP6iv4Y)😃 For balance, consider [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TZ5sev-yts). Switching gears entirely, let me now add mention of Chuck Hicks, who started getting work as a stuntman on _Cheyenne_ in '55 and – well, look, since he was already hanging out on the set, he soon picked up a dozen minor acting roles on the show during '56 and '57 because they kept needing someone to be a passenger on the riverboat or a bar patron at the saloon or an old-timey blacksmith or whatever. Anyhow, he’d been appearing on television since 1952 – showing up on everything from _Gang Busters_ to _My Friend Flicka_ – and was still getting work as a stunt performer as recently as 2010, when he was still getting work as an actor likewise. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2014, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/256 "2014-03-28T11:06:59Z")
**Janis Paige** had no trouble getting work in '57 – on _Studio 57_ and _The Bob Hope Show_ and _Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall_ and _Lux Video Theatre_ and _The Big Record_ and even _The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom_ – because, well, she’d just finished starring as Jan Stewart on the _It’s Always Jan_ sitcom in '55 and '56. She sang on _The Colgate Comedy Hour_ and acted on _The Philip Morris Playhouse_ in '54; appeared on _The George Jessel Show_, and acted on _The Plymouth Playhouse_, in '53; sang and acted on _The Milton Berle Show_, in '52 and '51; and otherwise made the rounds on TV from '50 to '57 when she wasn’t busy in movies or on Broadway. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/257 "2014-03-29T02:42:20Z")
**Elizabeth Wilson** is still with us. Although best known for her roles in _ **The Graduate** _ and _ **Catch-22** _, she first started on **The Kraft Network Theatre** in 1955. Her latest role was as Franklin Roosevelt’s mother in 2012’s _ **Hyde Park on the Hudson.** _ **John McMartin** , a versatile character actor probably best known to many today from his role as a patrician defense attorney of the NBC series _ **Law & Order** _ is still around. His first TV role was in 1958 on _ **Armstrong Circle Theatre** _. **John Karlen** is still kicking. He’s another versatile character actor who is probably best known as playing Harvey Lacey, the husband of one of the title characters from the 1980s television police drama, _ **Cagney & Lacey** _. His first TV role was in 1949s _ **The Big Story** _ **Susan Oakland** , who was a panelist on many 1960’s television game shows is still alive. She got her start on 1954’s _ **What’s Going On?** _ a game show which ran briefly that year. **Gaby Rodgers** , probably best known for her co-starring role in the 1955 noir classic _ **Kiss Me Deadly** _ and as the wife of the late songwriter Jerry Leiber is still alive. She had numerous television credits throughout the 1950s,starting with 1950s _ **Pulitzer Prize Playhouse** _ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/258 "2014-03-29T04:48:58Z")
**Rachel Ames** is probably best known for earning all those Emmy nominations playing Audrey Hardy on _General Hospital_ in the '60s and '70s and '80s and '90s and '00s: she got raped by a doctor, she was accused of murder, she miscarried after a car crash, she overdosed on pills, she reunited with her kidnapped son, she headed back to the altar for a fourth marriage, you name it. And she was still at it as recently as 2013. But before all of that, in '57 and earlier, she picked up plenty of TV work: she acted on episodes of _General Electric Theater_, with Ronald Reagan and Michael Landon and Robert Cummings; she acted on episodes of _Crossroads_, with Chuck Connors and Guy Williams and Conrad Nagel; and she acted on _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ and _Tales of Wells Fargo_ and half-a-dozen _Science Fiction Theatre_ episodes and a dozen other shows besides. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/259 "2014-03-29T17:51:17Z")
Dick Van Patten’s been mentioned, but **Joyce Van Patten** was racking up TV credits in '48 and '49 – on _The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse_ and _Kraft Theatre_, respectively – and kept at it on _The Big Story_ and _Armstrong Circle Theatre_ before getting tapped as one of the original castmembers for _As The World Turns_ in '56. She was still working in her seventies – a recurring role on _Desperate Housewives_, a part as Rob Schneider’s much-older wife in _Grown Ups_, and so on – and was top-billed playing an Alzheimer’s sufferer in a movie just last year, before turning eighty just this month. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/260 "2014-03-30T01:18:57Z")
Has Jack Carter been mentioned? He’s 90 years old and still working. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=14)