# 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:** 14
**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 30, 2014, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/261 "2014-03-30T13:18:30Z")
Before '58, **Betsy Palmer** acted in half-a-dozen episodes of _Goodyear Playhouse_ and half-a-dozen episodes of _Studio One In Hollywood_ and made the rounds on episodes of _The United States Steel Hour_ and episodes of _To Tell The Truth_ and episodes of _Climax!_ and episodes of _Kraft Theatre_ and episodes of _Armstrong Circle Theatre_ and episodes of _Lux Video Theatre_ and et cetera, dating back to her television debut on _Martinsville, USA_ back in 1951 before hosting _Wheel of Fortune_ in 1952. No, the other _Wheel of Fortune_. You maybe remember her as the mom of Jason Voorhees, in _Friday the 13th_. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/262 "2014-03-30T14:14:50Z")
**Jimmy Lydon** is still around. Although best known today as a television producer, he began acting in the 1930s as a child actor in Hollywood. By 1950, he gained his first starring television role in CBS’ first soap opera _ **The First Hundred Years** _ which ran for 300 episodes and ended in 1952. **Nancy Malone** is also still alive. She co-starred in _ **The First Hundred Years** _ with Lydon, but she also has starred in a range of other television projects from the late 1940s until 1985. **Gerrianne Raphael** was an occasional guest star with Malone and Lydon in _ **The First Hundred Years** _. She later performed a wide range of roles, including television voice work like the original _ **Thundercats** _ animated series and acting roles such _ **L&O:SVU** _ in 2008. **Jeffrey Silver** is still with us. A child actor, he is best known at the last surviving member of the \*\*\*Blondie \*\*\*radio program, based upon the popular comic strip and as part of the cast of the _ **Bob Cummings Show** _. His first television role was in an episode of 1950s _ **The Silver Theatre.** _. **Douglas Dick** , an actor and a writer was born in 1920. He co-starred in numerous productions from Alfred Hitchcock’s _ **Rope** _ to the first filming of the literary classic _ **The Red Badge of Courage** _. His first television role was in 1951’s _ **Fireside Theatre** _. ---
**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 30, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/263 "2014-03-30T15:30:25Z")
Peter Marshall is 88 years young today. He has some [credits](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0551102/) in the early 50s and one, for a TV pilot, from 1949. Apparently still working on radio. I pick Jo Anne Worley to block. Which leads to _Laugh In_ folk. She doesn’t qualify but [Arte Johnson](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0424527/) does. Only one credit in quite some time and that was voice work in 2005. That had pilots in 1949? ---
**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 30, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/264 "2014-03-30T18:32:21Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > That had pilots in 1949? This one came on in January 1950: https://www.youtube.com/embed/yLYO28ACj8E?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**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 30, 2014, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/265 "2014-03-30T18:44:03Z")
Watch this one, and you can win big on any quiz show: > **["The Lost Pilot" (Unaired Pilot)](https://ilovelucyandricky.fandom.com/wiki/%22The_Lost_Pilot%22_(Unaired_Pilot))** > > "The Lost Pilot" was the very first episode of I Love Lucy which was shot, the unaired pilot episode for I Love Lucy. Directed by Ralph Levy, it was shot before a live audience at CBS Columbia Square in Hollywood, California, on March 2, 1951, and... [http://vimeo.com/16732468](http://vimeo.com/16732468) Seriously! “Pepito, the Clown” was the correct answer to a question on _ **Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?** _ I could have walked away with a bundle! :o ---
**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 30, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/266 "2014-03-30T19:24:55Z")
Not '49, but in '59, **Earl Holliman** starred in the pilot episode of _The Twilight Zone_ as the monologuing amnesiac wandering a deserted town’s empty streets, which (a) I’m guessing most folks would count as a golden-age-of-TV milestone but (b) runs afoul of the OP’s dividing line – so I’ll add that Holliman made his television debut in '57, acting on _Matinee Theatre_ and _Playhouse 90_ after winning the Golden Globe for his work in the movies, after serving in the Navy during WWII. ---
**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 31, 2014, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/267 "2014-03-31T12:03:01Z")
It’s not surprising that **Connie Sawyer** got lots of pre-'58 work – on _The Arrow Show_ in '48, and on _The Milton Berle Show_ in '49, and on _The Colgate Comedy Hour_ in '50, and so on for _Armstrong Circle Theatre_ and _The Jackie Gleason Show_ and et cetera. It’s a little surprising, though, that after six decades of solid work she turned one hundred and then acted on _Two Broke Girls_ and _NCIS: Los Angeles_ and _Ray Donovan_ and _New Girl_. (She’s also in a movie set to come out later this year.) ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/268 "2014-03-31T19:49:40Z")
Ben Cooper has a [IMDB resume](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0177879/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t5) dating back to 1949. Saw a Bonanza repeat with him recently. ---
**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:** [April 1, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/269 "2014-04-01T13:02:36Z")
**Marian Collier** made her TV debut on _The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show_ in '57. That was apparently her only pre-'58 TV appearance, but… Naw, that’s weak; call it April Fools’. Let’s go with **Barry Gordon** , who got tons of acting work after – er, one pre-'58 TV credit, on _The Jack Benny Program_. Sonofabitch. Okay, how about **Van** “The Green Hornet” **Williams** , who – really? Just the one TV movie, back in '54? Dangit. Fine. Whatever. I’m going deep. **Aki Aleong** : still acting as of this year, and with THREE whole pre-'58 television credits. Yeah. _Robert Montgomery Presents_, plus _Producers’ Showcase_, and also _The Californians_. Woo! ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/270 "2014-04-02T02:57:48Z")
I’ve recently watched all 225 episodes of the '57 through '63 TV series,\* Have gun, Will Travel.\* Had an incredible list of guest actors many of which became quite famous. Still alive? Here’s a few… George Kennedy, Dyan Cannon, Suzanne Pleshette, Ed Nelson, James Best, June Lockhart, LQ Jones, Robert Blake, Andrew Prine, William Schallert… ---
**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:** [April 2, 2014, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/271 "2014-04-02T03:14:52Z")
> [@Alex\_from\_CB](#): > > George Kennedy, Dyan Cannon, Suzanne Pleshette, Ed Nelson, James Best, June Lockhart, LQ Jones, Robert Blake, Andrew Prine, William Schallert… Uhm, at least one of those actors (Suzanne Pleshette) is, sadly, no longer with us. ☹ > **[Suzanne Pleshette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_Pleshette)** > > Suzanne Pleshette (January 31, 1937 – January 19, 2008) was an American actress. Pleshette was known for her roles in theatre, film, and television. She was nominated for three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. For her role as Emily Hartley on the CBS sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) she received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. > Pleshette started her career in the theatre before gaining attention for her role in Alfred... ---
**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:** [April 2, 2014, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/272 "2014-04-02T11:46:42Z")
**Anne Jackson** married Eli Wallach in '48, and started acting on television in '49, and has pretty much kept on keeping on with the marriage and the acting since. So in 1957, you could see her on episodes of _Studio One In Hollywood_ with Margaret Hamilton and Eddie Bracken; in 1956, _General Electric Theater_ with Ronald Reagan and Roddy McDowall; in 1955 she got work on _Goodyear Playhouse_, since she’d spent 1954 and 1953 doing the same on _The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse_; and so on for _Armstrong Circle Theatre_ and _Academy Theatre_ and _Lux Video Theatre_ and _Kraft Theatre_ and so forth; and also appearing in yet other television productions, with everyone from James Dean to Leslie Nielsen, back when. ---
**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:** [April 3, 2014, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/273 "2014-04-03T11:56:59Z")
Comic-book character **Peter Wyngarde** acted in a made-for-television version of _Rope_ back in 1950, and starred in a _Tale Of Two Cities_ miniseries in 1957, and did a number of TV movies in between, and got work on half-a-dozen TV shows before '58. (He’d have more golden-age-of-television credits, but pre-'58 he was also busy on stage with Alec Guinness, and on the big screen with Richard Burton, and et cetera. Anyhow, now in his eighties, he’s slowed down but is still working – having most recently narrated a documentary earlier this year.) ---
**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:** [April 4, 2014, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/274 "2014-04-04T11:36:09Z")
Before his Emmy-nominated role as Cliff Huxtable’s dad, **Earle Hyman** was getting television work as far back as '54 (in _Look Up And Live_) and '55 (as the title character in a made-for-TV version of _Othello_); in '57, you could see him as a small-screen Jim in _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ – but before that, you could see him in a TV movie of _The Green Pastures_ with **Terry Carter**. Because, see, back before Carter was the _original_ Colonel Tigh – or racking up an Emmy nomination of his own – he was a regular on _The Phil Silvers Show_ from '55 to '59. But that didn’t stop him from appearing, in '57, on _The Big Story_ with a young **Louis Gossett Jr** making his screen debut long before winning himself an Oscar and some Emmys and a couple of Golden Globes. ---
**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:** [April 5, 2014, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/275 "2014-04-05T11:16:15Z")
New England playwright **Warren Frost** served in WWII before spending three years as stage manager on the _Philco Television Playhouse_, after which he fielded a couple of small-screen roles in '57 – and then kept acting, on and off, for the next forty years: from _Perry Mason_ to _Matlock_, from _Playhouse 90_ to _Twin Peaks_, and et cetera. (You maybe remember him from _Seinfeld_, as Susan’s disapproving patrician father, who loved John Cheever deeply, in a way you could never understand?) ---
**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:** [April 6, 2014, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/276 "2014-04-06T14:10:53Z")
**Mark Rydell** made his television debut in '53, as a young actor working alongside James Dean on _Omnibus_; almost fifty years later, he was directing the _James Dean_ TV movie that got him (and James Franco) an Emmy nomination. Anyhow, in 1954 you could see Rydell working with Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy on _The Marriage_; in 1955, with John Cassavetes and Robert Preston on _The Elgin Hour_; and in 1956, he apparently became a castmember on both _As The World Turns_ and _The Edge of Night_ – which didn’t stop him from popping in for an episode of _Navy Log_ in 1957. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2014, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/277 "2014-04-06T20:57:30Z")
**Brett Halsey** made his TV debut on _Waterfront_ with Charles Bronson in '54 before bouncing around from _Dr. Hudson’s Secret Journal_ to _Brave Eagle_ to _Gunsmoke_ to _Tales of the 77th Bengal Lancers_ to _The 20th Century-Fox Hour_ before '57 – when you could see him in his recurring role on _West Point_ alongside young up-and-comers Leonard Nimoy and Larry Hagman. ('57 was also the same year he made the rounds on _Highway Patrol_ and _Matinee Theatre_, as it happens – and he was still appearing on the big screen as of this past June, the same month he turned eighty.) ---
**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:** [April 8, 2014, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/278 "2014-04-08T03:50:48Z")
**Marvin Kaplan** , who made his big-screen debut way back in '49 with Tracy and Hepburn in _Adam’s Rib_, made his small-screen debut a year later and soon had a steady gig on _Meet Millie_ from '52 to '55, during which time he also (a) got acting work on _General Electric Theater_ and _The Ford Television Theatre_ and et cetera, and (b) appeared on _Stars In The Eye_ with the likes of Jack Benny and George Burns and everyone else from Lucille Ball to Art Linkletter. He was also on _The Red Skelton Hour_, both before and after the OP’s cut-off date. And in the '60s, he had a recurring role on _The Mod Squad_; in the '70s, a recurring role on _The Chicago Teddy Bears_; in the '80s, a recurring role on _Alice_; in the '90s, a recurring role on _On The Air_; and in the '00s, a recurring role on _Becker_ – after which he (a) turned eighty, and (b) promptly picked up his first ‘producing’ credit, easy as writing the movie’s screenplay. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2014, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/279 "2014-04-08T03:58:11Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > **Marvin Kaplan** , who made his big-screen debut way back in '49 with Tracy and Hepburn in _Adam’s Rib_, made his small-screen debut a year later and soon had a steady gig on _Meet Millie_ from '52 to '55, during which time he also (a) got acting work on _General Electric Theater_ and _The Ford Television Theatre_ and et cetera, and (b) appeared on _Stars In The Eye_ with the likes of Jack Benny and George Burns and everyone else from Lucille Ball to Art Linkletter. > > He was also on _The Red Skelton Hour_, both before and after the OP’s cut-off date. And in the '60s, he had a recurring role on _The Mod Squad_; in the '70s, a recurring role on _The Chicago Teddy Bears_; in the '80s, a recurring role on _Alice_; in the '90s, a recurring role on _On The Air_; and in the '00s, a recurring role on _Becker_ – after which he (a) turned eighty, and (b) promptly picked up his first ‘producing’ credit, easy as writing the movie’s screenplay. He was also the voice of Choo-Choo on _ **Top Cat** _ and, along with Arnold Stang (the voice of TC himself), was co-owner of the service station Jonathan Winters trashed in _ **It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World** _. ---
**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:** [April 8, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/280 "2014-04-08T20:28:57Z")
**Yvonne White** got plenty of pre-'58 TV work – on _The Adventures of Superman_ and _Dragnet_ and _Bachelor Father_ and _Highway Patrol_ and _Navy Log_ and _Studio 57_ – and in '59 appeared on _General Electric Theater_ with **Bart Braverman** , who’d spent the golden age of television acting on _The Star And The Story_ with Angela Lansbury, and _Warner Brothers Presents_ with Elizabeth Montgomery, and so on for _State Trooper_ and _Telephone Time_ and et cetera. (Oh, and he was Giuseppe in the ‘Italy’ episode of _I Love Lucy_.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=15)