# 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:** 17
**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:** [May 3, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/321 "2014-05-03T00:48:04Z")
Also ninety: **Leslie Phillips** and **John Connell** , each with TV credits back to the '40s. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2014, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/322 "2014-05-03T10:26:55Z")
As a child actor, **Richard Bellis** could be seen on _Studio 57_ and _Captain Midnight_ and _Lux Video Theatre_ before '58 – and he kept at it as a teen in the '60s, appearing on _Cheyenne_ and _My Three Sons_ and _Batman_ – after which, he picked up ‘Composer’ credits on TV movies in the '70s, and more of 'em in the '80s, and yet more of 'em in the '90s, followed by still more in the '00s. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2014, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/323 "2014-05-03T12:48:37Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Efrem Zimbalist and Edd Byrnes (_ **77 Sunset Strip** _) are still around. And we’ve lost another one. Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., [dead](http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2014/05/03/efrem-zimbalist-jr-dies/8650863/) at 95. ---
**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:** [May 3, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/324 "2014-05-03T13:04:15Z")
Checking the guest star list for _77 Sunset Strip_ for thread candidates reveals a problem I’ve run into. (Besides people like Ruta Lee and Sherry Jackson already being listed.) Some people acted for just a short while, haven’t done anything in many decades, and IMDb doesn’t list a death year for them. For minor actors, one can’t presume that their death was noted and entered. When do we presume the person is still alive? Anyway … I think [Julie Adams](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0011105) is still with us. Famously the girl in _Creature from the Black Lagoon_. Worked in movies early but eventually did the usual TV drama series in the 50s. Most recent credit is from 2011. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2014, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/325 "2014-05-04T02:48:50Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Some people acted for just a short while, haven’t done anything in many decades, and IMDb doesn’t list a death year for them. For minor actors, one can’t presume that their death was noted and entered. When do we presume the person is still alive? I hear ya; I’ve long wanted to mention **Jay Brooks** , who (a) IMDB doesn’t list a date of death for, and who (b) apparently went from _Amos 'n Andy_ to _Seinfeld_ forty years later, but has no credits for the twenty years since. Who knows? (I will, though, mention centenarian **Herb Jeffries** , who followed up half-a-dozen movie roles with half-a-dozen television appearances as a singer back in '55.) ---
**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:** [May 4, 2014, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/326 "2014-05-04T12:19:58Z")
WWII veteran and iconic stand-up comic **Shecky Greene** was doing his schtick on episodes of _The NBC Comedy Hour_ in '56 – working Vegas in between, on the same bill as Elvis Presley – before appearing on _The Jack Paar Tonight Show_ in '57 and then performing on _The Ed Sullivan Show_ in '58 and '59 and '60. ---
**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:** [May 4, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/327 "2014-05-04T20:07:01Z")
In 1960, **Tom Nolan** was on TV with a raspy-voiced Clint Eastwood on _Rawhide_, and decades later was on the big screen alongside a raspier-voiced Christian Bale doing his thing in _Batman Begins_, and before all of that got golden-age-of-television credits on _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ and _The Thin Man_ before the OP’s cut-off date. ---
**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:** [May 5, 2014, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/328 "2014-05-05T10:47:22Z")
**Gregory Walcott** of _Plan 9 From Outer Space_ fame later graced the _Ed Wood_ film with an in-joke small part, after racking up 1990s credits on _Murder She Wrote_ and _Dallas_, and 1980s credits on _Simon & Simon_ and _The Dukes of Hazzard_, and 1970s credits on _CHiPs_ and _The Six Million Dollar Man_, and 1960s credits on _Bonanza_ and _Dennis The Menace_ – and, yes, pre-'58 credits on _Wagon Train_ and _Cheyenne_ and _Tombstone Territory_ and _Zane Grey Theater_ (and, sure, on shows _other_ than westerns, like _Navy Log_, _I Led 3 Lives_, _The People’s Choice_, and _Dr. Christian_.) ---
**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:** [May 5, 2014, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/329 "2014-05-05T15:26:03Z")
In looking at _77 Sunset Strip_ cast members, I wondered if Jacqueline Beer was still alive. Indeed she [is](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacqueline_Beer), in fact she married Thor Heyerdahl and runs her late husband’s foundation! Wow. TV credits go back to 1955. Another problem I run into are listings like this for [Jack Betts](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0079439). Earliest listings are from 52 and 56 for soaps. But those are the start dates for the shows, his appearences are later. First real one is after the cut-off date. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2014, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/330 "2014-05-06T10:51:52Z")
**Fred J. Scollay** has that problem: at first glance, he qualifies on the strength of his work on _Search For Tomorrow_ and _The Edge of Night_, but, yeah, he came on-board after the cut-off date, no matter how those shows are listed in his credits. But after making his TV debut in '52, he did _Studio One In Hollywood_ episodes from '53 to '57 – a version of _1984_ with Eddie Albert as Winston Smith and Lorne Greene as O’Brien? _The Night America Trembled_, with Ed Asner and James Coburn? – along with various episodes of _Robert Montgomery Presents_, decades before he was popping up on _LAW & ORDER_ in his sixties and seventies as Judge Andrew Barsky. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2014, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/331 "2014-05-07T10:48:33Z")
**Roy Thinnes** of _The Invaders_ did _The FBI Story_ movie with Jimmy Stewart in '59 after small-screen work on _Peter Gunn_ in '58 and _Cavalcade of America_ in '57. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/332 "2014-05-07T13:37:08Z")
Even aside from her recurring role on _The Bob Cummings Show_, **Lola Albright** makes the grade by dint of her work on _Armstrong Circle Theatre_ and _Lux Video Theatre_ in '51, and _Tales of Tomorrow_ and _All Star Revue_ in '52, and after a couple of movies in '53 was back on TV for _Fireside Theatre_ and _The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse_ in '54, and _Gunsmoke_ and _Screen Directors Playhouse_ in '55, and _Four Star Playhouse_ and _Celebrity Playhouse_ in '56, and _Code 3_ and _The Red Skelton Hour_ in '57. Her most recent acting credit is circa last year, as it happens. ---
**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:** [May 7, 2014, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/333 "2014-05-07T21:10:15Z")
Another actor from _77 Sunset Strip_ that I wasn’t sure if he was still alive since he hadn’t worked in so long: [Roger Smith](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0809783). I should have recognized that name, but it sounds so generic. He’s married to Ann-Margret. Retired from acting due to neurological problems. Started out in 1956. ---
**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:** [May 8, 2014, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/334 "2014-05-08T12:15:42Z")
Seventy-five years after making her movie debut, **Peggy Stewart** was in the awful _That’s My Boy_ with Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg – and was in another movie the year before that, and an episode of _Community_ the year before that, and an episode of _The Office_ the year before that, and an episode of _NCIS_ the year before that, and _My Name Is Earl_ the year before that, and et cetera – and she racked up plenty of pre-'57 credits on TV Westerns in between: _The Gene Autry Show_, _Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok_, _The Roy Rogers Show_, _The Cisco Kid_, _Have Gun - Will Travel_, and so on. ---
**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:** [May 9, 2014, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/335 "2014-05-09T10:34:04Z")
For the parent-child combo hoped for upthread, the aforementioned **Susan Kohner** acted on _Four Star Playhouse_ and _The Alcoa Hour_ as a teen – and _Matinee Theatre_ and _Climax!_ at twenty, and _Wagon Train_ and _Suspicion_ at twenty-one, and so on, all before the cut-off date – and is apparently the daughter of **Lupita Tovar** , who got TV work in 1952 after movie credits dating back to the 1920s. ---
**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:** [May 10, 2014, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/336 "2014-05-10T11:27:38Z")
**Tommy Ivo** was a 1940s child actor in the movies, so it’s no surprise he got TV work as a teen on _The Adventures of Falcon_ and _Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok_ and et cetera before turning twenty and handling pre-'57 roles on _The Adventures of Jim Bowie_ and _The Adventures of Dr. Fu Manchu_ and so on, plus a just-before-the-cutoff-date credit on _The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin_. It’s a little surprising, though, that IMDB then credits him as a stunt driver in the '60s, and even the '80s, and featured in a documentary on drag racing in the '70s, such that he’s still picking up credit after credit after credit after credit as ‘Himself’ in the '00s on _American Icon: The Hot Rods_; the guy has two talents and loves one, I guess. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/337 "2014-05-11T11:11:07Z")
**Robert Fuller** spent over a hundred episodes on _Emergency!_ in the '70s, and before that he spent over a hundred episodes on _Laramie_ in the '60s, and before that he had a recurring role on _US Marshal_ in '59, and before that it was _General Electric Theater_ with Ronald Reagan in '58 – and before that, _The Gray Ghost_ with Angie Dickinson back in '57 – and before that, _Crossroads_ with Chuck Connors back in '56. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2014, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/338 "2014-05-11T15:40:49Z")
Happy Mother’s Day to Kimberly Beck’s mom **Cynthia Chenault** , who (a) did her thing in _I Was A Teenage Werewolf_ decades before her daughter did a _Friday the 13th_ flick, and (b) earned pre-'58 credits acting on shows like _Father Knows Best_ and _Dragnet_ when she wasn’t busy singing on _Shower of Stars_. Eventually picked up a healthy number of credits as a TV writer, too. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2014, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/339 "2014-05-12T10:20:42Z")
**Diana Darrin** got work on _Highway Patrol_ and _The Adventures of Superman_ before both _The Incredible Shrinking Man_ and _The Amazing Colossal Man_ in '57 – same year she acted on _Tales of the Texas Rangers_ and _The George Sanders Mystery Theater_. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/340 "2014-05-13T13:28:19Z")
Albert Finney, who turned 78 last week, was on British TV regularly from 1956 until he debuted in the movies in 1960. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=16) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=18)