# 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:** 18
**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 13, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/341 "2014-05-13T18:55:54Z")
**Dick Miller** is now 85, decades after he was the What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get sales clerk in _The Terminator_, decades after all those Roger Corman moves; first TV credit back in '57, and 57 years later he’s got his own _That Guy Dick Miler_ documentary. ---
**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 14, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/342 "2014-05-14T10:40:14Z")
Back before _Beneath the Planet of the Apes_ and _Escape from the Planet of the Apes_ and _Conquest of the Planet of the Apes_ and _Battle for the Planet of the Apes_ in the 1970s, **Natalie Trundy** spent the 1960s acting on shows like _The Twilight Zone_ and _Bonanza_ and _Perry Mason_ and _Wagon Train_ – and before that, in 1957 and earlier, she was appearing on _Matinee Theatre_ and _Studio One in Hollywood_ and _The Alcoa Hour_ and _Goodyear Playhouse_ after the _Lincoln’s Little Correspondent_ TV movie in '53. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2014, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/343 "2014-05-14T19:12:16Z")
**Alice Hirson** , a regular on _ **Dallas** _ and _ **Homes Fires** _ is still with us. Her latest IMDb credit is a 2014 short and she started on _ **Secret Storm** _ in the 1950s as a bit player. ---
**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 14, 2014, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/344 "2014-05-14T20:07:33Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > **Alice Hirson** , a regular on _ **Dallas** _ and _ **Homes Fires** _ is still with us. Her latest IMDb credit is a 2014 short and she started on _ **Secret Storm** _ in the 1950s as a bit player. Nope, her first appearance is much later. As I mentioned above, some IMDb listings are misleading as they give the start date of the series on the right, rather than when the actor first appeared which is on the left. The last listing is for Hirson is for _The Edge of Night_, not _Secret Storm_. But if you look closely you see that’s for 1969-70. (I couldn’t find any connection to _SS_ by Googling.) Her earliest appearance is 1963 on _General Hospital_. Since she was 34, this is a bit later than one would expect to start a long acting career. ---
**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 15, 2014, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/345 "2014-05-15T02:09:35Z")
British actor Tom Courtenay appeared in one TV movie in 1956 before getting further TV work and then movies in the 1960s. ---
**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 15, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/346 "2014-05-15T20:46:24Z")
Karen Scott’s most recent IMDB credit is from the '90s, but back before '57 you could see her on _Sergeant Preston of the Yukon_ and _Climax!_ I phrased that badly. Anyhow, she was also on _Judge Roy Bean_ – dangit, I just did it again – before the cut-off date, after making her _Gang Busters_ TV debut in '52. ---
**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 16, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/347 "2014-05-16T12:51:32Z")
As per IMDB, **Barrie Chase** is still making appearances a good sixty years after her TV debut with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis on _The Colgate Comedy Hour_ in '54; after a number of credits on _Shower of Stars_ stretching into '55, she was in half-a-dozen movies during '56 before getting work on _The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour_ in '57. (In '58, when she acted on _Mike Hammer_ and _Have Gun - Will Travel_, she performed on _An Evening With Fred Astaire_; in '59, _Another Evening With Fred Astaire_; and in 1960, _Astaire Time_. 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 17, 2014, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/348 "2014-05-17T10:49:14Z")
**Elaine May** and **Mike Nichols** were performing on _The Steve Allen Plymouth Show_ as comedians in '57 – and again in '58, when they also acted together on _Omnibus_ and _The DuPont Show of the Month_ – before they appeared in a TV movie in '59. After that, of course, he got his first Oscar nomination in the '60s before she followed suit in the '70s, and et cetera. ---
**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 18, 2014, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/349 "2014-05-18T12:08:38Z")
In the 1940s, **Judy Nugent** was a castmember on _The Ruggles_; in the 1950s, she acted on _The Lone Ranger_ and _The Adventures of Superman_ and half-a-dozen other shows before '57. (Who else got more than half-a-dozen TV credits before the cut-off date? Big sis **Carol Nugent** , with _The Gene Autry Show_ and _The Bob Hope Show_ and so on.) ---
**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 18, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/350 "2014-05-18T15:37:51Z")
Happy Birthday to the previously mentioned Robert Morse. 83 years old today. Started as an original cast member of _The Secret Storm_ in 1954 and still working as a regular on _Mad Men_. ---
**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 19, 2014, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/351 "2014-05-19T10:16:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Happy Birthday to the previously mentioned Robert Morse. 83 years old today. Also set to turn 83 this year: **Jaye P. Morgan** , who’d racked up a dozen TV credits by the end of 1957 – on _The Jackie Gleason Show_ and _The Jonathan Winters Show_ and et cetera – even without counting her tenure on _The Jaye P. Morgan Show_ in '56. (Followed by more TV work in the '60s and '70s, plus movie work in the '80s and '90s; her most recent IMDB appearance is circa last year.) ---
**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 19, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/352 "2014-05-19T23:19:20Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Also set to turn 83 this year: **Jaye P. Morgan** , who’d racked up a dozen TV credits by the end of 1957 – on _The Jackie Gleason Show_ and _The Jonathan Winters Show_ and et cetera – even without counting her tenure on _The Jaye P. Morgan Show_ in '56. > > (Followed by more TV work in the '60s and '70s, plus movie work in the '80s and '90s; her most recent IMDB appearance is circa last year.) I remember her mainly from _The Gong Show_. ---
**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 20, 2014, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/353 "2014-05-20T10:42:56Z")
I remember **Karolyn Grimes** as Zuzu from _It’s A Wonderful Life_, because who doesn’t? But she qualifies for this thread because – ten movies later – she was getting pre-'57 television work on _Fireside Theatre_ with a teenaged Jill St. John. At that, Janie Bailey – the less-memorable _It’s A Wonderful Life_ kid – is still with us in the form of **Carol Coombs** , who acted on shows like _My Friend Flicka_ and _Cheyenne_ before the cut-off date, after her TV debut on _The Bigelow Theatre_ in '51. ---
**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 20, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/354 "2014-05-20T17:07:07Z")
[Constance Towers](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0869927/) is 81 today and doesn’t appear to have been mentioned. Earliest IMDb listing is for 1952. Still going strong with an entry for _Men at Work_ for this year. I must say, she is quite attractive. ---
**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 21, 2014, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/355 "2014-05-21T10:34:14Z")
**Shirley Yamaguchi** has IMDB credits dating back to the '30s in the movies, and picked up television work before the cut-off date – acting on _The United States Steel Hour_, singing on _The Red Skelton Hour_, and et cetera from _Robert Montgomery Presents_ to _The Ed Sullivan Show_ and so on; read her [wiki](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshiko_%C5%8Ctaka) entry some time, it’s fascinating. ---
**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 22, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/356 "2014-05-22T10:43:32Z")
**Steve Lawrence** of “Steve and Eydie” fame has his most recent IMDB credit right here in 2014; twenty years before that, he was acting on _Empty Nest_ back in 1994; twenty years before that, he was performing on _The Dean Martin Comedy Hour_ in '74; twenty years before that, he was appearing on the first episode of _The Denny Vaughan Show_ in '54; and before _that_, he was singing on episodes of _Tonight!_ So he popped up all over the place before the end of '57 – on _The Russ Morgan Show_ and _The Jonathan Winters Show_ and the _General Motors 50th Anniversary Show_ and _The Steve Allen Plymouth Show_ and so on – after which, he spent the rest of the '50s singing on _The Ed Sullivan Show_ and playing _What’s My Line_ mystery guest. ---
**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 23, 2014, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/357 "2014-05-23T10:37:22Z")
**Joan Freeman** made her television debut on _Sandy Dreams_ in the '40s, followed by pre-'57 roles on _Lux Video Theatre_ and _The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp_; she was still getting work in '57 (on _Bachelor Father_ and _Father Knows Best_), and kept at it in the '60s (on _Gunsmoke_ and _Perry Mason_ and et cetera) and '70s (_Marcus Welby MD_, _Adam-12_) and '80s (_CHiPs_, _The Facts Of Life_) and '90s (_Renegade_, _The Commish_). Most recent IMDB credit as of last year, incidentally. ---
**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 24, 2014, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/358 "2014-05-24T14:46:18Z")
Lauren Chapin was mentioned, but **Billy Chapin** and **Michael Chapin** each got pre-'53 TV and movie work well before their sister began her _Father Knows Best_ role in '54. (In '55, you could see Billy and Michael in _Night of the Hunter_ with Robert Mitchum.) ---
**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 25, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/359 "2014-05-25T13:27:58Z")
**Hayward Morse** is filming a movie set to come out next year, after racking up all those TV credits in the '90s and '80s and '70s and '60s – and before all of that, you could see him acting alongside dad Barry Morse in a made-for-TV version of _Macbeth_ in '55, after he made his screen debut in a Barry-Morse-directed TV movie back in '52 with mom Sydney Sturgess. (And while it technically falls after the OP’s cut-off date, wiki sez that in '59 he was in the first teleplay broadcast in color on NBC, which I figure deserves mention.) ---
**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 26, 2014, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/360 "2014-05-26T12:52:44Z")
Fresh off a Broadway run on _Waiting For Godot_, **Geoffrey Holder** made his TV debut in '57 on _The United States Steel Hour_; in February of '58, he was playing the Genie opposite Sal Mineo as Aladdin on _The DuPont Show of the Month_, with Basil Rathbone as The Emperor; and by '59, Holder was back on the big screen for _Porgy and Bess_ with Sidney Poitier as Porgy and Dorothy Dandridge as Bess. And after that – well, Bond villain, 7-UP pitchman, Tony award after Tony award… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=19)