# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/21 "2014-02-13T05:40:46Z")
Some of the actors mentioned upthread, Jerry Mathers, Jay North, and Johnny Crawford, were children when they started out in TV and are only in their 60s today. I’d say it’s very reasonable to expect them to still be alive. I’d say it’s only remarkable when someone who has passed 80 or 90 is still with us. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/22 "2014-02-13T05:44:59Z")
Nanette Fabray. She was on the successor show to “Your Show of Shows”, called “Caesar’s Hour”. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/23 "2014-02-13T05:46:39Z")
[June Foray](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0004931/) is still around, and is still doing it. She’s been voicing animated characters since before TV, but I think she counts. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/24 "2014-02-13T06:34:07Z")
> [@installLSC](#): > > Who else from early TV (say pre-1958) is still with us? Adam West was showing up for episodes of _The Philco Television Playhouse_ in '54, long before earning paychecks on all those TV Westerns in the late '50s: heck, he portrayed Doc Holliday on _Sugarfoot_, and Doc Holliday on _Colt .45_, and Doc Holliday on _Lawman_, and otherwise popped in for an episode of _Cheyenne_ or _Bronco_ or _Maverick_ at need. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/25 "2014-02-13T06:43:49Z")
Efrem Zimbalist and Edd Byrnes (_ **77 Sunset Strip** _) are still around. Some '50s child stars, like Frank Bank, Stanley Fafara, and Annette Funicello, are not. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/26 "2014-02-13T06:57:23Z")
Barbara Hale was playing Della Street on _Perry Mason_ well before '58, and before that was on every series from _Playhouse 90_ to _Science Fiction Theater_. Oh, and Martin Landau’s still working, more than sixty years after his first TV credit. And how about Eli Wallach, who made his television debut way back in the '40s before all his work on _Playhouse 90_ in the '50s? ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/27 "2014-02-13T07:07:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > William Russell, _ **The Adventures of Sir Lancelot** _ (NBC, 1956–57) That’s one of the half-a-dozen TV shows where Michael Caine got work pre-'58! ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/28 "2014-02-13T07:16:01Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Some of the actors mentioned upthread, Jerry Mathers, Jay North, and Johnny Crawford, were children when they started out in TV and are only in their 60s today. I’d say it’s very reasonable to expect them to still be alive. I’d say it’s only remarkable when someone who has passed 80 or 90 is still with us. Still, it’s kind of remarkable that Christopher Walken was a child actor on television back in '53, because _who the heck knew that?_ ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/29 "2014-02-13T07:22:20Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Nanette Fabray. She was on the successor show to “Your Show of Shows”, called “Caesar’s Hour”. She was mentioned in the O.P. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/30 "2014-02-13T07:24:57Z")
Clint Eastwood. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/31 "2014-02-13T07:35:43Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I’d say it’s only remarkable when someone who has passed 80 or 90 is still with us. John Saxon isn’t set to turn 80 until next year, but first appeared on TV when he was in his twenties, back in '55, which is still pretty good. (He was still in his twenties when he appearing on everything from _Gunsmoke_ to _General Electric Theater_, at that.) ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/32 "2014-02-13T07:45:23Z")
As per IMDB, Jack Nicholson’s first screen credit is '56, in the _Matinee Theater_ TV series, not long before landing roles on _Tales of Wells Fargo_ and _Sea Hunt_. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/33 "2014-02-13T08:00:44Z")
Before he was Oscar Goldman on _The Six Million Dollar Man_, Richard Anderson had a recurring role as Ricardo del Amo on _Zorro_ back in 1958; before that, he spent 1957 appearing on _Zane Grey Theater_ and _Schlitz Playhouse_; before that, _Captain Midnight_ and _Chevron Hall Of Stars_. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/34 "2014-02-13T08:06:12Z")
William Schallert, a prolific character actor is 91. He started working in TV and movies in 1949 and is probably best known as Martin Lane in “The Patty Duke Show.” “Star Trek” fans will remember him as under-secretary Nilz Baris in “The Trouble With Tribbles.” ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/35 "2014-02-13T08:55:40Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > As per IMDB, Jack Nicholson’s first screen credit is '56, in the _Matinee Theater_ TV series, not long before landing roles on _Tales of Wells Fargo_ and _Sea Hunt_. I saw Jack Nicholson on an Andy Griffith Show rerun from around 1962. He was arrested for speeding in Mayberry IIRC. He started his screen career as a lawbreaker early. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/36 "2014-02-13T08:59:01Z")
[William Roache](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Roache) misses your cut by 2 years, but he has been playing Ken Barlow continuously since 1960. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/37 "2014-02-13T09:32:15Z")
[Don Hastings](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Hastings) started in TV in 1947, and appeared in **Captain Video** in 1949. He went into soap operas in the 1950s and was a regular on **As the World Turns** until it went off the air in 2010. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/38 "2014-02-13T11:45:25Z")
Back in '52, William Daniels was playing John Quincy Adams on television, because of course he was. He then appeared in _Robert Montgomery Presents_ and _Justice_ and _Armstrong Circle Theater_ by '57, followed by decades of better-remembered stuff. Robert Loggia also qualifies: before getting his big break as _Elfego Baca_ in '58, he picked up a recurring role in '57 as Joe Crane on _Studio One In Hollywood_. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/39 "2014-02-13T12:11:49Z")
Joanne Woodward acted on literally dozens of TV shows before 1958, when she famously appeared with Paul Newman on _Playhouse 90_ (along with Daryl Hickman, who had plenty of pre-1958 work under his belt: _The Lone Ranger_, _Perry Mason_, _Pulitzer Prize Playhouse_, _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_, _General Electric Theater_, _Men Of Annapolis_, 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:** [February 13, 2014, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/40 "2014-02-13T12:23:00Z")
Noel Neill and Jack Larson each racked up pre-1958 TV work even aside from their signature roles as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen in _The Adventures of Superman_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=3)