# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/61 "2014-02-13T21:00:52Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Back before Honor Blackman was Pussy Galore, or even Cathy Gale, she was getting television work on _Boyd QC_ and _The New Adventures of Charlie Chan_ in '57, and the _ITV Play Of The Week_ and _Rheingold Theatre_ in '56, and _The Vise_ in '55 and '54. Just saw her in _ **Cockneys and Zombies** _ > **[Honor Blackman](https://www.imdb.com/media/rm3428309760/nm0000303?ref_=nmmd_md_nxt)** > > Honor Blackman in Cockneys vs Zombies (2012) ---
**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, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/62 "2014-02-13T21:31:37Z")
Peter Hansen was the go-to guy whenever _Science Fiction Theatre_ needed someone to play the professor or the doctor or whatever; his other pre-'58 TV work included a recurring role as Captain Farrell on _Broken Arrow_ and a recurring role as Jim Bowie’s brother on, well, _The Adventures of Jim Bowie_. Otherwise – well, in '54 you could see him in episodes of _Schlitz Playhouse_ and an episode of _The Loretta Young Show_ and an episode of _Your Favorite Story_ and an episode of _Public Defender_ and an episode of _Cavalcade of America_ and an episode of _Space Patrol_ and an episode of _The Lone Ranger_ and an episode of _The Lone Wolf_. (Was it, like, the Ranger’s wolf?) Anyhow, he kept acting in the '50s and '60s and '70s and '80s and '90s and '00s, earning an Emmy for his soap-opera work and appearing in plenty of movies. ---
**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, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/63 "2014-02-13T22:11:18Z")
'30s Broadway actress turned WWII pin-up girl Marjorie Lord started getting TV work in the '40s – on _Public Prosecutor_ and _Your Show Time_ – and in the '50s appeared on some twenty different TV shows, including half-a-dozen _Fireside Theatre_ episodes, before starting her long _Make Room For Daddy_ run in '57. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/64 "2014-02-13T22:54:30Z")
David Hedison (who started his career as Al Hedison) was on television in 1955, although his most memorable appearances of the era were in the films “The Fly” and “The Enemy Below”. ---
**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:** [February 13, 2014, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/65 "2014-02-13T23:01:44Z")
Hadn’t thought about soap opera stars. Both Bill Hayes and Susan Seaforth Hayes got their starts in the early 50s and have recently been on _Days of Our Lives_. Another early starter is Peggy McCay (Caroline Brady). Ralph Waite (Father Matt) probably doesn’t qualify since his sole pre-58 appearance was a one-off host bit. ---
**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, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/66 "2014-02-13T23:41:38Z")
Rosemary Harris – Aunt May to Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man – was in a few TV movies pre-1958, and got roles in a few episodes of _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_, and appeared on _Studio One In Hollywood_ and _The DuPont Show Of The Week_ – returning for more of that last one in '58, when they cast her in productions of “A Tale Of Two Cities” and “Wuthering Heights”. That was also the year she did yet another TV movie, playing the Grace Kelly part in _Dial M For Murder_. Apparently she’s now filming yet another other TV movie, set to air later this year. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/67 "2014-02-13T23:46:25Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > [Queen Elizabeth II made her first Christmas TV broadcast in 1957,](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBRP-o6Q85s) and she’s still lookin’ fine on television. Four years earlier she insisted that her coronation be televised (over the objections her Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. ---
**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 14, 2014, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/68 "2014-02-14T02:00:49Z")
Can we count Verne Gagne wrestling live on the DuMont Network in the '50s? ---
**Author:** ![Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@Disgruntled\_Penguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgruntled_Penguin)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/69 "2014-02-14T02:19:28Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > 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. Shouldn’t that say he was arrested for speeding in Mayberry RFD? 😉 added just in case. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/70 "2014-02-14T03:28:17Z")
Jamie Farr’s first TV credit was in 1957, although he has movie credits dating back to '55. Micky Dolenz was 6 years old when he starred as Corky on Circus Boy. Shirley Jones had her first TV gig when she was only 17, way back in 1950. Angie Dickinson and Ellen Burstyn both racked up a bunch of credits in the early-mid 1950’s. ---
**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 14, 2014, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/71 "2014-02-14T04:02:05Z")
Rip Torn’s had a good long career, dating back to his work in '56 on _Kraft Theatre_ and _The United States Steel Hour_ and _The Alcoa Hour_ – all of which he kept performing on in '57, the same year he did _Alfred Hitchcock Presents_ and _The Restless Gun_ and _The Seven Lively Arts_ and _The Kaiser Aluminum Hour_; he’s been pretty busy since. ---
**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 14, 2014, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/72 "2014-02-14T05:00:42Z")
Robert Vaughn racked up well over a dozen pre-1958 TV credits – _Playhouse 90_, _Gunsmoke_, _Medic_, _The Millionaire_, _West Point_, and so on – before he became an Oscar-nominated actor with a fine big-screen role in 1959. And he’s still working. ---
**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 14, 2014, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/73 "2014-02-14T05:26:19Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Ralph Waite (Father Matt) probably doesn’t qualify since his sole pre-58 appearance was a one-off host bit. Eerie you should have written that when you did. :eek: ☹ ---
**Author:** ![oliversarmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/eb8c5e/32.png) [@oliversarmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oliversarmy)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/74 "2014-02-14T05:59:17Z")
Robert Redford. ---
**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 14, 2014, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/75 "2014-02-14T12:07:52Z")
> [@oliversarmy](#): > > Robert Redford. As far as I can tell, Redford’s TV debut is 1960, which is the wrong side of the OP’s line. By contrast, Robert _Morse_, who’s been so good on **Mad Men** as to earn four Emmy nominations for it, was on **Matinee Theatre** in '57, and **The Alcoa Hour** in '56, and **Goodyear Playhouse** in '55, and **The Secret Storm** in '54. ---
**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 14, 2014, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/76 "2014-02-14T12:36:45Z")
Marion _“Mrs Cunningham”_ Ross was on **The George Sanders Mystery Theater** and **Matinee Theatre** in 1957, and **Ford Star Jubilee** and **The Millionaire** in 1956, and **Front Row Center** in 1955, and **The Loretta Young Show** and **The Lone Ranger** in 1954, and **Life With Father** and **Cavalcade of America** back in 1953. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/77 "2014-02-14T14:12:26Z")
Julie Andrews performed in what many consider to be the first made-for-TV movie, **High Tor** in 1956. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/78 "2014-02-14T14:27:50Z")
Vin Scully has been broadcasting Dodger baseball games since 1950. ---
**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 14, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/79 "2014-02-14T17:47:22Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Micky Dolenz was 6 years old when he starred as Corky on Circus Boy. Micky was born in 1945, and “Circus Boy” debuted in 1956, so he was 11 years old. ---
**Author:** ![Bellhorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@Bellhorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bellhorn)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218/80 "2014-02-14T18:27:55Z")
Sheila James, who is best remembered as Zelda Gilroy, the harmless stalker of Dobie in \*The Many Lives of Dobie Gillis, \* was also a regular on two 1950’s comedies, _The Stu Erwin Show_ and _The Bob Cummings Show_. She’s really led a remarkable life. After her TV roles dried up, she graduated near the top of here class at Harvard Law School. After returning to California, she became the first openly-gay member of the California Assembly and also winning a seat in the State Senate. She’s still active in Cali politics at the age of 74. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whos-left-from-early-tv/681218.md?page=5)