After making his TV debut in 1954, Bobby Diamond spent 1955 and 1956 and 1957 and 1958 and 1959 and 1960 acting on Fury; he then did a couple dozen episodes of Westinghouse Playhouse in '61 before doing The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis in '62 and '63, after which he made the rounds on Twilight Zone and Mister Ed and so on.
Long before she was the editor of Ms Magazine, Robin Morgan was getting plenty of pre-1957 roles on television whenever they needed someone to play Annie Oakley or Alice in Wonderland and et cetera: episodes of Robert Montgomery Presents starting in '55, yet more episodes of Mama dating back to the '40s, everything from Danger to Tales of Tomorrow – most recently appearing as herself in a documentary last year.
Donna Corcoran acted on Life of Riley and Death Valley Days in '53, followed by Cavalcade of America and Make Room For Daddy and so on before the end of '57.
Clifford David, long the go-to guy for playing a professor or a doctor or whatever in the movies, made his TV debut in '53 before acting on Armstrong Circle Theatre and Kraft Theatre and so on before landing a role on The Big Story in '57; feel free to draw a blank until I add that he was Beethoven in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Peter O’Toole’s last movie, Decline of an Empire, is apparently set for release this year; it also features Joss Ackland and Frank Williams, both of whom were acting on television in '57: Williams on a couple of shows after doing a TV movie, Ackland with a recurring small-screen role after big-screen work dating back to the '40s.
Mimi Gibson was acting on Racket Squad in 1952 and 1953, Public Defender in 1954, Alfred Hitchcock Presents in 1955, The Adventures of Doctor Fu Manchu in 1956, and Zane Grey Theater in 1957 – along with a dozen other pre-'58 TV roles – followed by a bunch of Playhouse 90 episodes before appearing on the big screen with everyone from Cary Grant (in Houseboat) to Yul Brynner (in The Buccaneer) before '59.
Lugene Sanders, who played Corliss Archer in the Meet Corliss Archer series before acting in dozens and dozens of Life of Riley episodes from '53 to '57 (and could also be seen, during that time, on Richard Diamond, Private Detective), eventually moved on to big-screen work and is apparently still alive and well here and now.
Martin Milner of Adam-12
I mentioned him in post #249.
Still, you could see Al Checco acting on Adam-12 decades after he made his TV debut in Tales of Tomorrow; he then made the rounds on Robert Montgomery Presents and Playwrights '56 and The Phil Silvers Show before the cut-off date; after a recurring role on Mister Ed, he bounced from show to show in the '60s (The Munsters, Batman) and '70s (Bonanza, Ironside) and '80s (Highway To Heaven, Knight Rider) and '90s (Growing Pains, Against The Grain) and '00s (Becker, Scrubs).
George Winslow is apparently still with us the better part of a century after doing movies with Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant – and, for thread purposes, still with us long after getting pre-'58 TV work on everything from Blondie to Ozzie & Harriet.
We’ve lost another one. Bob Hastings, who played Lt. Carpenter on McHale’s Navy has just passed. He had qualified by starting in TV in the late 40s. Most notably in Captain Video and His Video Rangers in 1949. His death was announced by his younger brother Don who played Space Ranger in Captain Video and His Video Rangers.
Don Hastings later went on to star on As the World Turns for 50 years!
BTW: The original Captain Video, Richard Coogan passed away in March and would have qualified for this thread.
Ah, the Dumont Network, where the actors outlived the network or its kinescopes.
My sister did a studio tour back in the early 70s and got a picture taken with Bob in his sailor suit with his arm around her. Apparently he was a costumed performer for the tour back then.
Donna Martell debuted on television in 1951. She appeared in shows such as The Range Rider, The Gene Autry Show and The Bob Cummings Show.
Claudia Barrett debuted on television in 1952. She appeared in shows such as The Abbott and Costello Show, The Lone Wolf, The Cisco Kid and General Electric Theater.
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Russell Nype** debuted on television in 1949. He appeared in shows such as Studio One and Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre.
After working as a soldier, ranch hand, DJ, stuntman, newspaper columnist, singer, and so on, Rod McKuen [del]stepped into the Quantum Leap accelerator[/del] was a TV actor in '57 and '58 and '59 before racking up IMDB credits for ‘soundtrack’ and ‘composer’ and ‘music department’ and et cetera in the '60s and '70s and '80s and '90s and '00s.
The Lennon Sisters (a) have long been a big fine target for SNL, and (b) qualify for this thread by dint of their various pre-'58 television appearances – before all of their follow-up stuff on TV in the '60s and '70s and '80s and '90s and '00s and '10s.
Coming up on her ninetieth birthday next year, Joan Leslie was getting movie work in the '30s and '40s before bouncing around from one television show to another and another: on The Ed Wynn Show in 1950; Family Theatre and Fireside Theatre and The Bigelow Theatre in 1951; Schlitz Playhouse in 1952, The Plymouth Playhouse in 1953; and half-a-dozen more before the cut-off date – followed by work on Branded in the '60s, and Charlie’s Angels in the '70s, and Murder, She Wrote in the '80s; her latest TV movie credit was in the '90s, followed by various other small-screen appearances in the '00s.
Billie Whitelaw did a TV movie back in 1952 – the same year she had a recurring role on The Secret Garden, followed by a recurring role on The Pattern of Marriage in '53, and after various roles in '54 got a recurring role on Dixon of Dock Green in '55, and a recurring role on Tales From Soho in '56 and a recurring role on My Pal Bob in '57.
And in '58 and '59, she was starring as Peggy in the Time Out For Peggy series.
Nancy Saunders debuted on television in 1952. She appeared in shows such as Craig Kennedy, Criminologist and The Adventures of Jim Bowie.
Allene Roberts debuted on television in 1949. She appeared in shows such as The Silver Theatre, City Detective and Adventures of Superman.
Bambi Linn debuted on television in 1948. She appeared in shows such as Actor’s Studio and Your Show of Shows.
Jimmy Hunt has movie credits dating back to the 1940s, and acted on episodes of Fireside Theatre before '54. (Also before '54: his role in Invaders From Mars. Decades later, he was still acting – in, y’know, the remake of Invaders From Mars.)
Last IMDB credit as of '04, but I figure anyone who was in both Sorry, Wrong Number and Cheaper By The Dozen should get a mention.
What happened in 1958? I don’t understand.