Television Transition

The new television medium offered a career shift for some movie character actors. Many were kept busy, becoming a household face if not a name.

Lawrence Dobkin (1919-2002) 

An American television director, character actor and screenwriter, Dobkin's career spanned seven decades on radio, film and television. He could be heard regularly on radio's Gunsmoke (1952–1961), Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar (1956–1960), and the anthology series Lux Radio Theater. On television, he was the voice before the closing credits of each episode of the ABC television network series, Naked City (1958–1963), "There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them." Among his many uncredited film roles in some significant films during the early Fifties, his voice was used to narrate the classic western Broken Arrow (1950) and as an actor in notable films such as Never Fear (1949), Sweet Smell of Success (1957 above) and North by Northwest (1959). He worked alongside many superstars in Hollywood.

Toupee or not Toupee

In addition to his eighty-three television director credits from the late Fifties through the Eighties, he appeared in countless—sometimes thankless—series as a doctor, villain, western gunslinger, clerk, judge, doctor or any number of professional or everyday employees. Though a familiar face to most small screen viewers, he was more likely known as “that bald guy” when not wearing a toupee. Among his most famous supporting roles were Wanted: Dead or Alive, Gunsmoke, Richard Diamond, Private Detective, The Rifleman, Have Gun – Will Travel, and The Untouchables. Though his appearances were less frequent, he popped up in the Seventies for The Streets of San Francisco, The Waltons, and The F.B.I. to name a few. Dobkin created the title character for the 1974 film and the 1977–1978 NBC series, The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams. Television continued to depend on him up until the turn of the Century.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

Kimble is drawn into a domestic storm between father and daughter in Reno. Aside from his wise counsel, the doctor is able to use his medical skills while posing as a lifeguard. 

   
Where The Action Is, 1964
Guest star Telly Savalas

Audio Celebrity

 

Mostly heard and not seen, if you owned a television set by the late Fifties, Jack Haskell (1919-1998) was a familiar voice as an announcer for numerous broadcasts. In those early days, when he was not pitching a product or introducing a guest, Haskell would grace the radio airwaves as a singer. While in college, Haskell sang on the Chicago radio stations WBBM, and WGN, and was showcased on the Dial Dave Garroway show at WMAQ. After college, he sang with Les Brown and his orchestra. Haskell moved from Chicago to New York City for his television transition on NBC's Today, again with Garroway. Among other shows, he was an announcer on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Garry Moore Show, Garroway at Large, The Dave Garroway Show, The Jack Paar Show, Stop the Music, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Haskell was also active in summer stock theatre. Among his album recordings was “Jack swings for Jack" a popular solo project for the Strand label. 

Word Origins

 

*ARGYLL

Many decades ago, the woman who first knitted a pair of these socks for her husband, son, or sweetheart followed the traditional plaid pattern of the clan Campbell of Argyll—light green crossed with dark green, and narrow independent cross lines of white. Historically, the name was retained by followers who adopted the plaid but speedily lost all resemblance to that claimed by the clan. Campbell is a Highland Scottish clan and one of the largest and most powerful of the Highland clans. Their lands were in Argyll and the chief of the clan became the Earl and later Duke of Argyll. Today's Argyll sock has become a variegated plaid affair of color.

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)

Fruit Smacked in Nebraska

 

Kool-Aid is an American brand of flavored drink mix invented by Edwin Perkins in Hastings, Nebraska. All of his experiments took place in his mother's kitchen. Its predecessor was a liquid concentrate called Fruit Smack. To reduce shipping costs, in 1927, Perkins discovered a way to remove the liquid from Fruit Smack, leaving only a powder; this powder was named Kool-Aid. In 1931, Perkins moved production to Chicago and Kool-Aid was sold to General Foods in 1953. Currently, Kool-Aid is owned by Kraft Heinz. Strangely, the colors in Kool-Aid will stain, and hence the substance can be used as a dye for either hair or wool. A yearly summer festival called Kool-Aid Days falls on the second weekend in August in honor of Hasting's claim to fame. Kool-Aid is known as Nebraska's official soft drink. 

See Hastings Museum.

Well-hidden Professional

 

Philip Coolidge (1908-1967) was an American film and stage actor almost exclusively as a supporting player. His first film was Boomerang (1947). In his later films, he was a small-town mayor in Inherit the Wind (1960), Dr. Cross in North by Northwest (1959), and Mr. Porter in The Russians Are Coming The Russians Are Coming (1966). His final role, as Fingers Nelson, was in the gangster comedy, Never A Dull Moment (1968). Yet it was television that kept him most busy.

The physically lean Coolidge, whose balding, and severe angular facial profile made him look older than his years, could appear as an angry citizen, an insurance agent, a clerk, or a sly criminal. He could also play victimized roles, exacerbated by his crestfallen demeanor. As the trained professional he was, Coolidge was adept with comedic scripts as well. Some of his best were his three of six appearances on, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Perfect Murder (1956), De Mortuis (1956), and The Dusty Drawer (1959). The latter, in which Coolidge's character, Mr. Tritt, an uppity bank teller, is suspected of stealing money from the bank by Dick York, his boarding house roommate. Around this time Coolidge made two appearances on Have Gun - Will Travel, three appearances on The Gertrude Berg Show as Professor Burke, and he played Throckmorton, the shopkeeper in an episode of The Twilight Zone (1962), "A Piano in the House." He was a cast member in 1964 on The Farmer's Daughter series as Chester Cooper.

Word Origins

 

TWILIGHT

Twilight is the time between day and night when the Sun is below the horizon but its rays still light up the sky. Astronomers differentiate between 3 phases: Civil twilight (brightest), Nautical twilight, and Astronomical twilight (darkest). The prefix twi- represents two, in the sense of twice. Though difficult to trace the original use, one possibility is that the two means half, rather than double. A second is that twilight may be a corruption of ’tweenlight, in the sense of “between light and dark.” This may have occurred first in German, as the word zwischenliecht, from zwischen, (between), and liecht, (light). Modern German has Zwielicht, which could have been translated literally into English as twilight, a more accurate word than ’tweenlight.

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)

A Man in Demand

 

Peter Leeds (1917-1996) was an American actor, appearing on television more than 8,000 times with over 3,000 radio credits using his distinct voice. Hollywood and Leeds were connected at the hip. The bulk of his work took place in the 1950s and 1960s when he became highly visible as a straight man to many well-known television comedians including Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, and Johnny Carson. His dramatic credits include Richard Diamond, Private Detective, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, and M Squad among others. Westerns were a staple for Leeds appearing on Have Gun - Will Travel, Trackdown, and Wagon Train, and a number of lesser-known series.

Though typically uncredited, his mid-century film career was equally busy, playing everything from a police officer, detective, educator, car salesman, or any number of associates or professionals.

Note: Leeds is pictured above, right, with Robert Middleton on an episode of Bonanza.

The Peacock's Celebrity Chimp

 

J. Fred Muggs (1952-) is a chimpanzee born in modern-day Cameroon. Muggs rose to stardom as the mascot on NBC's Today show from 1953-57. A New York pet store offered a "name that chimp" contest which led to his being named Mr. Muggs. Two former NBC pages bought him when he was 10 months old and the Today show simply added "J. Fred" to his name. Despite his off-set tantrums or violent behavior, he was a rating boost in the early years of the show. Muggs was a sensation with children, and later their parents. Muggs received countless letters from fans and, for a time, was more popular than the show's host, Dave Garroway (above). For saving the floundering Today show, he was given a monthly salary of $2000. Stuffed dolls were created of Muggs and those still in excellent condition, have become collector items. But by the end of the 1950s, the chimpanzee fad fell out of favor with television audiences and executives.

Note: Muggs worked in several television shows, toured the world and worked at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. He officially retired at age 23. Shown above in the left photo with Muggs is his "girlfriend" Phoebe B. Beebe. As of March 2018, Muggs was still living in Citrus Park, Florida.

The Vast Uses of Vanadium

 

The Vanadium Corporation of America (VCA) was a commercial producer of vanadium, a transition metal and a strengthening additive for steel. Founded in 1906 by Joseph Flannery, it was headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company operated several vanadium mines in multiple countries, including the Mira Ragra mine in Peru. The raw material was converted into a ferroalloy at its plant in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. Vanadium steel parts were in strong demand throughout the automobile industry during this period. Through numerous mergers and name changes since the 1960s, in 2016 VCA became AMG Vanadium LLC. (AMG: Advanced Metallurgical Group)

Vanadium compounds occur naturally in about sixty-five different minerals. Vanadium is mined mostly in South Africa, north-western China, and eastern Russia. Being ubiquitously distributed in soil, crude oil, water, and air, vanadium also found roles in biological systems and is an essential element in most living beings. Being a biologically relevant element, many vanadium-based therapeutic drugs have been proposed for the treatment of several types of diseases. Namely, vanadium compounds, in particular organic derivatives, have been proposed for the treatment of diabetes, cancer and diseases caused by parasites.

Above: The health benefits of injected olive oil? Rather, Vanadium's 1960 proposal for a "big gun against cancer," illustrated by Jo Kotula (1910-98).

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

The life of the sole beneficiary to an estate is threatened by her husband and her sister, who lives with them. The naive heiress does not suspect her husband is having an affair with her sister, or their diabolical plan. If the sister's murder is successful, they will pin the murder on Kimble. Seems simple enough.

The Garden House, 1964
Guest stars Robert Webber, Peggy McCay, Pippa Scott