For Mother's Day... From My Merry Memoirs: "My Sister, My Mother... (oh, and my nephew...)...

         Chapter.. oh, whatever!... On the left is a photo of my identical twin sister Dagmar (ten minutes younger than me, and completely unexpected!) and my mother, who was having one of her (rare!) "good days"! Probably the altitude scared her into behaving herself! Dagmar and Mother were at the groundbreaking of the Boulder Dam, or the Chrysler Building... or maybe it was just a carnival ride in a particularly seedy roadside amusement park (which is so much more their "speed")... As I said, they both were teetering high, high over whatever, and being confined to a fairly small space, they appear to be having a comparably cheerful time (or at least civil!). On most days, they often turned to strife, enmity, and snarking, either singly or in pairs, and usually with sharp objects nearby. 

         Now you're probably wondering why I've paired a family photo with that other studio shot of Richard Widmark from KISS OF DEATH (1947). Well, Dagmar, of course, is the mother of my often referred to nephew, John, and you've read of some of his adventures here on these pages. He seems like a nice enough person, and I have tried always to be his "Auntie Mame", but there were times... well, if you actually KNEW my sister, (AND my mother!) you'd know it was a huge mistake to take John to that afternoon matinee double-feature at the Rivoli Palace. It was KISS OF DEATH and PEZZO THE MUSICAL MONKEY. It's not clear now which of the films or a combination of them both that inspired him to push Dagmar down the stairs... Of course, John is much more attractive than that Widmark character. And Dagmar wasn't in a wheel chair, nor did she die... just a sprained ankle. A sprained ankle! Can you imagine?!... and all the way down three whole flights of stairs. Marble, no less! (God really DOES only take the good.)

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Sybil Bruncheon's "My Merry Memoirs"…Muriel and Me… Chapter 34, page 612…

September, 16th, 1925… grabbing the last fabulous fun of Summer!!! There's Muriel DeSatnick and me at Coney Island!… on the "Trabant"..or the "Tilt-O-Whirl"… or the "Toss-Yer-Bucket"... whatever. Muriel is wearing that ridiculous fur stole that she made out of a bath mat she "borrowed" from the Charmondely Arms Holiday Hotel & Spa on the corner of Neptune Avenue and Beach Breeze Blvd. The maid chased us seven blocks down the boardwalk screaming in Bosnian, (or was it Montenegran??... whatever!)... and Muriel just laughed and laughed and tried to throw the maid off by tossing $20 bills back at her. Finally after 600 bucks or so, the nice lady must have realized that she had several weeks' salary scattered behind her and went back to retrieve whatever hadn't been picked up by scampering beach goers! Muriel was completely hooched up on the bathtub gin we bought the night before from heartbreakingly handsome Dix Sunnigan, the DeSoto automobile heir who bootlegged as a hobby. His stuff was top-quality though! No danger of going blind or dying from what he bottled. And the olives for our martinis came from a young guy named Vito Corleone down on Mulberry Street. Also very handsome and so polite and classy!... who can resist an Italian with those eyes and that accent? And he always gave me a bottle of his extra-virgin top quality olive oil for my cooking! Amazing people and times... and Muriel! What a character! Better known in Europe as the Countess of Shlongwartzen-Krepstein, she never let her title or her fortune dictate how she treated a waitress or a cabby. Everyone was fascinating to the two of us, unless of course, they revealed they were pompous bores, and then Muriel would ask me to kick 'em downstairs! She'd wink at me and whisper, "Sybil, you do it! I don't want to ruin my good shoes on their ass, and you're just knocking around in those stupid penny loafers!"… and I would!… and we'd laugh and laugh as they'd bounce down two or even three flights!!… good times... ah, good times....

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Sybil Bruncheon’s “A Summer's ending”...

...it was late in August, maybe almost Labor Day weekend, as a matter of fact. That Summer had been a famously hot one with hundreds of thousands of sweltering New Yorkers from the Bronx to the Lower East Side pouring out of the infernal subways into the blinding light and faintly stirring breezes of Coney Island's shore. In keeping with the "New Woman" of the Roaring 20s who could now smoke, drink hootch from a hip flask, ask a man to go dancing, and vote, young nubile lasses were now being hired to serve as Lifeguards on the shore. It was no longer considered unladylike for a girl to have a suntan, a strong toned body, and the physical capability to drag a man half-again as heavy as herself through pounding surf to safety, his desperate family, and cheering throngs!

To wear the special and provocatively lusty uniform of a Lady Lifeguard was considered both a badge of honor and a mark of shame depending on who was looking on... and that's why it was especially heartbreaking when, during a ladies-only smoking break, the entire party of the Secaucus Synchronized Senior Shallow-Splashers were swept out to sea... All in their 80s, the kindly old folks were picked up "as one" by a rogue wave, and delivered into the waiting maw of a riptide that swallowed them whole before the dumbfounded crowd staring onshore. A whole minute, (or was it more?) passed before the first choked scream rose from a stricken child clutching her rubber seahorse by the throat and pointing! Had she really seen her grandma and her grandma's funny-fishy friends disappear into the roiling green waves? Her young shriek was joined by one, then another, until finally the whole seashore howled with the grief, horror, and wrath of a thousand voices, all helpless, hopeless, and horrified that something so terrible could happen while the sun shone so cheerfully, and calliope music drifted from the midway. How? How could it be real??... and where were the lifeguards that had only an hour earlier been waving and smiling, watching over everyone, protective, almost proprietary about the souls entrusted to their care? Gone... all gone. Bathers and lifeguards... all gone. Giggling smokers snuggled under the old pier, and lost loved ones... gone.

But, even as the waves carelessly continued to brush across the sand, the weeks and months, and years began to wash the sharpness of that terrible day smooth. Like a bright red shard of broken glass speared in the sand, deadly even to look on, becomes smooth as the same sand and sea wash and tumble it, season after season. Finally, it lies like the perfect pebbles around it. Rounded and inviting. Only its scarlet red remains. And no one remembers the glinting edge of pain... just the late Summer sun… and the calliope music… and the whispering of the water on the sand...

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Sybil Bruncheon’s “My Merry Memoirs”... Peek-A-Boo!

Ah, the “Good Old Days”…… Filming for the famous (but long gone!) “Stupendous Studios Motion Picture Company” at Coney Island in 1922! Here we are in a musical number (for a SILENT film!...can you imagine?!?), the song was “Peek-A-Boo Beach Babies”…but it was later censored by the authorities when one of our parasols collapsed during the tap sequence… oh well! From left to right, Beulah Charmondely, Pat Zount, Muriel Lemon, and yes! That’s Mummy herself in the checks! …. Boop Boop Be-Doop!!

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SYBIL BRUNCHEON'S "LITTLE PEOPLE'S LAUGHING LIBRARY"

The Sugar & Spice series of books;

Volume 1 is "Mommy Says I'm Ugly". The Sugar & Spice publishers DID eliminate the sequel, "Mommy Says I'm Ugly So I Made It Look Like She Smoked In Bed".... but they reissued it as a manual for local volunteer fire departments....and funeral directors. Other books soon to be released in the series include;

Volume 2 - "A Nice Man Played Cards With Daddy, And They Told Me To Go Out And Play When They Had No Clothes On"

Volume 3 - "Doggies Like To Ride Each Other"

Volume 4 - "My Doggie Likes To Ride Me.... And I Let Him"

Volume 5 - "Mommy Cooks And Neighborhood Pets Don’t Come Home Anymore”"

Volume 6 - "Mr. Green Has A Funny Garage With Strange Tools Shaped Like Cucumbers"

Volume 7 - "My Big Sister Traded Me My Football For All Her Pretty Make-Up And I Wore Some In Front Of My Coach"

Volume 8 - "Debbie Pushes People In Front Of Things That Go HONK!"

Volume 9 - "Muriel Likes To Have Things That Other People Spent Money On"

Volume 10 - "Dickie Wants To Tell You A Funny Story In A Room With No Lights"....

Stay tuned for new and wonderful stories coming out in time for the new school year. And many of them will have pictures!... for people who don't like to read... and you know who you are.

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A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... CECIL KELLAWAY (August 22, 1893 – February 28, 1973)…

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular, special entry called "SYBIL'S WHO'Z DAT?"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships". (I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think???). Here's our next guest!! Over the course of his long career, he was a specialist in characterizations requiring a kindly, crinkly eyed, friendly sort, portraying many priests, doctors, amiable professors, butlers, and family friends, and, even on occasion, a warlock and a leprechaun. And you’d recognize him instantly just by the sound of his distinctively doddering voice and manner.

He’s Cecil Kellaway (August, 22, 1893 – February 28, 1973). Born in Cape Town, South Africa, he was the son of English parents, Edwin John Kellaway, an architect and engineer, and his wife Rebecca Annie, née Brebner. Edwin Kellaway had come to South Africa to help build the Houses of Parliament and was a good friend of Cecil Rhodes, who was Cecil's godfather. He was interested in acting from an early age. He was educated at the Normal College, Cape Town, and in England at Bradford Grammar School. He studied engineering and on his return to South Africa was employed in an engineering firm. However the lure of acting was too strong and he became a full-time actor, making his debut in POTASH AND PERLMUTTER (1910).

He briefly served in the army in 1914 but was invalided out. He returned to the theater immediately. Early plays that he appeared in included THE PRINCE OF PILSEN. He toured for three years through China, Japan, Siam, Borneo, Malaya, North and South Africa, and Europe, in plays such as MONSIEUR BEAUCAIRE. Kellaway arrived in Australia in 1921 under contract to J. C. Williamson Ltd. He had a notable success as the comic father of four daughters in A NIGHT OUT, which he played through most of 1922; he would often return to this role in later years and it kicked off a sixteen-year association with Williamson on the Australian stage, mostly in musical comedies.

For Williamson he was in MARY (1922-23) then returned to A NIGHT OUT before going on to THE CABARET GIRL (1923-24), KISSING TIME (1924), WHIRLED INTO HAPPINESS (1924), KATJA (1925), THE BELLE OF NEW YORK (1925), PRIMROSE (1925), A NIGHT OUT revival (1926), FRASQUITA (1927), PRINCESS CHARMING (1928), HOLD EVERYTHING (1929), FLORODORA (1931), A WARM CORNER (1931), A NIGHT OUT again, SONS O' GUNS (1931), BLUE ROSES (1932), HOLD MY HAND (1932), and THE GYPSY PRINCESS (1933). Kellaway made his film debut in the lead of THE HAYSEEDS (1933), a popular local comedy, directed by Beaumont Smith. However his main focus was still the stage: THE DUBARRY (1934), MUSIC IN THE AIR (1934), ROBERTA (1935), HIGH JINKS (1935), BALL AT THE SAVOY (1935), A SOUTHERN MAID (1936), and WHITE HORSE INN (1936).

He returned to films with the Australian Cinesound film IT ISN'T DONE (1937), for which he also provided the original story. Directed by Ken G. Hall it was a popular success. It led to Kellaway being screen-tested by RKO Pictures and put under contract, at 45 years of age! RKO initially put Kellaway into small roles in lesser films but he worked his way up to the bigger films and roles with GUNGA DIN (1939) starring Victor McLaglen, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Sam Jaffe, and Cary Grant.

Kellaway returned to Australia for a second Cinesound film, MR. CHEDWORTH STEPS OUT (1939), which featured a young Peter Finch. But back in Hollywood his films kept getting better, starting with WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1939) starring Merle Oberon and Laurence Olivier, THE SUN NEVER SETS (1939), MAN ABOUT TOWN (1939), THE UNDER-PUP (1939), INTERMEZZO (1939), and WE ARE NOT ALONE (1939)….all in 1939 alone!!

He worked in a variety of dramas, Westerns, comedies, and even horror films throughout the 1940s although they were mostly “B” pictures; MEXICAN SPITFIRE (1940), THE INVISIBLE MAN RETURNS (1940), THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES (1940), ADVENTURE IN DIAMONDS (1940), PHANTOM RAIDERS (1940), BROTHER ORCHID (1940), POP ALWAYS PAYS (1940), THE MUMMY'S HAND (1940), DIAMOND FRONTIER (1940), and MEXICAN SPITFIRE OUT WEST (1940). But over the years, his consistent professionalism and distinctive voice, manner,  and presentation also earned him roles in star-projects, some of them iconic films like THE LETTER (1940) with Bette Davis and as a mischievous warlock in I MARRIED A WITCH (1942) with Fredric March and Veronica Lake. In 1946 he appeared as the ill-fated husband of Lana Turner's character in the film noir classic THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE also starring John Garfield. He followed it with the mysterious PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948) with Joseph Cotten, and one of the greatest Hollywood feel-good fantasies of all time, HARVEY (1950) with Jimmy Stewart. Even as he began to appear on television in the 1950s, he still squeezed in some of his most memorable film roles; HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964) again with Bette Davis and Joseph Cotton and co-starring Olivia De Havilland and Agnes Moorehead, and perhaps his most beloved character of all, the monsignor in GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER (1967) with Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, and Sidney Poitier. He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for THE LUCK OF THE IRISH in 1948 and GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER.

In the 1950s, like many great character actors, he began to make the transition to television. In 1959, he made a guest appearance on television on PERRY MASON as chemist and murderer Darrell Metcalf in "The Case of the Glittering Goldfish", and received billing credit equal to Raymond Burr's. He appeared on a couple of episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE, and even did Westerns; in 1961, Kellaway guest-starred as MacKay in the episode "Incident In The Middle of Nowhere" on CBS's RAWHIDE with a very young Clint Eastwood. In 1964, he played Santa Claus in the "Visions of Sugarplums" episode of BEWITCHED, which was an odd coincidence. He had been originally offered the role of Santa Claus in MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947) with John Payne, Maureen O’Hara, and the 6 year old Natalie Wood, but he turned it down, telling his son, "Americans don't go for whimsy." The role then went to Kellaway’s own cousin Edmund Gwenn who went on to win the Oscar for it as Best Supporting Actor. In 1967, Kellaway played the part of a lonely, megawealthy much older suitor of Ann Marie (played by Marlo Thomas) in an episode of THAT GIRL. He also appeared as Admiral Snedecker in a 1969 episode of THE GHOST AND MRS. MUIR. Shortly afterwards, his failing health forced him to retire from acting.

Kellaway had married Doreen Elizabeth Joubert in Johannesburg on November 15, 1919 with whom he remained till his death. His brother Alec Kellaway became a notable actor in his own right. His other brother Leion became ballet-master for Edouard Borovansky and the Australian Ballet. His cousins were renowned fellow actors Edmund Gwenn and Arthur Chesney. Kellaway died after a long illness at a West Los Angeles convalescent home on February 28, 1973. He was survived by his wife, two sons, and four grandchildren. He was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

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A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... HUGH HERBERT (August 10, 1884 – March 12, 1952)…

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think???.... well, our next guest has a face that’s instantly familiar, but his voice and his laugh (“whoo-Whoo!”) are even more so! And those hands!!

It’s Hugh Herbert (August 10, 1884 – March 12, 1952) . He was a motion picture comedian who began his career in vaudeville, and additionally wrote more than 150 plays and sketches. Born in Binghamton, NY, Hugh was the middle child of John Herbert and the former Mary Gallagher who had both come over to the States from Scotland sometime before their three children were born. The family soon moved to Brooklyn where they are listed on the 1905 census. Eldest son James was two years Hugh’s senior and the youngest brother, Thomas, came three years after Hugh. (Tom later became an actor himself and actually appeared alongside Hugh in a few films.) On being the middle child, Hugh told Katherine Hartley of Photoplay, “They considered drowning me, but Pop said, ‘Ah, we might as well keep it. It might be good for laughing purposes.’” In the same 1936 interview, he added: “So you see, I just sort of slipped in between. Nobody ever paid any attention to me. That’s why I guess, as I grew older, I thought I’d like to be an actor”. One of Herbert’s first jobs was as an usher in Proctor’s Theatre in Manhattan, and Hugh was soon getting his feet wet in some very small amateur productions (Hugh claimed his first stage credit came in a bit role in Roaring Dick and Company starring Maurice Barrymore, father of Ethel, Lionel and John. Then came his often repeated story of becoming a “talker” for the silent screen. Hugh was paid $15 a week to stand behind a silent movie screen for 18-20 shows per day and give voice to the silent characters for the audience. It was while working as a "talker" that Hugh was discovered by Gordon & North who starred him in the playlet The Son of Solomon, the first of many Jewish roles Herbert played on vaudeville. “I have found it almost impossible to prove to people that I am not Hebrew,” Hugh said in 1917 and, touching upon the subject again years later in 1936, “It’s a good religion and were I born a Jew I certainly wouldn’t deny being one.” Herbert, described by the New York Clipper in 1919 as, “easily the best Jew character man in vaudeville,” always described himself as Scotch-Irish and was eventually married by a Priest--to a Jewish girl, Rose Epstein, in 1917 whom he met backstage as a visitor to one of his plays. Within a short time, she joined him onstage in his acting troupe and changed her name to Anita Pam starring along side him in the 1920s in pieces such as Mind Your Business, in which she played a stenographer, Home Comforts, described as a domestic farce, and as leading player in The Cat, a piece Hugh that wrote especially for her. 

The advent of talking pictures brought stage-trained actors from Broadway, the regional theatres, and Vaudeville circuits to Hollywood, and Hugh Herbert soon became a popular movie comedian. Hugh already knew the popular comedy pair Wheeler and Woolsey from vaudeville, and his earliest movies, like Wheeler & Woolsey’s 1930 feature HOOK, LINE, AND SINKER cast him in generic comedy roles that could have been taken by any comedian, but he developed his own unique screen personality, complete with a silly giggle. His screen character was usually absent-minded and flustered. When he appeared in 1930’s Hook, Line and Sinker and he credits 1933’s wild DIPLOMANIACS as being where his famed cry of excitement originated. He would flutter his fingers together and talk to himself, repeating the same phrases: "hoo-hoo-hoo, wonderful, wonderful, hoo hoo hoo!". The new character caught on quickly. As Hugh Herbert became a screen personality during the 1930s it’s also interesting to note the versatility shown in other roles.

He’s a toned-down version of his later self alongside Edna May Oliver in LAUGH AND GET RICH (1931) and delivers a combination of the madcap along with more reflective moments in TRAVELING HUSBANDS (1931), where Hugh's Hymie Schwartz probably also offers a hint of his earlier vaudeville work. In SHE HAD TO SAY YES (1933), a pre-Code stunner starring Loretta Young that features a somewhat atypical (sleazy) Hugh, he made another well-positioned fan in Warner Brothers head of production Darryl F. Zanuck. Warner Brothers signed Hugh to a five-year contract and it was his next role, in that same year’s GOODBYE AGAIN (1933) that established him in the public’s mind as a great supporting player. He became a regularly featured character in Warner Brothers films of the 1930s, including FOOTLIGHT PARADE (1933), BUREAU OF MISSING PERSONS (1933), FOG OVER FRISCO (1934), FASHIONS OF 1934, and GOLD DIGGERS OF 1935, WE’RE IN THE MONEY (1935), COLLEEN (1936), as well as the film adaptation of Shakespeare’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM (1935). Herbert continued in supporting roles at Warner Brothers until February 1938 when the company elevated him to star status. To give an idea of the distinction of this promotion, it was reported at this time that Warner Brothers had 27 star players, including Hugh, and 77 featured players under contract. Unfortunately, the first starring role for Hugh Herbert was in SH! THE OCTOPUS (1937), an enjoyable comedy-mystery featuring an exceptional unmasking of the culprit. The film was a success but couldn’t be considered a Hollywood blockbuster. Off-screen Hugh kept busy with a trio of roles around Studio City, where he lived. He was Mayor, President of the Chamber of Commerce, and Chief Columnist of the Studio City News, from which his articles were bylined, “The Mayor, Hugh Herbert, Says.”

Hugh remained very active on-screen throughout the next decade as well, first signing a five year starring contract with Universal in 1940 where, as at Warners, he played supporting roles in major films, and leading roles in minor ones. One of his best-received performances from this period is in the Olsen and Johnson comedy HELLZAPOPPIN’ (1941) in which he plays a nutty detective. He later moved to Columbia in 1944. He continued to star in short-subject comedies for the remainder of his life. He was often caricatured in Warner’s Looney Tunes shorts of the 1930s/40s, such as The Hardship of Miles Standish and Speaking of the Weather. One of the minor characters in the Terrytoons short The Talking Magpies (1946) is also a recognizably Hugh Herbertesque bird. Herbert’s onscreen persona became so vivid that he had many imitators over the years in other film comedies and at other studios. And so many imitators (including Curly Howard of The Three Stooges, Etta Candy in the Wonder Woman comic book series, and the cartoon icon Daffy Duck) copied the catchphrase as "woo woo" that Herbert himself began to use "woo woo" rather than "hoo hoo" in the 1940s. In addition to his acting, Herbert also wrote for six films, co-writing the screenplays for the films LIGHTS OF NEW YORK (1928) and SECOND WIFE (1930) and contributing to THE GREAT GABBO (1929), among others. He acted in a few films co-written by the much more prolific (but unrelated) screenwriter F. Hugh Herbert: FASHIONS OF 1934, WE’RE IN THE MONEY (1935), and COLLEEN (1936).

(Much confusion has surrounded the careers of Austrian-born writer F. Hugh Herbert and Binghamton-born actor-writer Hugh F. Herbert especially since their professional paths crossed in show business.) Herbert continued working right up until the time of his death, appearing in movies and even managing a few early television appearances, including making a surprise appearance (in drag) on a live Spike Jones show in 1951. Unfortunately most of the Hugh Herbert news during the latter part of his life centered around his mostly amicable divorce from Rose in 1949 after 31 years of marriage. Rose said that after years in Hollywood, Hugh had changed. She was quoted as saying that the light-hearted, carefree and amusing man she had married was often preoccupied and melancholy. He often drove for hours alone at night, after leaving dinner parties without even a good-night to his friends. Rose returned to her family home in Texas. Rose’s lawyer told her she could get more out of Hugh if she returned to California to file for her divorce, but she remained in Texas and was quite satisfied with being awarded $10,000 cash to buy a house and $300 a week thereafter for support. Hugh continued working. One night, after complaining that he felt ill, he called his doctor and personal friend, Dr. Victor Kovner, to his house. Kovner arrived but could not save Hugh Herbert from the heart attack that claimed his life that night, March 12, 1952. The writer, performer, and movie star was 67 years old. He willed most of his $200,000 estate to the motion picture relief fund. Rose Epstein Herbert aka Anita Pam died in 1973. They had no children. Hugh Herbert was once quoted as saying, “The best business in the world is to make people laugh. Plenty of laughter means good health. Then people are usually happy when they are laughing, and what is better than to make people happy?”. Hugh Herbert has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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A New Sybil Bruncheon's "WHO'Z DAT?"... HENRY JONES (August 1, 1912 – May 17, 1999)…

Darlings! Mummy has made a decision! After reading dozens of posts and having hundreds of conversations with well-meaning folks who just don't know about the great CHARACTER actors who gave films the depth and genius that surrounded and supported the so-called "stars", I am going to post a regular special entry called SYBIL'S "WHO'Z DAT??"....there'll be photos and a mini-bio, and the next time you see one of those familiar, fabulous faces that you just "can't quite place".......well, maybe these posts will help. Some of these actors worked more, had longer and broader careers, and ended up happier, more loved, and even wealthier than the "stars" that the public "worships"......I think there may be a metaphor in that! What do you think??? Well, here’s a face that no one ever forgets either in film or on television… and he was known for playing comedy and drama, even dark suspense, and then doing the nearly impossible by combining all of them in single performances.

                It’s Henry Jones (August 1, 1912 – May 17, 1999). Jones was born Henry Burk Jones in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of Helen (née Burk) and John Francis Xavier Jones. He attended the Jesuit-run Saint Joseph's Preparatory School. After a start in regional theatre and on Broadway in 1931, his major Broadway debut came in 1938 in Maurice Evans’ HAMLET where he played both Reynaldo and the second gravedigger. He went on to appear in THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE (1939) and MY SISTER EILEEN (1942). Jones served in the army in World War II, and afterwards returned to Broadway in THE SOLID GOLD CADILLAC (1954), and SUNRISE AT CAMPOBELLO (1960), for which he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Performance in a Drama. In 1956, Jones originated the role of handyman Leroy Jessup in the premiere of THE BAD SEED (1956), a role that he then recreated in the film and was instantly famous for. After 1961, he devoted his entire career to film and television, where he made over 150 appearances on the major network shows, usually as ministers, judges, janitors, and dour businessmen. His TV credits included ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS, THE ELEVENTH HOUR, NIGHT GALLERY, EMERGENCY!, THE MOD SQUAD, DANIEL BOONE, GUNSMOKE, THE TWILIGHT ZONE, ADAM 12, FATHER KNOWS BEST, THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, and THE GEORGE BURNS AND GRACIE ALLEN SHOW. He played Dr. Smith's cousin in a 1966 episode of LOST IN SPACE, "Curse Of Cousin Smith". On television, Jones' best remembered role was as the title character's father-in-law in the 1970s CBS sitcom PHYLLIS with Cloris Leachman. His movies included such well-known titles as WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER (1957), VERTIGO (1958), 3:10 TO YUMA (1957), BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID (1969), 9 TO 5 (1980), THE GRIFTERS (1990), DICK TRACY (1990), ARACHNIPHOBIA (1990). Jones was married twice, and had two children. He died in Los Angeles, California at age 86, from complications from injuries suffered in a fall. To this day, he remains one of the great character actors film fans love-to-hate, and then love again! Short in stature, he was a giant of a talent and respected by all who worked with him. To this day, his lines from THE BAD SEED can be quoted verbatim with gestures and facial expressions by his legions of fans!!!

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Sybil Bruncheon’s "Facts & Fables for First Graders… Freddy Makes A Friend!"

Once upon a time, in a very big city not very far away, there lived a fairly nice boy named Freddy. Freddy was his nickname! Do you know what a nickname is, Boys and Girls…um…and others who haven’t made up their minds yet? A nickname is something that your parents call you because they love you and you are special to them, and because they named you something kind of different on the day you were born in the hospital, when the doctors and nurses were standing around waiting for them to think of something that could be written down quickly while your Mommy screamed very loudly and said bad words to your Daddy… and maybe threw things at him. You know sometimes doctors and nurses get cross and very impatient too because the rooms are filled with screaming Mommies throwing things at sweating Daddies, and they stamp their feet and yell, “Call him something DAMMIT”, and then your Daddy may say anything that comes to mind, and the funniest names are written down! IN INK!… so they can’t be erased, and kids grow up being all sorts of strange sounding things. Things like Ezekiel Florbert Nuggins, Cloroxina Jabumba Jefferson, Thyresis Van Clumpp, and Ferdinand Jesus Maria-Theresa Miguellito de Campasonos-Tacqueriasado… which was Freddy’s real name, but his parents hated the nickname “Ferdy” so they called him Freddy instead. 

One time, Freddy’s Daddy said that Ferdy rhymed with other words which weren’t very nice, and that no kid of his was going to be called “those bad words”! Freddy thought and thought and finally asked if his Daddy meant “purdy”, and his dad choked on his beer and pretzels and sent him to bed. 

One day, Freddy was outside on the corner of Rivington and Orchard Streets. That was his neighborhood, and lots of people from all different parts of the world lived around that area. Not necessarily in the same building or even on the same street, but close enough for them to know each other and to be polite and friendly if it wasn’t too hot and the fire hydrants had been opened. One thing they all had in common was that their names all sounded funny to each other if not to themselves, but most folks chuckled at the sound of their names, their parents’ and grandparents’ names, the towns they all came from far away, and to the strange and sometimes lovely sounds of the languages that they were quickly forgetting. 

It was a Wednesday…or maybe a Thursday that Freddy took the 78 cents he made sweeping out Meyer Shlefkitz’s Grocery store and went to Giancarlo Fabricci’s Hot Dog cart to buy a snack. GC (as the kids all called him) had the very best hot dogs anyone had ever tasted. They were “kosher” which meant that they were only beef… (or at least NOT pork) and that the animals they were made from had been killed in a very special and kind way by someone who said prayers or poems and then washed everything carefully afterwards… and maybe their hands. That’s was Xina Jefferson told Freddy that she had heard from Zekie Nuggins who heard it from Ty Van Clumpp who heard it from Officer Aloisius Macgruder while he was patrolling Delancy Street. Officer Macgruder was a big friendly policeman who all the neighborhood kids looked up to, and who saved the two little Portuguese twins on the next block from a fire that started in their kerosene heater last Winter. He was given a real medal by the Mayor because he had climbed up a fire escape that was falling off the building, and got to the window on the top floor just in time. When Freddy and his friends heard the sirens, they ran and watched, and Freddy was filled with both terror at the inferno and a strange pride in his pal Officer Macgruder when he finally came down to the sidewalk, covered with soot and sweat and carrying the smiling little babies who seemed perfectly happy with their exciting adventure. 

Anyway it was a Wednesday… or maybe a Thursday when Freddy took his 78 cents to GC’s hot dog cart, which stood that day over by the big tanks near the river. He had just finished his first hot dog with the extra spicy mustard that GC made himself from an old recipe his grandmother had gotten from a place called Calabria, and he was thinking about getting a second one when the tall boy with the golden hair sauntered up and pulled out a whole dollar to buy two of GC’s hot dogs; two at once! Freddy had seen the tall kid before with his freckles scattered over a handsome nose and cheeks under the eyes that were exactly the color of his mother’s good china; the dishes they use only for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and funerals. The blue shown, both in the dishes and in this boys eyes, especially when he smiled, which was often, and which he did as he walked up to the cart seeing Freddy. They always nodded to each other whenever they saw each other at the empty lots for dusty baseball games or on the street during the big stickball tournaments. They’d never exchanged names, but there was something between them, if only in a smile and a nod… and a shy look backward as they parted. And although Freddy couldn’t say that he thought about the golden kid everyday, he did think about him for hours after every time he did see him. It was this particular day though, a Wednesday or a Thursday, when Freddy decided to walk right up to him and introduce himself. “Hi! I’m Freddy Jesus Mari----“ and stopped himself. “Just Freddy!” he hurried to amend, and held out his hand to shake, but the golden boy already had his two hot dogs in each hand. He looked straight into Freddy’s nearly black and shining eyes and chuckled. A deep throaty, husky chuckle that was as warm and sweet as the maple syrup Freddy loved to pour on hot Sunday pancakes. “I got one for you!” said Golden Boy. “I hope you like mustard.”

Freddy looked down at the right hand reaching toward him with perhaps the loveliest gift he had ever gotten… and the gift that he would never forget and that would change his life forever. He must have been suspended in time, if only for a moment, just looking and savoring that sight; a freckled hand, a little dusty from stickball, holding out one of GC’s brilliant hot dogs in its toasty bun, shimmering with mustard the color of the Summer sun. “I’ll get you one without if you don’t.”, said Golden Boy, and Freddy caught himself and met the blue eyes quickly. “No! No!... I mean YES! I DO love mustard! Yes, thank you!” and he felt his dark eyes prick a little with something deep and true. Golden Boy asked if he was sure, and Freddy in a quiet voice, so quiet that not even GC heard said “Oh, I’m sure”. And then Golden Boy did something Freddy had only seen in movies; he “clinked” his hot dog to Freddy’s as if they were glasses of champagne and chuckled “L’Chaim!”. Freddy blinked, then smiled, then laughed… right out loud! Laughed right out loud and shouted “Salud!”. At which Golden Boy and GC both roared. And then, as if they had known each other for years, as if it had been planned forever, Freddy and his Golden Boy began strolling down the street on that Summer afternoon. 

Golden Boy’s name turned out to be Mickey… it said so on his shoe shine box; 10 cents a shine! And Mickey was short for Mikael Nahman Shlefkitz, yes, the same Shlefkitz that owned the grocery store; Meyer was Mickey’s uncle. So there they were, two smiling boys moving down Rivington Street, surrounded by the sounds of a bustling city on a weekday afternoon. Maybe a Wednesday or a Thursday, but definitely not the weekend yet... the first weekend they would spend together, playing catch and stickball and watching the great river moving by at sunset with its huge boats going off to see the world. 

They passed Officer Macgruder who smiled and nodded, and when they passed, he looked after them and smiled again. They passed Xina, Zekie, and Ty, and Freddy introduced Mickey to them, a bit proudly, and Mickey shook their hands vigorously saying it was great to meet them. And then they were heading to their homes for dinners that neither of them had much room for, but when their moms would ask why, it wouldn’t be because they secretly had eaten hot dogs. It would be for something else. Something new. And from then on, Freddy called his new friend Mickey, not by his nickname, but by the name "Golden Boy", whenever they were alone. Golden Boy... his own special nickname that only he and Mickey knew.

And over on Mott Street, little Giselle Pompanano decided it was time to give Adele Wasserstrom a hug. The first of many that they would share for the next 57 years…

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(photos courtesy of Jon Blake)

Sybil Bruncheon's "Crime Time Tales for Children"... HOWDY-DO!

The kidnapping had been planned for months. It wasn't going to be one of those failed attempts that ended in cross-country chases, false leads, haggling over ransoms, easily spotted look-outs, needless injuries or deaths, and of course apprehension, arrests, and executions, because back in that time, kidnapping was still a "capital offense". Oh yes, you could be executed for kidnapping, and if it was a child or a famous celebrity, or the "ultimate", a famous (and much beloved!) child-celebrity, you would be lucky, if caught, to even be handed over to the authorities. Because in those early years of the new fangled "television", its stars rose to international fame overnight, and the public was fierce in its loyalty and defense of their new friends that visited them in their actual home every night in the little box. Television brought everything glamorous, magical, and exciting right into your own home.... no need to go to the decaying movie theatres anymore with their enormous chandeliers, their gigantic pillars, their miles of dusty velvet draperies, and their strange murals of other times and exotic lands.... India, China, Zanzibar, Katmandu... no more sticky floors, sticky armrests, and seat cushions that leaned this way and that with the sharp little spring that poked you in the behind! Now, you could stay home and see everything and eat dinner off a little tray right there!...a dinner your Mom had made in 7 minutes......

That was why, when the news came on at 6 that terrible Tuesday night in February, that homes all across the nation erupted in fury.. Howdy Doody!... yes, HOWDY DOODY had been kidnapped from his dressing room, right in front of stage hands, technical persons, staff writers, interns, producers, co-stars, and even the studio audience. When questioned by frantic police and representatives from the Mayor's office, the only clue was that what appeared to be a nice married couple with their own little girl who had come to see the broadcast, had left before it began carrying (inexplicably!) a 1955 American Tourister suitcase; the new "Jet-Streamer Line" with the woven wicker grass-cloth sides that resisted rain and scuffing and retailed for the extravagant price of $29.95 for just the overnight size! It was a warm, honey-amber color with brown leather edging, stitching and a handle...and the two horizontal stripes woven into the fabric were a rich teal blue that matched the luxurious satin and "stain-resistant" interior with its zippered pockets.

The couple had looked ordinary enough, like any other from Levittown or Mamaroneck...or Sayville...or Ronkonkoma. But a few more observant stage hands had noticed that their little girl was odd.... they overheard her asking questions about Howdy, and Buffalo Bob...and of course, Clarabell. She even managed to engage them in a short chat.... Buffalo Bob was carrying a bottle and busy looking for a glass as he passed. He smiled at the child, patted her head which, for some reason, spun completely around. Clarabell was next but pushed by her and the adults muttering something unpleasant about an axe and kindling.... and then it was Howdy! He was accompanied only by his agent, a nice Mrs. Trefeeley, who showed him some changes in the show's script, and the fact that a giraffe and a lemur would be doing a political sketch. Howdy was pleasant, even jolly, and when he was introduced to the little girl (her name was thought to be Irene or Ilene...or was it Lulu?....whatever..) his eyes twinkled.

After all, he was only 11 and he had started to get crushes on his prettier fans.... and she was pretty indeed.... in a ....well... somewhat "society debutante" way. Her eyes had that cool, appraising look to them... the kind that go up and down you "like a searchlight"! That's what they said in the movies! Howdy had heard a lady say that about his Aunt Joan (Crawford!). But he still liked the little girl and her nice parents. They asked if they could meet him after the show for ice cream..or maybe some martinis.... Mrs. Trefeeley saw they were all getting along so nicely, that she excused herself, and went over to scold some stagehands who had pinched her bottom with their rough hands right before lunch...and she wanted to make sure they understood that meant they had to all take her out for dinner that night...to Schrafft's... not someplace cheap! When she turned back around, the married couple was gone...so was Irene/Ilene/Lulu...and Howdy!.. HOWDY!! GONE! Not in his dressing room! Not at the shoe-shine stand with Mr. Clem. Not at the snack table, or in the prop room, or in Wardrobe, or...anywhere.

People began murmuring...then calling out...and finally yelling, and even screaming while out in the studio, the waiting audience began to panic and even cry and scream themselves. ..especially the adults. Buffalo Bob was grabbed by a couple of big policemen and dragged to his dressing room. His bottle and the full glass got spilled and broken, and someone said he cried and threw up. Clarabell was found in the alleyway smoking a $2.00 cigar and talking to himself. The police didn't bother to bring him inside... they just slapped him around out there, and when he sassed them, they slapped him some more, and one of them kicked him in the ass and honked his nose. That shut him up, and he apologized to them. They made him curtsy...like a little girl!..and make donkey-sounds to make sure he got the message! But no matter what everyone was doing inside and out, no trace of Howdy was found. Finally, everyone began to put the couple with the suitcase and the strange little girl together with his disappearance....maybe they weren't from Ronkonkoma after all...

That night's broadcast was canceled while the "Special Reports" went out across the country. Two hours later a note scrawled on double-spaced lined notebook paper and in Crayola's "Eggplant Whimsy" arrived at the studio..... "We want $36,048 in ones and twos in a Donald Duck lunch box by midnight. We'll tell you where to drop it. If you don't, we'll send you Howdy's left arm ..and the hinge! Here's some proof we have him!" ... and there, tacked to the note was...oh God, no! NO!! Mrs. Treffeeley screamed and fainted. So did Buffalo Bob...and a stagehand! The detectives covered their mouths in horror... tacked to the note was a wad of...string...wadded up STRING!!!... oh God!! NO!... and that's when Clarabell, for the first time sounding concerned about his little co-star, that bright and sunny, freckle-faced kid with the big smile for everyone!..that was when Clarabell snarled to anyone listening, "This is why they still send kidnappers to the gas chamber! TO THE GAS CHAMBER!!... C'mon Sergeant! Let's go find my little buddy!" .....And out they all went...but then ...well... you remember how it all ended...

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