Do You Know Me?

jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Here's another one for you to ponder:

Do you know me?

When I graduated from high school I found work on the docks, but I really wanted to be a musician. I auditioned for a symphony orchestra, playing the instrument I played in high school, and I was accepted. I became well-known among my fellow musicians for my jokes and antics. Fortunately, this wasn't a concert hall-type orchestra -- we were heard, but not seen -- so I got away with a lot. I was asked by the producers of the musical program to use my wit to warm up the audience, and I soon was guesting on various comedy shows which used those studios as well.

I am particularly associated with one very popular actor/comedian, and I was one of the popular, if not the most popular, members of his supporting cast. My distinctive voice, and what I did with it, were instantly recognizable, and my appearance was pretty unique, too. I was well-known and appreciated for more than 30 years as this comic's sidekick.

Many of my routines and catchphrases were in vogue in the 1940s and 50s. Most are outdated now, but you can still hear them in Loony Tunes cartoons of the period. I myself was often parodied in those cartoons.

Who am I?
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Come on now, fellow Trivians. This one should be easy. In fact, I think I've given you this Mystery Guest before (maybe that was back at TCM, though). Here are some clues:

Yesterday was the MG's birthday.

He started out playing a brass instrument in an orchestra formed specifically radio broadcasts.

He liked to present a rather old-fashioned persona, in manner of speaking and appearance.

Besides his puns, quips and banter with the Very Big Star comic he worked with, much of his comedic routine focused on the way he sang.
melwalton
Posts: 503
Joined: October 14th, 2007, 5:58 pm

mg

Post by melwalton »

Eddie Anderson
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Nope - not quite, although you're right, it was "Rochester's" birthday yesterday, too.


Let's see . . . . . .

the look this MG sported might be described as "Barbershop Quartet," and was endearingly quaint in his day. Although people in our MG's time were undoubtedly still aware of what a barbershop quarter was, such things were already deemed old-fashioned.

Our MG spoke very authoritatively on every subject, in style that indicated he must have taken old-time elocution lessons.
melwalton
Posts: 503
Joined: October 14th, 2007, 5:58 pm

MG

Post by melwalton »

jERRY cOLONNA
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Now you're cookin' Mel. Colonna it is.

Started as a classical trombone player with the Columbia Symphony, the house orchestra for CBS. Goofed around so much, he was asked by management to do the audience warmups for various comedy and variety shows, where he was spotted by Fred Allen, who gave him work on the air, and eventually by Bob Hope, with whom Colonna was associated for most of his acting career.

Part of his persona was the 1890s gentleman, complete with handlebar moustache, center-parted and pomaded hair, and exaggerated diction. He sang his songs LOUD, and usually began by holding the first note as long as possible. He popularized phrases like "Greetings, Gate, let's calculate" (or other verbs that rhymed with Gate).

Colonna was parodied many times in cartoons and movies. He himself did several voice parts for Disney, including narrating Casey at the Bat and The Brave Engineer (about Casey Jones). He provided the voice of the March Hare in Disney's Alice in Wonderland. And a very merry unbirthday to us all.
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

It's nice to see all these trivia games going, but let's not forget our Mystery Guests. Here's a new one:

Do you know me?

I was probably one of the most versatile actors around. In addition, I wrote, painted, produced and directed. After military service, I studied drama In New York under the GI Bill, and I had some small parts in some pretty prestigious Broadway plays. However, the then-new medium of television, which had a strong presence in New York at the time, attracted my attention, and I worked fairly steadily on TV. I had small parts in several drama series and was even on a children’s show for a while.

I did well – I was good, and I had an interesting look: not conventionally handsome, but tall and rugged, with a good speaking voice. I began to get larger roles, and was eventually offered work in Hollywood as well. I made a lot of movies and continued my work in TV, too. Although I thought I could play anything, and I played all kinds of character roles, I didn’t do any comedies, except for a small part in a musical early in my career. I was noticed by the public and by the producers, and I started to get standout supporting roles. I was most often seen as a soldier or a cowboy, but sometimes I was a bad guy, sometimes a cop, and once in a while a professional type.

I did, however, have a reputation for being “difficult,” which stemmed from my extreme dedication to my acting and my unrelenting attention to the details of my work. I had a few hit TV series which, coupled with consistently good reviews for my movie work, enabled me to form my own production company, which made both TV and theatrical films.

One of my most popular early series was done in a documentary style. I narrated and sometimes appeared in the action. My biggest TV hit was in a genre very popular at the time, but my hero was more of an anti-hero. My hero most definitely did his work, good deeds and bad, for money. I am probably best known for that one. My family name is an illustrious one in history, and I have a famous, still living, relative.

Who am I?
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ken123
Posts: 1797
Joined: April 14th, 2007, 4:08 pm
Location: Chicago

Post by ken123 »

Richard Boone.
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Yes. Correct.

Descendant of Daniel, and cousin of Pat. His two greatest TV successes were the semi-documentary Medic in the early 50s, and the never (as yet) been duplicated Have Gun, Will Travel.

The Museum of Television and Radio website states that Boone had a part in the cast of the very early children's TV show Mr. I Magination. I don't remember that, but then, I don't remember that show, either.
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

It's a very dark and very stormy afternoon here in NYC. An intrepid Mystery Guest is nonetheless stepping up to the microphone:

Do you know me?

I was born in another country, but came to Hollywood as a young man because I always wanted to be an actor. At first I used my own name in the movies, but after a short time I changed it to something that sounded similar, but was easier to spell and pronounce.

I was in talking pictures from the beginning. Being a pretty big guy, in my first movies I was usually a football playing college boy, or a tough guy with a name like "Mugsy." I continued to play these character parts and many, many more. I was a soldier, a cowboy, a cop, a sailor -- the list goes on and on. Some sources list my screen appearances as over 300, but in any event it was surely more than 200.

I was a very familiar face in the movies of a studio famous for its tough guy movies. I also worked for a smaller studio best known for producing comedies, and made two series of quickies there - longer than two-reelers but shorter than feature length. My co-star in one series was another famous hulking mug, who played characters like mine, but was a much bigger star.

Like that co-star, I had no trouble moving into television, and appeared in dozens of westerns and cop shows, dramas and comedies. Baby-boomers may remember me best as a co-star in a popular series for kids where the title character had a very limited vocabulary.

Who am I?
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

No one has yet identified our Mystery Guest. Here is a hint, in the form of a list of the names of some of the characters our MG played in over 300 screen appearances:

Dutch/Red/Whitey
Slug/Slugs
Spud
Coach (mutliple roles)
Sarge (multiple roles)
Swede
Dude
Babe
Squint
Knuckles
Monk
Idaho
Roughouse

Ring any bells?
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ChiO
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Post by ChiO »

If I'm right, I'm embarassed not to have gotten it immediately because he is a favorite and a giant among the ubiquitous mugs and voices -- Joe Sawyer.
Everyday people...that's what's wrong with the world. -- Morgan Morgan
I love movies. But don't get me wrong. I hate Hollywood. -- Orson Welles
Movies can only go forward in spite of the motion picture industry. -- Orson Welles
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

ChiO wrote:If I'm right, I'm embarassed not to have gotten it immediately because he is a favorite and a giant among the ubiquitous mugs and voices -- Joe Sawyer.
You got it in one.

Sawyer, born in Canada, first appeared in films under his real name, Joseph Sauers. His hulking physique and squashed-looking face helped him make a very long career out of playing mugs, some lovable, some not. In one of the series of "Streamliners" he made for Hal Roach (45 minute-long second or third features), he co-starred with William Bendix. In that series, there were two mugs for the price of one. He was one of Duke Mantee's henchmen in Petrified Forest.

He may be best remembered by us Baby Boomers as Sgt. Biff O'Hara in the TV program The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. Yo, Rinty! At ease!
jdb1

Post by jdb1 »

Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown today, and a sweet New Year to you all. May you all be inscribed in the Book of Life for another year.
************************************************************

Here's a new Mystery Guest, who probably does not celebrate this particular holiday at home.

I was a beauty queen, and won the "Miss" beauty title for my country. As a result, I got a movie contract with a notoriously eccentric producer who wanted to change virtually everything about me. I demurred.

I went to another studio, and appeared in small roles in but sometimes in not-so-small films. I got noticed - I had that kind of look that gets one noticed. My PR people were also very good at getting me noticed, and I was party to some pretty outrageous PR stunts, most of which involved exposing one or another part of my body.

I made quite a few films in Europe (but never in my native country). I was in one very famous film, and my image from that film has become one of those iconic images you see in montages that deal with "cinema."

My name was associated with quite a few of Hollywood's men-about-town, and with a few international men of renown as well. I was quite well known around the world in my day. I'm still around, living realtively quietly in Europe, but not in my native country. I have no particular animosity toward it, but I've never felt that my own country appreciated me enough. I'm not ready to return. I have said that I'll go back there when I'm dead.

Who am I?
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knitwit45
Posts: 4689
Joined: May 4th, 2007, 9:33 pm
Location: Gardner, KS

Post by knitwit45 »

would our mystery guest be Anita Ekberg? Just saw pictures of her on Joe's thread, "Candids".
"Life is not the way it's supposed to be.. It's the way it is..
The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference." ~ Virginia Satir
""Most people pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." ~ Soren Kierkegaard
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