R.I.P.

[CharlieT]

I was looking at celebrity obituaries and came across the following:

Allan Melvin (85) ubiquitous character actor who played Cpl. Henshaw on the classic '50s sitcom The Phil Silvers Show and later portrayed Archie Bunker's neighbor and friend Barney on All in the Family. Melvin was in the original Broadway cast of Stalag 17 in the early '50s. During his 50-year career, he made guest appearances on numerous TV shows, including playing different roles on at least eight episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. He also played Sgt. Charlie Hacker on Gomer Pyle: USMC and butcher Sam Franklin—Alice the housekeeper's boyfriend—on The Brady Bunch. He did voiceover work in cartoons and appeared in many TV commercials. Melvin died of cancer in Brentwood, California on January 17, 2008.

Although he did the majority of his work on TV, he did appear in With Six You Get Eggroll, so I guess he qualifies to be remembered here.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

Hey, CharlieT:

Thanks for the post about Allan Melvin. I didn't realize that he'd appeared
in the original Broadway cast of Stalag 17 . I enjoyed his work on
many of the shows that you've mentioned.

[ChiO]

With his appearances on THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW, THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW, and THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW (just saw him there last night), Mr. Melvin seemed like a part of the family. Always a joy to watch.

[Ollie]

He was in just about every good TV show at one time or another. What a face and a great and memorable voice, too.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

TVLAND ran two Allan Melvin Andy episodes yesterday. It was pretty much the same story, but the first was about Barney and the bully, and the second was about Howard Sprague and the bully.

[jdb1]

Only tangentially associated with film, but I've just read online that Margaret Truman, Harry Truman's daughter, has passed away age 83.

An aspiring singer, she was never a big hit with the critics or the public. She married an editor of the NY Times, Clifton Daniel, and became a hostess and civic figure in NYC and Washington. She wrote several histories, including biographies of her mother and father. In later years, she took to writing mysteries, all set in Washington. These were quite successful, and some were brought to the screen. Her son said she liked to write about murders in Washington, so she could murder off people she didn't like in real life. Hers was an interesting story, and I think she ultimately handled the burden of being a president's daughter pretty well.

[melwalton]

Judith. re: Margaret Truman.
Do you recall how papa blew his stack and put it in writing when a newspaper writer criticized Margaret's musical ability? I don't recall the details ( my memory gets dimmer all the time ). It happened when Harry was president.

[jdb1]

Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject: margaret truman

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judith. re: Margaret Truman.
Do you recall how papa blew his stack and put it in writing when a newspaper writer criticized Margaret's musical ability? I don't recall the details ( my memory gets dimmer all the time ). It happened when Harry was president.

He wrote the guy an angry letter, saying something like "You better say goodbye to your nose, 'cause when I get through with you you're going to need a new one!" Imagine a sitting president (of the 20th Century) doing something like that. Pretty impressive, actually.

[mrsl]

When are people going to realize that Truman was the last true American president? He wasn't kidding when he said his motto was "The buck stops here". He lived by those words, whether it was deciding to drop the A bomb or protecting his daughter.

Anne

[klondike]

Time to move the Truman buzz to the General Chat forum, Friends.