Do You Know Me?

[jdb1]

Here comes another Mystery Guest.

Do you know me?

I was born on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, and I was at a very early age steeped in the comedy styles that neighborhood engendered. As a young man, I worked as a performer in a road house, where what I wore gave me a nickname that became my stage name. I then went on to the Catskills of New York State, where I sang, danced and told jokes in various resort hotels. For a while I did an act with a young and handsome singer/actor who went on to Broadway acclaim.

I came back to NYC and went back on the stage, but my venue was burlesque. I was spotted by a well-regarded young and serious actor, who fortunately for me wasn't averse to comedy, and he cast me in a comic play he was directing on Broadway. His faith in me was apparently well placed: we both went on to win Academy Awards later in our careers.

I was drafted into the Army Air Corps during WWII, and was part of a very popular scripted review which travelled all over Europe and the Pacific entertaining the troops. Many stars took part -- some were in the military and some not.

I did many more plays after I got out of the service, and was tapped for the new medium of television, where I became very popular, even having my own show at one point. I was a frequent guest on TV shows as a comedian, host and featured actor. I made quite a few movies, some of them "big" movies, in which I had supporting character roles.

Two of my most memorable roles were as soldiers - the average Joe kind. I had a very long career, and was just as popular as a senior as I had been as a young man. Who am I?

[srowley75]

You are Red Buttons.

[jdb1]

You are Red Buttons.

And you are correct.

As a teen, the redheaded Buttons (born Aaron Chwast) worked at a roadhouse tavern where he wore a bellhop uniform, and was nicknamed "Red Buttons."

He did a song and comedy number at Catskills hotels with the young Robert Alda.
He was chosen by Jose Ferrer to appear in a show Ferrer directed on Broadway.
He was in the celebrity ensemble cast of the armed forces show Winged Victory.

His two most significant roles were as the tragic soldier who married a Japanese woman in Sayonara, and as the paratrooper who got caught on the church spire in The Longest Day.

He was very funny as Roseanne's mother's randy boyfriend on the sitcom of the same name (I mean Roseanne, not "randy boyfriend").

I'll always think of him doing that little Tevye-like dance in his standup routine, with one hand on his ear saying "Yoo-hoo yoo-hoo; yoo-hoo yoo-hoo. Strange things are happenin!" I guess you had to be there. He made it cute.

[knitwit45]

he was one of the best things about Hatari ( a favorite of mine) and his character's name was "Pockets".

[jdb1]

Yes, the summer is full of stars, and here is another Mystery Guest to puzzle us:

Although my screen career spanned 40 years, my resume is not terribly prolific. I started out on the stage, and then went into early sound films in my own country before going to Hollywood. I had a few co-starring roles in minor films, but played mostly second leads and supporting roles.

In films I've been chased by Indians, been set adrift, and walked the windswept moors. I was the co-star in a series of popular detective movies, but the detective in question was not American. I was one of dozens of actresses who auditioned for Gone With The Wind (I didn't get the part). I usually played nice, wholesome, sensible girls, but I got a chance to play a much more complex and memorable role in a Hitchcock movie.

I did some television, and in the 60s I was a regular on two shows, one a nightime serial, and one a comedy, where I was the ladyfriend of a nanny with a beard. I had three husbands, all of them in show business. My last husband died under tragic circumstances.

Who am I?

[jdb1]

Let's think, folks.

What TV show of the 60s featured a nanny with a beard (and it wasn't a goat)? What memorable movie featured a cast set adrift?

What series of detective movies featured a non-American detective who wasn't Sherlock Holmes, and had a pretty girl in it?

[knitwit45]

The nanny with the beard might be Mr. French in Family Affair, the cast set adrift could be Gilligan's Island...no, you said movie...

How about Natalie Schaefer?

Was she in Lifeboat? Can't think of the detective series.....

" 'Tis a mystery!"

[jdb1]

Getting warm, Knitty, but not quite.

Our MG was foreign-born.

The detective series in question was made in the 30s.

Our MG was also a nanny on the TV show mentioned.

A rock group recorded a song using her lovely name, which sounds like a fairy tale character's name, but was her real name.

[ChiO]

Miss Faversham? Heather Angel (I'll admit it -- I knew it had to be Miss Faversham, but had to research the actress' name).

[jdb1]

Miss Faversham? Heather Angel (I'll admit it -- I knew it had to be Miss Faversham, but had to research the actress' name).

Heather Angel is correct.

Angel appeared as a guest on several nighttime dramas, and was a regular on both Peyton Place and whatever that show was with Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot (the bearded nanny). The rock group Sonic Youth had a song called "Heather Angel."

Angel was the co-star in the Bulldog Drummond detective series. She played Cora in the 1935 version of Last of the Mohicans, and she was the shell-shocked young mother in Lifeboat. I threw in a bit of a red herring there about GWTW: Angel did audition, but it was for the part of Melanie, not Scarlett.

Angel was married to Henry Wilcoxon, Ralph Forbes, and director and writer Robert B. Sinclair. Sinclair was murdered in their home when he tried to protect his wife from an intruder.

[jdb1]

It's going to starting storming any minute now, and another Mystery Guest has come indoors to pose this puzzler:

I was born in New England, and I got my first professional work in the early 30s as a staff announcer for a radio station in my home town.

I went to New York, where I got a lot of radio work. For four years I was the voice of an iconic detective. In addition, I played dozens of roles on other radio shows. I was usually a figure of authority, generally policemen, but I wasn't limited to that one kind of role on radio. I could do dialects as well.

I finally got my break on Broadway when I was in my 40s. I appeared in an Arthur Miller play, and was invited to Hollywood. More authority figure roles, but more and more I was cast as the blowhard or bigot, sometimes foolish, sometimes dangerous, in supporting roles. I was able easily to look older than my actual age, and was very often cast as someone's father or grandfather.

I was in many televised original plays of televisions "golden age." I made more movies, won a supporting Oscar, did more Broadway, and won a supporting Tony. It was said that I was so proud of my Oscar that I took it with me when I traveled.

My son is also an actor, and currently has his own show on television.

Who am I?

[ChiO]

Ed Begley? Or, Lon Backett of STARS IN MY CROWN?

[jdb1]

Ed Begley is correct.

The Hartford, CT native started out on local radio, and before long he was playing all manner of fellow on national radio from New York City. For some time he was the radio voice of Charlie Chan (how many people know that? -- I didn't, or at least, I'd forgotten).

Begley scored a hit in the original production of Arthur Miller's All My Sons. He did a lot of theater, winning a Tony for his performance as Matthew Brady in Inherit the Wind. I would have loved to have seen that, but then you all know my antipathy toward Frederic March, who played the role in the movie version. In Hollywood Begleye was one of casting's favorite windbags, and ranted and raved in a whole lotta movies. His performance as the bigoted juror in 12 Angry Men is wonderful.

Begley's long-awaited Oscar came to him in 1961 for Sweet Bird of Youth. He did a great deal of television, sometimes as a dignified businessman or other authority figure, and sometimes as a grizzled old-timer (seem to remember something like that on Bonanza), all equally well.

[jdb1]

Finally. After weeks of hellish heat and freakish humidity, we finally have a beautiful summer day in NYC. Here is a new Mystery Guest to help us enjoy it:

Do you know me?

I began my career on the stage. In light of the most significant film roles of my later career, it's hard to believe that not only did I begin in comedy, but I played burlesque quite successfully.

My physical appearance pretty much dictated what kind of roles I'd play, but I was versatile enough to play such characters seriously, menacingly, or for laughs. In almost every play or movie I was in, I managed to be head and shoulders above everyone else.

My most famous role is that of really nasty piece of work, whose sadism is only thinly masked in the film. I managed to make the depravity of this character believable, and kept the luridness to a minimum. I got a supporting Oscar nomination for my efforts.

I did early television as well, and in one show I played a kooky star's next door neighbor in mischief, but unfortunately, I was no Vivian Vance, and the star wasn't quite a Lucille Ball. I got a supporting Emmy nomination for a detective series with a really cool signature tune. In it, I had an ironic nickname.

So -- who am I?

[srowley75]

You're Hope Emerson. (I almost guessed Victor Buono, but "sadistic" wasn't quite an accurate description.)

I didn't realize that about the detective series, however. I'll have to check that out.