Happy Birthday to Ken Howard (70) and Conchata Ferrell (71). Howard starred in the classic 1978-81 drama The White Shadow. Ferrell guested on BJ and the Bear, Good Times, Maude and The Rockford Files. She was also a regular in Norman Lear’s short-lived 1975 sitcom Hot L Baltimore.

March 28 was also the birthday of some classic TV faces no longer with us. Screenwriter Edward Anhalt worked on several 1970s TV movies and the ’74 miniseries QBVII. Freddie Bartholomew was a child film star in the 1930s (David Copperfield) who went on to work as a producer/director on several TV daytime dramas. Jimmie Dodd was the emcee of The Mickey Mouse Club and wrote the show’s iconic theme song. Marlin Perkins was the longtime host of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.

Today was the day we said goodbye to a number of classic TV contributors. Film and TV actor Richard Arlen guested on Bat Masterson, The Lucy Show and Perry Mason. Stage and film star Virginia Gilmore appeared on The Defenders, Studio One and Suspense. Actress-dancer June Havoc guested on McMillan & Wife, The Outer Limits and The Untouchables. British actor Patrick Troughton was the second Doctor Who. Character actor Robert J. Wilke had roles on such classic westerns as Bonanza, Daniel Boone, Gunsmoke and Rawhide.

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