Farewell, Classic TV Friends

We’ve lost nearly two dozen classic TV contributors over the past few months. Let’s take a moment to remember…

  • Director Larry Auerbach, best known for his work on CBS daytime drama Love of Life
  • Radio, film and TV producer Howard G. Barnes worked on such classic CBS shows as Route 66, Rawhide and Twilight Zone
  • Actor Booth Colman guested on TV shows from the 1950s to the 2000s. He appeared on such classics as Bonanza, Mannix, Perry Mason and The Untouchables. Colman played Zaius on the short-lived 1974 TV series Planet of the Apes
  • Actress and singer Donna Douglas, forever remembered as Elly May Clampett on The Beverly Hillbillies
  • New York television personality Joe Franklin, who hosted a long-running talk show on WOR-TV
  • Actor Edward Herrmann, who played President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in several 1970s made-for-TV movies and guested on M*A*S*H. His best known role was as Richard Gilmore on the 2000-2007 series Gilmore Girls
  • Las Vegas producer Stan Irwin, who managed such celebrities as Pearl Bailey, Buddy Hackett, Don Rickles and late night legend Johnny Carson
  • Wes Kenney, long-time producer-director of daytime soaps Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless
  • Film and TV production designer Robert Kinoshita, the man who brought us Robot on Irwin Allen’s sci-fi classic Lost in Space
  • Producer-writer Glen A. Larson, the creator of such 1970s and 80s classics as Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Knight Rider, Magnum, P.I. and Quincy, M.E.
  • 1959 Miss America-turned-actress Mary Ann Mobley, who guested on Burke’s Law, Love American Style and Perry Mason. She was the widow of actor Gary Collins
  • Another Miss America Bess Myerson (1945), who was a panelist on classic game show I’ve Got A Secret and later launched a career in New York City politics
  • Producer-director Arthur Rankin Jr., who teamed up with Jules Bass to create such perennial animated holiday classics as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town
  • Film director Joseph Sargent (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, White Lightning), a one-time actor who directed such TV classics as The Invaders, Lassie, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and Star Trek
  • Actor Richard Schaal, who made numerous guest appearance on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and was once married to actress Valerie Harper (Rhoda). His daughter Wendy was a regular on early 1980s sitcom It’s A Living and currently does voice work on American Dad
  • Film noir actress Lizabeth Scott, who later guested on Burke’s Law and Studio 57
  • Long-time ABC executive Brandon Stoddard, best-known for developing the miniseries Rich Man Poor Man and Roots
  • Aussie film and TV actor Rod Taylor (The Birds, The Time Machine), who starred in short-lived TV series Bearcats!, Hong Kong and The Oregon Trail
  • Sport producer Tony Verna, the man credited with creating the instant replay back in 1963
  • Former child actor Ken Weatherwax. He played Pugsley, the son of Morticia and Gomez on the classic 1960s comedy The Addams Family

1 thought on “Farewell, Classic TV Friends

  1. You wrote: “Actor Stu Erwin starred in the 1950s sitcom Trouble with Father. He later guested on The Donna Reed Show and Perry Mason.”

    It’s not the same Stu Erwin. The actor lived from 1903-1967. Stuart Erwin, Jr. (1932-2014) was his son, and worked as an executive at MTM Enterprises.

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