Life is Fra-gee-lay!
I think the poster on Defamer said it best in reference to the recent deaths of Darren McGavin, known for his role as little Ralphie's dad in the holiday classic "A Christmas Story," and Don Knotts, who famously played Barney Fife in the old Andy Griffith Show.Defamer points us to a teamup by the two in some old Disney comedies. This post led me to the comment below playing on Ralphie's dad who remarked that his "major award" was from France because the box was marked, "Fragile"...or as he pronounced, "Fra-gee-lay." A little known - at least to me - Arkansas-related fact about "A Christmas Story"...Melinda Dillon, who played Ralphie's mom, was born in Hope, Ark. Saa-lute!
Adds Defamer: "Barney Fife is arguably Knott’s best role, for us, it’s the swinging and sniffing leisure-suited landlord Mr. Furley with which he will forever be associated. With John Ritter (who I hear almost every morning at my house as the voice of Clifford, the Big Red Dog), Norman Fell, and now Knotts gone, we can only imagine Richard Kline, aka Larry, is feeling the uneasy combination of relief, melancholy and isolation that comes with being Three’s Company’s last surviving male."
Mr. Furley and Ralphie's Old Man Re-Team In Heaven [Defamer]
posted by JP at 1:40 PM
5 Comments:
Speaking of "threes," they say celebrity deaths come in trios, and this morning character actor Dennis Weaver joined McGavin and Knotts in this latest round of actors to shuffle off the mortal coil. Weaver was in "McCloud" and "Gunsmoke."
Yeah, I had to look him up, too.
When I got the note about Weaver, I at first had my wires crossed and was thinking Dennis Hopper. Yikes!
I think Raplhie's dad thought it was Italian, not French.
But I haven't watched it in a while.
Being of the same generation as these individuals, I have truly enjoyed the long and successful careers of each of them and would be amiss if I did not add a few parting comments for the opportunity afforded by JP’s memorial. For me, some of my most recollectible memories are……
Both Dennis Weaver and a most famous director, Stephen Spielberg, seem to have been catapulted to fame when the TV movie “Duel” hit the tube in 1971. That was all folks talked about for weeks. It would seem to me that the phenomenal success of that movie stirred the creative juices of Mr. Spielberg who would in the remainder of the seventies deliver to the public such classics as “Something Evil”, The Sugerland Express”, “Jaws”, and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”. Not to mention the affect that movie had on the career of Mr. Weaver. And for those of his generation, it is indeed the TV series “McCloud” which immediately jumps to mind. His home-spun dialogue would always be a part of his acting and delivery.
Aside from his TV work of course, Don Knotts is most memorable in “The Ghost and Mr. Chicken” and also “The Apple Dumpling Gang” movies which teamed him up with Tim Conway, which in those days made for an unforgettable pairing given the popularity at the time of both Don and Tim.
And Darrin McGavin’s most memorable rolls for me were in his TV series “Mike Hammer” from the late fifties and “The Night Stalker” in the mid seventies. His movie, "The Night Stalker", was so popular that a TV series spin-off was created which was very well written and directed. One of the best prime-time Sci-fi series ever I believe.
Thanks for the opportunity to speak of these three excellent actors……Later
Yikes! Scott. Good catch. Teach me to not do my research. It was "Eye-Talian" not "French."
I do need to see "Duel" one day.
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