Forgotten Hollywood

Manny P. here…

   Edward Herrmann brought Franklin D. Roosevelt to life in movies and documentaries, won a Tony Award, and charmed audiences as the stuffy dad on television’s Gilmore Girls. He was also a ubiquitous narrator for historical programs on The History Channel, and in such PBS productions as Nova.

<– Edward Herrmann began his career in theatre. But, his legacy remains in the many films and small screen performances that made his voice instantly recognizable. His motion pictures include The Day of the Dolphin, The Paper Chase, The Great Gatsby, Reds, Annie, The Great Waldo Pepper, The Purple Rose of Cairo, The Lost Boys, The Man with One Red Shoe, Overboard, Big Business, the remake of Born Yesterday, Nixon, The Aviator, The Emperor’s Club, and The Wolf of Wall Street. On the small screen, he excelled in Eleanor and Franklin, M*A*S*H, St. Elsewhere, Law & Order, Grey’s Anatomy, 30 Rock, How I Met Your Mother, The Good Wife, and regularly, on Gilmore Girls. He narrated The American Revolution miniseries, and most recently, reprised the voice of FDR in Ken Burns acclaimed, The Roosevelts.

   Herrmann returned to Broadway in 1976 in the revival of Mrs. Warren’s Profession. For his performance, he won a Tony for Best Featured Actor in a Play. He earned an Emmy in 1999 for his guest appearances on The Practice.

   In my home, his quaint voice was as familiar to me as a relative chatting at the dinner table. Edward Herrmann was 71.

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   From Television’s Golden Age, Donna Douglas (below) was part of the Clampett family on the very popular The Beverly Hillbillies. She was known for her role as Elly May, the pretty tomboy who loved wild animals and could beat up her cousin Jethro, played by Max Baer Jr.

   She was featured as the Letters Girl on The Perry Como Show and as the Billboard Girl on The Steve Allen Show. These and other television appearances led New York photographers and newspaper reporters to award her the Miss By-line crown, which she wore on The Ed Sullivan Show. She guest-starred on weekly programs, such as Bachelor Father, Thriller,  The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, Adam-12, and Route 66. She was also cast in four 1961 episodes of the detective series, Checkmate. Prior to co-starring in The Beverly Hillbillies, Douglas was best remembered for The Twilight Zone episode, Eye of the Beholder.

   Her big screen films include Career, Lil Abner, Lover Come Back, Frankie and Johnny with Elvis Presley, and later, in The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies, a reunion of sorts. In 2010, Mattel released a new collection of three Barbies called the Classic TV Collection. These dolls were Samantha Stephens (from Bewitched, played by Elizabeth Montgomery), Jeannie (from I Dream of Jeannie, played by Barbara Eden) and Elly May Clampett.

   Donna Douglas was 81.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 1st, 2015 at 12:03 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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