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Butch Patrick turns 70 today, but he still exhibits the same youthful exuberance he brought to The Munsters as Eddie Munster from 1964 to 1966. From child actor to the classic series’ de facto delegate, I had the pleasure of speaking with Patrick about his unconventional career, The Munsters‘ legacy, and more at NorthEast Comic Con’s Collectibles Extravaganza.

Patrick stumbled into acting. While accompanying his little sister to a print modeling shoot, the photographer asked to take his photo as well. “He took some pictures of me afterward, and he put one in his window. About a month later, a producer and a director were walking by. They were casting a movie, and they still needed the youngest son of Eddie Albert and Jane Wyatt. I wound up getting the movie. It was a great little B-movie called The Two Little Bears.”

He continues, “I went for an interview and got hired,...

It’s such fun flashing back to Emmy ceremonies of yesteryear, and it’s interesting to see how they have evolved over time, and reflect on how much TV has grown and changed. In the early years, the categories were much different, with no distinction between dramatic and comedic performances; instead, there was a category for “Outstanding Continued Performance” (which came from ongoing series) and a separate one for “Outstanding Single Performance”. Going back six decades, there were only three networks competing, but some of the biggest names in the history of the medium were on the ballot, and some legendary performers presented, when Johnny Carson, Bob Newhart and David Brinkley hosted the 14th Emmy Awards on NBC on May 22, 1962. Read on for our Emmys flashback 60 years ago to 1962.

Newhart was already making a name for himself in these early days of television. His variety series “The Bob Newhart Show...

Larry Storch, the comedic character actor who also did voiceover work and impressions and was best known for his role as Corporal Randolph Agarn on “F Troop,” has died. He was 99.

His family released a statement on his Facebook page, saying, “It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share with you the news our beloved Larry passed away in his sleep overnight. We are shocked and at a loss for words at the moment. Please remember he loved each and every one of you and wouldn’t want you to cry over his passing. He is reunited with his wife Norma and his beloved F Troop cast and so many friends and family.”

Storch was a familiar face on TV shows throughout the 1960s and ’70s — he starred in the 1970s children’s show “The Ghost Busters” and appeared on “The Love Boat” and “Car 54, Where Are You?” On “Married…...

Veteran comedic actor Larry Storch, an Emmy nominee best known for his leading performance as Corporal Randolph Agarn on ABC’s 1965 sitcom “F Troop,” has died at age 99.

Storch’s more than 200 screen credits spanned 1950-2010. Per a post on the actor’s official Facebook page, he died peacefully in his sleep early Friday morning.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share with you the news our beloved Larry passed away in his sleep overnight,” the post reads. “We are shocked and at a loss for words at the moment. Please remember he loved each and every one of you and wouldn’t want you to cry over his passing. He is reunited with his wife Norma and his beloved ‘F Troop’ cast and so many friends and family.”

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Born Jan. 8, 1923, and raised in the Bronx, New York, Storch...

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Larry Storch, the manic comic actor who starred as the bumbling sidekick Corporal Randolph Agarn on the 1960s ABC sitcom F Troop, has died. He was 99.

Storch, who got his start as a stand-up comic, did impressions and voiced the all-knowing Phineas J. Whoopee on the classic cartoon Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales, died early Friday morning of natural causes in his apartment on the Upper West Side of New York, his personal manager, Matt Beckoff, told The Hollywood Reporter.

“If I told you how nice he was, you wouldn’t believe it,” Beckoff said.

Storch was great friends with Tony Curtis — a fellow New Yorker whom he met when they served aboard a submarine tender in the U.S. Navy — and they appeared together in The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951), Who Was That Lady? (1960), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Captain Newman, M.D. (1963), Sex...

Television drama matured in the early 1960s with gritty often controversial series shot on location including “The Naked City” and most notably “The Defenders,” which aired on CBS from 1961-65, winning 13 Emmys during its run including three consecutive Best Drama Series awards.

The legal drama starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son attorneys picked up its first four prizes at the 14th Primetime Emmy Awards on May 22, 1962. It also won for Marshall; helmer Franklin J. Schaffner (who went to pick up an Oscar for directing 1970 Best Picture Oscar champ “Patton); and Reginald Rose for writing.

Rose of “12 Angry Men” fame based the series on his two-part 1957 “Studio One” drama “The Defender” with Ralph Bellamy and William Shatner as the father-son attorneys and Steve McQueen as the defendant. For Rose, “The law is the subject of our programs, not crime, not mystery, not the courtroom for its own sake.

Bob Newhart has been selected by Gold Derby editors to receive a special Career Achievement Award at our Emmy season kickoff party on June 5 in Hollywood.

Newhart is not only an Emmy Award winner and frequent nominee, but the Emmys once played a lucky, key role in launching his early TV success.

Back in 1960, Newhart was known chiefly as the first artist ever to reach number 1 on the Billboard sales charts with a hit comedy album – “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.” He was not yet a TV star, but he was invited to perform a solo skit at the next Emmys telecast. At the last minute, Newhart was suddenly given lots of extra airtime when an “inappropriate” comedy skit planned by Mike Nichols and Elaine May got nixed (it had the nerve to mock an advertiser) and TV producers had to fill the time.

“The show managed to usher...

“The Upside,” a feel good film about the bond that forms between a wealthy quadriplegic and his caretaker, scored a surprising box office victory last weekend. The movie had to overcome a series of obstacles and setbacks before it topped charts.

In the weeks leading up to the drama’s release, star Kevin Hart had been the subject of countless headlines analyzing whether or not the comedian will host this year’s Oscars. The entertainer was offered the gig, but quickly stepped down after controversy sparked over homophobic jokes he made in the past. A little unwanted press, however, is nothing compared to the turmoil leading up to the movie’s theatrical debut.

Its rocky gestation to the big screen makes “The Upside,” which doubled industry expectations with a $19.5 million opening weekend, all the more impressive. An English-language remake of the French hit “Les Intouchables” was first announced in 2011, and...

Charlotte Rae, who had a six decade career as an actress and was best known as the wise housemother on “The Facts of Life,” died Sunday in Los Angeles. She was 92.

The Tony and Emmy nominated actress appeared on the popular 1980s sitcom “The Facts of Life” for nearly 10 years, sharing her personal struggles with the writers for the show to keep things realistic.

In the early 1960s, she created the role of Sylvia Schnauzer on TV series “Car 54 Where Are You?” She also worked extensively on Broadway, in Shakespeare in the Park and in summer stock.

Rae’s other television work included a year on “Sesame Street,” and a recurring role on “Hot L Baltimore,” then a season on “Diff’rent Strokes,” where her character Mrs. Garrett was born before spinning off on “The Facts of Life,” for which she earned an Emmy nomination.

Todd Bridges, who played Willis...

Veteran actor Nipsey Russell died of cancer in a New York City Hospital on Sunday. He was 80. The Atlanta, Georgia-born star passed away at Lenox Hill Hospital, his longtime manager Joseph Rapp confirmed. Russell, who was best known for playing the Tin Man opposite Diana Ross and Michael Jackson in cult classic The Wiz, launched his television career in the 1961 TV series Car 54, Where Are You?. Before starting his acting career, Russell served with the US Army in Europe during World War II.