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Olive Sturgess, whose many acting credits through the 1950s and ’60s included numerous TV Westerns and the Roger Corman horror spoof The Raven starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre, Boris Karloff and Jack Nicholson, died February 19 in Los Angeles. She was 91.

Her death was announced by her family.

Although her TV career included guest roles in such comedies as The Donna Reed Show and Petticoat Junction, her forte was the television Western, a genre that was wildly popular in the ’50s and ’60s. During those years, Sturgess made guest appearances on Cheyenne, U.S. Marshal, Sugarfoot, The Texan, Rawhide, Have Gun Will Travel, Lawman, Buckskin, Rebel, Laramie, Wagon Train, Maverick, The Rebel, Tall Man, Outlaws, Bonanza, Wide Country, Destry, and The Virginian. In 1965 she appeared in the Western feature film Requiem for a Gunfighter.

In an undated interview on the Western Clippings website, Sturgess reflected on the early days of her career.

Olive Sturgess, who appeared on about two dozen TV Westerns and got to act alongside Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson in the Roger Corman 1963 cult horror spoof The Raven, died Feb. 19, her family announced. She was 91.

Through two decades starting in the mid-1950s, the fresh-faced Sturgess showed up on (by her count) about 300 episodes of television, including 12 from 1956-59 as the girlfriend of Dwayne Hickman’s character on the NBC-CBS sitcom The Bob Cummings Show.

The Canadian-born starlet also was seen on such series as West Point, Perry Mason, Panic!, The Donna Reed Show, Hawaiian Eye, The Danny Thomas Show, Petticoat Junction, Dr. Kildare and Ironside, but TV Westerns dominated her résumé.

Sturgess appeared on Tales of Wells Fargo, Cheyenne, Sugarfoot, U.S. Marshal, Rawhide, Have Gun — Will Travel, Lawman, Laramie, The Rebel, The Tall Man, Bronco, Whispering Smith, Maverick, Wide Country, Destry,...

James Darren, the former teen idol and pop singer who played the dreamy surfer Moondoggie in three Gidget movies before starring on television on The Time Tunnel and T.J. Hooker, died Monday. He was 88.

Darren died in his sleep at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, his son Jim Moret, a correspondent for Inside Edition, told The Hollywood Reporter. He had entered the hospital for an aortic valve replacement but was deemed too weak to have the surgery; he went home but had to return.

“I always thought he would pull through,” Moret said, “because he was so cool. He was always cool.”

Early in his career, the dark-haired Darren received excellent notices for starring in Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) — portraying the son of a hoodlum defended by Humphrey Bogart’s character in 1949’s Knock on Any Door — and for playing the Greek soldier Spyros Pappadimos in The Guns of Navarone...

Evans Evans, a character actor who’d made some minor forays into television when she was cast in what would become her most remembered role as a kidnap victim in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde, died Sunday, June 16. She was 91.

Additional details were not available. Her death was announced in a public obituary.

Born in Bluefield, West Virginia, on November 26, 1932, Evans was resident of Sherman Oaks, California, the widow of director John Frankenheimer. The two wed on December 13, 1963, and remained married until his death on July 6, 2002.

After a string of single appearances on such ’60s episodic TV programs as The Donna Reed Show, Wagon Train, Death Valley Days and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Evans was cast in what would become her signature role for 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde: As Velma Davis, she and scene partner Gene Wilder, in his big screen debut, portrayed two young lovebirds who, while kissing on their front porch,...

Willie Mays, “The Say Hey Kid,” who was among the greatest baseball players of all time, won two MVPs, was a 24-time All-Star and made one of the greatest catches in the game’s history, died Tuesday afternoon at 93, the San Francisco Giants announced.

The epitome of the five-tool player — hitting for average, hitting for power, base running, fielding, and throwing — Mays would be on any Mount Rushmore of Major League Baseball. After a few seasons in the Negro Leagues, he broke in with the New York Giants in 1951 before the club relocated to the Bay Area for the 1958 season. He then played there for most of the next 15 seasons. He finished his singular career with the New York Mets in 1973.

He only won the World Series once, in 1954, but made an everlasting mark on the sports in Game 1 of that series. With the score tied in the eighth inning...

Willie Mays, the incandescent center fielder for the New York and San Francisco Giants whose unmatched blend of speed and power made him a cultural icon and one of the finest players in the history of baseball, died Tuesday. He was 93.

“It is with great sadness that we announce that San Francisco Giants Legend and Hall of Famer Willie Mays passed away peacefully this afternoon at the age of 93,” the San Francisco Giants shared on its official X (formerly Twitter) account.

A day before his death, Mays said that he would not be in attendance when the Giants face the St. Louis Cardinals at Rickwood Field in Alabama on Thursday in a game honoring him and the Negro Leagues (he began his baseball career with the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues).

“I’m not able to get to Birmingham this year but will follow the game back here in the Bay Area,...

In the "Bewitched" episode "Sisters at Heart", the young Tabitha (Erin Murphy) brings home a new friend named Lisa (Venetta Rogers) to stay for a few days. Tabitha and Lisa have become very close very quickly, and refer to each other as sisters. Like with every episode of "Bewitched," Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) and Darrin (Dick Sargent) worry that the new social wrinkle in their lives will expose the fact that Samantha is an ancient, magic-practicing witch and that Tabitha also possesses eerie powers.

The drama of "Sisters at Heart," however, quickly extends past the show's usual shenanigans. A client of Darrin's, a bigoted toy manufacturer named Mr. Brockway (Parley Baer) swings by for a surprise in-home meeting. When he sees Lisa, he is outraged. Lisa is Black and Mr. Brockway, not having met Samantha, assumes that Darrin is married to a Black woman. Because he is evil, Mr. Brockway immediately...

CBS' "Family Affair" wasn't the biggest sitcom of its era, nor was it the most groundbreaking, but it popularized a found-family formula that would endure for decades after its original run. The series followed a lifelong bachelor, Bill (Brian Keith), whose lifestyle is interrupted by the sudden arrival of his three orphaned nieces and nephews. Clueless about parenthood yet suddenly the dad of three grieving kids, Bill recruited the help of several other characters throughout the series — most notably, his loyal British manservant, French (Sebastian Cabot).

"Family Affair" ran for five seasons on CBS beginning in 1966, and though it doesn't appear in syndication as often as other shows from its era, the series is still fondly remembered by those who saw it. Unfortunately, the show is also remembered for the unusual amount of tragedy that befell its stars. Child star Anissa Jones died of an overdose just five years after the show ended,...

"A Time For Killing" (also called "The Long Ride Home") isn't one of the best Westerns of all time, nor is it the most memorable, but the 1967 film still comes up in conversation thanks to its unique status as the very first movie role Harrison Ford was ever credited in. Ford played a young, sideburn-wearing Union soldier in the film, which followed the exploits of a group of captured Confederate soldiers on a mad dash for Mexico — none of whom realize the war has officially ended.

Aside from Ford's debut as Lieutenant Shaffer (for which he was credited as Harrison J. Ford), "A Time For Killing" is most noteworthy for its status as an abandoned Roger Corman flick. Corman started making "A Time For Killing" after already churning out cult classics like "A Bucket of Blood" and "The Little Shop of Horrors," but the low-budget filmmaker was replaced by "99 River Street...

After Lucille Ball's spunky housewife Lucy signed off on the last episode of "I Love Lucy" but before Mary Tyler Moore did away with the nuclear family sitcom model with her own self-titled show, another actress was one of the faces of womanhood in comedy. Oscar-winning actress Donna Reed headlined "The Donna Reed Show" from 1958 to 1966, playing middle-class mother and housewife Donna Stone in the popular black-and-white series. Reed starred opposite Carl Betz, who played Donna's husband, pediatrician Dr. Alex Stone. In season 5, family friends Midge and Dave joined the fun, but for the most part, the show was all about the lighthearted hijinks of the Stone family.

Though "The Donna Reed Show" was popular upon release, it's now perhaps most often referenced as a pop cultural window into a time before second-wave feminism, when women were expected to spend their time cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing while men went to work.

Anne Whitfield has sadly passed away at the age of 85.

The actress was best known for her role as Susan Waverly in the classic holiday film White Christmas, which just celebrated its 70th anniversary.

Keep reading to find out more…

Anne “passed away on February 15, 2024, surrounded by family at Valley Memorial Hospital after suffering an unexpected accident while on a walk in her neighborhood,” according to her obituary.

The obit added, “Through the kindness of neighbors who provided expert medical support, family had the gift to say goodbye and express love and gratitude, a gift we will always cherish.”

After her breakout role at age 15 in White Christmas, Anne starred mostly on television shows for the remainder of her acting career. Her other credits include The Six Million Dollar Man, The Donna Reed Show, and The Untouchables.

We’re sending our thoughts and condolences to Anne‘s loved ones during this difficult time.

Anne Whitfield, who appeared at age 15 in the 1954 Hollywood Christmas chestnut White Christmas and went on to a prolific career in episodic TV throughout the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, died February 15 at a hospital in Yakima, Washington. She was 85.

The actor, whose TV credits stretch from I Married Joan and Father Knows Best through The Six Million Dollar Man and Adam-12, suffered what her family describes as an “unexpected accident” during a walk in her neighborhood.

“Through the kindness of neighbors who provided expert medical support, family had the gift to say goodbye and express love and gratitude, a gift we will always cherish,” her family said.

Born August 27, 1938, in Oxford, Mississippi, Whitfield was four years old when she moved to Hollywood with her mother Frances Turner Whitfield, who served as the aspiring child performer’s agent and acting coach. By age 7 Whitfield was appearing on such radio series as...

Anne Whitfield, who appeared in the beloved holiday classic White Christmas and on dozens of TV shows, from Father Knows Best, 77 Sunset Strip and Perry Mason to That Girl, Ironside and Emergency!, has died. She was 85.

Whitfield died Feb. 7 at a hospital in Yakima, Washington, after suffering an “unexpected accident” while on a walk in her neighborhood, family members announced.

“She was a powerhouse in life, and we hope her immense positive energy flows out to those who had the pleasure of knowing her,” they wrote.

Whitfield was 15 and had done lots of acting on the radio when she was cast as Susan Waverly, the granddaughter of Dean Jagger’s Major Gen. Thomas F. Waverly — “The Old Man” — in the Michael Curtiz-directed Paramount musical White Christmas (1954). The film starred Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen.

She got to watch White Christmas with her family on the...

Buster Keaton was one of the most prolific filmmakers of the silent era, comparable only to his contemporaries Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. Unlike Lloyd with his distinctive spectacles or Chaplin with his signature stache, Keaton was identified by the emotionless expression he wore while enduring some of the most painful, dangerous, and hilarious bits of physical comedy the world has ever seen.

The filmmaker grew up as a vaudeville actor and took the stage as early as age four, where he first honed his slapstick skills in an act with his father. He was always known for taking hard falls without so much as a wince, which is how he earned his nickname, Buster, as an infant. As Keaton told it, legendary illusionist Harry Houdini gave him the nickname after an infant Keaton fell down a full flight of stairs without crying (a "buster" was a slang term for...

Actress Donna Reed was just 25 years old when she portrayed Mary in It's a Wonderful Life, a role she reportedly described as the most difficult of her career. Despite her young age, Reed played Mary from the age of 18 to 35 in the film, showcasing her talent and versatility as an actress. Reed reprised her role as Mary Hatch Bailey in a radio production of It's a Wonderful Life shortly after the film's release, alongside James Stewart. The radio version was much shorter than the movie.

Donna Reed portrayed Mary in the classic film It’s a Wonderful Life at a surprisingly young age, which the actress would later describe as the most difficult role of her career. Frank Capra’s 1946 Christmas classic It’s a Wonderful Life remains one of the most inspiring and important movies of all time, with much of the film’s long-lasting success being attributed to the timeless performances of its cast.

Janet Landgard, who played Karen on The Donna Reed Show, has died. She was 75 years old. Paul Petersen, who costarred with Landgard in the 1960s ABC sitcom, told The Hollywood Reporter that she passed away this week after a brief battle with brain cancer. “She never told me how gravely ill she was from the cancer that took her life earlier this week,” Petersen wrote on Facebook on Friday. “Typical behavior from the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had on the last three years of The Donna Reed Show. Janet was gorgeous, inside and out… a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence.” Everett Collection Landgard was born on December 2, 1947, and raised in Pasadena, California. She was still a high schooler when she started her screen career in 1963, guest-starring as a different character on The Donna Reed Show and popping up in...

Janet Landgard, who starred in 1968’s “The Swimmer” alongside Burt Lancaster and played Paul Petersen’s love interest for three seasons on “The Donna Reed Show,” has died. She was 75.

Petersen shared the news of co-star Landgard’s death on Facebook, noting that cancer “took her life earlier this week.” He added that Landgard was “the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had on the last three years of ‘The Donna Reed Show.’ Janet was gorgeous, inside and out… We were always close no matter the time or distance.”

Landgard was born on Dec. 2, 1947, in Pasadena, Calif. She made her onscreen debut in 1963 on “The Donna Reed Show,” playing a girl named Sabrina in one episode of the sitcom’s fifth season. She also guested on ABC’s “My Three Sons” that year.

Landgard returned to portray Jeff’s (Petersen) girlfriend Karen on 11 episodes of “The Donna Reed Show...

Janet Landgard, who played Paul Petersen’s love interest for three seasons on The Donna Reed Show and later costarred with Burt Lancaster in film drama The Swimmer, died Nov. 6 at age 75 of brain cancer, according to several friends on social media.

On Facebook, actor Petersen called her “The best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had. Janet was gorgeous, inside and out … a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence. We were always close no matter the time or distance.”

Born on Dec. 2, 1947, Landgard was raised in Pasadena and worked for the William Adrian Modeling Agency. She made her onscreen debut in 1963 on The Donna Reed Show while still in high school, playing a girl named Sabrina on a fifth-season episode. She also appeared on ABC’s My Three Sons that year.

That led to a recurring role as Petersen’s girlfriend, Karen,...

Janet Landgard, who starred in “The Donna Reed Show” and “The Swimmer,” has died at the age of 75 shortly after a fatal brain cancer diagnosis.

Actor Paul Petersen, who she played opposite of on “Donna Reed,” posted about Landgard’s death on Facebook.

“She never told me how gravely ill she was from the cancer that took her life earlier this week,” Petersen wrote of Langard. “Typical behavior from the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had on the last three years of ‘The Donna Reed Show.'”

“Janet was gorgeous, inside and out … a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence,” he continued. “‘Easy on the eyes’ doesn’t begin to describe her. We were always close no matter the time or distance. She gave me a share in her racehorse, Pioneer Prince, who didn’t run well in his last race.

Janet Landgard, who accompanied Burt Lancaster on a portion of his bizarre tour of backyard swimming pools in the acclaimed 1968 drama The Swimmer, has died. She was 75.

Landgard died this week after a very brief bout with brain cancer, actor Paul Petersen told The Hollywood Reporter. She recurred as his love interest on the final three seasons of the ABC family comedy The Donna Reed Show.

On Facebook, Petersen called her “the best TV girlfriend my alternate ego, Jeff Stone, ever had. Janet was gorgeous, inside and out … a flawless Scandinavian beauty that literally stunned jaded Hollywood types into silence. We were always close no matter the time or distance.”

In Columbia Pictures’ The Swimmer — directed by Frank Perry and adapted by his then-wife, Eleanor Perry, from a John Cheever short story in The New Yorker — Landgard was memorable as Julie Ann Hooper, who used to babysit Ned Merrill’s...

From Mary Tyler Moore’s black capri pants to the waist-cinching corsets on Bridgerton, the costumes on television’s hottest shows over the past 70-plus years have influenced what we wear more than viewers may realize. That’s the premise of Hal Rubenstein’s just-released book, which is sure to spawn an escapist deep dive by even the most casual TV fan.

Dressing the Part: Television’s Most Stylish Shows (Harper, $36) explores the costume design of 50 high-profile TV series, from I Love Lucy and The Donna Reed Show in the 1950s, to Downton Abbey, Sex and the City, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and others. But it was Bridgerton that inspired the idea for the book. “Harper wanted to do a book on Bridgerton’s costume design, and my feeling was that it was a period costume show that [didn’t relate yet],” Rubenstein told The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought we would see the ramifications...

J.R. was waiting in line with maybe 200 fellow fans to spend a moment getting the autograph of – and perhaps taking a selfie with – Christina Ricci, the actress who made her debut in the “Addams Family” movies in the 1990s who is now an Emmy-nominated star on the Showtime series “Yellowjackets” as well as a regular on Netflix’s “Wednesday.” The setting on Saturday was the Hollywood Autograph Show at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel, a three-times-a-year movie and memorabilia event where fans can come to lay eyes on some old-time celebrity favorites, get their name in ink, pose for a selfie and maybe pick up a book or vintage photograph.

Eighty or so celebrities staked out tables to sign their name and pix for a fee. J.R. was one of those who got hooked on attending these shows a few years back and now never misses one.

Edward L. Rissien, who produced the Burt Lancaster-starring war film Castle Keep and served as an executive at ABC, Bing Crosby Productions, Filmways and Playboy Productions, has died. He was 98.

Rissien died April 8 of natural causes at his home in Los Angeles, his nephew, Emmy-nominated director Michael Zinberg (The Bob Newhart Show, The Good Wife, NCIS), told The Hollywood Reporter.

“Eddie was a well-respected man who had beautiful taste in material,” Zinberg said. “He was always looking for something that would make a difference.”

An Iowa native who started out as a stage manager on Broadway, Rissien helped set up Harry Belafonte‘s HarBel Productions after acquiring the film rights for Odds Against Tomorrow (1959), the Robert Wise-directed drama that starred Belafonte, Robert Ryan and Shelley Winters.

He also produced Snow Job (1972), starring legendary French skier and Olympic champion Jean-Claude Killy as a thief in his only feature role,...

If you weren't alive during the 1970s or don't have a particularly strong connection to the era, you may not recognize the name Louise Lasser. For a few years in the mid-'70s, Lasser was as popular and ubiquitous a TV star as Mary Tyler Moore or Carol Burnett. But unlike those comediennes, Lasser's unique blend of comic wit, ingenue charm, and unfathomably deep, ponderous melancholy hasn't had as much lasting power in the cultural psyche. 

That may have less to do with her impact as the star of the boundary-breaking, ahead-of-its-time soap opera satire "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," and more to do with what the stress of producing five episodes a week per season did to her. "Mary Hartman" centered on an insecure, terminally cheerful yet chronically depressed Midwestern housewife who's never even encountered the concept of depression. The show was developed by Norman Lear as a kind of canny,...

Weigel Broadcasting Co. is flipping its digital broadcast network Decades into the sitcom-centric Catchy Comedy on March 27, Variety has learned exclusively. The over-the-air network will focus on a library of classic comedies, with an emphasis on key female stars including the signature shows from Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett.

But also central to the Catchy Comedy lineup are key series from Norman Lear, as well as some of the most lauded sitcoms of all time – including the original “Night Court,” which is back in the spotlight thanks to the success of the revival series on NBC.

Unlike Decades, which wasn’t measured by ratings, Catchy Comedy will be Nielsen-rated. “That takes it into a different sphere, in terms of advertiser availability and access,” said Neal Sabin, vice chairman of Weigel Broadcasting Co. “There are many advertisers that won’t look at these networks unless they’re rated,...

Kevin O’Neal, the younger brother of actor Ryan O’Neal who for a time built a steady, if less widely known, performing career of his own died in his sleep of natural causes in Thousand Oaks, California, on Saturday, Jan. 28. He was 77.

His death was announced by his nephew Patrick O’Neal, Ryan O’Neal’s son.

“Kevin had a wicked sense of humor, just like his older brother, and we have his stories to keep him in our hearts forever,” Patrick O’Neal wrote on Instagram, adding, “When Kevin walked into a room you heard him before you saw him. That energy and personality is an old O’Neal trademark. Heaven better be ready for him!”

Kevin O’Neal began his television career in the early 1960s, making guest appearances on such series as The Danny Thomas Show, The Donna Reed Show, The Twilight Zone, My Tree Son and Wagon Train.

Kevin O’Neal, the younger brother of Oscar-nominated actor Ryan O’Neal and a regular on the 1960s ABC comedy No Time for Sergeants, has died. He was 77.

O’Neal died Saturday in his sleep of natural causes in Thousand Oaks, a family spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.

O’Neal also appeared as the character Yale in one of Elvis Presley’s final films, The Trouble with Girls (1969).

O’Neal portrayed Private Ben Whitledge on No Time for Sergeants, which lasted one season. The 1964-65 comedy was produced by George Burns’ production company and Warner Bros.

Based on a novel by Mac Hyman, No Time for Sergeants premiered on Broadway in 1954 and was adapted a year later for an ABC U.S. Steel Hour production and then for a 1958 feature. All three starred Andy Griffith.

Geoffrey Garrett O’Neal was born in Los Angeles on March 26, 1945. His parents were novelist-screenwriter Charles “Blackie” O...

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A home once owned by the Oscar-winning actress Donna Reed has hit the market in Palm Springs. Listed for 4.175 million and sitting on nearly three-quarters of an acre, the five-bedroom, 4,341-square-foot home is located in the celebrity enclave of Old Las Palmas.

According to Palm Springs Life magazine, the It’s a Wonderful Life and From Here to Eternity actress, who hosted The Donna Reed Show from 1958 to 1966, owned the house from 1966 to 70. Reed died in 1986 at age 64.

The house is a gated compound that includes a California Monterey-style two-story main house plus a detached two-bedroom guest house. Listed with Bill Coveny of Berkshire Hatahway HomeServices California Properties, the residence was completed in 1934 and designed by Pasadena architect Charles Matcham.

Details include a kitchen with a Bertazzooni range, walk-in pantry and wine refrigerator, and a primary suite with its own fireplace. The main rooms...

Harry Flynn, a veteran publicist whose clients over the decades included Bob Hope, Michael Landon, Carroll O’Connor, Donna Reed and various TV networks and film studios, has died. He was 92.

A friend of his family told Deadline that Flynn died October 5 of natural causes in Los Angeles.

He started in the business during the 1950s but left publicity for a while to write for fan magazines. In 1962, Flynn joined the newly formed ABC on-air promotion department as a writer-producer. Two years later he moved to Columbia’s Screen Gems and would run its TV promotion/publicity department for the next five years, working on such classics series as Bewitched, I Dream Of Jeannie, The Monkees, The Donna Reed Show, The Flying Nun and others.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2022: Photo Gallery Related Story Meghan Markle Says She Was Treated Like A "Bimbo" When She Worked On 'Deal or...

Mark Miller, the prolific actor and screenwriter writer best known for Please Don’t Eat The Daisies and Guestward, Ho! has died. His daughter, actress Penelope Ann Miller, confirmed the news on Twitter. He was 97.

Miller portrayed college professor Jim Nash on Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, which ran from 1965-1967 and then in syndication. The NBC-MGM sitcom, which ran for 58 half-hour episodes, was loosely based on the theatrical film of the same name starring Doris Day and David Niven. The series did well initially, but its ratings took a hit in Season 2 when it was moved opposite The Jackie Gleason Show.

Miller had substantial runs on other big shows, most notably Desilu’s Guestward Ho! on ABC in 1960. He played one half of a New York City couple, the Hootens, who relocate to a dude ranch in New Mexico. Guestward Ho! ran for one season alongside The Donna Reed Show on Thursday evenings.

One of the biggest comedians in silent cinema, Buster Keaton, was offered a weekly television series at a low point in his career — but, to everyone's surprise, he turned it down.

Keaton was a legend of the silver screen and a master of physical comedy, but things took a turn for the worse when silent film went the way of the dodo. Guest spots on television shows like "The Donna Reed Show" and "The Twilight Zone" presented new opportunities for Keaton to showcase his talents. He was resistant to doing a regular weekly show, but it wasn't because he was reclusive. In fact, the star had one very specific reason for turning down his own series.

Transitioning Into Movies

Keaton is best known for the silent films he made in the 1920s like "The General" and "Sherlock, Jr.," but he actually started out in vaudeville theater. After being featured in...

Before she began her five-season tenure as the star of “That Girl” in 1965, 27-year-old Marlo Thomas (daughter of small screen legend Danny Thomas) had appeared on more than a dozen TV programs. She ultimately earned four Best Comedy Actress Emmy nominations for the ABC sitcom and thus became the fifth woman to amass as many bids in the category for a single series, after Gracie Allen (“The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show”), Lucille Ball (“I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show”), Donna Reed (“The Donna Reed Show”), and Elizabeth Montgomery (“Bewitched”).

At the time of her first nomination in 1967, Thomas was the third youngest female comedy lead contender ever. Each of her four eventual losses in the category was to an actress at least three years her senior. Over the course of nearly six decades, she has fallen to 10th place on the list of youngest nominees, with two...

Before she began her five-season tenure as the star of “That Girl” in 1965, 27-year-old Marlo Thomas (daughter of small screen legend Danny Thomas) had appeared on more than a dozen TV programs. She ultimately earned four Best Comedy Actress Emmy nominations for the ABC sitcom and thus became the fifth woman to amass as many bids in the category for a single series, after Gracie Allen (“The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show”), Lucille Ball (“I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show”), Donna Reed (“The Donna Reed Show”), and Elizabeth Montgomery (“Bewitched”).

At the time of her first nomination in 1967, Thomas was the third youngest female comedy lead contender ever. Each of her four eventual losses in the category was to an actress at least three years her senior. Over the course of nearly six decades, she has fallen to 10th place on the list of youngest nominees, with two...

Here are a few bits of trivia about the beloved family sitcom “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” It ran 14 seasons from 1952-66, a record until Fxx’s “It Always Sunny in Philadelphia” kicked off its 15th season last year. But “Philadelphia” has only aired 162 episodes compared to a whopping 435 for “Ozzie and Harriet.”

Despite the fact it aired 14 years, the series only cracked the top 30 in its 11th season where it came in 29th place. The exterior shots were actually of the Nelsons’ real home at 1822 Camino Palmero Street in L.A. (it recently sold for 5.9 million) and the interiors were recreations of their own home. Though the TV Ozzie didn’t seem to have a job, the real-life Ozzie starred, produced, co-wrote and directed “Ozzie and Harriet.”

Topics were far from controversial. There was a whole episode revolving around the fact that a local store delivered new chairs that they hadn’t ordered.

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...

Mira Sorvino has played her fair share of women from the past, most famously portraying Marilyn Monroe in the 1996 TV movie, “Norma Jean and Marilyn.” Her latest series, the Starz horror-comedy “Shining Vale,” sees Sorvino play a muse (of sorts) opposite Courteney Cox portraying a writer looking for her next hit. As a 1950s ghost haunting Cox’s Pat Phelps, Sorvino appreciated Rosemary’s devilish “glee” at getting a second chance to live through Pat and her family.

For the actress, there’s certainly an awareness of how things have progressed for women since Monroe’s day — part of Rosemary’s attraction to Pat is that the latter lives in a more permissive era — and yet so much remains mired in the past. “Being a member of the female gender sets us up for such a different life than, say, if we were a straight cisgender white male from an affluent background,...

Peter Robbins, who was the first person to voice Charlie Brown in several “Peanuts” TV specials in the 1960s, has died. He was 65.

His family told Fox 5 San Diego on Tuesday that he died by suicide last week.

At 9 years old, Robbins first voiced Charlie Brown in “A Boy Named Charlie Brown,” which was a television documentary about “Peanuts” creator Charles M. Schulz released in 1963. He followed that up with the holiday classics “A Charlie Brown Christmas” in 1965 and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” in 1966.

Throughout the ’60s, Robbins provided his voice for “Charlie Brown’s All Stars,” “You’re in Love, Charlie Brown,” “It’s Your Dog, Charlie Brown,” “It Was a Short Summer, Charlie Brown” and the 1969 feature film “A Boy Named Charlie Brown.” The film was directed by veteran animator Bill Melendez, who also provided the voices of Snoopy and Woodstock in dozens of TV specials,...

Peter Robbins, who voiced Charlie Brown in the 1960s Peanuts cartoons, and Kathryn Kates, a veteran actress known for her roles in Seinfeld and Orange Is The New Black, have died. According to Robbins’ family, the former child actor, who suffered from bipolar disorder, committed suicide last week, as first reported by San Diego’s Fox 5. He was 65. Best known for voicing Charlie Brown in holiday classics such as A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966), Robbins voiced the iconic Charles M. Schulz-created character for four years. Outside of his work on the Peanuts cartoons, Robbins guest-starred on TV series such as The Munsters, Rawhide, Get Smart, The Donna Reed Show, F Troop, My Three Sons, and he had a recurring role in the 1968 sitcom Blondie. He later worked as a DJ. Robbins returned to the spotlight in 2015 when he was arrested and sentenced...

Peter Robbins, who voiced Charlie Brown in the classic 1960s Peanuts cartoons, has died. The former actor died by suicide last week, his family told San Diego’s Fox 5. He was 65.

Robbins (real name Louis G. Nanasi) was born in 1956 in Los Angeles. He began acting in 1963 and was the first to play the Charles M. Schulz-created character of Charlie Brown, including in such perennial holiday animated classics as A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965) and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966).

In addition to voicing Charlie Brown for four years, Robbins recurred on the 1968 comedy Blondie and guest starred on such TV series as Rawhide, The Munsters, The Donna Reed Show, F Troop, Get Smart and My Three Sons. Robbins quit acting in 1972. For awhile, he worked as a DJ in Palm Springs.

Robbins, who suffered from bipolar disorder, made headlines in 2015 when he was sentenced to five...

Jerry Douglas, the actor best known for playing patriarch John Abbott on the long-running soap opera “The Young and the Restless,” died Nov. 9 in Los Angeles after a brief illness. He was 88.

Douglas was a mainstay of CBS’ top-rated daytime serial for more than 30 years in the role of the square-jawed cosmetics magnate and pillar of “Y&r’s” fictional Genoa City. He also racked up dozens of TV guests shots and supporting roles in movies over his long career, ranging from “The Bionic Woman,” “Barnaby Jones” and “The Streets of San Francisco” to “Arrested Development,” “Cold Case” and “Melrose Place.”

Douglas was a regular on “Y&r” from 1982 to 2006. Even after his character died, Abbott appeared in flashbacks from time to time, most recently in 2006 when he returned as a ghost to guide his children from the afterlife.. “Y&r” has been a mainstay of CBS’ daytime lineup since 1973. The serial topped the 20,000-episode mark last year.

Joel Rapp, who had writing or co-writing credits on 16 feature films and more than 250 classic sitcoms, died Wednesday at home. He was 87 and no cause of death was given by his family.

Born on May 22, 1934 in New York City, Rapp grew up Beverly Hills in a family considered part of Hollywood royalty. His father, Philip Rapp, created radio series The Bickersons and Baby Snooks. His godmother was actress and singer Fanny Brice, and his godfather was actor-singer Eddie Cantor.

Joel Rapp went on to work with director Roger Corman on many films and wrote for such television hits as Gilligan’s Island, The Lucy Show, McHale’s Navy, My Favorite Martian, The Patty Duke Show, The Joey Bishop Show and The Donna Reed Show.

Later, he became VP Comedy Development at Universal Pictures. But in a departure, he left that position in 1969 to pursue two different passions: indoor gardening and cooking.

Jane Powell...

Joel Rapp, who wrote for sitcoms including The Donna Reed Show, McHale’s Navy and Gilligan’s Island, died Wednesday in his Beverly Hills home, a publicist announced. He was 87.

In collaboration with Roger Corman, Rapp directed the features High School Big Shot (1959) and Battle of Blood Island (1960) and produced the Fabian-starring The Wild Racers (1968). He also worked in comedy development in the ’60s as a vice president for Universal Pictures.

Known as “Mr. Mother Earth, Plant Man to the Stars,” Rapp spent 11 years with Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford as the gardener on their morning TV ...

Joel Rapp, who wrote for sitcoms including The Donna Reed Show, McHale’s Navy and Gilligan’s Island, died Wednesday in his Beverly Hills home, a publicist announced. He was 87.

In collaboration with Roger Corman, Rapp directed the features High School Big Shot (1959) and Battle of Blood Island (1960) and produced the Fabian-starring The Wild Racers (1968). He also worked in comedy development in the ’60s as a vice president for Universal Pictures.

Known as “Mr. Mother Earth, Plant Man to the Stars,” Rapp spent 11 years with Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford as the gardener on their morning TV ...

“Ted Lasso,” “The Mandalorian,” “Hacks,” “The Flight Attendant,” “The Crown” and “The Queen’s Gambit” are among the top nominees for the 73rd annual Primetime Awards, which are set for Sept.19 on CBS with Cedric the Entertainer, who stars on the network’s sitcom “The Neighborhood,” set to host. But this is now, but what about the Emmys 60 years ago.

Dick Powell hosted the 13th Emmy Awards which took place at the famed Moulin Rouge Nightclub in Los Angeles on May 16, 1961. There were just three broadcast networks as well as local channels and National Education Television, now known as PBS.

History was made when The Flintstones” became the first animated series to be nominated in a main category: program achievement in the field of humor. It would be nearly 50 years before another animated series, “The Family Guy,” contended for a top award.

Veterans such as Jack Benny and Red Skelton were among the winners,...

Robert Hogan, the TV actor who appeared in over 100 primetime shows, has died. He was 87.

According to his family’s announcement in the New York Times, Hogan died due to complications from pneumonia at his home in Maine on May 27. He had been living with vascular Alzheimer’s disease since 2013.

Born in Jamaica, Queens, Hogan served as a member of the U.S. Army in Korea and went on to study engineering at New York University after an honorable discharge. As a student, a professor took notice of Hogan and suggested he take an aptitude test to help decide if engineering was really the right professional path for him. His test results suggested Hogan enter the arts, which sent him down a six decade-long path in the film and television industry. The New Yorker’s first move was to refine his skills as an actor at Manhattan’s esteemed American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Robert Hogan, a longtime TV actor who appeared on more than 100 different TV shows over a six-decade career, has died. He was 87.

Hogan passed away on May 27 from pneumonia, his family announced in an obituary. He was diagnosed with Vascular Alzheimer’s disease in 2013.

Hogan’s first TV roles came in the 1960s and include “Hazel,” “The Donna Reed Show,” “Gomer Pyle: Usmc,” “The Twilight Zone” and “Dr. Kildare.” In the 1970s, he would appear in “I Dream of Jeannie,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Hawaii Five-o.” His other TV credits include “T.J. Hooker,” “Laverne & Shirley,” “One Day at a Time,” “The Fall Guy,” “Magnum, P.I.,” “Cosby,” “Now and Again,” “The Wire” and three “Law & Order” programs.

“Hogan’s Heroes,” which he made a few guest appearances on, was named after Hogan by the show’s co-creator Bernard Fein, a longtime friend. Bob Crane played the fictional...

Johnny Crawford, the original Mouseketeer who starred as the young son of the Civil War veteran portrayed by Chuck Connors on the 1958-63 ABC series The Rifleman, died Thursday, it was announced. He was 75.

In 2019, it was revealed that Crawford had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and a GoFundMe campaign organized by Paul Petersen — the advocate for former child actors and onetime star of The Donna Reed Show — was set up to help the family deal with expenses.

Crawford was 12 when he appeared for the first time as Mark McCain, son of the widower Lucas McCain, on The ...

Johnny Crawford, the original Mouseketeer who starred as the young son of the Civil War veteran portrayed by Chuck Connors on the 1958-63 ABC series The Rifleman, died Thursday, it was announced. He was 75.

In 2019, it was revealed that Crawford had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and a GoFundMe campaign organized by Paul Petersen — the advocate for former child actors and onetime star of The Donna Reed Show — was set up to help the family deal with expenses.

Crawford was 12 when he appeared for the first time as Mark McCain, son of the widower Lucas McCain, on The ...

Lee Aaker, best known for starring as Corporal Rusty of “B-Company” on the 1950s western series “The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin,” died on April 1. He was 77.

Paul Petersen, another former child actor, confirmed the news to Variety and posted a tribute on his Facebook page, along with a signed photo of a young Aaker with Rin Tin Tin, his onscreen canine pal.

“Saying Goodbye to Lee Aaker,” Peterson said. “You have to be a certain age to remember Rin Tin Tin. Lee Aaker passed away in Arizona on April 1st, alone and unclaimed…listed as an ‘indigent decedent.’ As an Air Force veteran Lee is entitled to burial benefits. I am working on that. God knows when a sparrow falls.”

Aaker was born on September 25, 1943. His mother, Myles Wilbour, was the owner of a dancing school in Los Angeles. He was singing and dancing at local clubs by the age of 4. At 8-years old,...

Lee Aaker, best known as the 1950s child star of The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin, has died at 77. The news comes via a social media post by former child actor and activist Paul Petersen. Petersen said Aaker “passed away in Arizona on April 1st, alone & unclaimed, listed as an ‘indigent decedent.'”

Aaker was 11 when The Adventures of Rin-Tin-Tin first appeared on ABC. The western’s original run on Friday evenings lasted from October 1954 to May 1959. Aaker played Rusty, a boy orphaned in an Indian raid being raised at Fort Apache. He starred opposite James E. Brown’s Lieutenant Ripley “Rip” Masters and, of course, a number of German shepherds who portrayed the titular canine.

Aaker’s career began propitiously. Even before Rin Tin Tin, at the age of 8 he had uncredited appearances in films such as The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) and High Noon (1952). Aaker then appeared opposite Barbara Stanwyck...