Sunday, February 17, 2008

Beverly Hillbillies (and other TV) memories

Cliff and I were watching some old Beverly Hillbillies episodes during and after lunch (pork roast, mashed potatoes, and liver and onions... don't ask).

Cliff saw the name "Paul Henning" at the beginning of an episode and wondered who he was; I recalled his being from Missouri.  The story was that he had tried to peddle his hillbilly story for years before it finally sold.  The rest is history.

Then Cliff wondered about the lady playing Pearl Bodine; "She was in some other show," he said.

Indeed she was.  Her name was Bea Benaderet, and the show that first came to my mind was the old "Bob Cummings Show", which I absolutely loved as a kid.  But she was in many, many others.

Bob Cummings was also from Missouri:  Joplin, to be exact.  His godfather, Orville Wright, taught him to fly. 

Obviously, I spent a lot of time on Google this afternoon.

Still watching Beverly Hillbillies, Cliff asked if all those actors were dead.

Welll, Ellie May is still kicking, and so is Max Baer (Jethro).  The older ones are deceased, although many of them lived to their 90's.  Bea Benaderet died of lung cancer at age 62.

All that reminiscing then reminded me of the old Topper show, and Cliff and I discussed that for awhile.  But I'll stop at that, or this post will never end.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I spent an enormous amount of time on youtube watching the season 7 American Idol contestants since hubby  hates the show!  I had fun! ;)

Anonymous said...

John and I love the old Beverly Hillbillies.  It's funny...I used IMDB.com to research all the actors on the show too. I love finding out who did what show and if they are still alive. It still amazes me how young "Granny" really was when she did the show.  She was MY age!  Buddy Ebsen lived a really long time and did lots of shows. I always loved the characters he played.

Anonymous said...

I have always LOVED the Beverly Hillbillies. One time we took a tour of Bev Hills and they showed us the mansion that they used for the show. It was magnificent! But, they all are in Bev Hills! LOL!
It was cool 'cause those old shows were on TVland and my son grew up watching them, too! Those shows are worth watching!
Pam

Anonymous said...

I have the Beverly Hillbillies on in the background right now!  Love that show.  Bea Benedaret played Kate on Petticoat Junction, too.  
Lori

Anonymous said...

The lady that played Pearl also played on Petticoat Junction!!!!
love ya,
carlene