| July 22 |
1932 -- Canadian radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden dies in Bermuda. On December 23, 1900, he made what was apparently the first transmission of speech; on Christmas Eve, 1906, he made a transmission of 'O Holy Night' and a Scripture reading to shipboard radio operators along the East Coast. Although largely forgotten now, this inventor, pioneer and visionary held nearly 500 patents at the time of his death. .Among his many inventions was a precursor of sonar called the Fessendon oscillator that was created to prevent another Titanic-like disaster. For an excellent article on Reginald, check Answers.com. Reginald Fessenden was 65 years old at the time of his death. 1965 -- 'Till Death Us Do Part' debuts on BBC. The story of how a bigoted Cockney, his daffy wife, his beloved only-child daughter and her annoying husband manage to live together under one roof became so popular that it caught the attention of producer/director Norman Lear, who translated it into 'All in the Family.' (Lear later mined BBC gold again by adapting 'Steptoe and Son' into 'Sanford and Son.') Although 'Til Death' aired for seven seasons, its episode count was just 52 due to the shorter BBC seasons. 'All in the Family' (which was a mid-season replacement on January 12, 1971) aired nearly that many in its first two full seasons. 1972 -- 'The Bobby Darin Amusement Company' premiers on CBS. 1974 -- The No. 1 Billboard Pop Hit is 'Annie's Song' by television favorite John Denver. John wrote the song in 10 minutes on a ski lift in Switzerland. 1979 -- Beloved character actress Hope Summers, Aunt Bee's life-long friend on 'The Andy Griffith Show' and the original voice of the talking Mrs. Butterworth bottle, dies in Woodland Hills, California, of heart failure. A native of Illinois, Hope (that was her middle name; her first name was Sarah) founded two separate repertory theater companies in her home state. Hope broke into television in 1951 on 'Hawkins Falls, Population 6,200' and then had a recurring role on the popular western 'The Rifleman' as Hattie Denton. It was when she moved to Mayberry, though, as part of the ensemble of 'The Andy Griffith Show' that Hope attained legendary' status among TV fans. As a neighbor and former Sweetbriar Normal School classmate of Aunt Bee's, the lifelong friends were sometimes petty, sometimes envious, but ultimately always best friends. Interestingly, though, Hope played this character under three different names, perhaps a first-and-only in television history. Known at the end as 'Clara Edwards,' she was earlier referred to as Bertha Edwards and Clara Johnson. (As much as we love 'The Andy Griffith Show,' we have to admit that continuity was sometimes trampled upon during the course of the series.) Hope also had an interesting film career, appearing in 'Rosemary's Baby,' 'Five Card Stud,' 'Spencer's Mountain' and the controversial 'The Children's Hour.' Hope's last film, 'Foul Play' with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn, came out in 1978, a year before she died. At the time of her death, Sarah Hope Summers was 83. And though we Mayberryians don't like to talk about it, when Miss Edwards lived in New York she was dedicated to consecrating Mia Farrow's baby to you-know-who, which probably means she was from Siler City . . . |
| 'Til Death Us Do Part' aired on BBC from June 6, 1966 til December 12, 1975. Bald Warren Mitchell (center) is Cockney bigot Alf Garnett; Dandy Nichols (back right) is wife Else; Una Stubbs (near left) is daughter Rita and Anthony Booth (near right) is her husband Mike. |
| 'All in the Family' was Norman Lear's Americanized version of 'Til Death Us Do Apart.' Carroll O'Connor (near left) is bigoted Brooklyn dockworker Archie Bunker; Jean Stapleton (near right) is his loving, loyal wife Edith; Sally Struthers (back, left) is their beloved daughter Gloria and Rob Reiner (back, right) is her liberal husband Mike. The show aired from January 12, 1971, til April 8, 1979. |
