| May 31 |
| 1894 -- comedian Fred Allen is born John Florence Sullivan in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Although wildly successful in radio, in no small part due to his decades-long running 'feud' with friend Jack Benny, Fred also had a number of game show appearances, most notably on 'What's My Line.' One of many quotes attributed to him is 'Television is a device that permits people who haven't anything to do to watch people who can't do anything.' He died of a heart attack in 1956 at the age of 61. 1912 -- Marion 'Barbara' Pepper was born in New York City. For those of us who remember her best as Doris Ziffel, the cantankerous, heavyset 'mother' of Arnold the Pig, it's hard to imagine that she started out as a sleek, brassy Ziegfield Girl. However, according to imdb.com, in 1949 her husband Craig Reynolds died in a motorcycle crash, an event that drove the grief-stricken actress to what would become a lifelong problem with alcohol. Along with that came massive gain and a raspy changing of her voice. Her health deteriorated during the run of 'Green Acres' and she was forced to step down from the role in favor of Fran Ryan during the 1968-69 season. She died shortly after that on July 18, 1969, of a heart attack. Imdb.com also has a unique story that leads one to think of what might have been: "After Bea Benaderet proved unavailable, Barbara was seriously considered for the part of "Ethel Mertz" on friend Lucille Ball's classic sitcom in 1951, two years after Barbara's husband was killed. But by this time, the depressed Barbara had developed a chronic alcohol problem. With William Frawley ("Fred Mertz"), whose fondness for the bottle was legendary, already cast, executive producer Desi Arnaz felt he couldn't take the chance of having to keep two people in line. Vivian Vance, of course, eventually got the part. 1958 -- Sheb Wooley's 'Purple People Eater hit #1 on pop charts and remained there for six weeks. Best-known for his role as Pete Nolan on 'Rawhide,' Sheb (a nickname of his given 'Shelby') also was one of the original cast members of 'Hee Haw' and wrote the theme song, as well. Note: in December, 1988, family-friendly 'Purple People Eater' hit the big screen, starring youngster Neil Patrick Harris, Ned Beatty, Shelley Winters, among others. And yes, Sheb had a bit part as 'Harry Skinner.' 1962 -- Groucho Marx's follow-up to 'You Bet Your Life,' 'Tell It to Groucho,' aired for the last time on CBS. In contrast to the popularity of his first show, 'Tell It to Groucho' lasted just five months. 1964 -- the Dave Clark Five make the first of their 12 appearances on 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' 1976 -- the Who made the Guinness Book of World Records as what was then the loudest rock band ever with a concert set measuring 76,000 watts and 120 decibels. Who songs are used as the themes of 'CSI' and all its spinoffs. 1989 -- CBS News Correspondent Terry Drinkwater died of cancer at 53. 1990 -- Art Lund first gained attention as a member of the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Later, he focused on his acting career both on stage and television. He died this day Utah at the age of 85. 1990 -- 'The Seinfeld Chronicles' started a two-month summer replacement run on NBC. TV show debuted as The Seinfeld Chronicles. It became part of the network's schedule in January of 1991 under its retitled 'Seinfeld' banner and became a television classic. 1992 -- the final episode of 'Night Court' airs on NBC. 2001 -- actress/panelist Arlene Francis, best known as a regular on 'What's My Line?' for what imdb.com sites as 754 episodes, diea at age 93. |