Tony Randall

Randall was a frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and often spoke of his love of opera, saying it was due in no small part to the salaciousness of many of the plotlines. He also admitted to sneaking tape recorders into operas to make his own private recordings. He chided Johnny Carson for his chain-smoking, and was generally fastidious. At the time of his death, Randall had appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show 105 times, more often than any other celebrity.

Randall appeared frequently on What’s My Line?, Password, The Hollywood Squares, and the $10,000 and $20,000 Pyramids. He also parodied his pompous image with an appearance as a “contestant” on The Gong Show in 1977.

First aired on October 11 of 1980, Randall was a guest star on the 5th and final season of The Muppet Show. This was the 100th episode of the show.

Randall, along with John Goodman and Drew Barrymore was one of the first guests on the debut episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien on 13 September 1993. He would also appear in Conan’s 5th Anniversary Special with the character PimpBot 5000. Randall was also a frequent guest on both of David Letterman‘s late-night shows Late Night with David Letterman and the Late Show with David Letterman, making 70 appearances, according to his obituary in the Washington Post; Letterman said that Randall was one of his favorite guests, along with Regis Philbin.

On November 7, 1994, Randall appeared on the game show Jeopardy!, as part of a Special Edition Celebrity Jeopardy! episode, playing on behalf of the National Actors Theatre. He came in second place after General Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. and before Actress Stefanie Powers, with a final score of $9,900.^[8]

In 1999, Randall was featured in the Simpsons episode “Maximum Homerdrive” (season 10, episode 17). A picture of Randall is seen on a wall of fame in a steakhouse, displaying the only two persons who have finished a 16-lb. steak called “Sir Loinalot”.

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Harmon Clayton Killebrew

Killebrew was a stocky 6-foot tall, 195-pound^[2] hitter with a compact swing that generated tremendous power. He became one of the AL’s most feared power hitters of the 1960s, hitting 40 home runs in a season eight times. In 1965, he played in the World Series with the Minnesota Twins, who lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers. His finest season was 1969, when he hit 49 home runs, recorded 140 runs batted in (RBI), and won the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Killebrew led the league six times in home runs and three times in RBIs, and was named to eleven All-Star teams.

With quick hands and exceptional upper-body strength, Killebrew was known not just for the frequency of his home runs but also for their distance. He hit the longest measured home runs at Minnesota’s Metropolitan Stadium, 520 ft (160 m), and Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, 471 ft (144 m), and was the first of just four batters to hit a baseball over the left field roof at Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. Despite his nicknames and his powerful style of play, Killebrew was considered by his colleagues to be a quiet, kind man. Asked once what hobbies he had, Killebrew replied, “Just washing the dishes, I guess.”^[3]

After retiring from baseball, Killebrew became a television broadcaster for several baseball teams from 1976 to 1988, and also served as a hitting instructor for the Oakland Athletics. He also divorced and remarried during this time, moving to Arizona in 1990 and chairing the Harmon Killebrew Foundation. Killebrew was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in December 2010, and died five months later.

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Lawrence Welk

After retiring from his show and from the road in 1982, Welk continued to air reruns of his shows, which were repackaged first for syndication and, starting in 1986, for public television. He also starred in and produced a pair of Christmas specials in 1984 and 1985.

Welk died from pneumonia in Santa Monica, California, in 1992 at age 89 and was buried in Culver City‘s Holy Cross Cemetery.

In 1996, Welk was ranked #43 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time.^[1]

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Frank John Gorshin, Jr.

Gorshin’s last television appearance was in “Grave Danger“, an episode of the CBS series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation which aired two days after his death; the episode, which was directed by Quentin Tarantino, was dedicated to his memory. While he was known for his impressions, his role on CSI was as himself.

Gorshin’s final live appearance was a Memphis performance of Say Goodnight, Gracie. He finished his performance and boarded a plane for Los Angeles on April 25. After he experienced severe breathing difficulty during the flight, the attendants gave him an emergency oxygen mask. Upon landing, Gorshin was met by an ambulance which took him to the hospital, where he later died on May 17, 2005, at the age of 72 from lung cancer, emphysema, and pneumonia. Gorshin had been a heavy smoker for most of his adult life, consuming up to five packs of cigarettes a day. Adam West claimed that “Frank could reduce a cigarette to ash with one draw.” When he did nightclub performances or live shows, audiences were warned not to attend if they disliked smoking.

He is interred at the Roman Catholic Calvary Cemetery in the Hazelwood section of Pittsburgh.

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AS CHRISTIE’S HAS RECORD $495M NIGHT

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

Posted May 16, 2013 12:51 PM CDT

The show began as a black-and-white pilot episode filmed for CBS on April 21, 1965. That pilot was hosted by Bert Parks with the squares occupied by Cliff Arquette (in his “Charlie Weaver” comic persona), Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Abby Dalton, Jim Backus, Gisele MacKenzie,Robert Q. Lewis and Vera Miles. The first five of the initial panelists were to later appear on the first broadcast week (October 17–21, 1966) and become the five initial regulars on NBC-TV. CBS shot a second pilot hosted by Sandy Baron, but chose not to pick up the program with either host. A year later, NBC acquired the rights to the show and chose Peter Marshall as host, a job he held for 15 years until 1981. Hollywood Squares was the final touch to a short-lived game show powerhouse on NBC, which also included Concentration, Jeopardy!, You Don’t Say!, Let’s Make a Deal, The Match Game, and others. During most of its daytime run, NBC broadcast Hollywood Squares at 11:30 a.m. Eastern/10:30 a.m. Central time; it dominated the ratings until 1976, when it moved to the first of a succession of different time slots. The original title of the show was The Hollywood Squares. Over time, the title became simply Hollywood Squares. The show also ran at night, first on NBC from January 12 to September 13, 1968 as a mid-season replacement for the short-lived sitcom Accidental Family. A nighttime syndicated program ran weekly from November 1, 1971 until 1972, twice a week until 1980 and five days per week in its final season. It ended on September 11, 1981.

The show celebrates the start of its ninth year on the air in 1974. Pictured are Paul Lynde, Rose Marie, host Peter Marshall, and Cliff Arquette as Charley Weaver.

Paul Lynde, in addition to his recurring role as “Uncle Arthur” on Bewitched, had his greatest fame as the featured (and, in tic-tac-toe, tactically important) “center square” throughout most of the original show’s run. On October 14, 1968, after two years on the show, Lynde became the regular center square. Lynde’s outrageous jokes helped him win two daytime Emmy Awards, in 1974 and 1978. Some regulars were frequently asked questions pertaining to a certain topic or category. For instance, Cliff Arquette (“Charlie Weaver”), a history buff, excelled at American history questions. Rich Little almost always received questions about other celebrities, which gave him an opportunity to do an impression of that individual. Roddy McDowall usually gave correct answers about the plays of Shakespeare. Rose Marieoften received questions on dating and relationships, playing off her lovelorn comic persona. Demond Wilson often responded with mock anger to questions that were carefully worded to play upon African American stereotypes. Other regulars and semi-regulars over the years included Nanette Fabray, Kaye Ballard, Wally Cox, Morey Amsterdam, Florence Henderson, Buddy Hackett, Marty Allen, Wayland Flowers and Madame, Barbara Eden, George Gobel, Vincent Price, Charo, Sandy Duncan, Carol Wayne, Jonathan Winters, Karen Valentine, and Joan Rivers. Lynde left the series after taping the August 20–24, 1979, week of shows, but returned when the series relocated to Las Vegas in the 1980–1981 season. The daytime series was played as a best two-out-of-three match between a returning champion and an opponent, with each individual game worth $200 and a match worth $400 (originally $100 for each game and $300 for the match). A five-match champion retired with $2,000, any Secret Square prizes won up to that point, and a new car. Beginning in 1977 on this version, this was increased to include additional cash ($5,000 or $10,000) and a luxury vacation. Early in 1976, an endgame was added after each match, with the champion simply selecting a star, each of whom held an envelope with a prize; the top prize was $5,000. Both the syndicated and NBC prime time versions featured the same two contestants playing for the entire half-hour with each completed game worth $300 (NBC prime time) or $250 (syndicated). On the syndicated version, if time ran out with a game still in progress (interrupted by what the host called the “tacky buzzer,” a loud horn), each X or O on the board at that point was worth an additional $50 to the contestants, with each contestant guaranteed at least $100 in total winnings. The contestant with the most money at the end of the show won a bonus prize, which for the first seven years of the syndicated series was a car. From 1978–1980, the “endgame” described above was utilized, with the car and $5,000 (later $10,000) as the two top prizes. On the daily syndicated series, each game awarded its victor a prize, and contestants who won the most games competed in a $100,000 tournament. If the match ended in a tie, one final question was played with the star of one contestant’s choosing; if the contestant agreed or disagreed correctly, he/she won the match, otherwise the match went to the opponent.

The first theme song used from 1966 to 1970 was an orchestration of “The Silly Song” by Jimmie Haskell; however, the version used on the show is not the same one released on the LP (Jimmie Haskell’s French Horns, Vol. 2). The track found on the LP is a version with vocals and has a different instrumentation than the version used on the program.

The second and most famous theme was composed by William Loose. Called “Bob & Merrill’s Theme,” it was named for Bob Quigley and Merrill Heatter, the show’s creators and original co-executive producers. This version of the theme song, in an edited format, is available on The Best of TV Quiz and Game Show Themes.

A third theme song was used from 1979 to 1981. Stan Worth re-recorded a new version of “Bob & Merrill’s Theme” with quasi-disco styling and renamed it as “The Hollywood Bowl.” Three versions of “The Hollywood Bowl” were created for the show: one for the opening music, one for the secret square prize descriptions and one for the main theme.

The theme to The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour was “Lottery,” composed by Edd Kalehoff for Score Productions. Even as the show ended its run in 1984, the theme is still heard as a car prize cue on The Price Is Right and was used for similar purposes on the late-1980s revival of Card Sharks.

The theme to the 1986–1989 edition and its cues were composed by Stormy Sacks (who also performed live music during the show itself, as required for certain questions or celebrity intros). This music package was re-arranged/recorded for the show’s final season.

The 1998–2004 edition had two themes. The first theme, “I Love Hollywood,” and its accompanying music cues were composed by Jennifer May Mauldaur & Paul David Weinberg, with the main theme vocals by series regular/co-producer Whoopi Goldberg and was used from 1998 to 2002, with a remixed version used for the 2001–02 season. The second theme, “Hollywood Square Biz,” was a re-recording of the Teena Marie song “Square Biz,” originally written, composed, and released in 1981, and it was used from 2002 to 2004.

Yvonne Joyce Craig

In the mid-1960s, with film roles beginning to taper off, she moved into television, appearing in several shows including The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Death Valley Days, Hennesey, and My Three Sons. One of her more memorable roles came in 1968 when Craig appeared on Star Trek as Marta, a green-skinned Orion slave girl in the third season episode “Whom Gods Destroy” (1968).

In a 1965 episode of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (“The Brain Killer Affair”), she helps solve the mystery of a brain-endangering poison.^[2] In 1966, U.N.C.L.E. released a theatrical film, One Spy Too Many. This was made from a two-part episode with added footage depicting more violence and risque content than seen on television.^{[citation needed]} Craig was hired to do a semi-nude sunbathing scene and carry on a flirtatious relationship with Napoleon Solo.^{[citation needed]}

In a 1966 episode of The Wild Wild West (“The Night of the Grand Emir”), she plays an assassin who performs an exotic Arabian dance. She also played a US Navy Nurse with exotic Arabian dance skills in an episode of McHale’s Navy (“Pumpkin Takes Over”, 1965). She appeared in an episode of The Big Valley with Lee Majors and Barbara Stanwyck.

In a 1968 episode of The Ghost & Mrs. Muir (“Haunted Honeymoon”), she plays a bride-to-be stranded overnight at Gull Cottage.

But her highest profile would come with the cult 1960s television series Batman as Batgirl.

Most famously, in Batman, she had the role of Batgirl (and her alter ego, librarian Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter). She appeared in the final 1967–1968 season.^[3] Batgirl’s true identity was unknown to Batman and Robin, and their true identities were unknown to her; only Alfred, the butler for Bruce Wayne/Batman, was aware of Batgirl’s identity.

Craig felt some connection to the character and complained to DC Comics about her fate after Barbara Gordon was shot/paralyzed by The Joker in the 1988 graphic novel, Batman: The Killing Joke.^[4] In several episodes, Batgirl was bound, gagged and helpless.

After Batman, Yvonne Craig continued to act sporadically in movies and television. Notably, she appeared in guest roles in Love, American Style (the first episode), Kentucky Jones, It Takes a Thief, The Mod Squad, and Emergency! From 1969–1972, she appeared in four episodes of the comedy series Love, American Style. She also did a guest role on The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). She also has made appearances as herself on some celebrity editions ofFamily Feud (1976-1985 version).^[5]

Craig eventually moved into private business. For a time, she was a coproducer of industrial shows, after which she worked successfully in the real estate business. She maintains her own internet website.

Craig appears in the documentary Ballets Russes.^[5]

Since 2009, Craig has provided the voice of Grandma on the animated children’s show Olivia.^[5]

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Mary Debra Winger

She has also been nominated for four Golden Globe awards, two BAFTA awards, an Emmy Award, and won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for Terms of Endearment and the Tokyo International Film Festival Award for Best Actress for A Dangerous Woman.

Winger’s first acting role was as “Debbie” in the 1976 sexploitation film Slumber Party ’57.^[7] Her next role was as Diana Prince’s younger sister Drusilla (Wonder Girl) on the TV show, Wonder Woman.

Her first starring role was in Thank God It’s Friday, followed by her performance in Urban Cowboy in 1980 with John Travolta, for which she received a BAFTA nomination and a pair of Golden Globe nominations (for Best Performance by an Actress and Best New Star). In 1982 she co-starred with Nick Nolte in Cannery Row and with Richard Gere in An Officer and a Gentleman, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress twice more: for Terms of Endearment in 1983 (which was awarded to her co-star, Shirley MacLaine, who played her mother in the film) and for Shadowlands in 1993 for which she also received her second BAFTA nomination. Her performance in A Dangerous Woman earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.^[8]

Over the years Winger acquired a reputation for being outspoken and sometimes difficult to work with.^[9][10][11] She has expressed her dislike of An Officer and a Gentleman, for which she refused to do any publicity,^[11] and several other of her films, and has been dismissive of some of her co-stars and directors. Commenting on her past attitudes, Winger said in 2009, “Most bad behavior comes from insecurity. Even though I loved what I was doing, I didn’t always know I could pull it off. (…) I took [my insecurities out] on everybody. But in my defense, I never fought about the size of my trailer or things like that; it was always about the work”.^[12] When Barbara Walters interviewed Bette Davis in 1986, Davis said “I see a great deal of myself in Debra Winger.”

Winger was cast in the lead role in A League of their Own but dropped out and was replaced by Geena Davis. It was later reported that the main reason Winger chose to leave the film was her refusal to work with singer/actress Madonna.

In 1995 Winger decided to take a hiatus from acting. In 2002 she said, “I wanted out for years. I got sick of hearing myself say I wanted to quit. It’s like opening an interview with “I hate interviews!” Well, get out! I stopped reading scripts and stopped caring. People said, ‘We miss you so much.’ But in the last six years, tell me a film that I should have been in. The few I can think of, the actress was so perfect”.^[13] After making Forget Paris in 1995 she was absent from the screen for six years before returning in 2001 with Big Bad Love, written and directed by her husband, Arliss Howard, and also marking Winger’s debut as a producer.^[14]

From November 1999 to January 2000 Winger had the female lead in the American Repertory Theater‘s production of Anton Chekhov‘s play Ivanov.^[15]

In 2001 a critically acclaimed documentary film titled Searching for Debra Winger was made by Rosanna Arquette and released in 2002 after Winger returned to film acting. Other films includedLegal Eagles, Made in Heaven, Everybody Wins, The Sheltering Sky, Leap of Faith, Black Widow, Betrayed, Wilder Napalm, A Dangerous Woman and Sometimes in April. She earned an Emmy Award nomination for her title role in the television film Dawn Anna in 2005, directed by Arliss Howard.

In 2008 she got positive reviews as Anne Hathaway’s estranged mother in Rachel Getting Married.^[16]

In 2010 she moved into television, making a guest appearance as a high school principal in an episode of Law & Order.^[17] She also joined the cast of HBO’s In Treatment as one of the three patients featured in the third season.^[18]

From 1983 to 1985 Winger dated Bob Kerrey, at the time the Governor of Nebraska, whom she met while filming Terms of Endearment in Lincoln, Nebraska.^[22]

From 1986 to 1990 she was married to actor Timothy Hutton with whom she had a son, Noah Hutton, a documentary filmmaker born in 1987. They divorced three years later.^[23][24]

In 1996 she married actor/director Arliss Howard, whom she met on the set of the film Wilder Napalm. Their son, Gideon Babe Ruth Howard (known as Babe), was born in 1997. She is stepmother to Sam Howard

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Wavy Gravy

Romney’s clown persona resulted from his political activism. Frequently being arrested at demonstrations, he decided he would be less likely to be arrested if he dressed as a clown. “Clowns are safe,” he said.^[3] He does, however, enjoy traditional clown activities such as jokes, magic tricks and entertaining children.

Romney founded and co-founded several organizations, including Camp Winnarainbow, the Seva Foundation and the Hog Farm, an activist commune.^[4] He was also the official clown of the Grateful Dead^[5] and has two radio shows on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Jam On station.^[6]

A major film documentary on Wavy Gravy’s life, Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie, was released in late 2010 by Ripple Effect Films.^[7] The film, directed by Michelle Esrick, received positive reviews.^{[8][9][10][11]}

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Lee Arthur Horsley

Horsley began his acting career touring in stage productions of West Side Story, Damn Yankees, and Oklahoma!. In 1981, he portrayed TV detective Archie Goodwin in the short-lived NBC drama series Nero Wolfe. He played the titular character in the 1982–1985 ABC detective series Matt Houston, and starred as Ethan Allen Cord in the 1988-1991 Western Heritage Award-winning seriesParadise. He appeared in the feature-length cult film The Sword and the Sorcerer in 1982, and appeared in its sequel Tales of an Ancient Empire in 2010.^[2] He recorded the audiobook edition ofLarry McMurtry‘s Lonesome Dove. In 2006, Horsley and Marshall R. Teague traveled the world in search of exotic game on the Outdoor Life Network for the reality show, Benelli’s Dream Hunts. In 2012 he appeared in the Quentin Tarantino film Django Unchained, as Sheriff Gus.

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