Eve at Work

In the mid-1960s, Eve Arden was back at home in her native California after a family vacation in Rome and London that lasted more than a year. She was ready to get into the swing of being a working actress again, seeing what opportunities were out there in stage, film, and television. In March 1966, that included a guest appearance on NBC's Run for Your Life, which starred Ben Gazzara as a lawyer who goes on the road to experience life to the fullest after being told he's terminally ill.  

Eve on Run Your Life, with Ben Gazzara (center) and Bobby Darin.

Eve was cast as a character the Los Angeles Times' Charles Champlin described as "a gay mother, living it up on the Riviera, complete with Frug-Watusi session," with actress Davey Davison as her shy daughter. Also appearing in the episode was actor-singer Bobby Darin, with whom Eve shared a lively dance sequence. The role was a bit out of the ordinary for Eve, and that's what she liked about it. "It's terrible to be thought of as just a type. I'd rather play a well-developed role -- a mother, not just Joan Crawford's best friend."

Soon, a more prominent television role would come her way, when old friend Desi Arnaz approached her about coming back in a weekly series. The result was her two-year run opposite Kaye Ballard in The Mothers-in-Law. In her late fifties, Eve was still in demand, as she would be for years to come. For more on a career that lasted nearly a lifetime, check out Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances.

Morning Merriment

Fans of classic comedy are in for a treat! Decades, the digital broadcast TV network, is giving its viewers plenty of laughs, with a double dose of morning comedy. Two of the best comediennes of the 1950s are brightening Decades' morning lineup, with the revival of I Married Joan (above), starring Joan Davis, and Our Miss Brooks (below), starring Eve Arden.

And if, after admiring their comic gifts, you find yourself wanting to know more about the lives and careers of these two very funny ladies, I have a suggestion or two for you about that.

Happy Labor Day!

In honor of our national holiday celebrating hard-working Americans, here are a few gainfully employed folks from classic TV:

Enjoy your weekend!

Eve on Demand

I'm pleased to see the success of The Warner Archive Collection and other efforts to bring older movies out of studio vaults and back into public view. For too long, fans have had to hope that the movies they want to see will turn up on TCM or other cable channels, or buy bootleg copies of dubious quality.

The Voice of the Turtle: Eve, Eleanor Parker, Ronald Reagan.

The folks at Warner, for example, have made it easier to see at least ten films featuring my beloved Eve Arden. They cover nearly the entirety of her career, from the likable comedy Having Wonderful Time (1938) to her quirky role as royalty in Under the Rainbow (1981).

My strongest recommendation, however, is for those of you who've never seen her memorable supporting performance in the charming romantic comedy The Voice of the Turtle (1947). If this film fails to turn up on your list of top ten Eve Arden movies, it's probably because you haven't seen it.

Take care of that first chance you get, OK? Then come back and tell me how much you loved it.

Bringing Home the Bacon

Happy birthday to the late Lloyd Bacon (1889-1955), busy Hollywood director who helmed more than 100 films in the course of his long career. Film historians usually count 42nd Street and Marked Woman among his best and most important pictures, but I'm fond of a few Bacon features that aren't so acclaimed. While researching my book on Eve Arden, I saw his briskly paced melodrama A Child is Born (1940), which nicely illustrates the director's oft-quoted comment, "Some others may use motion pictures as a vehicle for a psychological study. I haven't that patience." That slightly self-deprecating quote, though it may sell some of his pictures short, expresses an important point that almost always stands out in this "impatient" director's films: the story moves. That quality is readily apparent in the two Lucille Ball comedies he directed, Miss Grant Takes Richmond (1949) and The Fuller Brush Girl (1950), which came closer than almost any others in her movie career to showing the madcap, hilarious Lucy who would emerge on TV.

Want to learn more about Bacon's career? Here's a terrific overview of Bacon's busy career and distinctive directorial style.

Up the Creek with Eve and Gale

Eve Arden (left) and Gale Storm, with Chick Chandler caught in the middle.

Okay, it's not the best movie you'll ever see. It's probably not even in the top ten. But how far wrong can you go with a movie that stars two of my favorite leading ladies, Eve Arden and Gale Storm?

The film in question would be Curtain Call at Cactus Creek, an amiable 1950 Western comedy that also stars Donald O'Connor, Vincent Price, and Walter Brennan. While Gale plays love interest to O'Connor, Eve is cast as a lady Price's character calls "a second-rate music hall performer who never had any talent." Her response? "With what I had a few years ago, I didn't need any talent!"

Like too many other movies from the golden age of Hollywood, this one hasn't yet had a full-fledged DVD release. However, if it doesn't turn up on one of the old movie channels, you can always find a copy here.

Eve's Big Day

Happy birthday to one of my favorite performers. Born as Eunice Quedens on April 30, 1908, in Mill Valley, California, Eve was stagestruck from her youth. She went on to build an impressive career in theater, radio, film, and TV. Whether you know her from Our Miss Brooks, her Oscar-nominated turn in Mildred Pierce, or one of her other many credits, you aren't likely to forget this distinctive performer once you've encountered her. Though she left us in 1990, many of her best performances can still be enjoyed today.

Researching and writing a book about her professional accomplishments was a labor of love. I hope it encourages others to discover her, or check out some of her lesser-known credits. Some of my favorite Arden films include Stage Door, The Voice of the Turtle, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs. And have you seen her feature film version of Our Miss Brooks? Does it finally turn her into Our Mrs. Boynton? Watch and see.

Paging Miss McGee

With the recent announcements concerning a live remake of the musical Grease to be aired on Fox TV, I can't help wondering who, if anyone, will play school principal Miss McGee. Eve Arden's memorable role didn't originate with the stage version, but was added for the film, so it may or may not be carried over to this 21st century update. But surely there's some comic actress out there ready to take up the mantle and urge a new generation, "If you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter!"

What's on the Radio?

If you're serious about studying -- or just enjoying -- Old Time Radio, this is a reference volume that belongs in your library:

Mr. Hickerson has compiled an impressive amount of information about the classic shows from the Golden Age of radio. I found his book very helpful when researching the careers of radio stars like Eve Arden and Joan Davis, and I was pleased to receive this announcement of an updated edition.

We should all be thankful for OTR lovers like Mr. Hickerson who have contributed so much to our knowledge of this historic medium.

Itt's His Birthday!

Happy birthday to actor, stuntman, and circus performer Felix Silla, who may be best known for the undoubtedly hot and hairy job of playing Cousin Itt on TV's The Addams Family. His other roles include the robotic Twiki on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, as well as guest appearances in everything from Bewitched to Married with Children. A few years ago, when I was researching my book on Eve Arden, I also spotted him in the movie comedy Under the Rainbow (1981), just another role in a career that spanned more than 30 years.

Many happy returns, Mr. Silla!

Ladies and Gentlemen...Eunice Quedens!

Now here's an Eve Arden movie I'll bet you've never seen. If you do see Song of Love, though, don't look for the name "Eve Arden" in the credits. In this 1929 film, Eve, then primarily a stage actress, made her motion picture debut under her real name, Eunice Quedens. She was cast in the featured role of Mazie LeRoy, the sexy other woman to whom heroine Anna Gibson (played by vaudeville star Belle Baker) loses her man.

Sound engineer (later screenwriter and director) Edward Bernds remembered Eve well enough years later to write, "In her skimpy chorus-girl costume she was truly gorgeous and drew the admiring -- and perhaps even the lustful -- attention of the crew members." The New York Times reviewer also paid young Miss Quedens a compliment (we think) when he wrote that she made the character of Mazie "quite lifelike."

You can learn more about this film, and the entirety of Eve's filmography, in my book Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances.

TV Lessons

It's that time of year when I'm glad I'm old enough that I don't have to go back to school. Remember that "uh-oh" feeling in the pit of your stomach when you realized summer vacation was almost over, and it was time to return to the classroom? But if I had to be in school this fall, I wouldn't mind being enrolled with one of these beloved TV teachers.

My #1 choice would be English instructor Constance (Connie) Brooks, as played by Eve Arden, from the hit radio and early TV sitcom Our Miss Brooks. Although Miss Brooks was Madison High's best-loved English teacher, here she seems to be getting an impromptu geography lesson from fellow faculty member Mr. Philip Boynton, as played by Robert Rockwell. Between radio and TV, Miss Brooks' class was in session for 8 years.

I also enjoyed visiting the video classrooms of Walt Whitman High, as seen in ABC's comedy-drama Room 222. Did you know there was a Room 222 comic book? I didn't, but here it is, with stars (left to right) Lloyd Haynes, Karen Valentine, and Michael Constantine pictured. This series, which ran from 1969 to 1974, had what I think is one of the most beautiful musical themes of any weekly show, composed by the great Jerry Goldsmith. If you don't know it, you can check it out here. This was also a trendsetting show for its day, with its relaxed presentation of a culturally diverse student body and faculty.

Who was your favorite TV teacher?

Gales of Laughter

Gale Gordon with Lucy.

Happy birthday to that consummate character actor of radio and television, Gale Gordon, born February 20, 1906 in New York City as Charles Thomas Aldrich, Jr. Best-known for his long association with Lucille Ball, which encompassed regular roles on radio's My Favorite Husband and three of her TV series -- The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy, and Life with Lucy, he also enjoyed great success supporting Eve Arden's title character as school principal Osgood Conklin on both the TV and radio versions of Our Miss Brooks.

In a 1973 interview with journalist Don Freeman, Gordon said, "To me, acting is a job, a nice way of making a living, something I've managed to do now with some measure of success for a total of 50 long years. But I would no more think of 'acting' in front of friends than a plumber would thread a pipe on a social visit to a friend's home. When I'm finished acting, I leave Gale Gordon at the studio and I immediately become Charles Aldrich, Jr., which is still my legal name."

Always in demand to play the kind of boss no one wanted to have (unless you were producing a comedy show), Gordon said, "Although I have always played bossy types, going back to my radio days as Mayor LaTrivia in Fibber McGee and Molly, I am probably the least bossy man in the world. But for the money they pay me, I'm only too delighted to play the bossy, sputtering blow-hard..." And did anyone do it better?

Happy Holidays!

Best wishes to all of you for a happy holiday season. Here's what Christmas looked like at Eve Arden's house in 1953, celebrating with husband Brooks West and their family.

Thanks for helping me launch this blog, and please keep reading in 2014!

Outtakes #4: Eve Arden

While we may think first and foremost of her sixty-plus movies, and starring role in Our Miss Brooks, Eve Arden had a lifelong love for live theater, and continued to perform onstage as often as possible, even after achieving her Hollywood fame. In 1970, fresh from her two-year run in TV's The Mothers-in-Law, Eve accepted an offer to star in the national touring company of Leonard Gershe's Broadway hit Butterflies Are Free. Eve played Mrs. Baker, overprotective mother of a young man who's been blind from birth, and is falling in love with his new neighbor, aspiring actress Jill. The New York production opened in 1969, starring Eileen Heckart and Keir Dullea, and would run for more than 1100 performances. Heckart reprised her role in the 1972 film, winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar.

Interviewed during the Chicago run, Eve said, "It's a very good, interesting, fun play ... It's a comedy, but very touching. I can't remember doing a play so satisfying to an audience." In Los Angeles, the company settled in for a healthy run at the renowned Huntington Hartford Theatre. Ready to long for the good old days? According to this vintage playbill, top ticket prices, for orchestra seats on Friday and Saturday nights, cost $7.50. A nosebleed seat in the upper balcony at a Wednesday matinee could be yours for only $2.00. Of Eve's performance, newspaper critic Joseph H. Firman wrote, "Arden shows herself once again to be the among the best of America's comediennes, but adds serious acting that reveals skill and depth."

It's a shame that Eve's performance in Butterflies Are Free exists only in playgoers' memories. But close your eyes and listen -- can't you just hear that voice responding to Jill, the wannabee actress, with, "Might I have seen you in anything, besides your underwear?"

Our Mr. Crenna

Happy birthday to Richard Crenna, born November 30, 1926 in Los Angeles, California. Some fans might most readily recognize him as Luke from the long-running sitcom The Real McCoys (1957-63), or from his appearances with Sylvester Stallone in three "Rambo" movies, but to me he's first and foremost the nerdy teenager Walter Denton from radio and TV's Our Miss Brooks.

Crenna as another teenager on I Love Lucy.

A busy radio actor throughout his teen years, Crenna was already in his early twenties when he joined the ensemble cast of Eve Arden's radio comedy as the gawky high school student with the squawky voice. When Our Miss Brooks transferred to TV in 1952, Crenna tried to bow out of the role he'd outgrown, but acquiesced when Miss Arden implored him to help get the video version off to a solid start. He would ultimately spend three more years as Walter on TV -- "I had a very delayed puberty," he would later say with a laugh -- before being written out of the series in 1955.

Unlike many child performers, Crenna (who changed his professional name from Dick to Richard as he aged), was equally successful as an adult, enjoying a career notable both for its longevity and its variety. It took time to change his image from gangly teen to leading man, but he managed to do so, and would be in demand for the next several decades. He won an Emmy for his role in the 1985 TV-movie The Rape of Richard Beck, and had a recurring role on CBS' Judging Amy at the time of his death in 2003. Interviewed by syndicated columnist Gene Handsaker in 1967, Crenna gave a clue to his success as a performer when he said, "Everything you do can't be great. But you have to go in feeling you can make a 100 per cent contribution of your talent. An actor just doing a part for the money isn't giving the producer his money's worth."

You can find more information on the history of Our Miss Brooks, both on radio and television, in my book Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances. Unfortunately, the TV show hasn't had a proper DVD release, but you can catch Walter in all his ear-bruising glory on YouTube.

Outtakes #3: Eve Arden

If you could add up the combined hours these six people spent in front of a TV camera, you'd have...well, a whole lotta TV to watch. In this 1978 photo, another I acquired for my collection while doing a book on Eve Arden, she's at far right. Joining her are (l-r) her Our Miss Brooks featured player Richard Crenna, along with Bonnie Franklin (One Day at a Time), Jim Nabors (Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.), Linda Lavin (Alice), and Bert Convy (Tattletales). The occasion was a 50th anniversary special for the Eye Network, called CBS: On the Air.

Another 35 years have slipped by since then (yikes!), and with the recent passing of Bonnie Franklin, only Nabors and Lavin are still with us. The former singing waitress at Mel's Diner starred in an off-Broadway show in 2012, while the scourge of Sergeant Carter's existence made headlines earlier this year with his marriage to longtime partner Stan Canwallader. There's a surprising amount of musical chops among this sextet, so their song-and-dance number probably sounded pretty good. Would you believe me if I told you I was too young to stay up and watch this show in 1978? Nah, didn't think so.

Outtakes #2: Eve Arden

Sometimes it seems as if Eve Arden played the smart, funny, loyal best pal of every Golden Age movie actress. Aside from her Oscar-nominated turn as Ida Corwin in Mildred Pierce, supporting Joan Crawford, Eve also befriended Barbara Stanwyck (My Reputation), Doris Day (Tea for Two), and Jane Wyman (The Lady Takes a Sailor), to name a few. "When they throw Shirley Temple at me," she once joked, "I'm going to quit."

In the photo above, though (another outtake from my book on Eve), she's doing the honors for a leading lady you might not so easily recognize. Can you name the lovely lady at left in this 1930s still? Post the answer -- or your best guess -- in the comments below. I'll solve the mystery on Monday, if no one beats me to it. Happy old movie watching!

Outtakes: Eve Arden

Although it's the words that matter most in a book about a legendary performer like Eve Arden, I also love using photos to document the careers I write about -- and  you'll find 60 of them in "Eve Arden: A Chronicle of All Film, Television, Radio and Stage Performances."   Inevitably, though, there are pictures that, for one reason or another, don't make the cut in the finished book. I thought it would be fun to use this blog to share some of those that I've collected in the course of writing four books.

This one shows Eve in 1947, shopping for dresses with her daughter Liza. Onscreen, Eve's character in Our Miss Brooks faced an uphill battle in her quest to find love and domestic happiness. In real life, though, Eve adopted two daughters in the 1940s, and was subsequently married for many years to actor and artist Brooks West. Together they raised a family of four, and if you've ever read or heard an interview with Eve, you'll know how important that family was to her. I think this photo nicely illustrates that.