Goodbye, Mr. Young

RIP to the multi-talented Alan Young, who died this week at the age of 96. For all his considerable success as a film player (1960's The Time Machine), a voice actor, and star of a critically acclaimed early TV variety show, there's no escaping the fact that he will be best-remembered for his popular 1961-66 sitcom Mister Ed. By some accounts he was initially reluctant to star opposite a talking horse, but with the passage of time he seemed to embrace the show, recognize that it showcased him well, and take pleasure in how much viewers loved it. And if it's not the sort of role, or series, that typically took home the Emmy gold, it surely took a special gift as a performer to believably carry on conversations with a horse -- especially when the horse answers back.

Happy Birthday, Doll!

Actress Edna Skinner, born on this date in 1921, is probably best-known for playing Kay Addison, wry wife to her "doll" Roger on TV's Mister Ed. But those who enjoyed her work on that show may not realize that she also appeared in the original Broadway company of Oklahoma! (replacing Celeste Holm as Ado Annie), played Maggie, the cook, on Topper, and had a featured role in the classic film Friendly Persuasion.

The death of her co-star Larry Keating in 1963 eventually led to Skinner being written out of Mister Ed during her fourth year with the series. Though Kay Addison's recreational sport of choice seemed to be shopping, Skinner was cut from a different cloth. Retiring from acting at mid-life, Skinner reinvented herself as an expert on fly fishing, her hobby for many years. She and sister Ann (a former model) became regular contributors to Western Outdoors magazine, and were employed as experts in the field by sporting goods manufacturers.

Skinner died at home in North Bend, Oregon on August 8, 2003, at the age of 82. Though Mister Ed lasted until 1966, there seemed to be something missing from this classic show once the sophisticated sparring partners Kay and Roger Addison were no longer to be found next door.