Louis Nye

Louis Nye

Born: May 1, 1913
Died: October 9, 2005
in Hartford, Connecticut, USA
Louis Nye, born Louis Neistat, was an American comedic actor. He was an entertainer to the troops during World War II and is best known for his work on countless television, film and radio programs.

Nye decided to go to New York City, where he worked in radio, playing various roles on soap operas. He recalled "I still think of myself as an actor. In the radio days, I was busy playing rotten Nazis, rich uncles and emotional juveniles -- the whole span -- and the only time I tried to be funny was at parties."

Nye served in the United States Army during World War II, and because he earned laughs by mimicking other soldiers, he was assigned to run the recreation hall. Following his discharge, he returned to New York and began working in live television. He also appeared in several plays on Broadway, and made many appearances on television variety shows such as The Jack Benny Program (including one memorable turn as a crying cab driver), The Jimmy Durante Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom and The Victor Borge Show.

He earned his greatest fame as a regular on The Steve Allen Show, performing with Allen, Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Pat Harrington Jr., Dayton Allen, Gabriel Dell and Bill Dana. He primarily played urbane, wealthy, and often fey bon vivants; as part of the weekly "Man on the Street" sketches, his characterization of the pretentious country-club braggart Gordon Hathaway, with his catchphrase, "Hi-ho, Steverino," plus Allen's inability to resist bursting into hysterical laughter at his ad-libs, made Nye one of the favorites on Allen's show. When production moved to Los Angeles, Nye went too and became a character actor in Hollywood.

Nye was cast as a guest star on many television series, including Make Room for Daddy; Guestward, Ho!; Burke's Law; The Munsters; Love, American Style; Laverne & Shirley; Starsky and Hutch; Police Woman; Fantasy Island; St. Elsewhere; and The Cosby Show.

Nye played dentist Delbert Gray on several episodes of The Ann Sothern Show from 1960 to 1961, the romantic interest of Olive Smith, played by Ann Tyrrell. Nye also played Sonny Drysdale, the spoiled rich stepson of Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies during the 1962 season. He did six episodes, and received more mail than from anything else he had ever done on television, but the character was dropped. It was rumored that someone in the CBS network, or a sponsor, thought Sonny was too "sissified". However, Nye revived the character briefly during the 1966 season. During this period, Nye appeared in several television commercials for various products, including Rath brand lunch meats and the Better Business Bureau.

Nye appeared as a celebrity judge on The Gong Show during the late 1970s. He also recorded a few comedy LPs, doing a variety of characterizations. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to reach his potential in movies. Many of his character roles were little more than cameos. Nevertheless, he performed with Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, Dean Martin, Walter Matthau, Robert Mitchum, Jack Webb and Joanne Woodward, and others. Nye also appeared on the lecture circuit, in concerts and in nightclubs, and did voice work in animation, such as Inspector Gadget with Don Adams.

Movies for Louis Nye...

The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Title: The Adventures of Errol Flynn
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: April 5, 2005
Type: Movie
A documentary about the life of Errol Flynn, with recollections from friends and family.
bee
Title: Curb Your Enthusiasm
Character: Jeff's Dad
Released: October 15, 2000
Type: TV
The off-kilter, unscripted comic vision of Larry David, who plays himself in a parallel universe in which he can't seem to do anything right, and, by his standards, neither can anyone else.
bee
Title: The Steven Banks Show
Character: Shower Guest
Released: July 11, 1994
Type: TV
Spun off from his one man show, Steven bank: Home Entertainment Center, is this one season fun series. Again, Steven has regular goals including work, home and relationships and again, his goals are impeded by his own penchant for distraction. Steven is as talented as ever, but with this series he is joined by Teresa Parente and Michael Kostroff, both of which play multiple characters with amazing dexterity and skill. In the end, the show is a fun excuse to work together Steven's imitations and songs, of which he has even crafted an album! Banks! Banks! Banks!
bee
Ted E. Bear: Cub Reporter
Title: Ted E. Bear: Cub Reporter
Character: (voice)
Released: January 1, 1988
Type: Movie
Ted E. Bear and friends host a newscast.
bee
Title: Alice in Wonderland
Character: Carpenter
Released: December 9, 1985
Type: TV
Sometimes she's too big. Or much too small. Sometimes things are backwards. And there's always too much pepper in the soup! Nothing is quite right since Alice chased a very unusual White Rabbit and stumbled into an adventure that grows curiouser and curiouser. One of the greatest childhood fantasies is captured in Irwin Allen's colorful production adapted from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." Originally aired over two nights in 1985 on CBS.
bee
Title: The Cosby Show
Released: September 20, 1984
Type: TV
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on the Huxtable family, an upper middle-class African-American family living in Brooklyn, New York.
bee
Cannonball Run II
Title: Cannonball Run II
Character: Fisherman #3
Released: June 29, 1984
Type: Movie
When a wealthy sheikh puts up $1 million in prize money for a cross-country car race, there is one person crazy enough to hit the road hard with wheels spinning fast. Legendary driver J.J. McClure enters the competition along with his friend Victor and together they set off across the American landscape in a madcap action-adventure destined to test their wits and automobile skills.
bee
The Great Bear Scare
Title: The Great Bear Scare
Character: (voice)
Released: October 1, 1983
Type: Movie
As Halloween approaches, the bears of Bearbank begin to fear an invasion of monsters from nearby Monster Mountain. As most of the bears prepare to leave the city, one brave little bear, Ted E. Bear, sets out to confront fear!
bee
Title: St. Elsewhere
Released: October 26, 1982
Type: TV
St. Elsewhere is an American medical drama television series that originally ran on NBC from October 26, 1982 to May 25, 1988. The series starred Ed Flanders, Norman Lloyd and William Daniels as teaching doctors at a lightly-regarded Boston hospital who gave interns a promising future in making critical medical and life decisions.
bee
The Reluctant Dragon
Title: The Reluctant Dragon
Character: St. George
Released: December 1, 1981
Type: Movie
About a peaceful, poetry-loving dragon, and St. George the dragon-slayer, who is engaged by the villagers to kill him. Together with the help of the dragon's friend, they stage a rousing fake battle.
bee
Full Moon High
Title: Full Moon High
Character: Reverend
Released: August 4, 1981
Type: Movie
High-school quarterback Tony Walker is bitten by a werewolf and transforms into a growling beast that hungrily chases down beautiful girls.
bee
Title: Aloha Paradise
Released: February 25, 1981
Type: TV
Aloha Paradise is an American comedy series that aired on ABC on Wednesday night from February 25, 1981 to April 22, 1981. Aloha Paradise follows Sydney Chase, general manager of the Kona village resort in Hawaii where people meet and fall in love under the swaying palm trees and omnipresent sun. There's an assortment of assistants to direct traffic and play cupid— Sydney's bumbling file clerk Curtis, her perky social director Fran, he-guy lifeguard Richard and economy-sized bartender Evelyn. Aloha Paradise was executive produced by Douglas S. Cramer and Aaron Spelling, the same team that produced The Love Boat which the series bore a resemblance to.
bee
All Commercials... A Steve Martin Special
Title: All Commercials... A Steve Martin Special
Character: Self
Released: September 30, 1980
Type: Movie
Steve Martin's third NBC special serves as a salute to 1970s television commercials. Taking shots at everything from "Suzy Chapstick" to Palmolive to advertising agencies, this special showcased Martin's genius for physical comedy.
bee
Steve Martin: Comedy Is Not Pretty
Title: Steve Martin: Comedy Is Not Pretty
Character: Laundry Customer
Released: February 14, 1980
Type: Movie
Steve Martin's second NBC special was made up entirely of sketches. Highlights include: Marty Robbins' "El Paso" with monkeys; "The Death Of Socrates"; and "Bizarre Oddities Of The World."
bee
Harper Valley P.T.A.
Title: Harper Valley P.T.A.
Character: Kirby Baker
Released: July 2, 1978
Type: Movie
Stella Johnson is a single mother living in the town of Harper Valley. Most of the townsfolk, particularly those on the school PTA, think she is a little too liberal so they're making things tough for her and her daughter. So she runs for the position of PTA President, which infuriates them. Stella decides to get revenge with the help of her friends.
bee
Charge of the Model T's
Title: Charge of the Model T's
Character: Fred Smith
Released: November 4, 1977
Type: Movie
Comedy - During WWI, the Germans try to encourage certain Mexican guerrillas to make trouble on the Texas border. Masterminding the plot is a German spy who has, at his disposal, the RX4... a specially equipped weapon-bearing automobile of awesome speed. But a U.S. Army lieutenant carries the day with his own fleet of Model T racers. - John David Carson, Carol Bagdasarian, Louis Nye
bee
Title: The Love Boat
Character: Glenn Dobson
Released: September 24, 1977
Type: TV
Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.
bee
Title: The Love Boat
Character: Barney Briscoe
Released: September 24, 1977
Type: TV
Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.
bee
Title: The Love Boat
Character: Louis Nye
Released: September 24, 1977
Type: TV
Passengers who search for romantic nights aboard a beautiful ship travelling to tropical or mysterious countries, decide to pass their vacation aboard the "Love Boat", where Gopher, Dr. Bricker, Isaac, Julie, and Captain Stubing try their best to please them, and sometimes help them fall in love. Things are not always so easy, but in the end, love wins.
bee
Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Title: Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood
Character: Radio Interviewer
Released: July 26, 1976
Type: Movie
A would-be filmmaker and actress shake up the industry with a trick dog who gets discovered by a studio bus driver in the 1920s.
bee
Title: Laverne & Shirley
Released: January 27, 1976
Type: TV
Laverne & Shirley is an American television sitcom that ran on ABC from January 27, 1976 to May 10, 1983. It starred Penny Marshall as Laverne De Fazio and Cindy Williams as Shirley Feeney, single roommates who worked as bottlecappers in a fictitious Milwaukee brewery called "Shotz Brewery." The show was a spin-off from Happy Days, as the two lead characters were originally introduced on that series as acquaintances of Fonzie. Set in roughly the same time period, the timeline started in approximately 1958, when the series began, through 1967, when the series ended. As with Happy Days, it was made by Paramount Television, created by Garry Marshall, and executive produced by Garry Marshall, Edward K. Milkis, and Thomas L. Miller.
bee
Title: Starsky & Hutch
Character: Jerry
Released: September 10, 1975
Type: TV
Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
bee
Title: Starsky & Hutch
Released: September 10, 1975
Type: TV
Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
bee
Mitzi & 100 Guys
Title: Mitzi & 100 Guys
Character: Self
Released: March 24, 1975
Type: Movie
Mitzi Gaynor in a song and dance hour with an all-male, star-studded ensemble featuring her main guests Michael Landon (Little House on the Prairie) and Jack Albertson (Chico and the Man), plus 28 celebrities as her "Million Dollar Chorus." Songs performed include: "I Got the Music in Me," "The Most Beautiful Guy in the World," and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life."
bee
Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus
Title: Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus
Character: Lee Fong (voice)
Released: December 6, 1974
Type: Movie
Partly based on a true story, a little girl writes to the editor of a newspaper concerning the existence of Santa Claus.
bee
The City That Forgot About Christmas
Title: The City That Forgot About Christmas
Character: (voice)
Released: December 1, 1974
Type: Movie
A young boy's grandfather tells him the story of a city that forgot about Christmas until a carpenter named Matthew comes to town and teaches the children about Christmas, much to the chagrin of the Mayor and his cronies.
bee
Title: Police Woman
Released: September 13, 1974
Type: TV
Sergeant “Pepper"” Anderson, an undercover cop for the Criminal Conspiracy Unit of the Los Angeles Police Department, poses undercover from mob girl to prostitute.
bee
Title: Needles and Pins
Character: Harry Karp
Released: September 21, 1973
Type: TV
Needles and Pins is a 1973 United States comedic television series about a women's clothing manufacturer and his employees in New York City that aired from September 21, 1973 to December 28, 1973.
bee
Title: The Don Knotts Show
Character: Self
Released: September 15, 1970
Type: TV
The Don Knotts Show was a variety program aired by NBC as part of its 1970-71 lineup. Long relegated to the role of sidekick, which he had portrayed for many years in several television series and films, Don Knotts was the headliner here. Each week, he and his guests put on standard TV variety fare of the era. Two recurring features were a skit about the effort involved in putting a weekly television series on the air, much in the spirit of The Jack Benny Show, and The Front Porch, in which Don and a guest would sit in rocking chairs and quietly discuss their philosophies of life. Notable regulars in his cast included Elaine Joyce and Gary Burghoff, who had previously portrayed "Radar O'Reilly" in the film version of M*A*S*H and was about to achieve his greatest fame in reprising that role for the television version of it.
bee
Title: The Dick Cavett Show
Character: Self - Guest
Released: June 6, 1968
Type: TV
The Dick Cavett Show has been the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks.
bee
Title: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Character: Guest Performer (uncredited)
Released: September 9, 1967
Type: TV
An American sketch comedy television program hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin.
bee
A Guide for the Married Man
Title: A Guide for the Married Man
Character: Technical Adviser (Irving, House Buyer)
Released: May 25, 1967
Type: Movie
A man gives his friend a series of lessons on how to cheat on one's wife without being caught.
bee
Title: The Pruitts of Southampton
Released: September 6, 1966
Type: TV
The Pruitts of Southampton is a situation comedy that aired during the 1966-67 season on the ABC network. The show was based on the novel House Party by Patrick Dennis. It was ABC's futile attempt to turn female stand-up comic Phyllis Diller into a sitcom comedienne very much in the style of Lucille Ball. The program starred Diller as Phyllis Pruitt, and featured Gypsy Rose Lee and Richard Deacon in supporting roles with Diller feeling the series was an inverted version of The Beverly Hillbillies. The show's producers originally sought comic actress Beatrice Lillie in the Diller role. The premise was that the Pruitts, a supposedly incredibly wealthy family living on Long Island in the Hamptons, were approached by the Internal Revenue Service about overdue taxes. An audit revealed that the Pruitts were in fact broke; rather than reveal this fact publicly and cause the economic depression which would presumably result from this revelation, an improbably charitable IRS allowed them to continue living in their mansion and maintaining the pretensions of great wealth, which was difficult given their reduced circumstances. By mid-season, in order to raise more money, Phyllis had opened the mansion to boarders, attracting a "nutty" collection of tenants as well, a group that included Paul Lynde as her hopeless brother, John Astin as her brother-in-law, and Marty Ingels as a handyman.
bee
Salute to Stan Laurel
Title: Salute to Stan Laurel
Character: Self
Released: November 23, 1965
Type: Movie
A program featuring original comedy skits written as a tribute to Stan Laurel.
bee
Title: The Munsters
Released: September 24, 1964
Type: TV
A family of friendly monsters that have misadventures all while never quite understanding why people react to them so strangely.
bee
Good Neighbor Sam
Title: Good Neighbor Sam
Character: Reinhold Shiffner
Released: July 22, 1964
Type: Movie
To help his divorced neighbor claim a substantial inheritance, a family man poses as her husband. The ruse spills over into his career in advertising, and his recent promotion relies on his wholesome and moral appearance.
bee
Title: The Hollywood Palace
Character: Self - Comedian
Released: January 4, 1964
Type: TV
The Hollywood Palace is an hour-long American television variety show that was broadcast weekly on ABC from January 4, 1964 to February 7, 1970. Originally titled The Saturday Night Hollywood Palace, it began as a mid-season replacement for The Jerry Lewis Show, another variety show which had lasted only three months. It was staged in Hollywood at the former Hollywood Playhouse on Vine Street, which was renamed The Hollywood Palace during the show's duration and is today known as Avalon Hollywood. A little-known starlet named Raquel Welch was cast during the first season as the "Billboard Girl", who placed the names of the acts on a placard.
bee
Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?
Title: Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?
Character: Harry Tobler
Released: December 25, 1963
Type: Movie
TV star Jason Steel reluctantly becomes the sounding board for his best friends' bored wives, and must fend off their advances while managing his own fragile relationship.
bee
Title: The Judy Garland Show
Character: Himself
Released: December 8, 1963
Type: TV
The Judy Garland Show is an American musical variety television series that aired on CBS on Sunday nights during the 1963-1964 television season. Despite a sometimes stormy relationship with Judy Garland, CBS had found success with several television specials featuring the star. Garland, who for years had been reluctant to commit to a weekly series, saw the show as her best chance to pull herself out of severe financial difficulties. Production difficulties beset the series almost from the beginning. The series had three different producers in the course of its 26 episodes and went through a number of other key personnel changes. With the change in producers also came changes to the show's format, which started as comedy/variety but switched to an almost purely concert format. While Garland herself was popular with critics, the initial variety format and her co-star, Jerry Van Dyke, were not. The show competed with Bonanza, then the fourth most popular program on television, and consistently performed poorly in the ratings. Although fans rallied in an attempt to save the show, CBS cancelled it after a single season. TV Guide included the series in their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".
bee
The Wheeler Dealers
Title: The Wheeler Dealers
Character: Stanislas
Released: November 14, 1963
Type: Movie
Henry J. Tyroon leaves Texas, where his oil wells are drying up, and arrives in New York with a lot of oil money to play with in the stock market. He meets stock analyst Molly Thatcher, who tries to ignore the lavish attention he spends on her but, in the end, she falls for his charm.
bee
Title: Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
Released: October 4, 1963
Type: TV
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre is an American anthology series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by Bob Hope, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramatic, and comedy.
bee
Title: Burke's Law
Character: James Stock
Released: September 20, 1963
Type: TV
Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.
bee
Title: Burke's Law
Character: Hooper
Released: September 20, 1963
Type: TV
Burke's Law is an American detective series that ran on ABC from 1963 to 1965 and was revived on CBS in the 1990s. The show starred Gene Barry as Amos Burke, millionaire captain of Los Angeles police homicide division, who was chauffeured around to solve crimes in his Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II.
bee
Title: The Lieutenant
Released: September 14, 1963
Type: TV
The Lieutenant is an American television series, the first created by Gene Roddenberry. It aired on NBC on Saturday evenings in the 1963–1964 television schedule. It was produced by Arena Productions, one of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's most successful in-house production companies of the 1960s. Situated at Camp Pendleton, the West Coast base of the U.S. Marine Corps, The Lieutenant focuses on the men of the Corps in peace time with a Cold War backdrop. The title character is Second Lieutenant William Tiberius Rice, a rifle platoon leader and one of the training instructors at Camp Pendleton. An hour-long drama, The Lieutenant explores the lives of enlisted Marines and general officers alike. The series was released on DVD in two half-season sets by the Warner Archive Collection on August 14, 2012.
bee
The Stripper
Title: The Stripper
Character: Ronnie Cavendish
Released: June 19, 1963
Type: Movie
An aging former movie starlet whose Hollywood career went nowhere, now reduced to dancing with a third-rate touring show, finds herself stranded in a small town where she's courted by an infatuated and naive local teenager.
bee
Zotz!
Title: Zotz!
Character: Hugh Fundy
Released: October 3, 1962
Type: Movie
Jonathan Jones, a professor of ancient languages, comes into possession of an ancient coin. He translates its inscription, which gives him three powers: to inflict pain, slow down time or kill. Soon, he's pursued by enemy spies who have learned about the magic coin.
bee
Title: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 1962
Type: TV
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson is a talk show hosted by Johnny Carson under The Tonight Show franchise from 1962 to 1992. It originally aired during late-night. For its first ten years, Carson's Tonight Show was based in New York City with occasional trips to Burbank, California; in May 1972, the show moved permanently to Burbank, California. In 2002, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson was ranked #12 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
bee
Title: The Beverly Hillbillies
Character: Sonny Drysdale
Released: September 26, 1962
Type: TV
Jed Clampett's swamp is loaded with oil. When a wildcatter discovers the huge pool, Jed sells his land to the O.K. Oil Company and at the urging of cousin Pearl, moves his family to a 35-room mansion in Beverly Hills, California.
bee
Title: The Mike Douglas Show
Character: Self - Co-Host
Released: December 11, 1961
Type: TV
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
bee
Title: The Mike Douglas Show
Character: Self
Released: December 11, 1961
Type: TV
The Mike Douglas Show is an American daytime television talk show hosted by Mike Douglas that originally aired only in the Cleveland area during much of its first two years on the air. It then went into syndication in 1963 and remained on television until 1982. It was distributed by Westinghouse Broadcasting and for much of its run, originated from studios of two of the company's TV stations in Cleveland and Philadelphia.
bee
The Last Time I Saw Archie
Title: The Last Time I Saw Archie
Character: Pvt. Sam Beacham
Released: May 27, 1961
Type: Movie
Two Air Force friends have fun during their enlistment.
bee
The Facts of Life
Title: The Facts of Life
Character: Hamilton Busbee
Released: November 14, 1960
Type: Movie
Middle-class suburbanites Larry and Kitty grow bored with their lives and respective marriages. Although each always found the other's manner grating, they fall in love when thrown together--without their spouses--on vacation. On returning home they try to break things off, only to grow closer. A holiday together will finally settle whether they should end their marriages.
bee
Title: Guestward, Ho!
Released: September 29, 1960
Type: TV
Guestward, Ho! is an American situation comedy which aired on the ABC network in the 1960-1961 television season, based on the 1956 book of the same title by Patrick Dennis, author of Auntie Mame.
bee
Sex Kittens Go to College
Title: Sex Kittens Go to College
Character: Dr. Zorch
Released: August 24, 1960
Type: Movie
Collins College needs a new department head for their science department, so Doctors Carter and Zorch consult Thinko, the campus computer, and come up with Dr. Mathilda West, who has degrees in lots of things, but turns out to be disruptively attractive as well.
bee
Title: Kraft Music Hall
Character: Self
Released: October 8, 1958
Type: TV
Kraft Music Hall is an umbrella title for several television series aired by NBC in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s in the musical variety genre, sponsored by Kraft Foods, the producers of a well-known line of cheeses and related dairy products. Their commercials were usually announced by "The Voice of Kraft", Ed Herlihy.
bee
Title: Naked City
Character: The Drunk
Released: September 30, 1958
Type: TV
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic “semi-documentary” format. In 1997, the episode “Sweet Prince of Delancey Street” was ranked #93 on TV Guide’s “100 Greatest Episodes of All Time”.
bee
Title: Tonight Starring Jack Paar
Character: Self
Released: July 29, 1957
Type: TV
Tonight Starring Jack Paar is an American talk show hosted by Jack Paar under The Tonight Show franchise from 1957 to 1962. It originally aired during late-night. During most of its run it was broadcast from Studio 6B inside the RCA Building. The same studio would also host early episodes of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Its theme song was an instrumental version of "Everything's Coming Up Roses", and the closing theme was "So Until I See You" by Al Lerner.
bee
Title: The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
Character: Self
Released: October 5, 1956
Type: TV
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to June 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet", which continued to be used in Chevrolet advertising for several more years after the cancellation of the show.
bee
Title: The Steve Allen Show
Character: Self
Released: June 24, 1956
Type: TV
bee
Title: This Is Your Life
Character: Self
Released: October 1, 1952
Type: TV
This Is Your Life is an American television documentary series broadcast on NBC, originally hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards from 1952 to 1961. In the show, the host surprises a guest, and proceeds to take them through their life in front of an audience, including special guest appearances by colleagues, friends and family. Edwards revived the show in 1971-72, while Joseph Campanella hosted a version in 1983. Edwards returned for some specials in the late 1980s, before his death in 2005. The show originated as a radio show on NBC Radio airing from 1948 to 1952.
bee
Title: The Jack Benny Program
Character: The Crying Cab Driver
Released: October 28, 1950
Type: TV
Laugh along with funnyman Jack Benny as he brings his underplayed humor to TV along with regular performers from his radio show days.
bee
Title: The Jack Benny Program
Character: Harvey Hollis Pickering
Released: October 28, 1950
Type: TV
Laugh along with funnyman Jack Benny as he brings his underplayed humor to TV along with regular performers from his radio show days.
bee
Title: The Bob Hope Show
Character: Self
Released: April 9, 1950
Type: TV
The Bob Hope Show hosted by Bob Hope, debuted on April 9, 1950. During the 1952-1953 season, NBC rotated with other variety shows in a Sunday night block known as "The Colgate Comedy Hour" (Sept. 1950 to Dec. 1955). Also known as, "The Chevy Show with Bob Hope." When the first special debuted in October of 1950 it was the most expensive television program made up to that point - costing an astronomical $1,500 a minute to produce. Bob Hope had his own television show and radio show at the same time. For the next three seasons, The Bob Hope Show was broadcast once a month on Tuesday nights, giving Milton Berle a week off. Bob ended his radio show in April, 1956. Bob Hope also had another show by a similar name, "The Bob Hope Show (All Star Revue)". In addition, he performed in "Specials" for many years. It is the longest running variety program in television's history with a record of 45 years of televised entertainment.