R.I.P. ‘The Waltons’ Patriarch Ralph Waite

[TexasGranny]

One of the best shows ever made for TV!

 

R.I.P. ‘The Waltons’ Patriarch Ralph Waite

The man who played the patriarch on CBS’ long-running series The Waltons has died. Ralph Waite was 86.

 

He starred for nine seasons on the Depression-era drama as John Walton Sr., who eked out a living at the family lumber mill on Walton’s Mountain.

 

He also directed more than a dozen episodes of the hourlong series, which ran from 1972-81 and was followed by a series of telefilms.

 

He scored an Emmy nom for the role in 1978. Most recently he recurred on Bones and as Mark Harmon’s father, Papa Gibbs, on NCIS, but his acting credits date to the mid-1960s. He appeared on TV series including Bonanza and N.Y.P.D. and later as slave ship mate Slater in the landmark miniseries Roots, a key supporting role that earned Waite his first Emmy nom. He also worked on the big screen, including roles in films ranging from Cool Hand Luke and Five Easy Pieces to The Bodyguard and Cliffhanger. The White Plains, NY, native also starred in the mid-’80s CBS drama The Mississippi and did arcs on Steven Bochco’s Murder One and HBO’s Carnivale. He also played Father Matt in nearly 100 episodes of Days Of Our Lives and appeared in Grey’s Anatomy, CSI, Cold Case and The Practice.

 

Waite unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 1990, vying for the seat from California’s 37th District, which includes Mid-City and West Los Angeles.

 

Elizabeth: Good night, John Boy.

John-Boy: Good night, Elizabeth. Good night, Daddy.

John: Good night, Son. Good night, Mary Ellen.

Mary Ellen: Good night, Daddy. Good night, Mama.

Olivia: Good night, Mary Ellen. Good night, Jim Bob.

Jim Bob: Good night, Mama. Good night, Erin.

Erin: Good night, Jim Bob. Good night, Ben.

Ben: Good night, Erin. Good night, everybody.

 

 

[chess]

.....great series!

[toes1]

Very sad to see him go.

[FlintNPebbles]

Sad news. Grew up watching the show.  Was sort of like my family....made due with very little but worked hard and enjoyed each other.

[vietnam1969]

    YES, TG THAT WAS ONE OF THE BEST MADE FOR TV SERIES EVER. I WATCHED IT EVERY WEEK JUST AS I DID SO MANY OTHER GREAT ONES. sAD TO HEAR HE IS NO LONGER WITH US. 

[TBomb]

I absolutely loved The Walton's   I grew up in a not so family friendly environment; sad but true; watching The Walton's was how I learned how a loving family behaves. God bless you, Ralph!

Edited February 14, 2014 by TBomb

[sandfly]

SAD DAY

[ScaryMary]

Shirley Temple Black.

Sid Caesar.

Ralph Waite.

I loved to watch you perform and may you enjoy heaven.

[dog53]

Shirley Temple Black.

Sid Caesar.

Ralph Waite.

I loved to watch you perform and may you enjoy heaven.

 

 

Sid Caesar ?

 

Really ?    

[TexasGranny]

Sid Caesar ?

 

Really ?    

 

Yes!

 

Funnyman Sid Caesar dead at 91

By Todd Leopold, CNN

updated 10:26 AM EST, Thu February 13, 2014

 

(CNN) -- Sid Caesar, whose clever, anarchic comedy on such programs as "Your Show of Shows" and "Caesar's Hour" helped define the 1950s "Golden Age of Television," has died. He was 91.

A friend of the family, actor Rudy De Luca, did not know the exact cause of death, but said Caesar had respiratory problems and other health problems for several years.

Caesar became famous for "Your Show of Shows," which went on the air in 1950. It lasted four years and was followed by "Caesar's Hour," which combined sketches, musical revues and situation comedy.

 

Both shows featured writers who became famous in their own right, including Neil Simon, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Mel Tolkin, Lucille Kallen and Larry Gelbart. Woody Allen also contributed to Caesar's comedy as a writer for one of his specials.

 

Brooks visited Caesar last night to say goodbye, De Luca told CNN.

 

"Sid Caesar was a giant-maybe the best comedian who ever practiced the trade & I was privileged to be one of his writers & one of his friends,"

 

 

Caesar also appeared in a number of films, including "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963), "Airport 1975" (1974) and "Grease" (1978). He received a Tony nomination for his performance in the 1962 show "Little Me," with a book by Simon.

Caesar, born Isaac Sidney Caesar in 1922, was part of a pioneering group of personalities who helped establish television in its early days. However, while comedians such as Jack Benny and Fred Allen more or less transferred their radio shows to the new medium and Milton Berle's "Texaco Star Theater" was essentially vaudeville on the small screen, Caesar's "Show of Shows" presented movie parodies, wordless pantomimes and brisk routines between the host and co-star Imogene Coca.

 

"Sid Caesar was a giant. If it weren't for Sid Caesar there might not be television as we know it. He and his co-stars and writers revolutionized television comedy, and really comedy in general," said biographer Eddy Friedfeld, a close friend of Caesar.

 

It was comedy pitched at a high (or, just as often, low) level -- and it was done live, every Saturday night at 9.

 

The versatile Caesar was game for whatever the writers came up with. "Caesar could take on many roles," wrote Tim Brooks and Earle Marsh in the reference "The Complete Directory to Prime-Time Network and Cable TV Shows," calling him a "comic genius." "He was the double-talking foreigner (he was a master of dialects), the henpecked husband or the greasy-haired cad."

 

Among the regular routines were a skit with Coca, "The Hickenloopers," and Caesar as a gibberish-singing opera singer. Reiner and Howard Morris -- later Ernest T. Bass on "The Andy Griffith Show" -- were frequent supporting players.

 

"We've lost the greatest, monologist, pantomimic, sketch comedian TV has ever known! Word GENIUS is oft misused but not so here. HAIL CAESAR," tweeted Reiner.

 

The high-pressure hijinks of the writers' room inspired a number of other works, including "The **** Van Dyke Show," created by Reiner; the 1982 film "My Favorite Year," produced by Brooks; and the 1993 play "Laughter on the 23rd Floor," by Simon.

 

"When we came in, we didn't have the slightest idea of what we were going to do. We christened the beginning of the week 'Bloody Monday' because we walked into the room with no material. We had three days to pitch lines and ideas and create six complete sketches," Caesar recalled in a 2011 interview.

 

The high pressure also led to a drinking and drug problem for Caesar. It took him years to kick the habit, until finally he went blank one day while performing on stage in 1977. He checked into a hospital soon after and got clean.

 

"I couldn't stand me," he said in 2011. "That's why I drank and took pills. I couldn't stand to be around me."

 

"Your Show of Shows" lasted just four years, but its impact was such that a best-of selection was turned into a 1973 movie, "Ten From Your Show of Shows."

 

Caesar followed "Your Show of Shows" with "Caesar's Hour," which included Reiner and Morris but not Coca. Among the show's recurring sketches was one in which the trio played "The Three Haircuts," a rock 'n' roll group.

 

Other regulars on "Caesar's Hour" included Nanette Fabray and Bea Arthur.

 

"Caesar's Hour" left the air in 1957. In the following decades, Caesar appeared in a handful of films, most notably the comic extravaganza "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," in which he played dentist Melville Crump. He did a number of his own stunt gags and hurt his back in the process.

 

He appeared in films by his former writer Brooks, including 1976's "Silent Movie" and 1981's "History of the World Part I," and popped up in films such as "Grease" and "Grease 2" (as Coach Calhoun) and "Cannonball Run II."

 

He hosted "Saturday Night Live" in 1983 and was named an honorary member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" at the conclusion of the show -- the only non-"SNL" cast member to earn the tribute.

 

Among his honors were two Emmys, a lifetime achievement award from the Television Critics Association and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

 

He was married to Florence Levy for 67 years until her death in 2010. The couple had three children.

 

Asked by the Archive of American Television how he'd like to be remembered, he responded with six words.

 

"I brought laughter to the world," he said.

 

[RodandStaff]

2014 is startin' out to be a rough one for all those we grew up watchin'...  we will miss em all... and so appreciated their contributions to the world.  May we all leave our mark in some positive way and be remembered fondly!!!  R.I.P. 

 

Thanks T.G.!!!   

[Jaxinjersey]

I particularly enjoyed the tv movie, "The Homecoming"... the Walton's Christmas movie that was the pilot, in essence, for the series.  Although Ralph Waite was not cast as the father, and Patricia Neal was Olivia...  it was popular enough to create the series.  A great Christmas movie!