Rest In Peace, Polly Hollilday (1937 - 2025)

This is an "In Memoriam" post for actress, Polly Holliday, who passed away on September 9, 20025.  Ms. Holliday was probably best known for her portrayal of, "Flo," from the popular television sitcom, "Alice."

I have three issues of TV Guide in my collection, which feature her likeness on the cover.  This first one is from July of 1977.

This issue also included an article about the actress.

The writer mentions her iconic catchphrase, "Kiss mah grits!", and compares it to Fonzie's "Sit on it!" in popularity.  And now I'm wondering, are there any current TV characters (other than Bart Simpson), who have a famous catchphrase?

This next issue is from April of 1978.  The cover story article in this one was about Vic Tayback, one of the co-stars on "Alice," so I did not include it here.  The cover artwork was done by famed artist, Richard Amsel, who created the covers for more than 40 issues of TV Guide, between 1972 and 1985.

Polly Holliday's character on "Alice" was an instant hit with viewers, and after four seasons, her character was "spun off" into her own series titled, "Flo."  This November 1980 issue of TV Guide featured an article about her and the brand new show.

Apparently, Warner Bros. was interested in spinning off "Flo" into her own series, after the very first season of "Alice."  But it took another three years for it to actually happen.

It sounds like the actress was pretty down-to-earth, considering that even after her success on TV, she kept her small apartments, her 1972 Chevy, and continued to shop at Pic 'N' Save!

Of course, "Flo" was not Polly Holliday's only role as an actress.  She also appeared as Betty White's sister on "The Golden Girls," and the antagonist, "Ruby Deagle," in the movie, "Gremlins." She also played the mother-in-law of "Tim "The Toolman" Taylor" on the TV show, "Home Improvement."  For even more of her film and television credits, you can always check out IMDB or Wikipedia.

Rest in peace, Polly Holliday!

Rest in Peace, Suzanne Somers (1946 - 2023)

This is an "in memoriam" post for actress, author, and businesswoman, Suzanne Somers, who passed away just last month.  I will be sharing a few related TV Guide covers and articles, from my personal collection.

This first one is from May 20, 1978.  I believe this was the first time she appeared on the cover of TV Guide.  Also on the cover were Joyce DeWitt and John Ritter, her costars in the classic TV show, Three's Company.  The show had debuted just about 1 year earlier.  The cover art was created by famed artist, Richard Amsel.

I didn't include the cover story article from the issue above, because it was exclusively about John Ritter (nothing against John Ritter, however!).

Just six month later, Miss Somers appeared solo, on the cover of this November 25, 1978 issue.

This time, the cover story was exclusively about her.

Here is that Newsweek Cover, that was mentioned in the article:

A little over two years later, there was a lot of coverage about her being "let go" from Three's Company, by the show's producers.  The article in this March 14, 1981 issue, covers both sides of the story.

On Tuesday of that same week, the characters "Mr. and Mrs. Roper" were making a return visit to Three's Company.  This was almost a year after their spinoff show, The Ropers, had been canceled.  Suzanne Somers' character of "Chrissy Snow," had made her final appearance on Three's Company, the previous week.  She was replaced by Jenilee Harrison (pictured below), who played "Cindy Snow," the cousin of Suzanne Somers' character.

I was able to be in the audience for a live taping of Three's Company, on January 26, 1982. However, this was about 10 months after Suzanne Somers had already left the show.  I just thought I would include the ticket, here.

Rest in peace, Suzanne Somers.

Rest In Peace, Cindy Williams

I was very saddened to hear of the recent passing of Cindy Williams.  I had been a fan ever since her TV show, Laverne & Shirley, first debuted.  I was in sixth grade at the time, and I can still remember classmates talking about the show, the following day at school.

Cindy Williams ended up appearing on the cover of TV Guide (along with her co-star from the series, Penny Marshall), five times.  I saved those issues, and have kept them all these years.

1976:

1977 (artwork by Jack Davis):

1978:

1979 (artwork by Richard Amsel):

1982:

The 1977 issue featured an interview with Cindy Williams.

I was so much a fan of Laverne & Shirley, that I desperately wanted to see the show in-person.  After all, at the beginning of every episode, a voice-over would state, "Laverne and Shirley is filmed before a studio audience."  But I never knew how people got to be in the audience.  Then one day, my mom gave me something she had clipped out of the newspaper.  Someone had written in to the paper, and asked that very question.  The response included a list of addresses, one for each of the television networks.  I wrote to the address listed for ABC, and after not too long, received my tickets.

The show was filmed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, in a sound stage that had previously been a part of the Desilu Studios, and prior to that, the RKO Studios.  This aerial view of Paramount Studios is from the book, Above Los Angeles.  I've circled (in red) the doorway through which the audience entered.

Over the years, we ended up going back to see the show three more times.  During one of my visits, I took this pic of the sign above the audience entrance.

And I saved the tickets from two of the four shows we saw.

My mom knew how big of a Laverne and Shirley fan I was.  She pulled these pages out of one of her Good Housekeeping magazines.  Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams had both been given "makeovers," courtesy of Good Housekeeping.

This Laverne & Shirley jigsaw puzzle was purchased from our local Alpha Beta grocery store:

And this TV Favorites "fan" magazine came from our local Lucky's grocery store.

The magazine included articles about the show, both of it's main stars, and also one on Phil Foster, who played Laverne's father.  Below, is the article on Cindy Williams.  Unfortunately, the magazine was made with a cheap paper, almost like the kind they would use for comic books.  But I guess it's held up pretty well, considering it's 45 years old.

 This color photo was from the inside cover:

 Rest in peace, Cindy Williams!