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!

Mickey's 50th Birthday Celebration!

Mickey Mouse is turning 95 this month!  Back in 1978, the little guy was turning 50, and there was a lot of hoopla about it.

The Fall 1978 issue of Disney News Magazine featured an article, about Mickey's milestone birthday.

Ub Iwerks was given credit in the article, as the co-creator of Mickey....or at least, for his and Walt's "combined talent."

The article mentioned "The Mickey Mouse 50th Birthday Parade," which was running at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland.

My dad took these next two pics of the parade, during a 1978 visit to Disneyland:

If we zoom in on the photo above, we can see part of a construction/refurbishment sign for the Matterhorn.  These pics were most likely taken prior to the attraction's May '78 reopening as, "The New Matterhorn."

That Disney News article also mentioned the birthday celebration ending on the weekend of November 18 & 19, with a special climax.  This pic from the book Disneyland: The First Quarter Century, was taken that very weekend.  I have a friend who was at the park that day, and he said that it was so miserably crowded, that there weren't any vacant benches available, to sit down and take a break.  He also shared a story with me, about how free pieces of birthday cake were being handed out to guests.  However, as he and his friend got near the cake, they noticed that there were some guys hanging around the cake, who kept spitting on it!  So, of course, they "passed" on the free cake!

Until just recently, I had never heard of the theatrical film, "Mickey's Birthday Party Show."  Apparently, it played in movie theaters as a feature-length compilation film.  Released on September 30, 1978, the film contained five classic cartoons starring Mickey and his friends (including Mickey's Birthday Party from 1942), as well as a special guest appearance by the New Mouseketeers. Also included, was the 1955 live-action feature Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.

Here's the official trailer for the film:

 

On November 19, 1978, NBC was airing a special 90-minute version of The Wonderful World of Disney, in honor of Mickey's 50th.  I like the artwork in this TV Guide advertisement, which used the names of all the stars appearing on the show, to create the image of Mickey.

(I've attempted to list here, all of the stars who were appearing;  Anne Bancroft, Jonathan Winters, Jodie Foster, Bruce Jenner, Anne Murray, Dean Jones, Mickey Rooney, Raquel Welch, Elliot Gould, Annette Funicello, Doc Severinsen, U.S. Marine Corps Band, Joe Namath, O.J. Simpson, Alex Karras, Peter Strauss, Rev. Billy Graham, Jacqueline Bisset, R2-D2, Johnny Carson, Burt Reynolds, Gene Kelly, Charo, Kenny Rogers, Ruth Buzzi, Red Buttons, Sally Field, Helen Reddy, Gary Owens, Ken Berry, Helen Hayes, Susan Clark, Bob Hope, Goldie Hawn, Gerald Ford, Roy Rogers, Eva Gabor, Mel Brooks, Bette Davis, Steve Garvey, Lawrence Welk, Kermit The Frog, Elton John, Rich Little, Edward Asner, Jack Albertson, Roger Miller, Chewbacca, Ronnie Schell, Dyan Cannon, Adam Rich, Cheryl Ladd, Cantinflas, Gregory Peck, Dick Clark, James Stewart, Hans Conreid, Christopher Lee, Dale Evans, Henry Winkler, Shields & Yarnell (what, no Mummenschanz?), Dick Van Patten, International Children's Choir, Peter Sellers, Sterling Holloway, Jan-Michael Vincent, Shirley Jones, Barbara Walters, Willie Nelson & Band, Phyllis Diller, Jo Anne Worley, Carol Burnett, and Karen and Richard Carpenter.)

Four days later, on Thanksgiving Day, Mickey was making his annual appearance in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Here is a color view of that same balloon, going down the parade route.

As for that special episode of The Wonderful World of Disney, I've searched for it on YouTube for years, and someone finally uploaded it, just a couple months ago!

 

To use a Lucy Ricardo quote, "Happy birthday, Mickey Mouse.....and I hope you live another 95 years!"

****** BONUS ITEM! ******

I thought I would include this birthday-themed Colorforms "Cartoon Kit" in the post, even though it is not specifically a "Mickey's 50th Birthday" item.  This originally belonged to my brother.  It's undated, but it was given to him in the early 1970s.

The board:

The pieces:

The instruction booklet:

 

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!