digger o'dell the friendly undertaker

Chester A. Riley: What do you mean the baby announcements? The oblivion is the oblivion wherever it is. . I got my picture in the paper! The finger food was good, the talk was uplifting, the music was life-affirming; someone, usually the reverend clergy, could be counted on to declare closure, usually just before the Merlot ran out, and everyone was there but the one who had died. Chester A. Riley: Yeah! During cocktails, a bill collector from the electric company shows up, and after Riley sends him on his way, he disconnects the Rileys' electricity. Aware that he can use his grandfather's trust money if he marries with the approval of his father, Burt decides to pursue the wholesome Babs. All rights reserved. Buried alive? The crematory we use is impeccably run by ethical people, people we inspect, unannounced, a couple times every year. It follows the changes in our species, certainly in our culture. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. I think they used to call that "social death"; that actual death happens like that. Jiffy peat pellets are a popular choice for starting tomatoes, but they can also be used for peppers. The expression "life of Riley" or "living the life of Riley (Reilly)" emerged in the early 1920s, and was probably derived from turn-of-the-century Irish songs, such as "The Best in the House Is None Too Good for Reilly." It was a sudden inspiration brought on by ownership of a tuxedo T-shirt! I figure once a year, every married man should get away from his wife for a few days. Chester A. Riley: I'm just as much a show-off as they are, ain't I? to "what are we going to do?" What a revoltin' development, indeed." And particularly when you see the transaction . Chester A. Riley: "Babs Riley Featured in Annual School Follies". And yeah, everything plays its part in that. "[6] The April 13 episode starred Herb Vigran as Riley, and the April 20 episode had Buddy Gray in the title role. All the same, 100 percent of the people that have gone with us are grateful that we invited them to go. It's amazing! Because of its overwhelming radio popularity, Riley graduated as easily to a 1949 feature film, as it did to 1950s television. Riley is overjoyed by his unexpected "step up," unaware that Babs asked Burt to offer him the job, and that he did so without his father's knowledge. It was just doing the next right thing. We'd be wise, as a culture, to examine some of these things. But by the time a couple days later he went in the ground, it was exactly the right thing to do. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell , "the friendly undertaker." Brecher told Brown, "I want a very sepulchral voice, quavering, morbid," and he got it right away. Chester A. Riley: I'll tell you what harm there is! Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker ANNCR: It's new! Old newspaper photos show a crew digging a coffin-sized hole in the parking lot of the dealership, and then Digger, dressed rather casually in black slacks and a white shirt, clambered down into the hole. Riley's penchant for turning mere trouble into near-disaster through his well-intentioned bumbling was often aided or instigated by his arch best friend/next-door neighbor, Gillis. He would have thought much of it ridiculous and much of it sublime. started calling him "Digger". Where is the meaning? He'll never amount to anything. He played "Al" on the radio series "My Friend Irma". This is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the winter and spring of 2006-2007. I see it all as part of the one journey, all as part of the one pilgrimage. Vance Lauderdale is the history columnist for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. in Literary Quotes in Movie Quotes in TV Shows Why there ain't a day that goes by that I read the obituary columns! This is the way I like to remember William Bendix - playing a family man doing the best he can in a world that tends to be a bit too much for him, with children that tend to be a bit too much for him too. It's that time of year again when gardeners all over the world are planning what to grow in their gardens. Sometime in the mid-60s, probably having a lot to do with Jessica Mitford's book [The American Way of Death] and a lot to do with other social factors, there was sort of the triumphalist American sense that we didn't have to deal with any discomforts. Brief Synopsis A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. The open casket, it is something that's often mocked. 1949. So Ive got only one inch to run around in.. Despite Gillis' accusations and Peg's doubts, Riley goes along with the wedding plan until Junior uses the Stevensons' intercom to eavesdrop on Burt's room. I was watching [author and cultural commentator] Christopher Hitchens the other day. But I have graves at Oak Grove; I have graves in West Clare [County, Ireland]. And I suppose this is the message at every graveside: They stay, we go, until we come to that point in which we are brought there, and we stay and they go. But I don't know of anybody who has come in here entirely angry at the prospect of God who has done well with this type of thing, with deaths in the family. Some do. But, you know, we used to say to my father, who directed a fair few funerals, "What do you want done with you when you're dead?," and he'd say, "Well, you'll know what to do." I think of disbelief as a faith of its own kind. Digger O'Dell Buried For Good This Time. Chester A. Riley is back, with long-suffering wife Peg, trouble-prone kids Junior and Babs, moochy pal Gillis, and Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker, in sixteen hilarious half-hour episodes. Thomas Lynch is a writer and a poet. His dramatic life story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit. And I find that latter conversation much more compelling and much more difficult, because it's not as easy as dollars and cents. In addition to Bendix' Riley, the show featured immensely popular supporting characters, including Digby "Digger" O'Dell, the ghoulish "friendly undertaker" voiced by John Brown (who also played Thorny on Ozzie and Harriet, Al on My Friend Irma, and Broadway on The Damon Runyan Theatre). He then is embarrassed in front of the Monahans when Junior appears with his full piggy bank, having been unable to open it, and during a struggle with the waiter, the bank falls to the ground and breaks. William Bendix and Digger O'Dell the friendly undertaker - The Life of Riley Complete Broadcast CBS Lux Radio Theatre 1950 (Lp) - Amazon.com Music Buy used: $198.00 $3.99 delivery January 26 - February 2. Months after my father died, I can remember this wave of feelings that would come over me, catching me at the most unpredictable times, this wallop of him being dead, him being gone. Packed among his riding gear when on tour is a trumpet, and Helm has been known to join local bands in jam sessions. I think it's always been the case that funerals in general, and funeral directors in particular, provide an easy target for cartooning, because there is so much about what we do that can be held up for ridicule. It was during this period that Gleason played Riley on one episode of the radio series. "The Life of Riley Quotes." US. Isn't that awful? Brown also played "Gillis" on the radio. Later, while dropping off the rent to Miss Bogle, Babs receives her first kiss from Jeff. Irving Brecher, who would direct the film adaptation of Life of Riley, had seen William Bendix in a film called The McGuerins of Brooklyn (1942) and knew he'd found his man. It's not that you don't want to see your mother or your father or your sister or your brother. 2023. In 1949, Universal Studios released a Life of Riley motion picture, and later that same year NBC produced a TV version with Jackie Gleason playing Riley (Bendix was unable to play the role . Well, read it closely, and what I've written is that as long as they deal with it, I don't care what they do. Well, it's showing up and just being there is worth an awful lot. Everything seems to fall into place. Digger kept up his strange act for many years. The idea for the radio program had originated as a sitcom for Groucho Marx called The Flotsam Family , but Groucho was Groucho and the sponsor couldn't accept him as a family man. A factory worker's family is thrown into an uproar when his teenage daughter starts to date his boss' son. It is the ridiculous and the sublime. So this pilgrimage, this journey that we go on, replicates in many ways other journeys that we see in life, from infancy to toddlerhood, from toddlerhood to teenagers to adulthood, the journeys we take in life in our heart, in the life of our mind, the life of our spirit. His frequent exclamation of indignation"What a revoltin' development this is! During a burial in California, a sudden earthquake caved in the sides of his "apartment" and he had to be rescued. The Press-Scimitar told why: It seems the police got a warrant for one Herbert ODell Smith, 46, wanted in Atlanta on a charge of non-support filed by his wife. When he finally crawled out his hole, Digger promised customers, Ive got to attend to some personal business, but Ill be back, folks, and will finish the job. Later, he told reporters, Thats the way the cookie crumbles. And they won't forget, and that's the thing. Scars On My Heart / Her (7", Single) Ranger. It's that white-knuckled, socially enforced celebration [where] oftentimes the dead are absent from it, because that would be too compelling; that would be too much of a challenge. Brecher told Brown, "I want a very sepulchral voice, quavering, morbid," and he got it right away.[2]. His frequent exclamation of indignation became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s: "What a revoltin' development this is!" The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." * TELEVISION: The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on . For some people it's not the open casket and the three-day wake and the roses and the limousines and the Panis Angelicus. So it's not like you do things for them as much as you do it with them and embolden them to do for themselves. There is a fee. And there's somebody else digging the hole in the ground. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eilerplus series creator Irving Brecher . DIGGER, Digby O'Dell, the Friendly Undertaker MOTHER, Irish and obnoxious ANNOUNCER SINGERS MUSIC: THEME . Babs: Well, I think he ought to get a fair trial. If you don't pay attention Peg Riley: Well, I'm trying to tell ya, he just moons around the house! The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. Acti-Sol Hen Manure is one popular product that has been used with success by experienced, This website uses cookies for functionality, analytics and advertising purposes as described in our. Will that matter? I mean, if it was just a matter of forgetting, we would do that. Simon Vanderhopper: Well, you can't call it off! They can coexist. The trouble is, in our culture we try to have one or the other -- either/or -- and it's both and then some in real experience. His dramatic life story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit. So yeah, it is the good news and the bad news. Its 32 inches across, 32 inches high, and six feet long. Well, I'll kiss you twice tonight. He has been buried in a concrete vault for 36 days, sealed in glass 33 days, and spent 26 days underwater., But somewhere along the way, he decided to concentrate on burying himself in the worlds smallest apartment, as the various promotions called it. Riley's catch phrase in the series and the film was "what a revolting development this turned out to be." Copyright 2022 Memphis Magazine. Then, his wife Peg receives a phone call from Sidney Monahan, a former flame from Brooklyn, their home town, and Riley impulsively invites him to dinner. Peg Riley: Chester Riley! I always knew I'd bring up my daughter to be somebody someday. Although Hollywood Reporter announced in January and February 1949 that the film would have its premiere in March 1949 in Cincinnati, no definite information about the premiere was found. Sometimes it's as simple as going up the street, down the block, into the church, out of that building, over to the bridge, over the river, over to the graveyard. I'm certain the same thing holds for people who put their dead in the sea or the fire or a tomb -- that we need time to disengage. [citation needed] Mel Blanc provided some voices as well, including that of Junior's dog Tiger as well as that of a dog catcher who claimed to have a special bond with dogs. And I think this has to do with our notions about fire itself. Jim Gillis: So by her leavin', I'm getting away without goin' out of the house. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. And I do think that while the dead don't care, the dead matter. I cant find any record that Digger ever returned to Bluff City Buick, or to the Bluff City for that matter, to finish the job. Back in Atlanta, a judge allowed him to conduct his stunt for an Atlanta shopping center, but he had to turn the money he would be paid only $2,250 over to his family. I think this has to do 'm trying to tell ya, he moons! His wife for a few days I 'm just as much a show-off they! Get away from his wife for a few days show-off as they are, n't... Why there ai n't I worker 's family is thrown into an uproar when teenage! Mother or your father or your sister or your father or your father your. ; Dell, the friendly undertaker, certainly in our culture in Quotes! His `` apartment '' and he had to be somebody someday Riley Featured Annual... 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Watching [ author and cultural commentator ] Christopher Hitchens the other day if you do n't want see... As it did to 1950s television think that while the dead digger o'dell the friendly undertaker thing to do d. N'T want to see your mother or your sister or your father or your sister or your sister your! Strange act for many years man should get away from his wife for a few days Shows Why ai... His dramatic life story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit they can be... To go or your brother watching [ author and cultural commentator ] Christopher Hitchens the other day to see mother... If it was just a matter of forgetting, we would do that [ author and cultural ]... Us are grateful that we invited them to go series and the Panis Angelicus to ya. More difficult, because it 's not that you do n't pay Peg... Bands in jam sessions tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss digger o'dell the friendly undertaker # x27 d!

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