Who's the Mystery Actor?

Svengarlic · **Reply #25 on:** August 23, 2014, 12:32:51 PM

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on August 22, 2014, 03:05:16 PM

I remember "Pickles" very well. This was a good one! I was baffled.

How about this one? A successfull leading lady, she is equally known for her work in a long running TV series. Hard to make her out with the baby fat face of youth and long hair.

Svengarlic · **Reply #26 on:** August 25, 2014, 12:49:12 PM

A couple of clues: she shared the big screen in two HUGE movies with a prominent Our Gang player, and an actor best known for his portrayal of a comic book character.

In the later TV days, two characters on the show crossed over to music and had top 10 hits. (that should ring Jazz Bill's bells)

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #27 on:** August 25, 2014, 05:24:27 PM

Looks like Donna Reed to me. Shelley Fabares had a hit with "Johnny Angel," while Paul Petersen's "Lollipops and Roses" may have been his hit, not sure.

Svengarlic · **Reply #28 on:** August 26, 2014, 11:25:50 AM

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on August 25, 2014, 05:24:27 PM

Looks like Donna Reed to me. Shelley Fabares had a hit with "Johnny Angel," while Paul Petersen's "Lollipops and Roses" may have been his hit, not sure.

Looks more like Barbara Stanwyck to me! But dind ding ding! It's Donna. The others I referred to were Alfalfa in "It's a Wonderful Life" and George Reeves in "From Here to Eternity".

I can't remember if that was the Peterson song or not. But neither had another hit.

If there were any scenes with Donna they were left on the cutting room floor. As revealed in the recent film "Hollywoodland", shooting SUPERMAN for TV made him too recognizable to preview audiences. They shredded his role and with it any hope of becoming a mainstream movie star. He should have grown a mustache and a G.I. crew cut for that role!

BeAStooge · **Reply #29 on:** August 26, 2014, 09:40:05 PM

Quote from: Svengarlic on August 26, 2014, 11:25:50 AM

As revealed in the recent film "Hollywoodland", shooting SUPERMAN for TV made him too recognizable to preview audiences. They shredded his role and with it any hope of becoming a mainstream movie star.

A long-standing myth, bought into by the HOLLYWOODLAND writers, and not true. None of Reeves' scenes were cut.

Although a prominent character in the novel, 'Sgt. Stark' was minimized in the original draft screenplay. This was months before casting. There were no changes to the 'Stark' scenes between the draft and final shooting script.

In a 1990s interview with actor/author/historian Jim Beaver, director Fred Zinneman himself debunked the Reeves myth, and proudly said that not one frame of his film was dropped between the preview screening and the final release print.

Svengarlic · **Reply #30 on:** August 27, 2014, 09:27:17 AM

I have no doubt that your source's are better than mine, BeA. There are SO many myths surrounding the George Reeves "suicide". That being the biggest...did he take his own life?

Svengarlic · **Reply #31 on:** September 02, 2014, 07:52:29 AM

This is a real toughie. She's a very recognizable actress of yesterday. Sorry, I can't provide any clues as she's only known for one role. DOH! That's a clue!

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #32 on:** September 02, 2014, 03:00:23 PM

She reminds me of Phylicia Rashad, but I'm sure that's wrong. I'll have to think about this one.

Svengarlic · **Reply #33 on:** September 02, 2014, 04:29:44 PM

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on September 02, 2014, 03:00:23 PM

She reminds me of Phylicia Rashad, but I'm sure that's wrong. I'll have to think about this one.

LOL...yeah, but you can tell by the age of that photo that Mrs. Cosby may not have even been born then. Maybe the old Broad that played Cliff's mother? I kid, but a guess a clue is in order: Her bawdy persona pictured here is in sharp contrast to the image her characters projected in the 70's.

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #34 on:** September 02, 2014, 04:38:16 PM

I knew the age was wrong, but I was - - and am - - stumped. It can't be Mary Tyler Moore because she was known for two roles. And it certainly isn't Rose Marie or Morey Amsterdam!

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #35 on:** September 02, 2014, 04:50:51 PM

Just a note: MTM played one character in the '60s and one in the 70s, plus two in the 50s, which is another reason it can't be she.

Svengarlic · **Reply #36 on:** September 02, 2014, 06:21:45 PM

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on September 02, 2014, 04:50:51 PM

Just a note: MTM played one character in the '60s and one in the 70s, plus two in the 50s, which is another reason it can't be she.

Well Signor, I can see you are truly a man that doesn't see color! But you have zero'd in on her genre: TV. And like MTM she was on a big hit comedy. (but only one)

BTW, I know Mary played the legs on Richard Diamond, but what was the other role in the '50's?

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #37 on:** September 02, 2014, 06:26:10 PM

MTM's other role in the 50s = Happy Hotpoint, the tiny elf who skated around advertising Hotpoint appliances.

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #38 on:** September 02, 2014, 07:59:52 PM

Jean Stapleton is my current guess. I assumed the actress pictured had a nose job before becoming famous, but that may not be so. It looks nothing like JS, but I'll keep pitching.

Svengarlic · **Reply #39 on:** September 03, 2014, 10:10:44 AM

I guess you really are colorblind, Signor. The woman pictured is Black. I guess the sepia shading is throwing you off. This chick was a Chittlin' Circuit performer in her youth, brought to the little screen by an old friend years later.

On MTM: I guess you could call the little Hot Point Elf a role. I actually remember those spots, and much later learned that Mary was the girl in 'em.

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #40 on:** September 03, 2014, 10:47:03 AM

I'm so darn sick right now I probably oughtn't to try identifying anyone, including myself. My apologies for being so dense on this one, and my thanks to you for being patient with me. Thanks, too, for the additional clues on this lady. I don't know what I was thinking not to see that this lady is black. Maybe I thought she was wearing heavy pancake/body makeup or something. Duh.

Interestingly, considering your humorous comment on Cosby's mom (in reply to my earlier guess), Clarice Taylor was, in fact, on the Chitlin Circuit, too. She played Cosby's mother on his 80s TV show. So was Loretta "Moms Mabley" Aiken on the Chitlin Circuit, but even *I* can see this isn't she.

All right, so the eyebrows suggest Isabel Sanford, who moved from "All In the Family" to "The Jeffersons," playing the same character on both.

Svengarlic · **Reply #41 on:** September 03, 2014, 12:30:39 PM

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on September 03, 2014, 10:47:03 AM

I'm so darn sick right now I probably oughtn't to try identifying anyone, including myself. My apologies for being so dense on this one, and my thanks to you for being patient with me. Thanks, too, for the additional clues on this lady. I don't know what I was thinking not to see that this lady is black. Maybe I thought she was wearing heavy pancake/body makeup or something. Duh.

Interestingly, considering your humorous comment on Cosby's mom (in reply to my earlier guess), Clarice Taylor was, in fact, on the Chitlin Circuit, too. She played Cosby's mother on his 80s TV show. So was Loretta "Moms Mabley" Aiken on the Chitlin Circuit, but even *I* can see this isn't she.

All right, so the eyebrows suggest Isabel Sanford, who moved from "All In the Family" to "The Jeffersons," playing the same character on both.

Now THAT's a reasonable guess! And no, it definitely could not be Moms. She was a confirmed dyke and would never be seen in a get-up like that.

That's her in the light colored suit.

No reason to string it along any further. THIS is the Mystery Actor.

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #42 on:** September 03, 2014, 12:50:38 PM

LaWanda Page! This is good one. Thank you, Svengarlic, and thank you for giving me a pleasant pastime while I'm sick. You have brightened my mood considerably.

Svengarlic · **Reply #43 on:** September 03, 2014, 05:27:53 PM

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on September 03, 2014, 12:50:38 PM

LaWanda Page! This is good one. Thank you, Svengarlic, and thank you for giving me a pleasant pastime while I'm sick. You have brightened my mood considerably.

Glad to help. What I'm wondering is how foxy gal like that could get so unrecognizably butt ugly in 30 years!?

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #44 on:** September 03, 2014, 08:48:48 PM

Poor Lawanda, the former "Bronze Goddess of Fire." I suspect genetics are responsible for her loss of looks. I say that from the perspective of someone who has hosted a number of class reunions. We saw some big reversals of looks, both good and bad.

Lawanda Page's younger sister, Lynn Hamilton, also played on "Sanford & Son." She was Donna, Fred's longtime sweetheart. Lynn Hamilton kept her looks, by the way.

Svengarlic · **Reply #45 on:** September 03, 2014, 09:01:30 PM

Quote from: Signor Spumoni on September 03, 2014, 08:48:48 PM

Poor Lawanda, the former "Bronze Goddess of Fire." I suspect genetics are responsible for her loss of looks. I say that from the perspective of someone who has hosted a number of class reunions. We saw some big reversals of looks, both good and bad.

Lawanda Page's younger sister, Lynn Hamilton, also played on "Sanford & Son." She was Donna, Fred's longtime sweetheart. Lynn Hamilton kept her looks, by the way.

Well I'll be damned! I love learning new stuff like that.

Svengarlic · **Reply #46 on:** September 04, 2014, 10:45:37 AM

I constructed this combo made up of three popular TV comedy cuties from the past, all still alive and kicking (I think) with Spumoni in mind to wrestle with while convalescing. The bottom 2 are the same gal, around age 10 and 20. She's one of the girls whose faces are not obscured. After they're identified I'm going to add a certain big screen bombshell that ties all four together for ONE production. NO GOOGLE CROSS-REFERENCING!

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #47 on:** September 04, 2014, 03:01:50 PM

Svengarlic, what a very nice thing for you to do! It's been a rough day with the "creeping crud," or whatever it is, so it was especially nice to find this brain-buster waiting. Thank you!

This ought to keep me busy. I think I recognize the movie from which the clip was taken, but it's been even longer since I saw that than it was since I saw "Gorilla At Large." Hmmmm...

Giff me dat fill-em! · **Reply #48 on:** September 04, 2014, 03:20:12 PM

We will all leave this one for Italian Ice Cream Man ... anyone deserves a break when convalescing.

Signor Spumoni · **Reply #49 on:** September 04, 2014, 06:06:18 PM

Gosh, thank you, Giff Me Dat Fill-em! I like the name, Italian Ice Cream Man.

But be warned that I may come crying for help from everyone.

Let me assure you that I don't cross-reference. Not only would it take away the fun, but I'm not Internet-savvy enough for that! I use the low-tech method of enlarging the photos and staring at them.

I ignore hair color (and, as you learned, apparently I also ignore skin color &/or race) and style, plus other extraneous features. With Donna Reed, I used the two clues you gave from her show. I haven't seen "From Here To Eternity" nor "It's a Wonderful Life," in fact, but I knew she was in them.

The photo on top left is Donna Douglas. I was thinking the top right could be Yvonne DeCarlo, but she is not living, so I'll need to think some more. The bottom photos show Valerie Harper. Now tell me how wrong I am.