Bendix was able to return to the role on NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently in the top 25. And there's somebody else doing this, that. We already ordered the baby announcements.
But you have to do that first, because people will sense if you're not willing to do that, if you're just sort of going through the motions. His real name, it seems, was Herbert O'Dell Smith. It was just doing the next right thing. But he said, "When a death occurs, people feel so helpless, it's good to have some of these things already invented." It is that everything changes and nothing changes. Although Bendix's considerable acting chops allowed him to believably play both heroes and villains, it was as the loveable blue-collar factory worker Chester A. Riley that he is best remembered, first on radio and then in the 1949 movie of the same name. [Riley is talking on the phone with the hospital's maternity ward]. For the final season, filming reverted to black-and-white. She has her picture on the front page. Nevertheless, this Life of Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No.
. [citation needed], In 1948, NBC broadcast "two live television test programs based on the radio series. And you have mentioned the range of feelings and emotions at a funeral. Peg Riley: Maybe he's sick or something. 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. From NE Ohio to North Central Mississippi, everyone has their own ideas and preferences for what they will plant this year. He'll never amount to anything. I'll be the dead guy, and the dead say nothing. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on the Hollywood blacklist. You can read in history books about the way a funeral procession was laid out -- which civic group, which ecclesiastical group, which fraternal group, which family group -- how everybody was lined up, so that as people walked in, there was this rise and fall of relationship and grief, and people know this, that good, orderly direction that was assumed by this process, this ritual. 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. Babs Riley: But Mother, this is the opportunity of my entire life! So we learn to live with it. People will sometimes ask me about the connections between poetry and funerals, and I do see this huge connection between the use of language in the two of them and how both rely on ritual and symbol and metaphor. The question is not meant to mock; the question is to say: "What is it you don't want to see? I'm calling it off now! A reader named Ronnie Bierbrodt, who obviously did more research than I did, even turned up his obituary and a copy of the memorial booklet given out at his funeral. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral. Quotes.net. Well, it's showing up and just being there is worth an awful lot. And they won't forget, and that's the thing. I really don't care. I cant say what finally happened to Digger. And I've seen it work, I've seen it work. The auto dealers did their part by displaying a huge banner that asked of anyone driving by, HOW LONG CAN HE STAY BURIED ALIVE?. 16 in its first season, with four of its six seasons in the top 30, and ran for a total of 217 episodes. [citation needed], In all of the show's incarnations, the comedic plotlines centered around Riley himself, a gullible and occasionally clumsy (but big-hearted) man, and the doings and undoings of his family. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Are social changes the reasons that we are more fearful and reluctant to deal with death in our everyday lives? But I find that if you just show up, if you just walk in the door, people think you're a hero. She just cant help being money hungry.. [5] Originally, William Bendix was to have appeared on both radio and TV, but Bendix's RKO Radio Pictures movie contract prevented him from appearing on the TV version. home|introduction|watch online|stories & special video|to be an undertaker|join the discussion If you're playing human to human, you'll do fine. Peg Riley: What's the matter? 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. Rosemary DeCamp (as "Peg Riley"), Lanny Rees (as "Junior Riley") and John Brown (as "Digger O'Dell, the Friendly Undertaker") all reprised their movie roles in the original The Life of Riley (1948) TV series. Thanks for any help. They'll survive it. On the day of Babs's wedding, which is to take place at the Stevenson mansion, Riley becomes annoyed and hurt when Gillis, his best friend and co-worker, snubs him because he is sure that Riley "sold" his daughter to get the promotion. Everything seems to fall into place. It gives us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread. Sterling Holloway recurred as neighbor Waldo Binney, another radio character. No word on whether anyone felt like carrying on the family tradition. His dramatic life story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit. And something is. Another gardener is pla, Growing Peppers in Your Garden: Tips, Hardening Off and Soil Mix, Growing peppers is a great way to spice up your garden. And this movement, emotionally, is mirrored by a physical movement. If you havent visited this area of the park, you should. Still, as every grieving person knows, we have to reinvent the wheel in which we are now orphaned. So it's interesting times we live in that way. Gillis: Don't argue, because I hate family arguments. It seems Digger ODell was a friendly undertaker character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesnt explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. During a burial in California, a sudden earthquake caved in the sides of his "apartment" and he had to be rescued. No one escaped Crowther's vitriol: Bendix was "an oaf," Lanny Rees, as son, Junior, looked "slightly frightening," Randall as Babs was "just another shapely blonde," and John Brown as Digger was "extremely disappointing in the flesh." Jim Gillis: So by her leavin', I'm getting away without goin' out of the house. What a revolting development this is! I'm the guy that has the hearse, but there's someone else in town who is making a strawberry rhubarb pie to bring to the luncheon afterward, and that's what she's doing on the day. [9], William Bendix and Sterling Holloway, 1957. And yeah, everything plays its part in that. Web. What we don't want to see is our mother or our father dead, and that is the part we need to see. I've never lost a father yet! The second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953, to May 23, 1958. Also, in 1958, it hi I've always been touched by the fact that there seems to be as much laughter as weeping at the big life events. 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. And it works; it does work. Not a day went by that I wasn't kept in after school. The only place your son will get his picture is in the post office. And they open your mouth. You were just married! 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. The Life of Riley (1949) co-starred Rosemary DeCamp, James Gleason, Beluah Bondi, Richard Long and John Brown as "Digger O'Dell" the friendly undertaker, a role that he also played on the radio program. It follows the changes in our species, certainly in our culture. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. I know it won't matter, it will be others, but do you see yourself as the fire or the earth, or --? So yes, I think all of these things help to sort of "fix" us in the firmament of where we are at any given time with our youth and our age, our well-being or our infirmity, our dying, our death and our remembrance. SOURCES:
Jim Gillis: Yeah, well, he oughta shampoo more often - with kerosene! Paula Winslowe played "Peg" for most of the series' run. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: No, only Latin and Greek. I think we act out things that are hard to put in words. CONTINUES IN BG SINGERS: Riley, Riley, what a pal! We are less grounded than our grandparents were. I really think my people will know what to do when the time comes, and these are details I won't have to worry about. Chester A. Riley: Do you need any help with the dishes? 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." 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. 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. (CONTINUES HUMMING IN BG) ANNOUNCER: He later finds out it was an Indian girl who stood in for her and they are reunited at the end of the movie.
to "what are we going to do?" If you don't pay attention Peg Riley: Well, I'm trying to tell ya, he just moons around the house! For some people it's not the open casket and the three-day wake and the roses and the limousines and the Panis Angelicus. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: Oh Simon, he knows!
I got my picture in the paper! At weddings people are forever weeping at what is supposed to be a joyous event. She talks about how in her life the difference was not between doing good and evil. It gives me room to do either, all along this sort of emotional register. Chester A. Riley: Well, if you do, just holler. A cover was placed over his apartment and he was sealed in, with the intention being to break the personal record of 57 days that he had set here during his previous visit to Memphis, though that location wasnt mentioned. I admire entrepreneurs and performers as much as the next guy, but it was surely a miserable way to make a living. And when we talk about "the procession," what is the meaning of that? Let's see! Chester A. Riley: So was I. Today he is just living the life of RileyIn 1908, a starving Indian named Gray Horse drove a tent stake into the ground and struck oil. [after Riley discovers the man he accused of bank robbery is a policeman]. So what you've seen is what I've seen: that people who deal with their dead deal with death better. For 28 years, the CHFB has been the essential site for classic horror news, research and enthusiasm. And particularly when you see the transaction which involves this rather impressive life-or-death event with the rather mundane mercantility of it all. And there's somebody else arranging the flowers. Peppers take longer than tomatoes to get going, so start them first. So yeah, I enjoyed writing that piece. Everything assumes its natural order. And somebody else is pressing somebody's clothes. [1] (Marx would get his own series Blue Ribbon Town instead.) Unknown. I think we're among the first couple generations for whom the presence of the dead at their funerals has become optional, and I see that as probably not good news for the culture at large. Jackson.Amongst the student body, there was boy with the surname of O'Dell. 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. : Commissioned in 1932 by Memphis Chapter 1 of the American War Mothers, this large bronze plaque carried the names of 27 Memphians who had lost their lives in World War I. People will know that. Jim Gillis: They put you to sleep. [3], An unrelated radio show with the title Life of Riley was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941, to September 6, 1941. As Bluff City Buick customers watched, Digger ODell (left) prepared to enter the worlds smallest apartment, where he planned to stay at least 57 days. 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. The Life of Riley is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. So we weep and we laugh, we laugh and we sing, and we try to work our way around this changed reality in much the same way a death in the family articulates this changed reality. His real name, it seems, was Herbert O'Dell Smith. Riley's annoying co-worker, Gillis, was also voiced by Brown. While the ratio may not be ideal for tomatoes, it can still produce great results with some preparation and understanding of the plant's genetic potential. I have children at home; my wife had taken them home from the luncheon. But I remember coming home after the mass and the burial and the luncheon, getting back to her house -- it was about 3:00-ish in the afternoon -- and thinking, "The trick-or-treaters are coming." MUSIC: LOU KOSLOFF'S "LIFE OF RILEY THEME" . I just gave him a sedative. Chester A. Riley: Christmas, nothing doing! series from October 4, 1949, to March 28, 1950. Henry Morgan voiced Riley's father in one episode. Al was the boyfriend of Irma. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. This is a sign to me that they don't care, that heaven is not having to worry about these things, so I'm determined not to worry about them either. See production, box office & company info, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA. He noted that "the grave that he can't escape from" is located in Sawnee View Memorial Gardens, just outside of Cummings, Georgia. I'm not the type of friends who buts in. Simon Vanderhopper: Well, you can't call it off! What are you doin' here in the park? The local newspapers reported that an 18x24-inch plywood air shaft allowed Digger to receive air and food, and he had carefully stocked his tiny domicile with lights, reading glasses, even packs of cigarettes. Unreliable advice on how to handle these situations came from Riley's pal Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker, who would sneak in a string of dark-humored jokes before he had to be "shoveling off". Jim Gillis: Of course it's right. When families have gone to the crematory, has it made a difference? Alan Lipscott and Reuben Ship wrote many of the radio series' early episodes, and Don Bernard was the show's initial director. The Life of Riley was the initial release of Brecher Productions, Inc. William Bendix first played "Riley" in the popular NBC radio series on which this film was based, and John Brown played "'Digger' O'Dell" in the series. Chester A. Riley: Well, that'll be it, Miss Millie. 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. Brecher Productions, Inc.; Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc. "Digger" O'Dell, "the friendly undertaker", William Bendix came to the attention of the public in the 1944 Alfred Hitchcock film, Lifeboat , playing a dim-witted sailor who doesn't survive the ordeal. I mean, if it was just a matter of forgetting, we would do that. He would have thought much of it ridiculous and much of it sublime. We saw people start organizing these commemorative events to which everyone was invited but the dead guy. Peg Riley: Well, of all the revolting ideas! 1949. But when people go with us, it's at the back end of an industrial park in Lavonia, near a railroad track, so it's unlike the kind of commemorative surroundings that we have in our local cemeteries -- more is the pity. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: There's still Christmas. Ferguson: That's the type of citizen we're sworn to protect. 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. [citation needed], Bendix and Rosemary DeCamp reprised the roles in an hour-long radio adaptation of the feature film that was presented on Lux Radio Theater on May 8, 1950. Help came from Digger O'Dell, the "friendly undertaker," who offered gruesome theories laced with repetitive puns, brilliantly delivered by John Brown. The stores are open. Sponsors of the TV show included Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (194950), Gulf Oil (195358) and Lever Brothers (195758). Peg Riley: Every day this week, he's been kept in after school. Dear Vance:My parents remember a Memphian named Digger ODell who had himself buried alive here sometime in the 1960s as a promotional stunt. Well, if you ask any group of ordinary citizens, "How many here have attended a cremation?" He was Herbert ODell Smith, and he conducted this buried alive stunt, along with countless other feats of endurance, across the South. "became one of the most famous catchphrases of the 1940s. I just read this card, and I just spoke to the Justice of the Peace! It's not always the same thing, and for everyone it's different. They prefer warmer temperatures and drier, Organic Fertilizers: A Natural Alternative for Feeding your Garden | Texas Tomato Food, GreenLeaf Nutrients & More, Fertilizers have become increasingly expensive in recent years, leading many gardeners to look for alternatives. Let me begin this strange tale by saying that minutes and minutes of research failed to turn up many verifiable facts about Smith oh, good grief, lets just call him Digger here. What are you doin' here in the park? 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