Mister Ed

Mister Ed is an American television sitcom produced by Filmways that first aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966. The show's title character is a talking horse, originally appearing in short stories by Walter R. Brooks.

Mister Ed is one of the few series to debut in syndication and be picked up by a major network for prime time.

Beginnings

The Mister Ed show concept was derived from a series of short stories by children's author Walter R. Brooks, which began with The Talking Horse in the September 18, 1937, issue of Liberty magazine. Brooks is otherwise best known for the Freddy the Pig series of children's novels, which likewise featured talking animals that interact with humans. Sonia Chernus, secretary to director Arthur Lubin, introduced Lubin to the Brooks stories and is credited with developing the concept for television.

The show's concept resembles that of the Francis the Talking Mule movies in which an equine title character talks, but only to one person, thus causing a variety of opportunities and frustrations. The first six Francis films (1950–55) were also directed by Lubin.

Alan Young

Alan Young (born November 19, 1919) is an English-born, Canadian-American actor, voice artist, comedian, radio host, television host and personality best known for his role as Wilbur Post in the television comedy series Mister Ed and as the voice of Scrooge McDuck in Disney films, TV series and video games. During the 1940s and 1950s, he starred in his own shows on radio and television.

Biography

Early life

Young was born (as Angus Young) on 19 November 1919 in North Shields, Northumberland England to John Cathcart Young, a shipyard worker, and Florence Pinckney, whose ancestors included a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. The family moved to Edinburgh, Scotland when Young was a toddler, and to West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada when he was six years old. Young came to love radio when bedridden as a child because of severe asthma.

Near the start of his radio career, during World War II, Young served in the Royal Canadian Navy.

Career

Young had his own comedy radio series on Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1944, he moved to American radio with The Alan Young Show, NBC's summer replacement for Eddie Cantor's show. He switched to ABC two years later, then returned to NBC.

Leon Ames

Leon Ames (January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best remembered for playing father figures in such films as Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) with Judy Garland as one of his daughters, Little Women (1949), On Moonlight Bay (1951), and By the Light of the Silvery Moon (1953). The fathers whom Ames portrayed were often somewhat stuffy and exasperated by the younger generation, but ultimately kind and understanding. His most famous role came as DA Kyle Sackett from the film The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946).

Life and career

Leon Ames was born Harry Wycoff on January 20, 1902, in Portland, Indiana, son of Charles Elmer Wycoff and his wife Cora A. De Moss.. Some sources list his original last name as "Wykoff" or "Waycoff", and in his early films, he acted under the name Leon Waycoff.

Ames made his film debut in Quick Millions (1931). During the 1940s, he was under contract to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Ames made his first radio appearance in January 1947 on Grand Central Station.

Allan Lane

Allan "Rocky" Lane (September 22, 1909 – October 27, 1973) was an American studio leading man and the star of many cowboy B-movies in the 1940s and 1950s. He appeared in more than 125 films and TV shows in a career lasting from 1929 to 1966. He is best known for being the voice of the talking horse on the television series Mister Ed, beginning in 1961.

Biography

Lane was born as Harry Leonard Albershardt in Indiana to Linnie Anne and William H. Albershardt. He grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Lane had been a photographer, model and stage actor by age 20. He was spotted by Fox Film Corporation (later 20th Century Fox) talent scouts and was signed to a contract. His first film role for Fox was as a romantic lead opposite June Collyer in the 1929 release, Not Quite Decent (now a lost film). He made several other films at Fox but jumped ship to Warner Bros. in the early 1930s.

Film career

While at Warner his career foundered, and after a number of bit parts he left films in the early 1930s. By 1936, Lane returned to films and to 20th Century Fox, taking supporting roles in the drama Laughing at Trouble and the Shirley Temple film Stowaway. After several more supporting roles at Fox, Lane longed for a starring role; therefore, he took the lead in a Republic Pictures' short feature, The Duke Comes Back (1937).

Larry Keating

Lawrence "Larry" Keating (June 13, 1899 – August 26, 1963) was an American actor best known for his roles as Harry Morton on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, which he played from 1953 to 1958, and next-door neighbor Roger Addison on Mister Ed, which he played from 1961 until his death in 1963.

Career

Keating was an announcer for NBC in the 1940s, an announcer for ABC radio's This Is Your FBI from 1945 to 1953, and a regular on the short-lived series The Hank McCune Show. Keating was the longest of several actors to play neighbor Harry Morton on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show. Keating took over the role of Harry Morton from Fred Clark in 1953 and continued in this role on the short-lived sequel, The George Burns Show.

During his first episode on The Burns and Allen Show, George Burns stopped the action just before Harry's entrance and explained that Clark had left the show. Then he introduced Larry Keating to Bea Benaderet who played Blanche Morton saying, "This is Larry Keating and he is going to be your husband now". The pair greeted and complimented each other on their previous work. George remarked that if they are going to be so nice to each other, no one will believe they are married.