r/OriginalVintageTV_

An American character actor best known for his role as Count Dracula lookalike "Grandpa", opposite Fred Gwynne's and Yvonne De Carlo's characters on the CBS television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and its subsequent film versions. Later in life, he was also a restaurant owner, political candidate, and radio broadcaster. His acting career begins the well-documented portion of his life. He worked in burlesque and vaudeville theaters, then on Broadway in the dramas The Night Circus (1958) and One More River (1960) and as the character Moe Shtarker in the musical comedy Do Re Mi (1962).

His earliest television work includes appearances on the Beverly Garland crime drama Decoy and The Phil Silvers Show. From 1959–63, he appeared in four episodes of Naked City. Lewis' first well-known television role was as Officer Leo Schnauser on the NBC sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? from 1961–63, also starring Fred Gwynne (Lewis reprised the role in the 1994 movie of the same name). In the series, Lewis first played Al Spencer the Auto Body Man in two early first-season episodes before landing the more familiar role of Officer Schnauser. But he is best remembered as "Grandpa" on The Munsters, which ran on CBS from 1964–66.

In 1967, Lewis played the part of Zalto the wizard in the Lost in Space episode, Rocket to Earth. His first role in a movie was as Machine Gun Manny in Pretty Boy Floyd (1960). He had small roles in The World of Henry Orient (1964), They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), They Might Be Giants (1971). He appeared as Hanging Judge Harrison in Used Cars (1980) and had a minor role in Married to the Mob (1988). His last film role was in Night Terror (2002).

Lewis was a recurring guest on The Howard Stern Show. In 1987, during a "Howard Stern Freedom Rally" against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that was broadcast live, Lewis repeatedly shouted "F*** the FCC!" until Stern was able to take the microphone away from him. Stern and the station were not punished for Lewis' comments.

Unlike some actors, Lewis did not mind being typecast. He enjoyed acting out his "Grandpa" character—in the original costume—and got a surprising amount of mileage from such a short-lived role. "Why not?" he said. "It pays the bills."

James Maitland "Jimmy" Stewart was an American film and stage actor, known for his distinctive voice and his everyman persona. Over the course of his career, he starred in many films widely considered classics and was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one in competition and receiving one Lifetime Achievement award. He was a major MGM contract star. He also had a noted military career and was a World War II and Vietnam War veteran, who rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the United States Air Force Reserve.

Throughout his seven decades in Hollywood, Stewart cultivated a versatile career and recognized screen image in such classics as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Philadelphia Story, Harvey, It's a Wonderful Life, Shenandoah, Rear Window, Rope, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and Vertigo. He is the most represented leading actor on the AFI's 100 Years…100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) and AFI's 10 Top 10 lists. He is also the most represented leading actor on the 100 Greatest Movies of All Time list presented by Entertainment Weekly. As of 2007, ten of his films have been inducted into the United States National Film Registry.

Stewart left his mark on a wide range of film genres, including westerns, suspense thrillers, family films, biographies and screwball comedies. He worked for a number of renowned directors later in his career, most notably Alfred Hitchcock, John Ford, Billy Wilder, Frank Capra, George Cukor, and Anthony Mann. He won many of the industry's highest honors and earned Lifetime Achievement awards from every major film organization. He died at age 89, leaving behind a legacy of classic performances, and is considered one of the finest actors of the "Golden Age of Hollywood". He was named the third Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute.

Robert Martin Culp was an American actor and screenwriter widely known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy, the espionage television series in which he and co-star Bill Cosby played secret agents. Before this, he starred in the CBS/Four Star Western series Trackdown as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman in 71 episodes from 1957 to 1959. The 1980s brought him back to television as FBI Agent Bill Maxwell on The Greatest American Hero.

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/Y_pzsrqWbN4

You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz show originally hosted by Groucho Marx, which aired on radio from 1947 to 1960 and on television from 1950 to 1961. The show featured humorous interactions with contestants and included a "secret word" that could earn them extra money.

James David Graham Niven was an English actor, soldier, raconteur, memoirist and novelist. Niven was known as a handsome and debonair leading man in Classic Hollywood films. His accolades include an Academy Award and two Golden Globe Awards in addition to nominations for a BAFTA Award and two Emmy Awards. Niven appeared in several shows during the 1950s, including the dramatic anthology series Four Star Playhouse, where he starred in 33 episodes. He also made guest appearances on various short-drama shows and had a role in the musical The Toast of New Orleans (1950). Born in central London to an upper-middle-class family, Niven attended Heatherdown Preparatory School and Stowe School before gaining a place at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.

Frequently appearing for or alongside her actor/writer husband of 50 years, noted stage, screen and TV heavy and writer Leo Gordon, actress Lynn Cartwright is probably best remembered for one of her early screen roles as the brusque, Brooklyn-accented switchboard operator in the cult horror The Wasp Woman (1959), and for her touching final screen appearance as the older, sweet-faced WWII-era baseball player Dottie Hinson (played throughout most the film by Geena Davis)) in the final scenes of the Penny Marshall-helmed comedy A League of Their Own (1992).
The willowy, auburn-haired performer with the highly distinctive cheek bones was born on February 27, 1927, in McAlester, Oklahoma, the daughter of U.S. Congressman Wilburn and his wife Carrie (née Staggs) Cartwright.
Lynn Cartwright appeared in several television shows during the 1950s, including **"Highway Patrol," "Man Called X," and "Bat Masterson."**Lynn's younger sister, Wilburta, born a year later, went on to become an artist. Other politically-minded Oklahomans from her family tree include Legislator Buck Cartwright and former Attorney General Jan-Eric Cartwright.

Lynn enrolled in acting lessons at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in the late 1940s. Here is where she met Gordon, an ex-con who was trying to turn his life around as an actor. The couple married in February of 1950 and began married life touring together on the Borscht Belt stages. They went on to have a daughter together, Tara Gordon.

>> VIEW CLIP https://youtu.be/sXe4UQuOH30

ABC show made history as the first hour-long Western series on American television. In fact, "Cheyenne" was the first show of any genre to feature the same characters week after week and to last more than one season. Despite this, the show is rarely discussed or watched. But you can fix that right now by streaming the show on platforms such as Starz, Plex, Philo, and more.

Debuting in 1955, "Cheyenne" starred Clint Walker as the titular loner cowboy. After his parents were killed by an indigenous tribe, Bodie was taken in by the Cheyenne people and raised by his adoptive family until the age of 12 (though the show gets a little hazy on these details as it goes on). As an adult, Bodie travels the post-Civil War American West taking on multiple jobs, including Army scout, prospector, and even working as both a Deputy U.S. Marshal and a county sheriff.

"Cheyenne" had an impressive run, airing on ABC from 1955 to 1962. During that time, the series produced 108 episodes and ran for seven seasons, changing television along the way and becoming one of the best Western shows ever. Not too shabby for the first show of its kind.

Keye Luke was a Chinese-born American actor and visual artist. He was the first Chinese-American contract player signed by RKO, Universal Pictures, 20th Century-Fox and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer; a founding member of the Screen Actors Guild, and was one of the most prominent Asian actors of American cinema in the mid-20th century. Luke notably portrayed Lee Chan, the "Number One Son" in the Charlie Chan films, the original Kato in the Green Hornet film serials, the voice of Brak on the animated television series Space Ghost cartoons, Kwai Chang Caine's mentor Master Po on the television series Kung Fu.

Born Morton David Alpern on the 23rd March 1922, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, he was a comedian who came to prominence after starting a comedy duo with Steve Rossi in the late ‘50s. He appeared in a number of variety shows, including “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”, while also performing in nightclubs, becoming a legend. He passed away in 2018. Do you want to read more about this comedy legend, from his childhood years to his success? If yes, then stay with us for a while, as we are about to bring you closer to one of the most prominent comedians of all time, Marty Allen.

George "Spanky" McFarland was an American child actor best known for his role in the "Our Gang" series of short films, later known as "The Little Rascals." He was born on October 2, 1928, in Dallas, Texas, and became a prominent figure in children's comedy during the 1930s and 1940s.

Carver Dana Andrews was an American film actor who became a major star in what is now known as film noir and later in Western films. A leading man during the 1940s, he continued acting in less prestigious roles and character parts into the 1980s. He is best known for his portrayal of obsessed police detective Mark McPherson in the noir mystery Laura and his critically acclaimed performance as World War II veteran Fred Derry returning home in The Best Years of Our Live.

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/4lY6dmWzx38

Diver Dan is a series of 104 seven-minute live-action shorts made for children's television from 1960 to 1970. Made by Brian Cartoons, it was syndicated and distributed by ITC Entertainment. The shows were sometimes re-edited into half-hour blocks by local stations. The series featured the adventures of a diver in an old-fashioned diving suit who talked to the passing fish. The series was filmed in live action with puppet fish; the underwater effect was achieved by shooting through an aquarium 

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/vYHlg0N6ex0?list=PLmev5TQDJF6vYbXRG-Xq9J2-6tIiLrfng

"Wagon Train" is a classic American Western TV series that aired from 1957 to 1965, following the adventures of a wagon train traveling from Missouri to California. It featured famous guest stars in each episode and was inspired by the 1950 film "Wagon Master."

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/p2lhEIXedg0

The Pinky Lee Show was a children's television program that aired in the 1950s, hosted by Pinky Lee, known for his energetic antics and catchphrase. The show was notable for its lively format and was followed by the popular Howdy Doody Show.

Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca, known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican and American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 film, television and stage roles between 1936 and 2002. He was a two-time Academy Award winner, and was also nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and a Tony Award.

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/IsF7RtfEidY

The Cisco Kid is a Western television series that aired from 1950 to 1956, featuring Duncan Renaldo as the titular character and Leo Carrillo as his humorous sidekick, Pancho. The show consisted of 156 episodes and was popular for its action and light-hearted storytelling, portraying Cisco and Pancho as Robin Hood-like figures who helped the downtrodden.

Actor, Comedian, Entertainer. He is best remembered for his role of 'Mr. Green Jeans,' the farmer and animal lover, on the long running television series, "Captain Kangaroo." Born in Sandwich, Illinois, he moved with his family to California, and learned to play a variety of musical instruments while growing up. Using this talent to earn extra money, he joined a band playing trumpet, moving on to guitar and banjo, and later to the upright bass. While in college at the University of Redlands, he became interested in jazz, and after graduation, played bass in various bands on the West Coast and occasionally at a local radio station. During World War II (WWII), he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps, and joined a Marine band led by Bob Crosby, brother of famed singer Bing Crosby. When he left the service at the end of the war, he joined the 'Four Squires,' later moving to bandleader Fred Waring and his 'Pennsylvanians,' living with his wife in a small Pennsylvania town, where he took up gardening. Waring's group had a regular radio show, where Hugh met Bob Keeshan, an employee at the station. During the weekly program, Brannum would tell stories to children using the stage name "Uncle Lumpy." This popular portion of the show led to 78 rpm records being sold by Decca Records during the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1954, Brannum hosted a local Pennsylvania television show called "Uncle Lumpy's Cabin," and the following year, he joined with Bob Keeshan for "Captain Kangaroo," playing the character 'Mr. Green Jeans,' for which he is so well remembered. In each episode he would introduce a live animal and teach children about caring for the earth and farming. After several decades on CBS television, "Captain Kangaroo" went to public television for its last remaining six years, before ending in 1985 (the show continued in reruns until 1993). Hugh Brannum died in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1987. His close friend and colleague, Bob Keeshan, died in 2004.

>> VIEW CLIP https://youtu.be/-kHzr50uUOY

Davy Crockett is a five-part serial which aired on ABC from 1954–1955 in one-hour episodes, on the Disneyland series. The series starred Fess Parker as real-life frontiersman Davy Crockett and Buddy Ebsen as his friend, George Russell. The first three and last two episodes were respectively edited into the theatrical films Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and Davy Crockett and the River Pirates. This series and film are known for the theme song, "The Ballad of Davy Crockett".

>> VIEW HERE https://youtu.be/lLC2zvCgEqk

Hosted by Boris Karloff, this anthology series initially focused on ordinary crime and mystery tales but later delved into gothic horror stories adapted from works by Cornell Woolrich, Robert Bloch, Charlotte Armstrong, and others.