Famous Faces on "The Phil Silvers Show:Sgt Bilko" (Season One)!
As head of the motor pool at Fort Baxter in Roseville, Kansas, the fast-talking Bilko is a regular at every poker game in town. His other platoon members are a motley group of lovable goons who would follow their beloved leader anywhere, knowing deep down that Bilko's really a softy with a heart of gold. This Emmy-winning sitcom was one of early television's 1st mega-hits, with brilliant visual gags and snappy dialogue performed by comic genius Phil Silvers as Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko. Co-starring with Silvers was Harvey Lembeck, Allan Melvin and Paul Ford as Colonel Hall. The Phil Silvers Show is one of TV's true comedy masterpieces....Here are some of the stars that were involved in this icoinic show....
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- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Herbie Faye was born on 2 February 1899 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), The New Phil Silvers Show (1963) and The Harder They Fall (1956). He was married to Mary Lou. He died on 28 June 1980 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA."Cpl. Sam Fender"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
(uncredited)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Making his stage debut at age 16, John Alexander joined a Shakespearean repertory company and in 1917 appeared on Broadway in "The Merchant of Venice." Although he played many parts on both stage and in films, his best known role was that of the crazed Teddy Brewster--the son who thinks he's Theodore Roosevelt - in Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), a part he played both on stage and in the movie.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
General Strait- Actress
- Soundtrack
After endless stage and television work, Barrie received a Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her performance in the ground-breaking racial drama One Potato, Two Potato (1964), as Julie, a young, white mother who marries a black man after she and her daughter are abandoned by her husband. The following decade, Barrie portrayed Evelyn in Breaking Away (1979), which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and later, an Emmy nomination, when she reprised the role in the television series based on the film. Later in her career, Barrie also was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her performance as Sue Berlin, mother to the title character, Judy Berlin (1999)."WAC Cpl. Edna Martin"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)- Actor
- Director
- Music Department
Terry Carter, a native of Brooklyn, New York, is a graduate of Stuyvesant High School in New York City. He attended Hunter College, Boston University - School of Communications, U.C.L.A. - School of Theater, Film, and Television, and St. John's University School of Law. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Northeastern University (1983).
Carter studied acting with Howard DaSilva, Bret Warren, Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof, and Stella Adler. He studied playwriting with Arnold Perl. He studied directing with Alan Schneider.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
Grover's Boxer- Actor
- Soundtrack
If any man ever had a curmudgeon character face absolutely made for TV and film, it was Paul Ford. Small-eyed, balding, lugubrious, pot-bellied and with a memorable plum nose to rival that of the great Karl Malden, he made a very late entry into show business, finding major success as blowhard military brass, gruff executives, grouchy sheriffs and blustery judges.
Born Paul Ford Weaver on November 2, 1901, in Baltimore, Maryland, he dropped out of Dartmouth College before working as a salesman throughout the Great Depression. The married Ford was a rather wanderlust family man who decided to give acting a try in his early 40s. He excelled at puppetry and found work staging such shows at the World's Fair. Billing himself as Paul Ford, his middle name and mother's maiden name, he eventually found a fair amount of radio and theatre offers. Making his off-Broadway debut in 1939, he moved to Broadway playing a sergeant in the 1944 play "Decision" and continued on the New York stage with such popular 40's plays as "Kiss Them for Me," "Flamingo Road" and "Command Decision."
Paul moved inauspiciously into films with uncredited roles in the dramatic films The House on 92nd Street (1945), The Naked City (1948) and All the King's Men (1949), then walked up the credits ladder rung by rung with credited roles in Lust for Gold (1949), The Kid from Texas (1950) and Perfect Strangers (1950). Eventually he included the newer medium of TV, finding roles on various anthology series including "Armstrong Circle Theatre," "The Ford Theatre Hour," "The Philco Television Playhouse," "Suspense" and "Studio One in Hollywood."
Paul earned a huge hit on Broadway with his delightfully huffy portrayal of Colonel Wainright Purdy in the 1953 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning war comedy "Teahouse of the August Moon." He went on to transfer his role to film with The Teahouse of the August Moon (1956). From there, he was given the part of irascible Horace Vandergelder in the movie version of the Thornton Wilder play The Matchmaker (1958) also starring Shirley Booth as Dolly Levi, Shirley MacLaine as Irene Malloy, Anthony Perkins as Cornelius Hackl and Robert Morse as Barnaby Tucker.
Having already conquered radio, stage and film, it was on TV that 54-year-old Paul would achieve "overnight success" and become a household name when he was hired played a befuddled second banana to comedian Phil Silvers on TV. Butting heads week after week as the ever-flustered Colonel Hall with Silvers' classic portrayal of the sly, manipulative Sergeant Bilko in The Phil Silvers Show (1955), Paul amused audiences for four seasons and was Emmy-nominated three times. During this time he scored another Broadway success playing multiple roles in the light-hearted sketch revue "Thurber's Carnival" in 1960.
As a reward for his small screen success, Paul was awarded the opportunity to film another stage hit. Shining in the pompous supporting role of Mayor Shinn in the 1957 Tony-awarded musical hit "The Music Man" (he replaced Tony-winning David Burns, the actor, along with Robert Preston (as Harold Hill) and Pert Kelton (as Mrs. Paroo) transferred his character to the immortal feature film version of The Music Man (1962).
Ford went on playing playing old coot gents and took a third Broadway triumph to film as elderly father-to-be Harry Lambert in the family comedy Never Too Late (1965) co-starring his stage partner Maureen O'Sullivan as expectant wife Edith. Other twilight character film roles included his senator in Advise & Consent (1962), another colonel in It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), a general in The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966), a military commander in The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming (1966), a one-time third-party presidential candidate in The Comedians (1967) (for which he won a National Board of Review award for "Best Supporting Actor"), and his last film, as a doctor in the little seen comedy Richard (1972).
Ford eventually retired in 1972, and died four years later due to a massive heart attack in Mineola, New York, on April 12, 1976. He was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Falling somewhat below W.C. Fields and Walter Matthau in crabby popularity, this delightful curmudgeon nevertheless earned and deserved his brief, late-night success."Col. John T. Hall"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Mickey Freeman was born on 12 February 1917 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for The Phil Silvers Show (1955), McHale's Navy (1962) and Keep in Step (1959). He died on 21 September 2010 in New York City, New York, USA."Pvt. Fielding Zimmerman"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)
(uncredited)- Actor
- Soundtrack
Veteran Polish-born character actor Ned Glass grew up in New York. After working in vaudeville he started acting in small parts on Broadway from the early 1930s. He gained further experience in the capacity of theatrical production supervisor before entering motion pictures in 1937 as an MGM contract player. Until the mid-1950s he was seen primarily in tiny supporting roles as clerks, reporters, bank tellers and small-time managers. His career was briefly put on hold after being blacklisted during the McCarthy era, but, with help from friends like John Houseman and Moe Howard (of The Three Stooges fame) he managed to get enough film work to make ends meet.
By 1953, Ned began to find a new lease of life in television where his roles were more varied and substantial. This afforded him the opportunity to fully develop his screen persona: that of the balding, weedy, perpetually nervy conman or weaselly stooge, often delivering barbed repartee or wisecracks in a heavy Brooklyn accent. Ned was at his best in comedy, put to good use in several episodes of Jackie Gleason's The Honeymooners (1955), and adapting well to anything else with a New York theme, from Kojak (1973) to Barney Miller (1975). He had many other good guest-starring roles on television, including several shifty characters in The Untouchables (1959), and as Freddie the Forger in Get Smart (1965) ('Do I Hear a Vaults?',1970). He was twice nominated for Emmy Awards, first for an episode of Julia (1968) (as Sol Cooper); the second time for Bridget Loves Bernie (1972) (Uncle Moe Plotnick).
From the time he played Doc in West Side Story (1961), Ned also began to land some meatier roles on the big screen, including the character of Popcorn in Experiment in Terror (1962), and as Doc Schindler, in one of the funniest 60's comedies, The Fortune Cookie (1966), directed by Billy Wilder. His best portrayal was that of the wily Leonard Gideon, sharpest of the villainous trio (the others being James Coburn and George Kennedy) on the trail of a quarter of a million dollar loot in gold, in the Hitchcockian thriller Charade (1963).
Ned continued playing crusty reprobates in films and on television, his last being a small-time thief in an episode of Cagney & Lacey (1981). He died two years later in Encino, California, at the age of 78."MSgt. Andy Pendleton"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)
(uncredited)- Actor
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Pat Hingle (real name: Martin Patterson Hingle) was born in Miami, Florida, the son of a building contractor. His parents divorced when Hingle was still in his infancy (he never knew his father) and his mother supported the family by teaching school in Denver. She then began to travel (with her son in tow) in search of more lucrative work; by age 13 Hingle had lived in a dozen cities. The future Tony Award nominee made his "acting debut" in the third grade, playing a carrot in a school play ("At that time it didn't seem like much of a way to make a living!", he recalled). Hingle attended high school in Texas and in 1941 entered the University of Texas, majoring in advertising. After serving in the Navy during WW II, he went back to the university and got involved with the drama department as a way to meet girls. With his wife Alyce (whom he first met at the university), Hingle moved to New York and began to get jobs on the stage and on TV. The apex of his stage career was "J.B." by poet Archibald Macleish, with Hingle in the title role as a 20th-century Job. It was during the run of "J.B." that Hingle took an accidental plunge down the elevator shaft of his New York apartment building, sustaining near-fatal injuries in the 54-foot fall. He was near death for two weeks (and lost the little finger of his left hand); his recovery took more than a year. In more recent years, Hingle has played Commissioner Gordon in the "Batman" movies.
Just prior to his death, he resided in Carolina Beach, North Carolina, with his wife, Julia.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
Pvt. Steve Nagy (uncredited)- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Harvey Lembeck was an American actor of Jewish descent, primarily known for comedic roles. Early in his life, Lembeck had worked as a dancer, and radio announcer.
Lembeck was born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1923, and attended New Utrecht High School in Brooklyn.. In 1939, the 16-year-old Lembeck started working as a dancer, part of a dance team known as The Dancing Carrolls. The team performed at the New York World's Fair (April, 1939-October, 1940). Lembeck started dating his teammate, the female dancer Caroline Dubs. Lembeck and Dubs eventually married each other, and remained married until Lembeck's death in 1982.
During World War II, Lembeck served in the United States Army. He was discharged at the end of the War, and soon after started college studies at New York University. He graduated in 1947, with a degree at radio arts. He intended to work as sports radio announcer, but his teacher Robert Emerson advised Lembeck to try his hand at an acting career. Emerson had seen Lembeck perform at the University's theatrical productions and had seen potential in him.
From 1948 to 1951, Lembeck performed at the hit Broadway play "Mister Roberts" by Joshua Logan. The play was an adaptation of a novel by Thomas Heggen, and dramatized life aboard a ship of the United States Navy during the Pacific War campaign of World War II. Based on his Broadway success, Lembeck was offered his first film roles by the a California-based film studio, called 20th Century Fox.
In 1951, Lembeck played parts in three new films: the military-themed comedy "You're in the Navy Now", the film noir "Fourteen Hours", and the scuba-diving- themed war film "The Frogmen". However, he was cast in small parts in each of them. Back in Broadway, Lembeck had more success with the hit play "Stalag 17" by co-writers Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski. The play depicted the life of the inmates in a Gernan prisoners-of-war camp during World War II.
In 1953, a film adaptation of "Stalag 17" was produced by Paramount Pictures, and Lembeck was hired to reprise his role. The film became a surprise box office hit, and Lembeck won the Theater Owners of America's Laurel Award for outstanding comedy performance. Afterwards Lembeck received more offers for film roles, though he was typecast into military roles for most of these films.
In 1955, Lembeck had a main-cast role in a television sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show" (1955-1959). The show featured the misadventures of Master Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko of the United States Army, a self-serving con-man and swindler. Lembeck played the part of Corporal Rocco Barbella, one of Bilko's sidekicks and partners-in-crime. The sitcom lasted four years, and the final episode featured both Bilko and Barbella being arrested for an embezzling scheme and incarcerated.
In the early 1960s, Lembeck played recurring parts in various sitcoms. He was eventually cast in co-starring role in the short-lived military comedy series "Ensign O'Toole" (1962-1963). He continued to appear in films, and had a minor hit with with the comedy film "Beach Party" (1963). He played the film's sympathetic villain, the outlaw biker Eric Von Zipper. Zipper was an affectionate parody of Marlon Brando's character Johnny Strabler from "The Wild One" (1953).
From 1964 to 1966, Lembeck reprise the role of Eric Von Zipper in five sequels to "Beach Party". They were "Bikini Beach" (1964), "Pajama Party" (1964), "Beach Blanket Bingo" (1965), "How to Stuff a Wild Bikini" (1965) and "The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini" (1966). He also played another, unnamed, "motorcycle thug" in the comedy "Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine" (1965), which spoofed the then-new "James Bond" series of films.
For most of the late 1960s, Lembeck was preoccupied with his theatrical career. In 1964, Lembeck succeeded Jack Kosslyn at the leadership of an actors' workshop. He initially focused on working with comedy scripts, but later started training actors in improvisational comedy. In his view, improvisation was one of the best ways to develop the comedy skills of an actor.
Lembeck had another hit theatrical role in the 1960s, as Sancho Panza in the play "Man of La Mancha" (1965) by Dale Wasserman. The play was itself a loose adaptation of the two-part novel "Don Quixote" (1605, 1615) by Miguel de Cervantes.
For most of the late 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s, Lembeck appeared in guest star roles in television, with infrequent appearances in film. His last film appearance was a bit part in the comedy "The Gong Show Movie" (1980), a notorious flop of its era. He continued to both perform and teach acting.
In January 1982, Lembeck was performing in an episode of the sitcom "Mork & Mindy" (1978-1982), when he suddenly felt ill. Soon after, he had a heart attack and died in the studio set of the show. He was only 58-years-old. Lembeck's children were the actor Michael Lembeck and actress Helaine Lembeck."Cpl. Rocco Barbella"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Barney Martin was born on 3 March 1923 in Queens, New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Arthur (1981), The Producers (1967) and Seinfeld (1989). He was married to Catherine Martin. He died on 21 March 2005 in Studio City, California, USA.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
Police Officer (uncredited)- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Allan Melvin was born on 18 February 1923 in Kansas City, Missouri, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Flash Gordon (1979), Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981) and Archie Bunker's Place (1979). He was married to Amalia Faustina Sestero. He died on 17 January 2008 in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California, USA."Cpl. Steve Henshaw"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Producer
Billy Sands was born William F. Sands on January 6, 1911 in Bergen, NY, to Dana Alice (Marboys) and John F. Sands. He began his professional acting career in 1946 when he appeared on Broadway with Spencer Tracy in Robert Sherwood's "Rugged Path", but he eventually became a television character actor who appeared regularly as Pvt. Dino Papparelli on The Phil Silvers Show (in 138 episodes) and as Seaman Harrison "Tinker" Bell on McHale's Navy (also in 138 episodes). Sands later guest-starred in numerous television series, such as Car 54, Where Are You?, All in the Family, Here's Lucy, Happy Days, The Odd Couple, and Webster. He also appeared in an opening scene of Rocky (1976) as a booker for the fighters. He passed away at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA on August 27, 1984 from lung cancer at the age of 73. He was buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, CA."Pvt. Dino Papparelli"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
(uncredited)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)- Actor
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Phil Silvers was a comedic actor of Russian-Jewish descent, nicknamed as "The King of Chutzpah." He was best known for his starring role as United States Army Master Sergeant Ernest "Ernie" Bilko in the very popular hit sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show" (1955-1959). He later had important roles in the comedy films "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963), and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1967), playing respectively the characters Otto Meyer and Marcus Lycus.
Silvers was a compulsive gambler, and suffered from chronic depression.
He was the 8th and youngest child to Russian-Jewish immigrants Saul Silver (alias Saul Silversmith) and Sarah Handler. Saul was a sheet metal worker who was employed in the building industry. He had helped build a number of New York City's major skyscrapers.
Silver started his career as an entertainer in 1922, at the age of 11.
A frequent accident at New York City's movie theaters was for their film projector to break down. Someone had to keep the audience entertained during repairs, so Silver was hired to sing to them. Part of his reward was to attend the movie theater free of charge.
By 1924, Silvers performed as a professional singer in the Gus Edwards Revue. His employer was theater company owner Gus Edwards (1878-1945). He then took to working in vaudeville and as a burlesque comic.
In the 1930s, Silvers started appearing in Vitaphone short films. In 1939, Silvers made his Broadway debut in "Yokel Boy." The show was considered mediocre by critics, but Silvers gained acclaim in the press. He made his feature film debut in "Hit Parade of 1941." Silvers worked primarily as a character actor over the following decades, appearing in films produced by 20th Century Fox, Columbia Pictures, and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. When the studio system declined, Silvers initially returned to the theater.
He had a hit as a songwriter when he composed the lyrics of "Nancy (with the Laughing Face)" (1942) for singer Frank Sinatra (1915-1998). The song was apparently named after Frank's young daughter Nancy Sinatra (1940-).
Silvers did not become a household name until his starring role in the sitcom "The Phil Silvers Show" (1955-1959). It was a military comedy, starring Ernest "Ernie" Bilko as a United States Army Master Sergeant. The character of Bilko was depicted as a con-artist and inveterate gambler who could fast-talk people into complying with his schemes. The show lasted for 4 seasons, and 144 episodes. It found further success in syndication to this very day, and often ranks high in lists of popular sitcoms.
Silvers returned to television stardom with "The New Phil Silvers Show" (1963-1964), where he played factory foreman Harry Grafton. Like Bilko, Grafton was depicted as a con-artist who owned his own company and ran many and various schemes on the side. Not as successful as its predecessor, the series lasted for a single season and 30 episodes.
Silvers enjoyed film stardom in the 1960s, though mostly playing supporting roles. He appeared mainly in American productions, although guest-starred in the British comedy film "On Follow That Came." (1967). It was the 14th film in the popular long-running "Carry On" film series (1958-1992). The film was a parody depicting life in the French Foreign Legion, and Silvers played the Bilko-like character of Sergeant Ernie Nocker. He earned a salary of 30,000 pounds, making him the highest-paid actor of the "Carry On" film series up to that point.
Silvers appeared frequently as a guest-star in then-popular sitcoms, such as "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Gilligan's Island." In 1972, Silvers survived a stroke, although was left with permanently slurred speech. This effectively ended his theatrical career, although did not prevent him from appearing in further film and television roles.
Silvers made his last television appearance in an 1983 episode of the crime drama "CHiPs." He then went into retirement.
He died in his sleep in 1985, while in Century City, California. His family attributed the death to unspecified natural causes. He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Silvers is still well-remembered as a great comic actor.
In 1996, TV Guide ranked him number 31 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.
The Hanna-Barbera characters Hokey Wolf and Top Cat were loosely based on his screen persona."MSgt. Ernest G. Bilko"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)- Lilia Sofer was born on November 28, 1896, to Catholic Katharina Skala and Jewish Julius Sofer , in Vienna, Austria. Julius Sofer worked as a manufacturer's representative for the Waldes Kohinoor Company. Lilia had two sisters: Lisl (later known as renowned dance-therapy pioneer Elizabeth Polk); and Felicitas ("Lizi"--pronounced "Litzi"), an infant nurse. All three sisters adopted their mother's Gentile maiden name of "Skala" and emigrated to the United States.
Lilia Skala would become a star on two continents. In pre-World War II Austria she starred in famed Max Reinhardt's stage troupe, and in post-war America she would become a notable award-worthy matronly character star on Broadway and in films. Forced to flee her Nazi-occupied homeland with her Jewish husband, Louis Erich Pollak (who also adopted his mother-in-law's Gentile maiden name of "Skala") and two young sons in the late 1930s, Lilia and her family managed to escape (at different times) to England. In 1939, practically penniless, they emigrated to the USA, where she sought menial labor in New York's garment district. She quickly learned English and worked her way back to an acting career, this time as a sweet, delightful, thick-accented Academy Award, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee.
She broke through the Broadway barrier in 1941 with "Letters to Lucerne", followed by a featured role in the musical "Call Me Madam" with Ethel Merman. In the 1950s, she did an extensive tour in "The Diary of Anne Frank" as Mrs. Frank, and performed in a German-language production of Kurt Weill's "The Threepenny Opera". Lilia became a familiar benevolent face on TV in several early soap operas, including Claudia: The Story of a Marriage (1952).
She won her widest claim to fame, however, as the elderly chapel-building Mother Superior opposite Sidney Poitier in Lilies of the Field (1963), for which she won both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations. That led to more character actress work in films, most notably as the dog-carrying Jewish lady in the star-studded Ship of Fools (1965) and as Jennifer Beals's elderly friend in Flashdance (1983). On TV she played Eva Gabor's Hungarian mother in Green Acres (1965) and earned an Emmy nomination for her work in the popular miniseries Eleanor and Franklin (1976)).
She continued filming into her 90th year. Her final film work, occurring in the 1980's, went on to include a touching role as Hanna Long in the hit musical Flashdance (1983), plus parts in Testament (1983), House of Games (1987) and Men of Respect (1990). A few years later, on December 18, 1994, Lilia died of natural causes in Bay Shore (Long Island), New York, a few weeks after her 98th birthday.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
Magda Nagy - Actor
- Soundtrack
Jack Warden was born John Warden Lebzelter, Jr. on September 18, 1920 in Newark, New Jersey, to Laura M. (Costello) and John Warden Lebzelter. His father was of German and Irish descent, and his mother was of Irish ancestry. Raised in Louisville, Kentucky, at the age of seventeen, young Jack Lebzelter was expelled from Louisville's DuPont Manual High School for repeatedly fighting. Good with his fists, he turned professional, boxing as a welterweight under the name "Johnny Costello", adopting his mother's maiden name. The purses were poor, so he soon left the ring and worked as a bouncer at a night club. He also worked as a lifeguard before signing up with the U.S. Navy in 1938. He served in China with the Yangtze River Patrol for the best part of his three-year hitch before joining the Merchant Marine in 1941.
Though the Merchant Marine paid better than the Navy, Warden was dissatisfied with his life aboard ship on the long convoy runs and quit in 1942 in order to enlist in the U.S. Army. He became a paratrooper with the elite 101st Airborne Division, and missed the June 1944 invasion of Normandy due to a leg badly broken by landing on a fence during a nighttime practice jump shortly before D-Day. Many of his comrades lost their lives during the Normandy invasion, but the future Jack Warden was spared that ordeal. Recuperating from his injuries, he read a play by Clifford Odets given to him by a fellow soldier who was an actor in civilian life. He was so moved by the play, he decided to become an actor after the war. After recovering from his badly shattered leg, Warden saw action at the Battle of the Bulge, Nazi Germany's last major offensive. He was demobilized with the rank of sergeant and decided to pursue an acting career on the G.I. Bill. He moved to New York City to attend acting school, then joined the company of Theatre '47 in Dallas in 1947 as a professional actor, taking his middle name as his surname. This repertory company, run by Margo Jones, became famous in the 1940s and '50s for producing Tennessee Williams's plays. The experience gave him a valuable grounding in both classic and contemporary drama, and he shuttled between Texas and New York for five years as he was in demand as an actor. Warden made his television debut in 1948, though he continued to perform on stage (he appeared in a stage production in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (1966)). After several years in small, local productions, he made both his Broadway debut in the 1952 Broadway revival of Odets' "Golden Boy" and, three years later, originated the role of "Marco" in the original Broadway production of Miller's "A View From the Bridge". On film, he and fellow World War II veteran, Lee Marvin (Marine Corps, South Pacific), made their debut in You're in the Navy Now (1951) (a.k.a. "U.S.S. Teakettle"), uncredited, along with fellow vet Charles Bronson, then billed as "Charles Buchinsky".
With his athletic physique, he was routinely cast in bit parts as soldiers (including the sympathetic barracks-mate of Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra in the Oscar-winning From Here to Eternity (1953). He played the coach on TV's Mister Peepers (1952) with Wally Cox.
Aside from From Here to Eternity (1953) (The Best Picture Oscar winner for 1953), other famous roles in the 1950s included Juror #7 (a disinterested salesman who wants a quick conviction to get the trial over with) in 12 Angry Men (1957) - a film that proved to be his career breakthrough - the bigoted foreman in Edge of the City (1957) and one of the submariners commended by Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster in the World War II drama, Run Silent Run Deep (1958). In 1959, Warden capped off the decade with a memorable appearance in The Twilight Zone (1959) episode, The Lonely (1959), in the series premier year of 1959. As "James Corry", Warden created a sensitive portrayal of a convicted felon marooned on an asteroid, sentenced to serve a lifetime sentence, who falls in love with a robot. It was a character quite different from his role as Juror #7.
In the 1960s and early 70s, his most memorable work was on television, playing a detective in The Asphalt Jungle (1961), The Wackiest Ship in the Army (1965) and N.Y.P.D. (1967). He opened up the decade of the 1970s by winning an Emmy Award playing football coach "George Halas" in Brian's Song (1971), the highly-rated and acclaimed TV movie based on Gale Sayers's memoir, "I Am Third". He appeared again as a detective in the TV series, Jigsaw John (1976), in the mid-1970s, The Bad News Bears (1979) and appeared in a pilot for a planned revival of Topper (1937) in 1979.
His collaboration with Warren Beatty in two 1970s films brought him to the summit of his career as he displayed a flair for comedy in both Shampoo (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). As the faintly sinister businessman "Lester" and as the perpetually befuddled football trainer "Max Corkle", Warden received Academy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actor. Other memorable roles in the period were as the metro news editor of the "Washington Post" in All the President's Men (1976), the German doctor in Death on the Nile (1978), the senile, gun-toting judge in And Justice for All (1979), the President of the United States in Being There (1979), the twin car salesmen in Used Cars (1980) and Paul Newman's law partner in The Verdict (1982).
This was the peak of Warden's career, as he entered his early sixties. He single-handedly made Andrew Bergman's So Fine (1981) watchable, but after that film, the quality of his roles declined. He made a third stab at TV, again appearing as a detective in Crazy Like a Fox (1984) in the mid-1980s. He played the shifty convenience store owner "Big Ben" in Problem Child (1990) and its two sequels, a role unworthy of his talent, but he shone again as the Broadway high-roller "Julian Marx" in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway (1994). After appearing in Warren Beatty's Bulworth (1998), Warden's last film was The Replacements (2000) in 2000. He then lived in retirement in New York City with his girlfriend, Marucha Hinds. He was married to French stage actress Wanda Ottoni, best known for her role as the object of Joe Besser's desire in The Three Stooges short, Fifi Blows Her Top (1958). She gave up her career after her marriage. They had one son, Christopher, but had been separated for many years.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
Cpl. Steve Henshaw (uncredited)- Walter Cartier started out young in boxing. He gave boxing exhibitions with his twin brother, Vincent Cartier, at the Woodstock, Connecticut, Country Fair, which were referred by their older brother. In the Navy, the Cartiers gave fighting exhibitions at venues like the Chicago Pier. After serving in WWII, he went to train to be a professional prizefighter. After being photographed for Look Magazine's "Prizefighter, " he was in director Stanley Kubrick's debut film, Day of the Fight (1951). After that, he landed some small roles in TV and movies, and died at the age of 73 in 1995."Pvt. Claude Dillingham"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955) - Harry Clark was born on 4 October 1885 in Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Melissa of the Hills (1917) and The Devil's Parade (1930). He died on 19 July 1938 in Los Angeles, California, USA."MSgt. Stanley Sowici"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
(uncredited)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)
(uncredited) - Actor
- Director
- Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michael Dreyfuss was born on 25 August 1927 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor and director, known for Lux Video Theatre (1950), Kraft Mystery Theater (1961) and The Robert Herridge Theater (1960). He died on 30 March 1960 in New York City, New York, USA."Pvt. Higgins"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jane Dulo was born October 13, 1917 in Baltimore, MD. She was a comedy character actress, playing housewives, spinsters and tourists in numerous television series ranging from Sgt. Bilko to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. She was 99's mother in the fourth season of Get Smart (1965-1970), but is best remembered for her role in McHale's Navy (1962-1966) as the man-hungry Navy Nurse Molly Turner, who chased Ernest Borgnine throughout its series' run. For one season, she had a rare dramatic role as a nurse in the series Medical Center (1969-1976). She died from complications during heart surgery on May 22, 1994 in Los Angeles, CA at the age of 81."Mildred"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)- Actress
- Soundtrack
Elisabeth Fraser was born on 8 January 1920 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for A Patch of Blue (1965), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) and All My Sons (1948). She was married to Charles K. Peck Jr. and Ray McDonald. She died on 5 May 2005 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA."MSgt. Joan Hogan"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)- John Gibson was born on 29 June 1905 in Oakland, California, USA. He was an actor, known for A Date with Judy (1951), Studio One (1948) and The Defenders (1961). He was married to Alice Deshon. He died on 14 September 1971 in Great Neck, New York, USA."Chaplin"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Maurice Lionel Gosfield was born on January 28, 1913 in New York City, but raised in Philadelphia and later Evanston, Il., where he began acting with the Ralph Bellamy and Melvyn Douglas Players, later joining the summer stock theater circuit in 1930. He made his Broadway debut as Manero in the play Siege in 1937, and his other stage credits included The Petrified Forest, Three Men on a Horse and Room Service.
During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army as a Tech 4 in the 8th Armored Division.
From 1955 to 1959, Gosfield played Pvt. Duane Doberman in The Phil Silvers Show (originally titled You'll Never Get Rich in it's first season). In the biography of the show's creator Nat Hiken, he detailed the casting of the role and the effect that Gosfield had on him, the producer and Phil Silvers when he appeared in front of them:
"The dumpy, spectacularly ugly Maurice Gosfield ambled into an open casting call one day, brandishing an enormous list of credits. A handful of his bit parts on stage are easy enough to confirm; more difficult to pin down are his claims of two-thousand radio credits and one hundred TV appearances...None of the man's background, though, really mattered to Hiken and Silvers once they got a good look at him. Nat had already picked someone to play the most woebegone member of Bilko's platoon (Maurice Brenner), but immediately he knew that here was the man born for the part." Brenner was later recast as Pvt. Irving Fleischman.
In 1959, Gosfield was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He was also the voice of Benny the Ball in the animated cartoon series Top Cat (1961-62), which was partially based on the Sergeant Bilko series.
On October 14, 1964, while Gosfield was performing in a play at New York Theatre, he kept losing his balance and repeatedly falling asleep. He was diagnosed as having critical hypertension and was given seven different medications, which he was told to take for the rest of his life. On October 17, he suffered a heart attack and was rushed to New York Hospital, where he was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed. After he was admitted, his condition improved, and as a result his close friend Arnold Stang (the voice of Top Cat) told him that a remake of Top Cat was in the works, and that his role was waiting for him when he recovered. Tragically, only two hours after Stang left, Gosfield suffered a second and instantly fatal heart attack on October 19, 1964, and Stang was phoned the next morning. He then broke the sad news to producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who were both devastated by Gosfield's sudden death, and they decided not to make a new Top Cat series, as they could not find an adequate replacement for Benny the Ball's voice.
Maurice Gosfield was buried at Long Island National Cemetery, Suffolk County, New York."Pvt. Duane Doberman"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)- Jack Healy was born on 9 March 1904 in the USA. He was an actor, known for The Phil Silvers Show (1955), Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) and Keep in Step (1959). He died on 14 July 1972 in New York City, New York, USA."Pvt. Mullen"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 0 (unaired pilot)
You'll Never Get Rich (13 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 1
New Recruits (20 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955)
(uncredited)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)
(uncredited) - Actor
- Soundtrack
Jimmy Little was born on 3 July 1907 in New York, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Naked City (1958), Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) and The Phil Silvers Show (1955). He died on 12 October 1969 in Miami, Florida, USA."MSgt. Francis Grover"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 3
The WAC (4 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)- Karl Lukas was born on 21 August 1919 in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. He was an actor, known for Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), State Trooper (1956) and The Phil Silvers Show (1955). He was married to Stephanie. He died on 16 January 1995 in Westlake Village, California, USA."Pvt. Stash Kadowski"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 2
The Empty Store (27 Sep. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955) - Jim Perry is known for The Phil Silvers Show (1955)."Lt. Anderson"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 5
A.W.O.L. (18 Oct. 1955) - Hope Sansberry was born on 19 June 1894 in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. She was an actress, known for Keep in Step (1959), Jimmy Hughes, Rookie Cop (1953) and Rocky King, Detective (1950). She died on 14 December 1990 in Laguna Hills, California, USA."Mrs. Nell Hall"
The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955) - Actor
- Director
- Producer
Prolific American character actor Johnny Seven was born John Anthony Fetto in the Italian section of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, to Marie and John Fetto. He was the only boy in a family of six children, with sisters Lillian, Terry, Connie, Dolores, and Jean. Considering that much of his future acting work consisted of playing tough gangsters and criminals, it may come as a surprise to discover that, until the age of 14, he was a boy soprano. He served 2-1/2 years in the US Army, with the 187th Field Artillery Battalion, and was bitten by the acting bug when he appeared in several USO shows during his military hitch. He married Edith Piselli on October 8, 1949, and they had two children, John Jr. and Laura. Seven worked in the New York theater community and did much live television until he was brought to Hollywood in 1958 by Universal Pictures to work in their many television series. He has since appeared in more than 600 TV shows, over 25 films, and numerous Broadway and off-Broadway productions. In addition to acting, he has also written and directed for the stage (his first play, "Salvage", was written in 1958), television and movies (he produced, directed and starred in a 1964 western, Navajo Run (1964), and has directed several TV shows and shorts since then). He enjoys gardening, golf and all kinds of fishing, ocean, lake and especially fly fishing.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
Cpl. Basil Egan- Robert Shawley was born on 30 March 1927 in Coalport, Pennsylvania, USA. He was an actor, known for Stalag 17 (1953), Producers' Showcase (1954) and Kraft Theatre (1947). He died on 9 May 1990 in Westwood, California, USA.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 4
The Horse (11 Oct. 1955)
Pvt. Carter (as Bob Shawley) - Versatile, diligent character actor Frank Marth was a familiar presence in just about every major American prime-time TV show of the 60's and 70's. The native New Yorker got his big break as a member of Jackie Gleason's stock company, perennially cast as uncredited background characters in Cavalcade of Stars (1949) and The Honeymooners (1955). According to series co-star Audrey Meadows he was "worth his weight in gold". Thereafter, granite-faced, sober-looking Marth became omnipresent on the small screen for more than two decades as tough cops, FBI agents and stern military brass. Amazingly, he was overlooked for the part of a KAOS operative in Get Smart (1965) (which would have been perfect casting !) but made up for it with Luger-wielding Count von Waffenschmidt and assorted SS officers in Hogan's Heroes (1965). He was also a favorite in anything sci-fi, whether as a sinister alien in The Invaders (1967) or as THRUSH agent Carl Voegler in The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964). He appeared suitably taciturn as Colonel Brody, stymying dinosaur-hunting Darren McGavin in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974). Perfectly cast yet again, he gave the medics a hard time as a hard-nosed tank commander in the M*A*S*H episode "Hey, Doc". He had other recurring uniformed roles in The Dirty Dozen (1988) and War and Remembrance (1988).
Marth was married to stage and screen actress Hope Holiday.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 6
The Boxer (25 Oct. 1955)
Lieutenant - Paul Edmund Porter (Pep to his family and friends) Was born on April 30, 1931 to Mary Jennings Porter and Paul Webster Porter, in New York City. His father was a successful performer, writer, stage manager and director on Broadway and off-Broadway for over 35 years. Paul appeared on the radio show "Quiz Kids" when he was 11 years old. On this panel, he met a fellow contestant named Robert Easton, who would later become an actor and dialect coach. Paul had small and often non-credited parts on 1950's television shows, but soon abandoned an acting career to work for Actors' Equity, the labor union that represents the world of live theatrical performance.The Phil Silvers Show: Season 1, Episode 7
The Hoodlum (1 Nov. 1955)
Pvt. Chick Parker