I think of disbelief as a faith of its own kind. There are several videos on line. Jiffy peat pellets are a popular choice for starting tomatoes, but they can also be used for peppers. The till doesn't ring as precisely, and what works and where the values are require more discernment. Cullen, Frank, Hackman, Florence and McNeilly, Donald Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America Vol. Peg Riley: Theatre, huh? Let's see! "You have to have helpers 24 hours a day.". He never acted this way before. His frequent exclamation of indignation became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s: "What a revoltin' development this is!" The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." Unknown. Jim Gillis: Yeah, well, he oughta shampoo more often - with kerosene! Web. Down your throat it goes. I needed to read that piece because I'm disinclined -- when someone's sick, when someone's out of sorts, when someone's dead -- I'm disinclined to be around that. Before going, Riley instructs his precocious son Junior to exchange his piggy bank coins into bills and meet him at the restaurant, assuming that Junior's savings combined with his five dollars will be enough to pay for the meal. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. Peg Riley: Then I've been in love with you the whole time. John Brown returned as the morbid, counseling undertaker Digby (Digger) O'Dell. And I have found that, whether I'm walking in the door with a stretcher and one of my own to help carry their dead out, or if I'm going to the hospital to visit a sick relative or friend, or if I show up for a funeral at another place, you know, at a distance, they thank you for that. And there's somebody else trying to get the choir to sing in tune. Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Jim Gillis: Of course it's right. I remember it hitting me there in the house: She actually died; we actually buried her today; she's actually not coming back here; she's actually gone. Scars On My Heart / Her (7", Single) Ranger. Well, if it's such a gift, why did it cost you 25 dollars? 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. Well, it's showing up and just being there is worth an awful lot. All the same, 100 percent of the people that have gone with us are grateful that we invited them to go. Stevenson's ne'er-do-well son Burt, meanwhile, is cornered at the picnic by a thug named Norman, who demands that he repay a $25,000 gambling debt. The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract (part II). [in a flashback sequence, Peg has just given birth to her first child]. So I took The Flotsam Family script, revised it, made it a Brooklyn Family, took out the flippancies and made it more meat-and-potatoes, and thought of a new title, The Life of Riley. "; from "what are we going to buy?" Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The Blade's Log of Radio and Television Programs (9:00 p.m.)", Zoot Radio, free old time radio show downloads of, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Life_of_Riley&oldid=1135022718, This page was last edited on 22 January 2023, at 03:47. I like the connection, the sound of the word "process"; it suggests movement, a pilgrimage. I think cremation very much is like us. So we learn to live with it. j.b., memphis. Chester A. Riley: Okay, maybe he ain't no Gregory Peck, but my boy's got it up here [points to head] . This character was extremelly successfull, with many puns based on his profession. To Riley's amazement, Stevenson reveals that he had already planned to promote him to foreman, beginning in January. After Riley overhears Burt discussing "business" with Norman, he beats up Norman and drags him before the wedding crowd. In some ways it is a culture that's based on convenience and cost efficiency. Today he is just living the life of RileyThis is the story of Chester A. Rileywho is just livingin Los Angeles California." So yes, the hurt is there, but the hurt does not overwhelm. She means other kinds of trouble. It seemed like an appropriate time for this sainted woman. But by the time a couple days later he went in the ground, it was exactly the right thing to do. And I suppose this is the message at every graveside: They stay, we go, until we come to that point in which we are brought there, and we stay and they go. William Bendix and Digger O'Dell the friendly undertaker - The Life of Riley Complete Broadcast CBS Lux Radio Theatre 1950 (Lp) - Amazon.com Music Buy used: $198.00 $3.99 delivery January 26 - February 2. We'd be wise, as a culture, to examine some of these things. Oh, yeah. Yeah, it's a mystery. I was thrilled to find IA, where I can find some of those classics. It's something handled by "them" offsite, elsewhere, and I think that's problematical. Do you hear that, Peg? About 40 percent of the dead that we're taking care of are cremated, and every family is asked if they'd like to come with us to the crematory. Dunning, John On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio The Internet Movie Database
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: Hello, Digger. The question is not meant to mock; the question is to say: "What is it you don't want to see? And they won't forget, and that's the thing. We are now without a mother or without a father. So yeah, it is the good news and the bad news. When the publicity manager urged him to change into a dark suit (so it would be more funeral-like) Digger refused: Ive got to have my robe. When the promoter begged him to change clothes once he was below ground, Digger explained the situation: No room. Dear Vance:What happened to the Memory Grove plaque an old war memorial that stood in Overton Park, in a stand of trees close to Poplar Avenue? An unrelated radio show with the name Life of Riley was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941, to September 6, 1941. There's this wonderful essay that was written -- I have it framed in the hallway there; the woman's name, I think, is Sullivan who wrote it. And are you a cremation or a burial man? Barbara 'Babs' Riley: It's just not fair! You have to have real talent to be accepted at the Van Plantan Workshop Theatre. Life of Riley won the first Emmy Award (for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television") with Groucho Marx receiving a credit for the story. I mean, it's uncomfortable, and I don't know what to say any more than the next guy, and I don't do strawberry rhubarb pie. So I like the word "funeral" for what we're doing here, because it doesn't require me to feel this way or that. But cremation has increased since then by about 10 percent in every decade. And it was over, oftentimes, the most mundane of circumstances. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral. The dead matter to the living. But even people who do not believe or claim no religiosity or no particular faith, they are not without some text, some book they regard as, if not holy, it is the handle they're trying to hold onto to get through this. The boss' son (Long), who is in love with Babs, suggests that they get married in order to save Riley's job. The Brother immediately. Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker ANNCR: It's new! Digger O'Dell @diggerodell7655 56 subscribers Subscribe Home Videos Shorts Playlists Community Channels About Videos Play all 16:13 Searching for the lost Asylum (SHD, FX removed to fix some. 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. In many ways they're all replicated by this journey that we take between the living and the dead when someone dies, this procession. But there's no question that cremation has become normative in a way that it used to be exceptional. Riley's catch phrase in the series and the film was "what a revolting development this turned out to be." Does it affect the nature of the grief if someone was present for the dying of the loved one? "[6] The April 13 episode starred Herb Vigran as Riley, and the April 20 episode had Buddy Gray in the title role. Punchy: Hey, why don't you get up, pal? Its 32 inches across, 32 inches high, and six feet long. 461. Do you speak French? A comic book adaptation of the show was produced by Dell Comics in 1958 as part of their Four Color series of one-shots. Another time, firefighters rescued him after he apparently suffered a heart attack underground. Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. While readying for Monahan, Riley's daughter Babs, a serious-minded college student, catches the eye of Miss Bogle's handsome young nephew, Jeff Taylor. Is he in some of of trouble or something? Peg Riley: Every day this week, he's been kept in after school. 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. And they open your mouth. Not a day went by that I wasn't kept in after school. It's Prell! He would announce himself with, "'Tis I, Digger O'Dell, your friendly undertaker. to "what are we going to do?" When the film opened in New York at the Loew's Criterion theater in April 1949, Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times turned his nose up at it writing, "As one whom domestic expediency occasionally compels to bear with the Friday night bull-bellowing of one Chester A. Riley on the radio, this reviewer can state with fair authority that no artistic advantage has been gained by making this same Mr. Riley and his family apparent on the screen." Simon Vanderhopper: Mr. Riley, you're not angry? Buick customers could view him through a periscope, or they could drop coins down a tube that urged them, Can you ring the bell? Nobody seemed to ask and the newspapers werent telling how on earth the man would use the bathroom during his 58 days (and maybe longer) underground. Sponsors of the TV show included Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (194950), Gulf Oil (195358) and Lever Brothers (195758). None of us knew what reference was being made here.In grade five very few people here NL (Canada) were familiar with American radio.When the "Life Of Reilly" came to TV my appreciation of "Digger" was finally launched. Radio historian Gerald Nachman quotes Brecher as stating, "He was a Brooklyn guy and there was something about him. 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. 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. Chester A. Riley: The baby announcements? I've always been touched by the fact that there seems to be as much laughter as weeping at the big life events. I want reports! Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: No, only Latin and Greek. And the components of a funeral sometimes change. Digger: Every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way. I got my picture in the paper! Director Irving Brecher Writers Irving Brecher Groucho Marx (story) Stars William Bendix Rosemary DeCamp James Gleason See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 10 User reviews Photos 10 Top cast Edit Instead, Jackie Gleason starred, with Rosemary DeCamp replacing Paula Winslowe as wife Peg, Gloria Winters as daughter Barbara (Babs), Lanny Rees as son Chester Jr. (Junior), and Sid Tomack as Jim Gillis, Riley's manipulative best buddy and next-door neighbor. WGBH educational foundation, How we've become estranged from death and the dead, The meaning and power of rituals and customs, The often-mocked tradition of an open casket, How the baby boomers will change the conversation about funerals. Some do. He never came back here, as promised, but he continued to perform these stunts until he died in 1999, at the age of 83. It's not that you don't want to see your mother or your father or your sister or your brother. He would have probably had a difficult way of managing some of the changes that we see nowadays. Once he had to be pulled from his apartment after the dirt sides turned to mud and caved in after a thunderstorm. interview with the film's producers|credits|privacy policy|journalistic guidelines Peg Riley: You certainly are, Dear. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 8, 1950 with William Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Meg Randall . Not to worry, though. So yeah, I enjoyed writing that piece. This is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the winter and spring of 2006-2007. I think it's always been the case that funerals in general, and funeral directors in particular, provide an easy target for cartooning, because there is so much about what we do that can be held up for ridicule.
He also portrayed "the friendly undertaker" Digby "Digger" O'Dell on the same show. I was watching [author and cultural commentator] Christopher Hitchens the other day. As a result, when Digger delivered his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from surprised audience members. I guess you might quibble that the Memory Grove itself the stand of trees that shaded it has been left behind, but the plaque is in better company here, near the famous Doughboy Statue (also a tribute to those lost in the First World War), along with memorials to the men and women who sacrificed their lives in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. What are you doin' here in the park? But I don't know of anybody who has come in here entirely angry at the prospect of God who has done well with this type of thing, with deaths in the family. Digger kept up his strange act for many years. I've really come to the point where I can see in a fire all that release; I can see the Holy Spirit in it, you know. And is that the purposefulness in the ebb and flow of a wake and a funeral? I enjoy listening to the frogs croak. Still, as every grieving person knows, we have to reinvent the wheel in which we are now orphaned. As far as I can tell, he performed it in Memphis only twice, but one of those events made the news because the police were summoned to dig up Digger. So in a sense, cremation suits us in that way. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eiler - plus series creator Irving Brecher . And I do think that while the dead don't care, the dead matter. Well, if you ask any group of ordinary citizens, "How many here have attended a cremation?" All rights reserved. But then I can read the work of Barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S. It's possible to pay with credit card or Western Union, but PayPal isn't an option. Get Ready for a New Season of Gardening -Choose from Tomatoes, Peaches, Corn, Zinnias & More! He didnt come close to breaking his record. When Monahan and his new wife Lucy arrive for dinner, Riley is envious of his former rival's obvious wealth and tries to hide his own financial shortcomings. Simon Vanderhopper: Yes sir, I don't let the grass grow under my feet! The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." Chester A. Riley: Why should an old man married for years run away with a pretty blond? He has been buried in a concrete vault for 36 days, sealed in glass 33 days, and spent 26 days underwater., But somewhere along the way, he decided to concentrate on burying himself in the worlds smallest apartment, as the various promotions called it. I thought, this guy could play it. Chester A. Riley: Gee, Gillis, you're brave - making out you're happy when all the time, inside, you've got a broken heart. He always knew that the real traffic was between the living and the dead, and it is in managing that and emboldening the living to deal with their dead that you do them the most service.
From NE Ohio to North Central Mississippi, everyone has their own ideas and preferences for what they will plant this year. It has always been a family-owned and -operated firm, founded by Thomas Lynch's father, Edward Joseph Lynch. O'Dell was a character hastily written into the long-running radio (and, later, television) show, "The Life of Riley," which had its debut on radio in 1944, while Americans were dying by the thousands in Europe and the Far East. Mrs. Abigail Uppington, the wimpy Wallace Wimple and the "friendly undertaker," Digger O'Dell. The second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953, to May 23, 1958. He later finds out it was an Indian girl who stood in for her and they are reunited at the end of the movie. In terms of the practical details, what are some of the things you learned from your dad? On any given day, it's up for grabs. DIGGER, Digby O'Dell, the Friendly Undertaker MOTHER, Irish and obnoxious ANNOUNCER SINGERS MUSIC: THEME . Jim Gillis: She'll be back in a couple or three days. She talks about how in her life the difference was not between doing good and evil. The stock market is open. I got my picture in the paper! Bareiss, Warren "The Life of Riley" Encyclopedia of Television
The lead character was changed to Chester A. Riley, the title was changed to The Life of Riley and a show and star were born. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: There's still Christmas. At the beginning of the November 11, 1949 radio episode the announcer explained that William Bendix had strained his voice while performing the role of an umpire for an upcoming film (Kill the Umpire) and Gleason substituted for him that one night. Give me a sense of the changes in attitudes toward death in America. What we don't want to see is our mother or our father dead, and that is the part we need to see. Well. I always knew I'd bring up my daughter to be somebody someday. I mean, there are good funerals. Thomas Lynch is a writer and a poet. Help came from Digger O'Dell, the "friendly undertaker," who offered gruesome theories laced with repetitive puns, brilliantly delivered by John Brown. 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