| The Classic Hollywood Squares Site News From the Grid The Latest as of June 29, 2009 Fred Travalena 1942-2009 Fred Travalena, the standup comedian and impressionist once called "Mr. Everybody," died June 28th in Los Angeles. He was 66. Travalena had been suffering from an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, having first been diagnosed in 2002. Born in the Bronx and raised on Long Island, Travalena first came to prominence on late night shows like The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The ABC Comedy Hour and The Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts. He lent his many impressions to cartoons (like the 1980s version of The Jetsons) and commercials and guest starred on The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Murphy Brown, Beverly Hills 90210 and (as Ross Perot) on Walker, Texas Ranger. More standup appearances followed on Late Show With David Letterman. It wasn't unusual to find Travalena on a game show, either, as he hosted Anything for Money in the 1980s. He did a week of the NBC daytime Hollywood Squares in 1977. The Game Shows of Fred Travalena All-Star Secrets Anything For Money (hosted) Blackout Body Language Celebrity Sweepstakes (syndicated) Cross-Wits ('70s and '80s) Hollywood Squares (Marshall, Davidson) Just Men Match Game (all '70s versions) Match Game '90 Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour Mindreaders Scattergories Password Plus/Super Password Rhyme and Reason Tattletales ('80s) Triple Threat Win, Lose or Draw (daytime and nighttime) Wordplay Ed McMahon 1923-2009 His 30 years alongside the king of late night, when he coined what TV Land calls the greatest TV catch phrase of all time, was only part of his story. Tonight Show icon and veteran broadcaster Ed McMahon died June 23 at age 86. McMahon had been suffering from ill health, including pneumonia and a broken neck two years earlier, and died at Ronald Reagan Medical Center surrounded by family. Born in Detroit, McMahon travelled the carnival circuit in between wars (he was a Marine fighter pilot in World War II and Korea) and college. He first went on radio to host a late night interview program before appearing as the clown on the early TV children's show, Big Top. He also announced the game show Two For the Money (appearing on camera in that role, in at least one kinescope even rerun on GSN) and the original Philadelphia version of American Bandstand, starting a long personal and business relationship with another television legend, Dick Clark. But that's not his most famous pairing, not even his second most famous: he's best remembered for being "second banana" to television titan Johnny Carson. That started when McMahon went to work as announcer on Who Do You Trust, when Carson took over hosting that ABC game show from Edgar Bergen. They worked on that show for five years until 1962, when Carson was tapped to replace Jack Paar as host of NBC's Tonight Show and chose to take McMahon with him as his announcer. For 30 years, McMahon introduced Carson with the iconic "And now ladies and gentlemen....heeeeeerrreeeeeee's Johnny!" then chuckled through Johnny's jokes, and played straight man when Johnny played such characters as Carnac the Magnificent and Aunt Blabby. McMahon also did many of the commercials, most famously for Alpo dog food. In one classic moment, a spot when awry when a dog refused to eat the food and ran out of the studio...then Johnny showed up pretending to be a dog. Along the way, McMahon even hosted other game shows, including the original game show classic Concentration; hosted events like the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the Orange Bowl Parade; famously, helped Jerry Lewis host his annual Labor Day telethon; and made numerous appearances on TV shows like Here's Lucy, The Flip Wilson Show, The Dean Martin Show, CHiPs, Hee Haw and The Cosby Show. In the 1980s he and longtime friend Dick Clark began co-hosting specials about bloopers and classic commercials, one clip being the aforementioned Alpo spot from The Tonight Show. McMahon also hosted Star Search, the syndicated talent show that discovered, among others, Britney Spears, the country group Sawyer Brown, and even the man who later hosted the same show when it was revived, Arsenio Hall. McMahon also did lost of non-Tonight commercials, most notably for Budweiser Beer and handing out giant checks for the American Family Sweepstakes. Even as Johnny retired in 1992 and went into self-imposed exposure exile, McMahon kept working, guesting on shows like Scrubs and Full House and even contributing vocal contributions to The Simpsons, Family Guy and Pinky & the Brain. McMahon fell on hard times during his later years, fighting bone cancer and--like so many Americans--home foreclosure. His last TV appearance was during the 2009 Super Bowl, this time not handing out giant checks but telling people where to sell their unwanted gold jewelry. But even without his time with Johnny, Ed McMahon had a rewarding career in his own right that even far outlasted Carson's. Still, when TV Land chose its 100 Greatest TV Catchphrases of All Time, its choice for #1 was McMahon's "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" McMahon appeared on both the NBC daytime and syndicated versions of the Marshall Squares, and at least one of those shows even turned up on GSN. The Game/Competition Shows of Ed McMahon Announcer: Two For the Money Who Do You Trust? Host: Missing Links Snap Judgment Concentration Whodunnit? Star Search Panelist or Guest: What's My Line? Match Game (1960s) Hollywood Squares (Marshall, Davidson, Bergeron) The Future of This Site I am certainly hoping to keep this site going as long as possible and if I ever decide I can't or don't want to do it anymore, I'll hand it over to someone else. I won't just arbitrarily shut it down and be done with it if I can help it. Having said that, there are some things going on you may or may not know about that will affect the future of this website. When I started it nine years ago next month (July 2000), I chose Geocities, a highly recommended name that was especially popular as a source of fansites in those days. Yahoo! eventually took over Geocities, and now, later this year, plans to shut it down. I am presently looking for a new host and a way to update and change my pages using something similar to Geocities Pagebuilder, an easy but now probably obsolete way of building web pages and websites. But obviously I have a lot of pages in this site and scores of files that need to be transferred, and may even have to devote vacation time in July for that. So if this site suddenly disappears one day, that's why, though I am hoping to keep the domain name, classicsquares.com, which I chose at the time to distinguish this site from the one operated by the then-still-in-production Tom Bergeron Hollywood Squares. Kenny Rankin 1940-2009 Kenny Rankin, singer, songwriter and one time backup musician for Bob Dylan, died June 7th of lung cancer, three weeks after being diagnosed. He was 69. He died at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles and is survived by three children. Raised in New York, Rankin's 1967 debut album had liner notes written by one of his biggest fans, Johnny Carson, who had him on The Tonight Show multiple times. Rankin's days as a singer-songwriter yielded three top 100 albums in the 1970s. He successfully remade Beatles' hits like "Penny Lane" and "Blackbird" in the 1970s, and wrote successful tunes for Mel Torme and Carmen McRae. Perhaps the best known song he ever wrote to be recorded by someone else was "On and On," which Stephen Bishop took to #11 on the Billboard Charts. In later years, Rankin backed away from the pop influence he once felt was necessary for success and made albums closer to his interests in jazz and Brazilian music. He was reportedly still making new music shortly before his death. Rankin appeared on two rock and roll-themed shows on the nighttime version of The Hollywood Squares in 1979. Dom Deluise 1933-2009 Peter Marshall: Will a lightning rod work if it's bent? Dom Deluise: My lightning rod wouldn't work...I'm going to have my doctor check my bent rod! Dom Deluise, a comedian known for his work with Mel Brooks, Burt Reynolds and as a cartoon voice, died May 4th at a Santa Monica hospital. He was 75. Deluise had been battling cancer for a year and some claim to see him in a wheelchair when he taped an appearance on the Bergeron Hollywood Squares. Born in Brooklyn, Deluise originally hosted a local TV show in New York, Tinker's Workshop, in 1958, and played a bumbling private eye on Shari Lewis' Saturday morning show. One obituary says Deluise got his big break on the 1964 TV series The Entertainers. He later became a regular on a summer replacement show for Dean Martin's variety show. During the 1960s he had appeared in movies as varied as the Doris Day spy comedy "The Glass Bottom Boat" and the serious nuclear thriller, "Fail Safe," and guest starred on TV shows like The Munsters, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and Please Don't Eat the Daisies. He hosted his own variety show on CBS in 1968 and starred in the 1970s NBC working class comedy, Lotsa Luck. In the 1970s his career especially took off, working with the likes of Mel Brooks and Burt Reynolds when both were box office sensations. His work with and without the two included "Blazing Saddles," "Silent Movie," Smokey and the Bandit II," "Cannonball Run," "The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother," "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" and "The Muppet Movie." He supplied voices in "Oliver and Company," "An American Tale" and sequels to both movies, and "Toonstruck." His later TV appearances are too numerous to list here, but all three of his sons became actors too and two of them, Peter and Michael, were regulars on the sci-fi series SeaQuestDSV. Dom once appeared with the whole family on that show and did the same on 3rd Rock from the Sun and did the same thing in two movies. Dom Deluise appeared on the Marshall Hollywood Squares more than a dozen times between 1969 and 1976, and at least one of those was rerun on GSN. He also appeared on the Davidson and Bergeron versions, and his game show resume even includes a 1967 appearance on the original NBC version of Match Game. Your webmaster has fond memories of seeing Deluise in the movies during the 1970s and will miss his humor and quick wit very much. Dan Seals 1948-2009 Dan Seals, once half of England Dan and John Ford Coley and later a successful country singer in his own right, died at his home in Nashville March 25th. He was 61. Seals had been battling mantle cell lymphoma and reportedly had undergone an experimental stem cell implant. Born in Texas, Seals was related to a lot of well known music industry personalities, most notably his brother, Jim Seals of the 1970s duo Seals and Crofts. Dan Seals himself became part of a well known '70s duo, England Dan and John Ford Coley. They recorded the hit "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight," which went to #2 on the Billboard charts, and recorded such other hits as "Nights are Forever Without You" and a cover of the Todd Rudgren classic "Love is the Answer." His career shifted toward country music, however, especially when he signed with Liberty/Capitol Records in Nashville in 1984. His string of country hits included a duet with fellow Hollywood Square Marie Osmond, "Meet Me in Montana," which went to #1 on the country charts. Other hits included "God Must Be a Cowboy," Addicted," You Still Move Me," and the hit "Bop." The latter was the CMA's Single of the Year for 1986, and your webmaster played it as a new single during his short, ill-advised tenure as an AM country music DJ. Seals is survived by his wife, three sons and a daughter. It was during his days as England Dan when he shared a square with his partner, John Ford Coley, on the NBC daytime Hollywood Squares in early 1978. Ricardo Montalban 1920-2009 An iconic man with a mysterious gaze and an unforgettable accent, actor Ricardo Montalban died at his Los Angeles home January 14th. He was 88. Cause of death wasn't given, but Montalban had an injury from a movie that resulted in an unsuccessful nine hour surgery in 1993, that left him in a wheelchair. Born in Mexico City in 1920, Montalban broke into movies with 1942's "Five Were Chosen," and then in America in "Fiesta" (1946) with Esther Williams. He made several films with the swimming star. Other movies included "The Kissing Bandit," "Neptune's Daughter" and "Across the Wide Missouri" (the latter giving him his permanent, and perhaps fatal, injury) and in later years, the first "Naked Gun " movie and the "Spy Kids" films. He married Georgianna Young, younger sister of Loretta Young, in 1944 and they had four children before her death in 2007. Montalban guest starred on scores of U.S. television shows, including Bonanza, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke, Ironside, Hawaii Five-O and Here's Lucy. His appearance on the ABC miniseries How the West Was Won earned him an Emmy. And another guest appearance, on the February 16, 1967 Star Trek episode "Space Seed," made him nothing short of an icon. Montalban played Khan, a memorable villain who was found aboard an abandoned spaceship full of people in suspended animation. Khan was the product of genetic engineering and turned out to be especially aggressive. He reprised his role in the hit 1982 film "Star Trek: the Wrath of Khan," the only Star Trek villain to cross universes from TV to the movies. Montalban appeared in many TV movies; one of them, ABC's "Fantasy Island" in 1976 and its 1977 follow up "Return to Fantasy Island," made him an icon again: he was Mr. Roarke, the host and owner of Fantasy Island when it became a series. Montalban did one other iconic thing: when doing a series of TV commercials for the Chrysler Cordoba in the 1970s, he ad-libbed a description of the car's interior as having "rich, corinthian leather" (even though there was no such thing as "corinthian leather"). Montalban also plugged Instant Maxwell House coffee, Taco Bell and Dunkin Donuts. In his later years, Montalban provided vocal talent on animated shows like Kim Possible and Family Guy. Ricardo Montalban appeared on the Marshall Hollywood Squares in 1970 and again two more times in 1973. Eartha Kitt 1927-2008 She was a classic up-from-poor story, a woman who seduced everyone from Orson Welles to Santa Claus to Batman. And she was far and away the most controversial Hollywood Square ever. Eartha Kitt, singer, dancer and actress, died of colon cancer...ironically, on Christmas Day, which is how so many people actually know her. Kitt was born amid the cotton fields of South Carolina, reportedly through the rape of a black/Native American woman by a white landowner. Her mother gave her up, and by age 15 she was living in New York subways and with friends, working in a factory. But her work as a torch singer elevated her out of poverty and into life as an international superstar. Her first album in 1954 included songs like "I Want to Be Evil" and "Santa Baby." The latter song became a Christmas staple upon its re-release in 1986, and eventually was covered by Madonna. The original even became a gold record just days before Kitt's death. Orson Welles called Kitt the most exciting star in the world, and is reputed to have even had an affair with her. She toured internationally and began acting, appearing in movies like "St. Louis Blues" and guesting on shows like Playhouse 90, Ben Casey, I Spy, Mission: Impossible, and perhaps most famously as the second actress to play Catwoman on Batman. Her appearance on the Marshall Hollywood Squares in July 1968 was mired in some serious hot button controversy. After she taped her week of shows, but before the shows aired, Kitt appeared at a White House banquet at the invitation of First Lady Lady Bird Johnson. She used that very occasion to blast the war in Vietnam and President Lyndon Johnson's military policies. When her Squares shows aired, many viewers thought NBC capitalized on the controversy by putting her on the show, not knowing the actual taping schedule, and wrote blistering letters to the network. Many of those letters contained threats, one specifically directed at host Peter Marshall. The resulting controversy left Kitt banned from the Marshall version permanently, and she never occupied a square again until the Tom Bergeron version in the late 1990s. By then the controversy was forgotten and NBC had forfeited any power to do anything about it anyway. But the Squares dustup was only the beginning of her difficulties, which also saw her lose work in the US and even become a target of FBI and CIA investigations. But ultimately she made a comeback, being nominated for two Tony awards for her Broadway work and winning two Emmys for The Emperor's New School, a TV spinoff of the movie "The Emperor's New Groove" which she also voiced. She also racked up more TV appearances on shows like Miami Vice and Living Single, and in movies like Eddie Murphy's "Boomerang." Thanks to a contestant who had access to an audio tape recorder, sound portions of Kitt's Square appearance from July 1968 still exist and a few clips can even be found on this site. Classic Squares Home |