wallysquares

Wally Cox

Wally Cox: Of course any fool knows that...then again, I'm not any fool...

Many of the stars' one-liners were supplied by writers...but it's obvious from the tapes and reruns Wally Cox was not one of those stars. He appears more often to use his image as a spring board for sarcasm, responding with attitude and irony as much as wit.

Wally Cox hated the role that made him a star: Mr. Peepers, a live 1950s sitcom on NBC (co-starring Squares frequent guest Tony Randall). He always described his role as shy, mild-mannered school teacher Robinson Peepers as "Mr. Goodboy" and insisted the real Wally was nothing like that. In fact he described himself as a "terrible person." Indeed, his Squares personna was that of a quiet man with a thinly veiled layer of sarcasm; at a party he wouldn't talk much but if he did he's likely cut someone down to size.

Wallace Maynard Cox was born in Detroit in December 1924. He moved to New York with Stella Adler and stayed with a very unlikely lifelong friend and roommate...Marlon Brando. (Cox reportedly moved out because he hated Brando's pet raccoon.) Cox started his career as a beloved character actor by appearing in live TV dramas, until he landed the title role in Mr. Peepers (appearing with Marion Lorne of Bewitched and Tony Randall). The episode in which he married his romantic interest, Nancy the school nurse (Patricia Benoit), was a blockbuster ratings event in 1954. But it also marked the beginning of the series' ratings downfall, quite possibly the first classic series in history to markedly "jump the shark."

Cox also starred in the short-lived Adventures of Hiram Holliday and voiced Underdog in the NBC cartoon classic of the same name. His films included a memorable role as the preacher who gets drunk in Spencer's Mountain; Something's Got to Give, the unreleased Marilyn Monroe film that was never finished due to her death; and such Disney films as The Boatniks and The Barefoot Executive. His TV guest appearances included memorable roles on The Twilight Zone, Lost in Space and as a birdwatcher on The Beverly Hillbillies. (His real-life hobby was riding motorcycles.) He appeared in the unaired Squares pilot and remained on the NBC series (upper left square, though he did pop up in the center square at least once) from its inception to his death of a heart attack in February 1973. His cause of death has been listed in various sources as heart attack, tubercolosis and suicide.

For years the story was told Cox's ashes were scattered at sea, while there were rumors that Marlon Brando actually kept them hidden in a closet at his house. Then the September 22, 2004 edition of The Los Angeles Times reported (quoting Marlon Brando's son, Miko) that when Marlon Brando's ashes were scattered in Death Valley, California (following that actor's death on July 1), Wally Cox's ashes were scattered at the same time, in the same ceremony.

Peter Marshall: Wally, a grapefruit is nothing like a grape. How did it get its name?
Wally Cox: Oh, you noticed that too, huh?

(from Wally's last week on the daytime show, February 1973)
Peter Marshall: For 400 dollars and the championship...Spiro Agnew was in the infantry during World War Two. Was he decorated?
Wally Cox: He looked really pretty in the puka shells but they made him take them off...

Peter Marshall: What is it now, that Underdog always says?
Wally Cox: Where are my residuals??

Peter Marshall: The word "igloo" is Eskimo for what?
Wally Cox (without blinking an eye): Warm place facing south.
(after audience laughter) Contestant: I disagree.
Peter Marshall (sarcastically): Warm place facing south! It means "home"!

(from the 1965 pilot)
Bert Parks: Is it true or false, that chickens who live near airports, lay more eggs, than chickens who live near railroads tracks?
Wally Cox (after audience laughter): I don't see anything to laugh about! (more laughter) I think it's very obvious...Chicks who live near airports are more nervous than chicks who live near tracks.
(after contestant misses)
Parks: The sonic boom, apparently, prompts the chickens to lay more eggs, pretty close to what you said, Wally.
Wally Cox: You seem surprised!

Peter Marshall: Wally, true or false: your teeth are made primarily of ivory?
Wally Cox : Yes. First you take an elephant...

Peter Marshall: True or false, a newborn rabbit can become a grandfather in less than a year.
Wally Cox: Let's show 'em!

Peter: If the draft board rejects you because you're too fat, can you be drafted when you get skinny again?
Wally Cox: Yes, it's called double jeopardy.
Peter: No, that follows Hollywood Squares daytime, Wally.
Wally: Excuse me. It's the same network though.

Peter Marshall: Where would you be most likely to find climbing clematis?
Wally Cox: Right now, you'd be most likely to find him in jail.

Peter Marshall: Can you catch a cold from your dog?
Wally Cox: Not anymore. I don't have my dog.

Peter Marshall: True or false, there is absolutely no weather on the moon?
Wally Cox: Well, there will be when we get there!

Wally Cox: You know, Peter, I would just like to point out that I'm the one who dives under Chicago 60609 to get the Spiegel Catalogs!

Wally Cox: I would just like to say that I disagree with everything Kent McCord says.
Peter Marshall: He hasn't said anything tonight!
Wally Cox: Well, he will!
(later, after McCord answers a question)
Wally Cox: I disagree!

(opening the daytime show of February 16, 1973, the day after Wally's death)
Peter Marshall: Dear Lord, have no fear, Underdog is there!