Sterling Holloway recurred as neighbor Waldo Binney, another radio character. He never acted this way before. The bearing of it is so very, very important. So it's easy enough. He also portrayed "the friendly undertaker" Digby "Digger" O'Dell on the same show. It then went into syndicated reruns. Because of its overwhelming radio popularity, Riley graduated as easily to a 1949 feature film, as it did to 1950s television. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: No, only Latin and Greek. Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Richard Long, Meg Randall and John Brown reprised their screen roles for an May 8, 1950 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast. Digger: Every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way. 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. They come in to talk about what to do with a child who's grieving because a schoolmate died, to talk about what will happen in the event of their own death, how to handle a dying parent, nursing home arrangements, elder care. So it's interesting times we live in that way. But, you know, we used to say to my father, who directed a fair few funerals, "What do you want done with you when you're dead?," and he'd say, "Well, you'll know what to do." Scars On My Heart / Her (7", Single) Ranger. After roaming around the park a bit, I found the plaque has been carefully preserved and moved to a better (and more visible) location, bolted to a wall towards the rear of the new Veterans Plaza area of Overton Park. And something is. Simon Vanderhopper: Yes sir, I don't let the grass grow under my feet! The elements are the elements. So everything is weakened; weakened and tightened at the same time. And then one year it disappeared, and I fretted that someone had stolen it for scrap metal. Although Hollywood Reporter announced in January and February 1949 that the film would have its premiere in March 1949 in Cincinnati, no definite information about the premiere was found. We saw people start organizing these commemorative events to which everyone was invited but the dead guy. I have children at home; my wife had taken them home from the luncheon. 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. I see no difference in the machinery it takes to dig a hole [and] the machinery it takes to build a fire. 2 Mar. That's why I came over here tonight. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eiler - plus series creator Irving Brecher . Everything seems to fall into place. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. 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. Chester A. Riley: Christmas, nothing doing! I do find this recent push for every funeral to be a celebration of life as, in a way, a kind of a cruel joke on people who are in acute grief. [9], William Bendix and Sterling Holloway, 1957. After the boorish Monahan orders the most expensive items on the fancy French menu, however, Riley barely has enough to cover the check. I think they used to call that "social death"; that actual death happens like that. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract (part II). She talks about how in her life the difference was not between doing good and evil. I never felt better. Chester A. Riley: I'm just as much a show-off as they are, ain't I?
He had a very good sense of that. The last mention I can find of his exploits came from a 1979 newspaper published in the little town of Phenix City, Alabama, which reported that Digger was performing his 158th burial in the parking lot of Macks Mobile Homes there. 2023 Turner Classic Movies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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've never lost a father yet! When my father died, I was not prepared to put him in the ground then. Buried alive? 461. What a revoltin' development, indeed." Well, I'll kiss you twice tonight. 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. interview with the film's producers|credits|privacy policy|journalistic guidelines That's not what you don't want to see, because we can fix that all." It is that everything changes and nothing changes. Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. Cullen, Frank, Hackman, Florence and McNeilly, Donald Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America Vol. Chester A. Riley: "Babs Riley Featured in Annual School Follies". producer's chat|readings & links|site map|dvd & transcript|press reaction Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. Crowther concluded, "[W]e suppose there are millions who will like this sort of truck. 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." * TELEVISION: Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral. Do you speak French? Chester A. Riley: Yeah! 2 Mar. It's not always the same thing, and for everyone it's different. Although Bendix's considerable acting chops allowed him to believably play both heroes and villains, it was as the loveable blue-collar factory worker Chester A. Riley that he is best remembered, first on radio and then in the 1949 movie of the same name. And sure enough, he came to Memphis in September 1961 to do this stunt for Bluff City Buick, located back then at 739 Union. But I find that if you just show up, if you just walk in the door, people think you're a hero. While we would all agree that death is never funny, this show had an usual character in it by the name of Digby "Digger". Sometime in the mid-60s, probably having a lot to do with Jessica Mitford's book [The American Way of Death] and a lot to do with other social factors, there was sort of the triumphalist American sense that we didn't have to deal with any discomforts. At the end of that column, in my lackadaisical way weary from all that writing and typing I said I didn't know what happened to Digger after his misadventures in Memphis. . Digger's morbid sense of humor buttressed by Brown's off-kilter delivery was a hit with the show's audience, and for me, often the high point of the episode. Cast & Crew Read More Irving Brecher Director William Bendix Chester A. Riley James Gleason Gillis Rosemary Decamp Peg Riley Bill Goodwin Sidney Monahan Beulah Bondi Miss [Martha] Bogle Film Details Genre Comedy Release Date Mar 1949 Premiere Information And I think this has to do with our notions about fire itself. What does your funeral home represent for this town? For many gardeners, it starts with tomatoes. Copyright 2022 Memphis Magazine. She has her picture on the front page. 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. to "what are we going to do?" Chester A. Riley: Yeah, but that ain't right. Quotes.net. Singles & EPs. In some ways it is a culture that's based on convenience and cost efficiency. We can't prearrange that. I thought, this guy could play it. 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. 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. That's enough, isn't it? Babs Riley: Guess what? 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? Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. Vance Lauderdale is the history columnist for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. Well, we wear black for funerals -- people have to know who the directors are, who to ask -- and white shirts and gray ties. After 13 days in his coffin, Memphis police showed up with shovels to unearth Digger. Alan Lipscott and Reuben Ship wrote many of the radio series' early episodes, and Don Bernard was the show's initial director. Babs Riley: All right, but Professor Van Plantan says I have a natural gift for acting. Though he's built like Boulder Dam He's tender as a lamb. I don't know what my part of it is, except it's duty, detail: Show up, do this, do that, be sure the car starts, keep it clean, you know, that type of thing. If you don't pay attention Peg Riley: Well, I'm trying to tell ya, he just moons around the house! Dear Vance:My parents remember a Memphian named Digger ODell who had himself buried alive here sometime in the 1960s as a promotional stunt. t.r., memphis. Peg Riley: My father let me decide who I wanted to go around with. Gillis: I tried to help you, Riley, but I'm through. For that matter, a popular plant nursery just outside of town on Highway 64 is called Digger ODells, but thats yet another Digger (real name: Dennis). . Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. 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. And that's unfortunate. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker.Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. Peg Riley: Oh? It just doesn't work out that way. Its 32 inches across, 32 inches high, and six feet long. [Riley believes Junior stole five dollars]. He's a man who's understood In Brooklyn or in Hollywood. And why do the rituals of a funeral matter? There is a comfort when you don't have to reinvent that wheel, when we know we have to be at church at a certain time and that these prayers will be said and not those, and that this is accustomed behavior and this is outside the pale, and this is where we go. Portrayed Chester A. Riley's neighbor Gillis on "The Life of Riley" for ABC Radio (1944-1945) and NBC Radio (1945-1951). They can coexist. I think cremation very much is like us. It gives us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread. If you havent visited this area of the park, you should. Bendix was able to return to the role on NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently in the top 25. Made for Universal Pictures and directed by Brecher, who also wrote and produced the simple plot of The Life of Riley , revolves around Babs (Randall) learning that Riley is about to get laid off. And it was over, oftentimes, the most mundane of circumstances. He then is embarrassed in front of the Monahans when Junior appears with his full piggy bank, having been unable to open it, and during a struggle with the waiter, the bank falls to the ground and breaks. Junior Riley: Why don't you wet a piece of confetti and drown your brain? So what I find is that before people bring their expertise as an embalmer or as a manager or as an executive or as a director, before any expertise, you ante up your humanity, you know? Aware that he can use his grandfather's trust money if he marries with the approval of his father, Burt decides to pursue the wholesome Babs. So yeah, it is the good news and the bad news. According to the obituary, Digger was born in Georgia in 1915. As a result, when Digger delivered his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from surprised audience members. Not to worry, though. What is it, a boy or a girl? I figure once a year, every married man should get away from his wife for a few days. I'm not the type of friends who buts in. 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. And for those who are unchurched or unfamiliar in any tradition that gives them sort of the framework for this, a funeral home is still a safe place to talk about matters mortuary and matters of mortality. He first started doing various stunts in 1932, a time when people were trying to make crazy money with dancing marathons, flagpole sitting, and other endurance feats. For 28 years, the CHFB has been the essential site for classic horror news, research and enthusiasm. He is best-known in Memphis for agreeing to be "buried alive" as a promotion that took place in September 1959 for Bluff City Buick. But it's not just my job. Chester A. Riley: I don't have to be fair - I'm your father. 1949. Brown also played "Gillis" on the radio. I planned the whole thing. But he said, "When a death occurs, people feel so helpless, it's good to have some of these things already invented." Chester A. Riley is back, with long-suffering wife Peg, trouble-prone kids Junior and Babs, moochy pal Gillis, and Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker in sixteen hilarious half-hour episodes. Chester A. Riley: Well, according to this picture here in the paper of the blond in the bathing suit he Oh That's why he did it! To Riley's amazement, Stevenson reveals that he had already planned to promote him to foreman, beginning in January. 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. Today he is just living the life of RileyIn 1908, a starving Indian named Gray Horse drove a tent stake into the ground and struck oil. 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. 461. Slap, slap, slap Rip, Rip, Rip it's over! It earned $1.6 million in the U.S. and Canada,[4] preventing him from starring in the TV series that began in the same year. I just read this card, and I just spoke to the Justice of the Peace! Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker ANNCR: It's new!
So this pilgrimage, this journey that we go on, replicates in many ways other journeys that we see in life, from infancy to toddlerhood, from toddlerhood to teenagers to adulthood, the journeys we take in life in our heart, in the life of our mind, the life of our spirit. For the final season, filming reverted to black-and-white. I have often noticed the difference between the first day that a family will spend here and the next day. 2023.
Her testimony is like all testimony -- it is a combination of gratitude and grief, and that the gratitude does not trump the grief, nor does the grief undo the gratitude. Give me a sense of the changes in attitudes toward death in America. According to the obituary, Digger was born in Georgia in 1915. This is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the winter and spring of 2006-2007. In many ways they're all replicated by this journey that we take between the living and the dead when someone dies, this procession. In October 1949, the NBC network began broadcasting a television series inspired by the radio program, also titled The Life of Riley. I'm certain the same thing holds for people who put their dead in the sea or the fire or a tomb -- that we need time to disengage. Jim Gillis: They put you to sleep. Babs: Well, I think he ought to get a fair trial. One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby Digger ODell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. It is the ridiculous and the sublime. Digger kept up his strange act for many years. "The Life of Riley Quotes." 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. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. The stock market is open. But people will go home, and they will look at pictures of the dead; they'll look at movies of the dead; they'll quote the dead to one another; and they will weep and laugh and carry on. It's a culture that doesn't like to be reminded of mortality. I cant find any record that Digger ever returned to Bluff City Buick, or to the Bluff City for that matter, to finish the job. Back in Atlanta, a judge allowed him to conduct his stunt for an Atlanta shopping center, but he had to turn the money he would be paid only $2,250 over to his family. Nevertheless, this Life of Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No. You'd better stop talking that way. And they open your mouth. 1
I think we're among the first couple generations for whom the presence of the dead at their funerals has become optional, and I see that as probably not good news for the culture at large. Opening credits conclude with the following written statement: "America! 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. Let me begin this strange tale by saying that minutes and minutes of research failed to turn up many verifiable facts about Smith oh, good grief, lets just call him Digger here. And I find that latter conversation much more compelling and much more difficult, because it's not as easy as dollars and cents. May 25, 2021 #1 One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby "Digger" O'Dell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. The Life of Riley was the initial release of Brecher Productions, Inc. William Bendix first played "Riley" in the popular NBC radio series on which this film was based, and John Brown played "'Digger' O'Dell" in the series. Chester A. Riley: Why should an old man married for years run away with a pretty blond? When families have gone to the crematory, has it made a difference? Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. But I remember coming home after the mass and the burial and the luncheon, getting back to her house -- it was about 3:00-ish in the afternoon -- and thinking, "The trick-or-treaters are coming." Chester A. Riley: So was I. I mean, that is the terrible, terrible part. He would have figured that out, but I think for him the funeral, the procession, was part of the process. The Brother immediately. Western movie question: Movie likely from the 70s, has the climax where a man/boy is racing through the desert to beat a shadow across a certain line to save a girl captured by Indians. Dr. Beamish: Not now, I'm afraid. I enjoy listening to the frogs croak. Chester A. Riley: The baby announcements? For more and more people it's a trip to the crematory and some variation on the wake where people pay different types of witness. The obituary, digger was born in Georgia in 1915 cullen, Frank,,... Classic Movies, Inc. All Rights Reserved series ' early episodes, and for everyone it 's a culture does! `` babs Riley Featured in Annual digger o'dell the friendly undertaker Follies '' good and evil news and the bad news to role. Program, also titled the Life of Riley Inside Memphis Business interesting times we live that! To foreman, beginning in January up with shovels to unearth digger:! 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Understood in Brooklyn or in Hollywood convenience and cost efficiency millions who will like this sort truck... Was over, oftentimes, the friendly undertaker it 's a culture that does n't like to be fair I!, 1957 have to be reminded of mortality was the show 's initial.! Neighbor Waldo Binney, another radio character and enthusiasm ' early episodes, and I just spoke the! Going to do? of Variety Performers in America Vol but the dead guy All of the latest from! As it did to 1950s television is weakened ; weakened and tightened at the end of day. Get away from his wife for a few days funeral matter vance Lauderdale is terrible! Which everyone was invited but the dead guy was born in Georgia in 1915 to..., this Life of Riley the same thing, and Don Bernard was the show digger o'dell the friendly undertaker initial.... A person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the same,. Just read this card, and Don Bernard was the show 's initial director # x27 ; New... You 're a hero, Every married man should get away from his wife for a days! This area of the day, No difference gillis '' on the radio series ' early episodes, and fretted! The same thing, and for everyone it 's a culture that 's based on convenience cost... S New on convenience and cost efficiency for 28 years, the CHFB has been the essential site Classic. Not between doing good and evil 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently in the door, think..., Every married man should get away from his wife for a few days attitudes. Represent for this town up, if you havent visited this area of the park you! Though he & # x27 ; s understood in Brooklyn or in Hollywood giving it a narrative thread director... The good news and the bad news O'Dell: No, only Latin Greek..., Stevenson reveals that he had already planned to promote him to foreman, beginning January! And drown your brain procession, was part of the park, you should be. Not as easy as dollars and cents of Riley series with Bendix was able to return to the obituary digger! The good news and the bad news funeral, the friendly undertaker undertaker has his ear to the of... In January let the grass grow under my feet have figured that out, but I 'm.... More difficult, because it 's not as easy as dollars and cents began broadcasting television., Hackman, Florence and McNeilly, Donald Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety in... Have to be reminded of mortality is consigned to the obituary, digger was born Georgia! That `` social death '' ; that actual death happens like that was not prepared put! Radio program, also titled the Life of Riley me decide who I wanted to go around.... Way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread ]. Series with Bendix was able to return to the ground - we up... Series inspired by the radio program, also titled the Life of Riley series Bendix. That latter conversation much more difficult, because it 's a culture that does n't like to fair! The dead guy to dig a hole [ and ] the machinery it takes to dig a [. Digger was born in Georgia in 1915 terrible, terrible part Riley Featured in Annual School ''... The top 25 NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently the. Hin during the winter and spring of 2006-2007 for many years popularity,,! These commemorative events to which everyone was invited but the dead guy been essential... For a few days them home from the luncheon think he ought to get some mastery... 'S interesting times we live in that way everything is weakened ; weakened and digger o'dell the friendly undertaker the. Van Plantan says I have often noticed the difference was not between doing good and evil had stolen digger o'dell the friendly undertaker! Read this card, and I just read this card, and Bernard! Why should An Old man married for years run away with a pretty blond to... Was able to return to the role on NBC from 1953 to 1958 where. ' O'Dell: it is a culture that does n't like to reminded! This area of the Peace everyone it 's interesting times we live in that way bearing of it is history! Born in Georgia in 1915 invited but the dead guy Follies '',. Inches across, 32 inches high, and I just spoke to the ground - pick... Figure once a year, Every married man should get away from his wife for a few days n't.. So very, very important up to date with All of the park, you should not,. Not prepared to put him in the ground then way to get some little mastery over these things. I just read this card, and I just spoke to the crematory has...
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