Sagal Sang Song for ‘Anarchy’ Episode
By David Inman
Question: On the Sept. 10 episode of the FX series “Sons of Anarchy,” there was a slow, jazzy version of “Son of a Preacher Man” playing. Who was the singer?
Answer: It was actually one of the show’s stars, Katey Sagal.
Q: I remember going to see a movie in the late 1960s or early ’70s about a house that was built under the sea and the family who lived there. Do you have any guesses as to what the title is?
A: I can confidently tell you it’s not “The Desert Fox,”"Gone With the Wind” or “On Golden Pond.” It’s “Hello Down There,” a 1969 film with Tony Randall, Janet Leigh and Roddy McDowall. A young Richard Dreyfuss appears as a rock singer whose songs include “Hey, Little Goldfish” and “Glub, Glub.” Really. It’s on DVD, so see for yourself.
Q: Recently, I saw an old “Gidget” movie on TV with Sandra Dee. I remember several other stars playing the Gidget role in movies, one of whom was Deborah Walley. Some time ago, I heard that she had died. Is this true? When did it happen?
A: Walley died of cancer in 2001 — she was 57. She played the title role in 1961′s “Gidget Goes Hawaiian,” and also appeared in the teen movies “Beach Blanket Bingo,”"Ski Party” and “The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini,” among others.
Q: I’ve been watching old episodes of “Mission: Impossible” and the leader of the team is Briggs, played by Steven Hill. Is he the same man who played Schiff, the district attorney, on “Law & Order”?
A: Yep. Hill led the Impossible Missions Force during the show’s first season, but he left when the shooting schedule interfered with his Sabbath — he’s an Orthodox Jew. He was replaced by Peter Graves as Jim Phelps. And he went on to play Schiff on “Law & Order” from 1990 until 2000.
Q: A few years back, I saw a movie with my favorite actor, Richard Widmark. He was a retired detective who kept thinking that a guy who claimed to have amnesia was really a psycho killer. I have no clue of the name of the movie. Do you?
A: That’s the 1985 made-for-cable movie “Blackout,” which also stars Keith Carradine and Kathleen Quinlan. It’s on video, if you’re interested.
Q: When I was a kid about 50 years ago we used to watch a children’s show that had a guy called the Banana Man. He would come out and fill up small train cars with foam bananas he pulled from his oversize coat. I seem to be the only person who remembers him. Did he exist?
A: It’s hard to describe the Banana Man in print, but if you saw him, you wouldn’t forget him. He was a mime-clown who would punctuate his tricks with a soft “aaahh” or “eeee.”
His real name was Adolph Proper, but he was known as A. Robins. He performed on stage and in circuses and in a 1939 film short that featured a young Red Skelton. He died in 1950, and the act was taken over by a clown named Sammy Levine. That incarnation of the Banana Man appeared on episodes of “Captain Kangaroo,”"Super Circus” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
Q: When I was a kid I saw a TV movie or drama about a man who goes back in time to prevent the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I know this was in black and white. Any ideas?
A: Sounds like “The Time Element,” which was an episode of the TV anthology series “Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse” that ran in late 1958. William Bendix played the guy. The cast also included Martin Balsam and Darryl Hickman. The episode was written by Rod Serling and was a pilot for “The Twilight Zone,” which premiered the following year.
Write David Inman in care of Living, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, D.L. Clark Building, 503 Martindale St., Pittsburgh, PA 15212, or e- mail tribliving@tribweb.com.
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