David's Little House Star Profiles and Trivia

That's very interesting, Dave! I always wondered about "Old Dan Tucker!" I could actually hear Victor French singing that in my head as I read the lyrics. God rest his soul.

How Many Episodes? Listed Below Are The Total Episodes Main Characters Appeared In During Little House's Run On Televison.

Melissa Gilbert Laura Ingalls 190
Karen Grassle Caroline Ingalls 172
Green Bush Twins Carrie Ingalls 164
Michael Landon Charles Ingalls 161
Katherine MacGregor Harriet Olsen 153
Richard Bull Nels Olsen 147
Jonathon Gilbert Willie Olsen 140
Melissa Anderson Mary 133
Kevin Hagen Doc Baker 113
Alison Arngrim Nellie Olsen 104
Matt Labyorteaux Albert Ingalls 89
Dabbs Greer Rev. Alden 76
Dean Butler Alamanzo Wilder 65
Melinda Foster Ruth Foster 61
Victor French Isaiah Edwards 52
Merlin Olsen Jonathon Garvey 51
Eva Beadle Sims Charlotte Stewart 45
Pat Labyorteaux Andrew Garvey 43
Karl Swenson Lars Hanson 41
Ketty Lester Hester Sue Terhune 40
Linwood Boomer Adam Kendall 35
Allison Balson Nancy Olsen 33
Hersha Parady Alice Garvey 33

Linwood Boomer, born in October 9th, 1955 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada was the second youngest of four sons. He grew up with a strict mother, Eileen, and was enrolled in a gifted program at school. Linwood's first behind-the-scenes work was as writer and producer on the NBC series "Silver Spoons" (1982) (1985-86) and "Night Court" (1984) (1986-88). After developing an adaptation of the popular British sci-fi comedy "Red Dwarf" for American television that disappointingly didn't get past the pilot stage, Boomer moved on to the relatively short-lived sitcoms "Flying Blind" (1992) (Fox, 1992-93) and "The Boys Are Back" (1994) (CBS, 1994-95), writing episodes for both and serving as executive consultant of the former and co-executive producer of the latter. In 1996, he was one of the executive producers of the hit NBC sitcom "3rd Rock from the Sun" (1996) and the failed ABC entry "Townies" (1996).

While he also served in the same capacity for the edgy but controversial animated series "God, the Devil and Bob" (2000) (NBC, 2000), he found immediate success with the envelope-pushing Fox family comedy "Malcolm in the Middle" . A mid-season replacement, "Malcolm" quickly won an audience with its boldly realistic yet off-kilter comedy focused on a struggling middle-class family of six: high-strung disciplinarian mother Lois (Jane Kaczmarek); dim but well-meaning father Hal (Bryan Cranston); smart aleck eldest son Francis (Christopher Masterson) consigned to military school; bullying second-eldest son Reese (Justin Berfield), reluctant boy genius Malcolm (Frankie Muniz); and just plain weird youngest child Dewey (Erik Per Sullivan.

The series steered clear of the traditional sitcom trappings as it was shot in a single-camera style, with no laugh track and with frequent fourth wall-breaking commentary by the title hero. "Malcolm in the Middle" (2000) set itself apart from its competitors with a fresh and consistently funny perspective and the remarkable performances by the entire cast. Perhaps this was in part because the show was loosely autobiographical for Boomer. He continues to work behind the scenes on several TV show projects, and resides in Los Angeles, California.

From an interview in 1979 Talking About Michael:
July 1979
"Michael is terrific. The first day on location I walked into his dressing room expecting to find a lavish suite and it was just a little room with bugs. He smiled and said, ‘You like the way the stars live, kid?’ He does little things to relax a person. Once he put a live frog in his mouth and let it jump out at a woman.”

Linwood Appeared in Thirty Five Episodes
Of Little House On The Prairie as Adam Kendall,
Eventually The Husband of Mary Ingalls.

Richard Bull, born June 26, 1924 in Zion, Illinois, is an American film actor, stage actor and television actor.

He is best known for his performance as Nels Oleson, the kindly proprietor of Oleson's Mercantile and the long suffering husband of his wife Harriet on the NBC TV series Little House on the Prairie which aired from 1974 to 1983 and "Doc" on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Bull began his stage career at the famous Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois. He left Los Angeles in 1994 with his wife Barbara "Bobbi" Collentine to live in Chicago.

His favorite actors are Marlon Brando, Laurence Olivier, John Geilgud, Judi Dench, Simon Russell Beale, Michael Gambon, Tom Wilkinson.

In television:
• Harrigan and Son (1961) as Lawson in "They Were All in Step But Jim"
• The Eleventh Hour (1964) as Phil Whitman in "Sunday Father"
• Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1964-1968 TV Series) as The Doctor, various     episodes
• Kentucky Jones (1965) as Harold Erkel in episodes "The Victim" and "The Return of Wong Lee"
• Mission: Impossible - (1966) as an agent for the Impossible Missions Force
• Mannix - (1968-1974) 7 episodes as 4 different characters
• Gomer Pyle, USMC - (1966) as the psychologist in the episode "Gomer and the     Little Space Men".
• Bonanza - (1969-1972) as Jess Hill (2 episodes)
• The Streets of San Francisco - (1973-1974) as the coroner
• Barnaby Jones - (1973-1976) 4 episodes as J.I. Fletcher
• Little House on the Prairie - (1974-1983) as Nels Oleson
• Wipeout (1976) as Sheriff Safian
• Dead Man's Run as Mr. Moore
• Blind Terror (1973) as Mr. Strather
• Perchance to Kill (1973) as J.I. Fletcher
• Hill Street Blues - (1985) as Capt. Furillo's father
• Highway to Heaven - (1985) as the doctor (2 episodes)
• Designing Women - (1988) as Everett
• In film:
• Witless Protection - (2008) as Sheriff Smoot
• The Parallax View - (1974) as a Parallax Goon
• High Plains Drifter - (1973) as Asa Goodwin
• Executive Action - (1973) as a gunman on "Team A"
• The Andromeda Strain - (1971) as an Air Force major
• The Stalking Moon - (1968) as the doctor
• Moonfire - (1970) as Leslie Russell
• The Satan Bug - (1965) As Federal Agent

Richard Appeared in 147 Epsiodes and
Three Movies of Little House on The Prairie
He passed away in California on February 3rd, 2014. He was 89 years old...

Victor French was born in December of 1934 in Santa Barbara, California. His Father was Ted French, an actor and stuntman who appeared in westerns in the 1940s. Victor later appeared with him in one episode of Gunsmoke entitled "Prime Of Life" in 1966, as well as a war film in 1963 called The Quick And The Dead. Ted French died in 1978.

Following in his father's footsteps, French also began his television career as a stuntman in mostly westerns and anthology shows. During this period, he guest starred in some thirty-nine television series. Though he was uncredited as an office clerk in the film, The Magnificent Seven, French's first real western role was the 1961 episode "The Noose" of the syndicated series, Two Faces West; his fellow guest star on the segment was L.Q. Jones, another actor destined to become well-known in western roles. He was cast as Larrimore in the episode "Fargo" on the ABC/Warner Brothers western series, The Dakotas.

French appeared twenty-three times on Gunsmoke, often playing a crook, whether dangerous or bumbling. On October 25, 1971, he portrayed a cold-hearted gunman named "Trafton", who while robbing the communion vessels in a Roman Catholic church murders a priest. As the clergyman lies dying, he forgives his killer, a development which dogs Trafton, who holds human life in low regard, for the entire episode until he is shot to death by Marshal Matt Dillon. French guest starred in another episode, titled Matt's Love Story, in which Dillon falls in love with a character played by Michael Learned. This episode would then lead to the story line in the 1990 made-for-television movie, Gunsmoke: The Last Apache in which Matt rejoins with Learned's character "Mike" and he learns that he has a grown daughter.

The appearance also led to French's re-teaming with Learned in a guest-actor role on The Waltons a year later. In "The Fulfillment", French plays a blacksmith named Curtis Norton whose wife could not have children and subsequently adopts an eight-year-old orphan boy who has come to spend the week on Walton's Mountain.

This led to his being cast in his most well-known role as Mr. Edwards in the series based on the books of Laura Ingalls Wilder entitled Little House on the Prairie, beginning in 1974.
In other work, French also starred opposite Elvis Presley in the 1969 western, Charro! and played the recurring character "Agent 44" in the NBC series Get Smart in 1965-1966, where he portrayed an undercover spy who showed up in the worst, most unlikely of places (like a mailbox or a porthole in a boat) and appeared in a few episodes of Bonanza, with Michael Landon.

French is most widely known for costarring with Michael Landon on two television series. He appeared on Little House on the Prairie (1974–1977), (1981–1983, 1984) as Isaiah Edwards (French also directed some episodes of Little House). He appeared on Highway to Heaven (1984–1989) as Mark Gordon.

From 1977–79, he left Little House to star as a small-town Georgia police chief in Carter Country. When the series ended, the actor was surprised that Michael Landon was agreeable to his returning to the character of Mr. Edwards. French appeared in Episode 8 of Season 6, in Episode 8 of Season 8, then returned full-time, starting with Episode 19 of Season 8.

According to interviews with Cindy Landon, and Kent and Susan McCray on the A&E DVD release of Highway to Heaven Season 3, Victor and Michael Landon were "crazy about each other", indicating that they always made each other laugh and enjoyed each other's company. Cindy Landon mentions that Victor was a quiet and reclusive kind of guy as opposed to Michael Landon's outgoing personality.

A heavy smoker, French was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer in April 1989, from which he died on June 15, 1989 in Los Angeles, California. According to one anecdote, he left a final, good-humored message for friends and family at his wake, having arranged for an airplane to fly overhead with it. Michael Landon died from pancreatic cancer a mere two years later. Both men were 54 years old when they died, and both were only diagnosed with their respective illnesses a few months before their deaths.

In 1998, French was inducted into the Western Performers Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Victor Appeared as Mr. Edwards
in 52 Episodes Of Little House and All Three Television Movies

As Mark Gordon in Highway To Heaven

There is no talking about the Old West, without mentioning the dozens, no hundreds or thousands of saloons of the American West. The very term "saloon” itself, conjures up a picture within our minds of an Old West icon, complete with a wooden false front, a wide boardwalk flanking the dusty street, a couple of hitchin’ posts, and the always present swinging doors brushing against the cowboy as he made his way to the long polished bar in search of a whiskey to wet his parched throat.

When America began its movement into the vast West, the saloon was right behind, or more likely, ever present. Though places like Taos and Santa Fe, New Mexico already held a few Mexican cantinas, they were far and few between until the many saloons of the West began to sprout up wherever the pioneers established a settlement or where trails crossed.

The first place that was actually called a "saloon" was at Brown's Hole near the Wyoming-Colorado-Utah border. Established in 1822, Brown's Saloon catered to the many trappers during the heavy fur trading days.

Saloons were ever popular in a place filled with soldiers, which included one of the West's first saloons at Bent’s Fort, Colorado in the late 1820s; or with cowboys, such as Dodge City, Kansas; and wherever miners scrabbled along rocks or canyons in search of their fortunes. When gold was discovered near Santa Barbara, California in 1848, the settlement had but one cantina. However, just a few short years later, the town boasted more than thirty saloons. In 1883, Livingston, Montana, though it had only 3,000 residents had 33 saloons.

The first western saloons really didn’t fit our classic idea of what a saloon looks like, but rather, were hastily thrown together tents or lean-to's where a lonesome traveler might strike up a conversation, where a cowman might make a deal, or a miner or a soldier might while away their off hours. However, as the settlement became more populated, the saloon would inevitably prosper, taking on the traditional trimmings of the Old West.

In those hard scrabble days, the whiskey served in many of the saloons was some pretty wicked stuff made with raw alcohol, burnt sugar and a little chewing tobacco. No wonder it took on such names as Tanglefoot, Forty-Rod, Tarantula Juice, Taos Lightning, Red Eye, and Coffin Varnish.

Also popular was Cactus Wine, made from a mix of tequila and peyote tea, and Mule Skinner, made with whiskey and blackberry liquor. The house rotgot was often 100 proof, though it was sometimes cut by the barkeep with turpentine, ammonia, gun powder or cayenne.

The most popular term for the libation served in saloons was Firewater, which originated when early traders were selling whiskey to the Indians. To convince the Indians of the high alcohol content, the peddlers would pour some of the liquor on the fire, as the Indians watched the fire begin to blaze.

But the majority of western saloon regulars drank straight liquor -- rye or bourbon. If a man ordered a "fancy" cocktail or "sipped" at his drink, he was often ridiculed unless he was "known" or already had a proven reputation as a "tough guy." Unknowns, especially foreigners who often nursed their drinks, were sometimes forced to swallow a fifth of 100 proof at gunpoint "for his own good."

Saloons also served up volumes of beer, but in those days the beer was never ice cold, usually served at 55 to 65 degrees. Though the beer had a head, it wasn't sudsy as it is today. Patrons had to knock back the beer in a hurry before it got too warm or flat. It wasn't until the 1880's that Adolphus Busch introduced artificial refrigeration and pasteurization to the U.S. brewing process, launching Budweiser as a national brand. Before then, folks in the Old West didn't expect their beer to be cold, accustomed to the European tradition of beer served at room temperature.

In virtually every mining camp and prairie town a poker table could be found in each saloon, surrounded by prospectors, lawmen, cowboys, railroad workers, soldiers, and outlaws for a chance to tempt fortune and fate.

Faro was by far the most popular and prolific game played in Old West saloons, followed by brag, three-card-monte and dice games such as high-low, chuck-a-luck and grand hazard. Before long many of the Old West mining camps such as Deadwood, Leadville, and Tombstone became as well known for gunfights over card games than they did for their wealth of gold and silver ore. Professional gamblers such as Doc Holliday and Wild Bill Hickok learned early to hone their six-shooter skills at the same pace as their gambling abilities. Taking swift action upon the green cloth became part of the gamblers’ code – shoot first and ask questions later.
Eventually, there was every type of saloon that one could imagine. There were gambling saloons, restaurant saloons, billiard saloons, dance hall saloons, bowling saloons, and, of course, the ever present, plain ole’ fashioned, "just drinking” saloons. They took on names such as the First Chance Saloon in Miles City, Montana, the Bull’s Head in Abilene, Kansas and the Holy Moses in Creede, Colorado. In many of the more populated settlements, these saloons never closed, catering to their ever present patrons 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Some didn’t even bother to have a front door that would close.

In almost every saloon, one could depend on seeing the long paneled bar, usually made of oak or mahogany, and polished to a splendid shine. Encircling the base of the bar would be a gleaming brass foot rail with a row of spittoons spaced along the floor next to the bar. Along the ledge, the saloon patron would find towels hanging so that they might wipe the beer suds from their mustaches. Most saloons included some kind of gambling including such games as Chuck-A-Luck, Three-Card-Monte, Faro, and usually an on-going game of poker.

Decorations at these many saloons varied from place to place but most often reflected the ideals of the customers. In the cowtowns of the prairies, one might see steer horns, spurs, and saddles adorning the walls, while in the mountains, a customer would be met by the glazing eyes of taxidermied deer or elk. Often, there was the infamous nude painting of a woman hanging behind the bar.

One question many people ask is whether saloons were really adorned with swinging style doors. These type doors, actually called cafe doors, and sometimes referred to as "batwing" doors, were in fact, found in many saloons; but, not nearly as often as they are depicted in popular movies. In film, there's just no better door than the swinging door for the hero to burst into, and for the bad guys to be tossed out through. Cafe doors are designed to allow easy passage between two rooms, or from the outside to the inside, by using bidirectional hinges. Shorter than full height, they are situated in the middle of the frame. They were practical because they provided easy access, cut down the dust from the outside, allowed people to see who was coming in, and provided some ventilation. Most importantly, it shielded the goings-on in the saloon from the "proper ladies" who might be passing by. Most saloons; however, had actual doors. Even those with swinging doors often had another set on the outside, so the business could be locked up when closed and to shield the interior from bad weather. On the other hand, some crude saloons didn't have doors at all, as they were open 24 hours a day and never closed.


The regulars at saloons often acquired calluses on their elbows by prolonged and heavy leaning on the bar. Men of the West usually did not drink alone nor did they drink at home, and needing each others company, there were a lot of regulars at the many saloons. The patrons were a varied lot – from miners to outlaws, to gamblers and honest workmen. What they were not -- were minorities. Saloons of the West did not welcome other races. Indians were excluded by law. An occasional black man might be grudgingly accepted, or at least ignored, if he happened to be a noted gambler or outlaw. If a Chinese man entered a saloon, he risked his life.

However, there was one type of "white man" that was also generally not welcome. That was the soldier. There were several reasons for this. Given the makeup of the many men of the West -- adventurers, people who "didn't fit in" in the East, outlaws, and Civil War deserters, they had no respect for the men who "policed the West." Nor could these independent-minded men respect anyone who was made to "stand at attention" and obey all orders. Finally, for some unknown reason, they blamed the soldier for infecting the parlour house girls with diseases.

Due to the culture at the time, also excluded were respectable women. Unless they were a saloon girl or a "shady lady," women did not enter saloons, a tradition that lasted until World War I. In retaliation, the ladies were primarily behind the prohibition movement.
These private men of the West were also accustomed to inquiring of another man's first name only. With their varied and often shady backgrounds, curiosity was considered impolite. Both mens' and womens' pasts were respected and were not inquired about. If and when it was, it could be very unhealthy for the inquirer, who might end up dead in the street in front of the saloon. For instance, one would never ask a rancher the size of his herd, which would be tantamount to asking a man to see their income tax return today.

Another custom was the expected offer to treat the man standing next to you to a drink. If a stranger arrived and didn't make the offer, he would often be asked why he hadn't done so. Even worse, was refusing a drink, which was considered a terrible insult, regardless of the vile liquor that might be served. On one such occasion at a Tucson, Arizona saloon, a man who refused the offer was taken from bar to bar at gunpoint until "he learned some manners."

However, if a man came in and confessed that he was broke and needed a drink, few men would refuse him. On the other hand, if he ordered a drink, knowing that he couldn't pay for it, he might find himself beaten up or worse.

Because the saloon was usually one of the first and bigger buildings within many new settlements, it was common that it was also utilized as a public meeting place. Judge Roy Bean and his combination saloon and courtroom were a prime example of this practice. Another saloon in Downieville, California was not only the most popular saloon in town, but also the office of the local Justice of the Peace. In Hays City, Kansas, the first church services were held in Tommy Drum’s Saloon.

Several noted gunmen of the west owned saloons, tended bar or dealt cards at one time or another. These included such notable characters as Wild Bill Hickok, Bill Tilghman, Ben Daniels, Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson, Ben Thompson, Doc Holliday, and many others.


But, most notable among the many saloons of the West, was the ever present violence that was instigated or occurred within these establishments. In 1876, Bob Younger said "We are rough men and used to rough ways.” Couple that with the public access, flow of potent whiskey, and the general lawlessness of the times, and the saloon was an inevitable powder keg.
There were numerous killings inside of these Old West saloons. Just a few of these included Wild Bill Hickok who was killed by Jack McCall while playing poker in the No. 10 Saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota.

Bob Ford, Jesse James’ killer was shot down in his own tent saloon in Creede, Colorado; and John Wesley Hardin was shot and killed from behind on August 19, 1895 in an El Paso,Texas saloon.
Many other acts of violence were instigated in saloons, which wound up with shoot-outs in the street, or public hangings after vigilante groups had formed within a saloon.

And lest we not forget the saloon or dance-hall girl, whose job was to brighten the evenings of lonely men starved for female companionship. Contrary to what many might think, the saloon girl was very rarely a prostitute – this tended to occur only in the very shabbiest class of saloons. Though the "respectable” ladies considered the saloon girls "fallen”, most of the girls wouldn’t be caught dead associating with an actual prostitute. Their job was to entertain the guests, sing for them, dance with them, talk to them and perhaps flirt with them a bit – inducing them to remain in the bar, buying drinks and patronizing the games.

Not all saloons employed saloon girls, such as in Dodge City’s north side of Front Street, which was the "respectable” side, where guns, saloon girls and gambling were barred, Instead, music and billiards were featured as the chief amusements to accompany drinking.

Most girls were refugees from farms or mills, lured by posters and handbills advertising high wages, easy work, and fine clothing. Many were widows or needy women of good morals, forced to earn a living in an era that offered few means for women to do so.

Earning as much as $10 per week, most saloon girls also made a commission from the drinks that they sold. Whiskey sold to the customer was marked up 30-60% over its wholesale price. Commonly drinks bought for the girls would only be cold tea or colored sugar water served in a shot glass; however, the customer was charged the full price of whiskey, which could range from ten to seventy-five cents a shot.
In most places the proprieties of treating the saloon girls as ladies were strictly observed, as much because Western men tended to revere all women, as because the women or the saloon keeper demanded it. Any man who mistreated these women would quickly become a social outcast, and if he insulted one he would very likely be killed.

While they might have been scorned by the "proper" ladies, the saloon girl could count on respect from the males. And as for the "respectable women”, the saloon girls were rarely interested in the opinions of the drab, hard-working women who set themselves up to judge them. In fact, they were hard pressed to understand why those women didn’t have sense enough to avoid working themselves to death by having babies, tending animals, and helping their husbands try to bring in a crop or tend the cattle.

In the early California Gold Rush of 1849, dance halls began to appear and spread throughout the boomtowns. While these saloons usually offered games of chance, their chief attraction was dancing. The customer generally paid 75¢ to $1.00 for a ticket to dance, with the proceeds being split between the dance hall girl and the saloon owner. After the dance, the girl would steer the gentleman to the bar, where she would make an additional commission from the sale of a drink.

Even today, don’t we still see the vestige remains of the Old West Saloon as the professional woman may peer down upon the bar waitress, who may peer down upon today’s saloon girl? And though the gaming tables and spittoons may be long gone, the tavern or bar remains an establishment that is apparently free from the effects of the economy and will, no doubt, always remain a place where business people continue to make deals and people frequent to chase away their cares.

Mr. Edwards Getting Loaded In
"A Promise To Keep"

This trashy piece of trivia is dedicated to Joe – Keeper of The Outhouses – A fellow Tucsonian and true expert on the subject of Privys.

"The woodshed was often a lean-to attached to the schoolhouse, but the most accepted arrangement was to place it between the schoolhouse and the privy, with a fence separating the boys' entrance from the girls'. The ancient designation of privy doors was to saw into them a sun (for boys' toilet) and a moon (for girls' toilet)."

"Luna, the ancient crescent shaped figure, was a universal symbol for womankind. A moon, sawed into a privy door, served as the 'Ladies Room' sign of early innkeeping days. Sol, a sunburst pattern, was cut into the men's room side of the outhouse. These symbols were necessary because in Colonial times only a fraction of our population could read or write.
"As time passed by and frontiers were pushed further westward, the gentlemen's restrooms fell into disrepair and eventually were abandoned altogether. Accommodations for ladies were better maintained and this is why the moon symbol remains on many outhouse doors today. Its original meaning, however, was lost to the general population sometime in the mid 1800's."

There were no half moons or suns on the outhouses in Walnut Grove. Perhaps a sign of poverty….

We will never know…….What we do know is that it was one of Michael’s favorite subjects.
Mr. Watson Trapped By Charles

The Olesons Outhouse

Carrie's Accident

School Facility

Admiring The Upgrade!!

Candy in the old west was a special treat for the kids on the frontier between 1850 and 1920. Most candy in the old west during this period were made at home, but since sugar was in short supply and expensive many home recipies used honey instead. However, the real treat for kids growing up in the old west was a trip to the mercantile, where "penny candy" was proudly displayed in glass jars for all to drool over in anticipation.

By the mid-1800s candy in the old west was manufactured by over 380 American factories. Most were producing primarily "penny candy," which was sold loose from glass cases in general stores.

1854 - The first packaged box of Whitman's chocolate debuts.
1868 - Richard Cadbury introduces the first Valentine's Day box of chocolates.
1880s - Wunderle Candy Company creates candy corn. In 1898, Goelitz Confectionery Company began making candy corn and has made this Halloween favorite longer than any other company.
1893 - William Wrigley, Jr. introduces Juicy Fruit gum and Wrigley's Spearmint gum.
1896 - Tootsie Rolls debut, introduced by Leo Hirshfield of New York who named them after his daughter's nickname, "Tootsie".
1900 - Milton S. Hershey of Lancaster, PA introduces the first Hershey milk chocolate bar.
Willie Getting Sour Balls For Albert

Thanks for the extras Dave.


I know what the message was on the plane Victor had flown overhead. I still laugh when I think of it. It was SO Mr. Edwards. Its not forum friendly.

Ok, Gin, now I'm curious! You may need to send me a PM!

June Foray, born September 18, 1917 , is an American voice actress, best known as the voice of such animated characters as Lucifer from Cinderella, Rocky the Flying Squirrel, Cindy Lou Who, Jokey Smurf, Witch Hazel, Granny, Natasha Fatale, Nell Fenwick and Magica De Spell. Her career has encompassed radio, theatrical shorts, feature films, television, record albums (particularly with Stan Freberg), video games, talking toys and other media. Foray was also one of the founding members of ASIFA-Hollywood, the society devoted to promoting and encouraging animation. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame honoring her voice work in television.

June Foray was born June Lucille Forer in Springfield, Massachusetts, one of three children of father Maurice and mother Ida, The family resided at 75 Orange Street. Her voice was first broadcast in a local radio drama when she was 12 years old;] by age 15, she was doing regular radio voice work. Two years later, after graduating from Classical High School, she moved with her parents and siblings to Los Angeles, California, near Ida's brother, after engineer Maurice fell on hard financial times. After entering radio through the WBZA Players and her own Lady Make Believe show, she soon became a popular voice actress, with regular appearances on coast-to-coast network shows including Lux Radio Theater and The Jimmy Durante Show.

In the 1940s, Foray also began film work, including a few appearances acting in live-action movies, but mostly doing voiceovers for animated cartoons and radio programs and occasionally dubbing films and television.

On radio, Foray did the voices of Midnight the Cat and Old Grandie the Piano on The Buster Brown Program, which starred Smilin' Ed McConnell, from 1944 to 1952.

For Walt Disney, Foray played Lucifer the Cat in the feature film Cinderella, Lambert's mother in Lambert the Sheepish Lion, a mermaid in Peter Pan and Witch Hazel in animated shorts; decades later, Foray would be the voice of Grandmother Fa in Disney's 1998 Mulan. She also did a variety of voices in Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker cartoons. For Warner Brothers Cartoons, she was Granny (whom she has played, on and off, since 1955, taking over for Bea Benaderet), owner of Tweety and Sylvester, and, memorably, a series of witches, including Looney Tunes' own Witch Hazel, for director Chuck Jones.

Foray voice-acted on The Smurfs as Jokey Smurf and Mother Nature; voiced Ursula on George of the Jungle; and on How the Grinch Stole Christmas voiced Cindy Lou Who, asking "Santa" why he's taking their tree. She was also the voice of the original "Chatty Cathy" doll.
Foray voiced evil characters as well, such as the "Talky Tina" doll in The Twilight Zone episode ("Living Doll") as well as all the female roles in Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1975), including the villainous cobra Nagaina.

Foray worked for Hanna-Barbera, including on The Flintstones, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, The Jetsons and many other shows. (She tried out for the part of Betty Rubble on The Flintstones, but the part went to Bea Benaderet; Foray described herself as "terribly disappointed" at not getting to voice Betty.) She has done extensive voice acting for Stan Freberg's commercials, albums and 1957 radio series, memorably as secretary to the werewolf advertising executive. Foray has also appeared in several Rankin/Bass TV specials in the 1960s and 1970s, voicing the young Karen in the TV special Frosty the Snowman (although only her singing parts remained in later airings, after Rankin-Bass reedited the special a few years after it debuted, with Foray's speaking parts re-dubbed with an uncredited voice).

For Jay Ward: she played nearly every female on The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, including Natasha Fatale and Nell Fenwick, as well as male lead character Rocket J. Squirrel (a.k.a. Rocky Squirrel). Foray also voiced May Parker in "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" from 1981-1983, as well as Magica De Spell and Ma Beagle in the televised cartoon DuckTales. In the later part of her career, she had a leading role voicing Grammi Gummi on the television series Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, working with her Rocky and Bullwinkle co-star Bill Scott until his death in 1985. Around 2003, she was a guest star in an episode of Powerpuff Girls. In October 2006, she portrayed Susan B. Anthony on three episodes of the podcast The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd.

Chuck Jones is reported to have said, "June Foray is not the female Mel Blanc, Mel Blanc was the male June Foray." In 1995, ASIFA-Hollywood, a chapter of the Association Internationale du Film d'Animation (the International Animated Film Association), established the June Foray Award, which is awarded to "individuals who have made a significant and benevolent or charitable impact on the art and industry of animation." Foray was the first recipient of the award. In 2007, Foray became a contributor to ASIFA-Hollywood's Animation Archive Project.
In 2007, Britt Irvin became the first person ever to voice a character in a cartoon remake that had been previously voiced by Foray in the original series when she started voicing the character Ursula (Foray's former character) in the new George of the Jungle cartoon series on the Cartoon Network. In 2011, Roz Ryan voiced Witch Lezah (Hazel spelled backwards) in The Looney Tunes Show, opposite June Foray.

Foray guest-voiced only once on The Simpsons, in the season-one episode "Some Enchanted Evening", as the receptionist for the Rubber Baby Buggy Bumper Babysitting Service. This was a play on a Rocky & Bullwinkle gag years earlier in which none of the cartoon's characters, including narrator William Conrad, was able to pronounce "rubber baby buggy bumpers" unerringly. Foray was later homaged in The Simpsons, in the season-eight episode "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show", in which the character June Bellamy is introduced as the voice behind both Itchy and Scratchy. She was voiced by series regular Tress MacNeille, though her "Itchy" and "Scratchy" voices were performed by Dan Castellaneta and Harry Shearer, respectively.

Foray appeared on camera in a major role only once, in Sabaka as a high priestess of a fire cult. She also appeared on camera in an episode of Green Acres as a Mexican telephone operator. In 1991, she provided her voice as the sock-puppet talk-show host Scary Mary on an episode of Married... with Children. She played gag cameos in both 1992's Boris & Natasha and 2000's The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. Another on-camera appearance was in the 1984 TV sitcom The Duck Factory, which starred Jim Carrey and Don Messick.
Foray was often called for ADR voice work for television and feature films. This work included dubbing the voice of Mary Badham in The Twilight Zone episode "The Bewitchin' Pool" and the voices for Sean and Michael Brody in some scenes of the film Jaws. June Foray also dubbed several people in Bells Are Ringing, Diana Rigg in some scenes of The Hospital, Robert Blake in a drag in an episode of Baretta and a little boy in The Comic.

In 2000, Foray reprised her role as Rocky the Flying Squirrel in Universal Pictures' live-action/CGI animated film The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, co-starring and produced by Robert De Niro. On Season Three, Episode One ("The Thin White Line") of Family Guy, Foray again reprised her role as Rocky in a visual gag with a single line ("And now, here's something we hope you'll really like!").

Foray voiced the wife of the man getting dunked ("Don't tell him, Carlos!") in Pirates of the Caribbean. In November 2009, Foray appeared twice on The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: in one episode as Ruth, a pie-maker trapped in Bubbie's stomach, and in another episode as Kelly, a young boy having a birthday party and as Kelly's Mom and Captain K'Nuckles' kindergarten teacher.

In 2011, Foray reprised her role as Granny in Cartoon Network's new series, The Looney Tunes Show. That year, she received the Comic-Con Icon Award at the 2011 Scream Awards. She also appeared as Granny in the theatrically released Looney Tunes short, "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat", which was shortlisted for Academy Award consideration.

In 2012, Foray received her first Emmy nomination, and won in the category of Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program for her role as Mrs. Cauldron on The Garfield Show. At age 94, she is the oldest entertainer to be nominated for, and to win an Emmy Award. Currently 95 years old.

Update:Died July 26, 2017 in Los Angeles, California, USA (cardiac arrest)

One Little House Episode
Ma’s Holiday – 1974 – Voice of Little
Girls at The Play Caroline and Charles Attended

June Foray

David Byrd was born in September of 1932 in New York City. He appeared in 71 titles beginning in 1975 with Little House On The Prairie. Ann Gee Byrd, born in September of 1938 in Toledo, Ohio was David’s wife. An actress, she has appeared in in 72 titles also beginning in 1975 with Little House on The Prairie. They were in the same episode together in their first appearance on television.

David went on to appear in Starsky and Hutch, All In The Family, Starsky and Hutch, Tango and Cash, Columbo, The Beverly Hillbillies and ER to name a few. His last appearance was on Everybody Loves Raymond as Harry in two episodes. He passed away at the age of 68 in Studio City, California in January of 2001. He was 68 years old.

Anne Gee Byrd is still active today and has appeared in 72 productions. Her latest project is the movie “I am” as Pam, which which was completed in 2013. Other appearances include Law and Order, The Mentalist, Monk, Everybody Loves Raymond, Beverly Hills 90210, Coach, Roseanne, and three episodes of the original Dallas to name a few.

Mary and Laura Inspect The Medicine
In "The Gift" - 1975

David Byrd as "Faubus" In "The Gift".
He Flim Flammed Caroline Out of a Meal

Anne Gee Byrd as "Mrs. Hobson" in "The Gift"
Laura Tried To Sell Her Medicine - Her Pigs Ate One Bottle

Joe Haworth was born in Cleveland, Ohio in October of 1914. He came from a theatrical family. His father William Haworth was a famous playwright; his uncle, Joe Haworth, was a top actor of the American stage in the last century, working with such greats as Edwin Booth. His brother-in-law was character actor Wallace Ford, and a brother, Ted Haworth, was an Academy Award-winning Art Director.

Joe made his first stage appearance as "Tiny Tim" in his grammar school play of "A Christmas Carol", and later appeared on the New York stage, as well as operating his own theatre in Nyack, New York. He came to Hollywood and made his film debut in 'Gung Ho!': The Story of Carlson's Makin Island Raiders (1943). When actor Addison Randall (aka Jack Randall) was killed on the first day of filming The Royal Mounted Rides Again (1945), it was Joe who replaced him. In addition to his acting, Joe was a noted photographer in Hollywood for publicity shots of both the stars and for the movies.

He appeared in 107 titles from 1935 through 1976. A sampling of them include Six Million Dollar Man, Mission Impossible, Laredo, Bonanza, Spartacus, Twilight Zone, The Rifleman, Whirlybirds, Highway Patrol and Tombstone Territory.

He died at the age of 85 in Santa Cruz, California in July of 2000.

As Harris in “100 Mile Walk” – 1974
Begging Lars Hansen For a Loan

As Davis in "The Rifleman" - 1960

Hal Burton, was born Harold Dean Burton on June 14th, 1942 in Los Angeles, California. A very prolific stuntman who doulbled for Michael Landon both in Bonanza and Little House On The Prairie. Has appeared on 64 titles doing stunts and acted in eight titles. He was on 16 episodes of Bonanza in acting roles and five episodes of Little House, playing everything from an Indian Brave in the pilot to a driver and townsman in other episodes.

His comments about Michael Landon from interviews in 1991.
“For a little guy, boy, can he eat. He once downed three giant-size prime ribs, and it wasn’t unusual for us to have a half dozen eggs and three steaks in a meal. But he keeps in great shape.”
“On most shows, at Christmas they give you a bottle of booze. Michael gave $1000 gifts. On Father Murphy, he gave everybody gold coins, TV sets and stereos.”

On Set With Michael

Hal In Later Years

Frank Parker, born in July of 1939 in Darby, Pennsylvania is best known as Grandpa Shawn Brady on Days of our Lives (460 Episodes). He had portrayed the character on and off since 1983. Grandpa Shawn died in February 2008 after giving up his oxygen mask to save his son, Bo, on a sabotaged airplane that was going down. He also had some small roles in Never Too Young, The Young and The Restless and General Hospital.

He appeared in 35 titles from 1965 through 2008. A sampling includes Midway, Six Million Dollar Man, ChiPs, Quincy M.E., Hart to Hart and Blue Thunder.

One Episode of Little House
“If I Should Wake Before I Die” – 1974 – ‘Sean Hearn”


Days of Our Lives - As Grandpa Shawn Brady

Robert Foulk was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood. He was born in May of 1908 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He appeared in a whopping 256 titles, both in movies and television. Some of his more notable roles included sixteen episodes of Green Acres as Mr. Wheeler, thirteen episodes of Bonanza in various roles, twenty episodes of Lassie as Sheriff Miller and five episodes of The Rifleman. Other appearances included Pete’s Dragon, Adam 12, The Cowboys, Kung Fu, Here’s Lucy, Mod Squad, The Big Valley and on and on and on.

He passed away in February of 1989 at the age of 80.

He Was In One Episode Of Little House
Plague – 1975 – Peterson
He Sold The Tainted Corn Meal
Left Opposite Matt Clark

Green Acres as Mr. Wheeler

Sean McClory was born in March of 1924 in Dublin, Ireland, but spent his early life in Galway. He was the son of Hugh Patrick, an architect and civil engineer, and Mary Margaret Ball, who had been a model. Sean decided to become an actor and joined Dublin's renowned Abbey Theater (also known as the National Theater of Ireland, opened in 1904). He rose through the ranks playing in productions of the works of such authors as William Butler Yeats and George Bernard Shaw, and soon began to play leads mostly in comedies (popular through most of the 1940s and into the 1950s). When comedies began to fade from the theater after World War II, McClory with turned an eye toward film. In early 1947 he decided to make the jump to America and break into Hollywood. His first roles were that of a staple in American films: the Irish cop, which he played in two of the "Dick Tracy" series in 1947. In 1949 he signed a short contract with 20th Century-Fox. By 1950 he was showing up in more notable films - though uncredited, particularly in The Glass Menagerie (1950). Within a year McClory's talents were being showcased in various small feature roles. John Ford finally began casting - a painstaking process for the finicky director -- for his long conceived The Quiet Man (1952) and chose McClory for a small but showy part, in which he was seen throughout the film feature with Charles B. Fitzsimons, the younger brother of the film's star, Maureen O'Hara, playing an Irish villager. Although some of the cast were familiar members of the "John Ford Stock Company", many roles were filled by actual Irish villagers (the film was shot on location) and included a generous helping of Abbey Theater alumni: the Shields brothers (Barry Fitzgerald and Arthur Shields) and Jack MacGowran, in addition to O'Hara McClory. Ford wanted him for roles in several of his subsequent films, however McClory's busy film and TV schedule only allowed him to accept roles in two other Ford films, The Long Gray Line and Cheyenne Autumn.

In 1953 McClory played one of his standout roles as menacing, shady archaeologist Jefferson in Plunder of the Sun (1953), a good adventure thriller helped along by location shooting in Mexico. McClory, with a white-tinted crewcut and dark glasses (very effective), had the opportunity to reveal the depth of his talent and really stole the picture from star Glenn Ford, who couldn't get away from his usual mumbling delivery.

McClory had a cultured, neutral Irish brogue that fit well in small- or big-screen performances, unlike such Irish actors as Barry Fitzgerald who, though very effective and beloved, had a thick brogue that kept him forever cast as an Irishman. As a result, McClory was much more at home in American TV and had many memorable roles from 1953 onward, appearing in a gamut of episodic TV in addition to his feature film work. However, it was his frequent appearances on the small screen that enabled McClory to stand out in viewers' memories, especially in a range of western and adventure series (in which he played a good sprinkling of Irish characters) well into the 1970s. Though not as busy in the 1980s as he was in the '70s, one role in which he truly stood out was in an adaptation by John Huston of Irish writer James Joyce's famous 1907 short story "The Dead" made in 1987 (The Dead (1987)), his final film appearance. McClory's role as Mr. Grace was not a character in the original story but was created by Huston and his son Tony Huston to provide McClory with a reading of the medieval Irish poem "Young Donal", which was very effective to the mood of this look at Irish family remembrance.

He passed away in December of 2003 at the age of 79 in Hollywood Hills, California. He had appeared in 139 titles in a 47 year career that spanned from 1947 through 1993. He was truly a fine and gifted character actor.

One Episode of Little House
The Runaway Caboose – 1976 – Sandy Nelson - Engineer

As John Wayne's Co-Pilot In
"Island In The Sky" - 1953

Arch Johnson was born in March of 1922 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A stage actor as well as a prolific television character actor, he was in the original production of West Side Story on Broadway and the revival of that show in the 1980s, again on Broadway. He was the only actor from the original stage version who returned for the revival, and he toured Europe with the show. He was in the original version of Other People's Money on Broadway and originated the Role of "Jorge" that Gregory Peck played in the film version. His first love was theatre, where he began his career, and he returned to that genre before he retired in the late 1990s.

Johnson had a prolific television career. Among his numerous roles, he was a regular on the 1965-1966 series Camp Runamuck as Commander Wivenhoe. He made five appearances on Perry Mason, four appearances on Daniel Boone and Gunsmoke, five on Bewitched, four on The F.B.I., and scores of others on many other television offerings, including Decoy, Johnny Ringo, Hennesey, The Roaring 20s, Going My Way, Mr. Novak, and Empire and its successor series, Redigo, both with Richard Egan.

In 1963, Johnson appeared on NBC's western series Laramie, with John Smith and Robert Fuller as Slim Sherman and Jess Harper, respectively. He was cast as the outlaw Sam Wellman in the episode "No Place to Run". In the story line, Wellman forces a likeable safecracker who is trying to go straight, Gandy Ross, portrayed by Don Durant, formerly Johnny Ringo, to open the safe in the bank at fictitious Granite City. Ellen Burstyn and Tom Skeritt play the roles of Amy and Price in the episode, as Jess Harper rescues his friend Ross from the clutches of Wellman.

Johnson died of cancer on October 9, 1997 in Snow Hill in Worcester County in southeastern Maryland at the age of 75.

One Episode of Little House
The Runaway Caboose – 1976 - Shell

Paul Bryar was the type of character actor that you recognized, but probably didn't know his name. He was born in February of 1910 in Manhattan, New York. His first role was in the "Tenth Avenue Kid" in 1937. Between 1937 and 1983, during a forty six year span, he appeared in over 357 titles. I remember him during my childhood in TV shows like The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman. He was all over television in the fifties, sixties and seventies. Always in character roles and sometimes uncredited.

He passed away in August of of 1985 in Van Nuys, California. He was 75 years old. His last role was in "Heart Like A Wheel' in 1983 as Matt, the Card Player.

He Was In Two Episodes Of Little House
"The Runaway Caboose" - 1976 - Kelly
"The Fighter" - 1977 - Jake Barky

The Runaway Caboose 1976

The Fighter 1977

The "Runaway Caboose" Was Shot On The Sierra Railway In Cooperstown, California
Scenes were shot in Stanislaus & Tuolumne Counties


The little wood shanty that used to trail faithfully after every string of freight cars-like many other railroad scenes-has undergone many changes in the past hundred years.
The box-like shelters train crews used to build to shield their cooking fires on spare platform cars in the mid 1800s, the converted box cars with sliding doors used around the turn of the century, the cupola-topped wooden cabooses popular after World War I, all have given way to ever more modern, efficient and better-equipped cabooses.

Today's SP caboose with its sleek bay windows of shatterproof glass, automatic oil heater, electric lights and refrigerator, drinking fountain, radio-telephone and specially-designed Pullman-type crew seats is fast becoming an operating symbol of the technological advances continually being made by SP. Rapidly disappearing are the old-fashioned hard benches and feather dusters, the coalbin and the kerosene lamp and the lazy board. The caboose has become a rolling office, efficient and functional, vastly different from its forebears. The origin of the caboose is un-certain. Even its birthdate is unknown. The most generally accepted story of its beginning is that a man named Nat Williams - a freight conductor on the Auburn & Syracuse Railroad during the 1830s - made it his custom to sit in the last car of a freight train on a box or barrel and direct the train's operation. As trains and runs grew longer, some railroads provided platform cars for their train crews, and eventually converted box cars for crews to use as shelters.

TWO THEORIES
Even the origin of the word caboose is disputed. Railroad his-torical authority D. L. Joslyn, a retired SP draftsman, documents its use back to the days of the early sailing vessels, when sailors customarily set up a fireplace or stove on ships' decks. To protect their fires and provide shelter for them-selves, seamen erected boxes over their fireplaces. These shelters were known to the Dutch as kabuis, to the Danes as kabys, the Swedes as kabysa, and Germans as kabuse.
Another theory holds that the word originated in Texas, Americanized from the Spanish word calabozo., meaning jailhouse. This idea, too, seems to have some merit.

In the eastern portion of the U.S., the car at the end of the train was called a "way car,"" "cabin car," "conductor's van," "accommodation car," "train car," "brakeman's cab," "shanty," or "crummy." Even today, many eastern railroads call them way cars, with a few referring to them as accommodation cars. Only in the West has the crew car been known almost universally as the caboose.

The care and attention given to cabooses has come a long way from the days when Nat Williams sat on a barrel in the last car of his train and T. B. Watson got his orders to pick up an empty boxcar for his new caboose.
SP's newest cabooses - 200 all-steel cars with bay windows-were planned by car design engineers of the Mechanical Department, with the cooperation of the Operating and Safety Departments. A far cry from the ill-equipped caboose of old, today's modern cars cost near-ly $18,000 each to build.

Typical of the efforts made to modernize crew cars was the re-building of caboose SP-1000 in 1959. One of those constructed in 1937, SP-1000 received a complete remodeling in the Los Angeles General Shops and was equipped with the most up-to-date appliances. Then the car was used by crews between Los Angeles and El Paso, with the request that they evaluate the new equipment, and suggest further improvements. After the test runs, the car was taken to San Francisco, where it was inspected at the company's invitation by legislative representatives and general chairmen of the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen and the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, as well as by four staff members of the California Public Utilities Commission.

One of the most important advances made in modernizing cabooses, says Mechanical Department Engineer L. F. Bardoff, who helped design the new crew cars, "is the electrification program we began in 1954. We are continuing to install electrical systems so that eventually all cabooses used in pool service and long local runs will have electric marker lights, as well as desk and other interior lights. The electric refrigerators will be a help, too, in which to keep lunches and cold drinks on the hot runs."

M. A. Nugent, superintendent of safety, adds that the consideration given to the comfort, health and safety of crews is another important factor in our cabooses today. "The heavier drawbars and center sills," he says, "coupled with all-steel superstructure, window safety glass and nonskid floor paint have made our cabooses some of the finest-and safest-crew equipment on any railroad."

Interesting, Dave! There were some nice cabooses on Little House.

Fascinating information, Dave.

Hal Bokar was born on December 1st, 1928 in Cleveland, Ohio. He appeared in forty eight titles during a forty year career that spanned from 1950 through 1990. A sampling of appearances include Hill Street Blues, Trapper John M.D., The Incredible Hulk, The Waltons, The Virginian, Gunsmoke, and Dennis the Menace. He worked with Dirk Blocker in The Black Sheep Squadron in 1977.

He passed away in April of 1990 in Los Angeles at the age of 61.

One Little House Episode
To See The World – 1975 – Hector Johnson
Johnny Johnson’s Pa

As Captain Taylor - Black Sheep Squadron

Very interesting to see how many episodes each of the regular cast members were in. Melissa Gilbert was in 190, as stated in the post, but how many episodes were there altogether?

Dave, thanks so much for all of this amazing info.

Marilyn, there were 204 episodes counting the pilot
and three televison movies..........

And you are welcome, lots of fun doing it!