Chester A. Riley: [on the phone] What is it, a boy or a girl? Bendix was able to return to the role on NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently in the top 25. By using this site, you agree to our updated. Jeff and Babs's bliss is soon dampened when Miss Bogle reveals that she must sell the Rileys' house because of her own financial problems. Well, if it's such a gift, why did it cost you 25 dollars? Even though we can plan it and pay for it and all that, we can't really get that wheel to turn for us until it turns itself. I was watching [author and cultural commentator] Christopher Hitchens the other day. 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? Cullen, Frank, Hackman, Florence and McNeilly, Donald Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America Vol. The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. MUSIC: LOU KOSLOFF'S "LIFE OF RILEY THEME" . I think the national rate now is right around 38 percent. If you don't pay attention Peg Riley: Well, I'm trying to tell ya, he just moons around the house! Well, if you ask any group of ordinary citizens, "How many here have attended a cremation?" 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. People will know that. It is really helpful on the day your mother dies or your father dies or, God help us, a child dies, to have a certain part of the wheel already invented. 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. We are less grounded than our grandparents were. When the publicity manager urged him to change into a dark suit (so it would be more funeral-like) Digger refused: Ive got to have my robe. When the promoter begged him to change clothes once he was below ground, Digger explained the situation: No room. One option is organic fertilizer made from chicken manure, which can be found at Menard's for a reasonable price of $10.99 per 25-pound bag. Except I want to send out those circulars, so bring me some round paper. One of my favorite old time radio characters (other than Jack Benny) was Digger O'Dell "The Friendly Undertaker". Chester A. Riley: So was I. As a result, when Digger delivered his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from surprised audience members. Mar to "what are we going to do?" According to the obituary, Digger was born in Georgia in 1915. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: Oh Simon, he knows! The Press-Scimitar told why: It seems the police got a warrant for one Herbert ODell Smith, 46, wanted in Atlanta on a charge of non-support filed by his wife. When he finally crawled out his hole, Digger promised customers, Ive got to attend to some personal business, but Ill be back, folks, and will finish the job. Later, he told reporters, Thats the way the cookie crumbles. So yeah, I enjoyed writing that piece. And yeah, everything plays its part in that. Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. [in a flashback sequence, Peg has just given birth to her first child]. : Commissioned in 1932 by Memphis Chapter 1 of the American War Mothers, this large bronze plaque carried the names of 27 Memphians who had lost their lives in World War I. That's why I came over here tonight. Are social changes the reasons that we are more fearful and reluctant to deal with death in our everyday lives? For some people it's not the open casket and the three-day wake and the roses and the limousines and the Panis Angelicus. Don't you worry about him; we'll pull him through. Before going, Riley instructs his precocious son Junior to exchange his piggy bank coins into bills and meet him at the restaurant, assuming that Junior's savings combined with his five dollars will be enough to pay for the meal. So in a sense, cremation suits us in that way. Though other friends may fail you, I shall be the last to let you down." Chester A. Riley : Hello, Digger. The year before he died, Digger told reporters that he had probably spent six years of his life underground, earning as much as $600 a week for his efforts. SOURCES: I have children at home; my wife had taken them home from the luncheon. Why would he leave his wife? And why do the rituals of a funeral matter? It is that everything changes and nothing changes. "The Life of Riley" The Billboard Magazine Dec 6, 1947 But by the time a couple days later he went in the ground, it was exactly the right thing to do. Stevenson's ne'er-do-well son Burt, meanwhile, is cornered at the picnic by a thug named Norman, who demands that he repay a $25,000 gambling debt. I prefer the dead languages. Well, both my parents were buried like Irish Catholics were buried, so there was this sort of tribal and religious language that had been developed over centuries for how we do this. I think we're all complicit in the banishment of the dead to the peripheries. What is it, a boy or a girl? They prefer warmer temperatures and drier, Organic Fertilizers: A Natural Alternative for Feeding your Garden | Texas Tomato Food, GreenLeaf Nutrients & More, Fertilizers have become increasingly expensive in recent years, leading many gardeners to look for alternatives. 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. Will that matter? I've come to admire the earth, the wind and the fire. Ferguson: That's the type of citizen we're sworn to protect. Director Irving Brecher Writers Irving Brecher Groucho Marx (story) Stars William Bendix Rosemary DeCamp James Gleason See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 10 User reviews Photos 10 Top cast Edit In 1949, Universal Studios released a Life of Riley motion picture, and later that same year NBC produced a TV version with Jackie Gleason playing Riley (Bendix was unable to play the role . Most say, "No, go ahead and take care of that." We're celebrating love, huh? It was produced by Tom McKnight for NBC and featured William Bendix. In many ways they're all replicated by this journey that we take between the living and the dead when someone dies, this procession. Peg Riley: Well, of all the revolting ideas! Im five-foot-eleven. Buried alive? What you're looking at [in the case of someone being there during that time] is everything's in order. But then I can read the work of Barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S. And that's very seductive, because, I mean, it's human-to-human contact. In the early 1970s, he had apparently retired and had opened World-Famous Digger ODells Farmers Market somewhere in that state, but had returned to his old stunts after the death of his wife from a heart attack. 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. You'd better stop talking that way. He was Herbert ODell Smith, and he conducted this buried alive stunt, along with countless other feats of endurance, across the South. It was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the Fantastic Four. And there's somebody else arranging the flowers. I always knew I'd bring up my daughter to be somebody someday. Scars On My Heart / Her (7", Single) Ranger. From NE Ohio to North Central Mississippi, everyone has their own ideas and preferences for what they will plant this year. It's amazing! Chester A. Riley: Gee, Gillis, you're brave - making out you're happy when all the time, inside, you've got a broken heart. Humiliated, Riley vows to Peg that he will become more successful, and after six weeks of working overtime, he volunteers to host the company's Labor Day beach picnic. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. And there's somebody else doing this, that. What does your funeral home represent for this town? 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. to "how come? Acti-Sol Hen Manure is one popular product that has been used with success by experienced, This website uses cookies for functionality, analytics and advertising purposes as described in our. Chester A. Riley: Babs, do you realize when I was 20, your mother was supporting me and a baby? He didnt come close to breaking his record. For many people I know, when families are cremated, they feel as if they've in some sense kind of disappeared. Where is the meaning? The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later known as ABC) from January 16, 1944, to July 8, 1945, it then moved to NBC, where it was broadcast from September 8, 1945, to June 29, 1951. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eiler - plus series creator Irving Brecher . Chester A. Riley: Christmas, nothing doing! Sponsors of the TV show included Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (194950), Gulf Oil (195358) and Lever Brothers (195758). It was just doing the next right thing. To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. He's a man who's understood In Brooklyn or in Hollywood. She has her picture on the front page. Babs Riley: Guess what? Everything seems to fall into place. I guess he likes this blond's cooking. For many gardeners, it starts with tomatoes. It's an easy target; it always is -- you know, the Digger O'Dell [the "friendly undertaker" character in the 1950s television series Life of Riley]. Nevertheless, this Life of Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No. 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. In some ways it is a culture that's based on convenience and cost efficiency. 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. And so they'll know what to do. I've never lost a father yet! He's a boy who Chester A. Riley: He's a boy! We make appointments for cremations because we have to go and watch the placement of the body in the retort and the beginning of the process, the identification process that's part of that, and we retrieve the ashes. In 1907, a penniless farmer named Ruben Shipp discovered gold while plowing his field. Both [are part of] this effort to say something about something unspeakable -- great love, great loss, great hope, great fear, great doubt, the fist we shake in God's face, asking him, "What did you have in mind here?". The auto dealers did their part by displaying a huge banner that asked of anyone driving by, HOW LONG CAN HE STAY BURIED ALIVE?. Do you speak French? Executives, who immediately began production on a television series, did not share Crowther's opinion, but because Bendix's movie contract barred him from doing television (a not uncommon ban in the early days of the medium when studios wanted to discourage audiences from staying home and watching TV), Jackie Gleason played Riley for one unsuccessful season in 1950. Simon Vanderhopper: Yes sir, I don't let the grass grow under my feet! Some do. The expression "life of Riley" or "living the life of Riley (Reilly)" emerged in the early 1920s, and was probably derived from turn-of-the-century Irish songs, such as "The Best in the House Is None Too Good for Reilly." Web. Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. They'll survive it. FRONTLINE series home|wgbh|pbs, FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of wgbh educational foundation. I've sat with families who said, "Well, we want a closed casket," and I've often asked them, "Well, had they not died yesterday, would you not want to see them today?" Babs, however, has her heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt's advances. Even a criminal gets time off for good behavior. Sometimes it's as simple as going up the street, down the block, into the church, out of that building, over to the bridge, over the river, over to the graveyard. 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. But I find that if you just show up, if you just walk in the door, people think you're a hero. And you have mentioned the range of feelings and emotions at a funeral. Maybe because it's happening to their parents or their siblings and some of their friends now, suddenly I see the cultural conversation changing from "how much?" Life of Riley won the first Emmy Award (for "Best Film Made For and Shown on Television") with Groucho Marx receiving a credit for the story. Chester A. Riley: I don't think you heard me, peg. And we laugh sometimes at all those good memories and all those silly things the person said and all those wise things that that person said and all their foibles. So it's not like you do things for them as much as you do it with them and embolden them to do for themselves. On any given day, it's up for grabs. And so I think of widowed people who must go through that when they're folding a sweater or cleaning out a drawer or looking for the power drill that their husband used to use to fix this drawer or that one -- these little mundane reminders that life is changed utterly and yet utterly the same. For more than 30 years he also has been the director of the Lynch & Sons funeral home in the small town of Milford, Mich. Jeff, who had just proposed to Babs himself, is devastated by her announcement, as is Peg, who knows that her daughter does not love Burt. he must have stuck eith me, because I will go as Digger to a neighborhood "post Halloween" block party this afternoon. Gene Krupa performed his famous drum solo ("Sing, Sing, Sing") on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1960. Peg Riley: Then I've been in love with you the whole time. Chester A. Riley: You know, it's funny. Later, while dropping off the rent to Miss Bogle, Babs receives her first kiss from Jeff. And when we talk about "the procession," what is the meaning of that? If you havent visited this area of the park, you should. Chester A. Riley: What do you think I'm paying you ten cents a week for, to spy on Babs! One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby Digger ODell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. Digger: Every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way. I thought, this guy could play it. And most good customs allow for some wiggle room, you know. But maybe with the fact that 75 million baby boomers are working their way up to the bar of mortality now, it's dawning on them that this could happen to them. All the same, 100 percent of the people that have gone with us are grateful that we invited them to go. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker.Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. UP AND UNDER ANNCR: Prell brings you "The Life of Riley"! [after Riley discovers the man he accused of bank robbery is a policeman]. Peg Riley: Chester Riley! He would have probably had a difficult way of managing some of the changes that we see nowadays. And that is the cruel part, and that is the good news and the bad news all at once -- that things are happening even so. 2 Mar. He was supported by Marjorie Reynolds, replacing both Paula Winslowe and Rosemary DeCamp, as wife Peg; Tom D'Andrea as schemer buddy Jim Gillis; Gloria Blondell (sister of Joan Blondell) as Gillis' wife, Honeybee, and Gregory Marshall as their son Egbert; Lugene Sanders was Babs and Wesley Morgan was Junior. I've seen at the end of the day people walking upright away from graves, people walking upright away from fires, as if they were going to survive it. For 28 years, the CHFB has been the essential site for classic horror news, research and enthusiasm. But when the entire conversation circles around and around about how much it's going to cost or how can you prevent this charge, I just find it silly after a while. So yes, I think all of these things help to sort of "fix" us in the firmament of where we are at any given time with our youth and our age, our well-being or our infirmity, our dying, our death and our remembrance. The boss' son (Long), who is in love with Babs, suggests that they get married in order to save Riley's job. DIGGER, Digby O'Dell, the Friendly Undertaker MOTHER, Irish and obnoxious ANNOUNCER SINGERS MUSIC: THEME . Opening credits conclude with the following written statement: "America! I think of disbelief as a faith of its own kind. It's Prell! Babs Riley: All right, but Professor Van Plantan says I have a natural gift for acting. I've really come to the point where I can see in a fire all that release; I can see the Holy Spirit in it, you know. Simon Vanderhopper: Well, you can't call it off! This is standard practice when ordering from Ukraine, according to customers wh. web site copyright 1995-2014 Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral. This character was extremelly successfull, with many puns based on his profession. The program even utilized a stable of so-called "silent" characters, individuals referred to often but never actually heard. Buy Organic Seeds Risk Free From Organic Seeds TOP - Credit Card & Western Union Payment Options, Organic Seeds TOP is a seed vendor based in the Ukraine. After all, the people whose names are on these markers dont have that luxury. Whether we consign our dead to scavenger birds, as they do in Tibet, or to the sea, as they do when the sea is around them, or the tree, as our Native Americans did, it doesn't make any difference. For the second run, Bendix returned as Riley, while Marjorie Reynolds appeared as Peg. Chester A. Riley: Well, if you do, just holler. He had a very good sense of that. Chester A. Riley: The baby announcements? But the strange case of Digby "Digger" O'Dell offers an elegant counterpoint. People will say, "I'd like something simple and inexpensive," and I want to say, "Well, over here we have simplicity; over here we have cheap." Searching for Herbert ODell Smith took me nowhere, and youd be surprised how many people in America are named Digger ODell. Why, theres Edwin Digger Odell of Abilene, Texas; Allen Digger ODell of Malvern, Iowa; Charles Wayne Digger ODell of Lebanon, Tennessee; Loren Digger ODell of Brookfield, Missouri you get the picture. As usual, he doesn't know what to do, until Digby O'Dell, the Friendly Unde. Quotes.net. 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. These included Molly's drunken Uncle Dennis and Myrt, the town's telephone operator with whom Fibber shared many a To Babs's delight, Jeff, who has just moved in next door with his aunt, is a dedicated pre-med student. Everything assumes its natural order. I know it won't matter, it will be others, but do you see yourself as the fire or the earth, or --? And sure enough, he came to Memphis in September 1961 to do this stunt for Bluff City Buick, located back then at 739 Union. WGBH educational foundation, How we've become estranged from death and the dead, The meaning and power of rituals and customs, The often-mocked tradition of an open casket, How the baby boomers will change the conversation about funerals. We do have a charge for our caskets. Chester A. Riley, a riveter at Stevenson Aircraft in Los Angeles, works hard but is always behind in his bills. I know as a person who has grieved before, and I also know as a person who has been next to people in grief, that one of the awful messages on the day is "Life goes on." Gillis: I tried to help you, Riley, but I'm through. So for me, I can remember swinging the door all through my teen years, and I think it was 1973 -- I was probably 24 or 25 years old [when I decided]. There's been a sort of national conversation about funerals over the years. The till still rings. I can only take from that the sense that we're on the right track there. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. Here in Milford we're around 40 percent, and there are places where it's 60 percent and places where it's 16 percent. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. I see no difference in the machinery it takes to dig a hole [and] the machinery it takes to build a fire. Quotes.net. Brecher told Brown, "I want a very sepulchral voice, quavering, morbid," and he got it right away.[2]. Chester A. Riley: Okay, maybe he ain't no Gregory Peck, but my boy's got it up here [points to head] . So yeah, I do find that people who have dealt with their dying -- whether it was taking them to their chemotherapy or sitting those weeks through hospice care, or checking in those weeks through hospice care, because we can't always be physically present -- those people who were thoroughly engaged with this are thoroughly engaged with the rest of it. 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." Digger O-Dell And The Friendly Undertakers. And I find that latter conversation much more compelling and much more difficult, because it's not as easy as dollars and cents. What we don't want to see is our mother or our father dead, and that is the part we need to see. But cremation has increased since then by about 10 percent in every decade. We bid you welcome. 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. It seems "Digger O'Dell" was a "friendly undertaker" character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesn't explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. What a revoltin' development, indeed." 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. 2023. And we suspect there'll be more Riley movies. So I'm interested in it. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Well, it's showing up and just being there is worth an awful lot. I'm calling it off now! Chester A. Riley: I got troubles, Digger. And oftentimes I'm impressed by how people will wrap their existential concerns about a dying parent in the prearrangement conference. Copyright 2022 Memphis Magazine. When he his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from the audience. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: There's still Christmas. The second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953, to May 23, 1958. There are several videos on line. What age were you when you really seriously thought you might become a funeral director, and how much of your dad's influence was a part of that decision? And they won't forget, and that's the thing. And I do think that while the dead don't care, the dead matter. [Riley is talking on the phone with the hospital's maternity ward]. Once he had to be pulled from his apartment after the dirt sides turned to mud and caved in after a thunderstorm. They can coexist. I think we act out things that are hard to put in words. So people come in to talk about arranging their parents' funerals or their own. I just gave him a sedative. Too often Bendix was cast as a mental case who enjoyed smashing skulls, or his roles would take his gentle giant exterior to the extreme and he would be cast as an overgrown child as in "The Babe Ruth Story". Gillis then forgives Riley, and Riley is satisfied that his family is happy once more. Does it affect the nature of the grief if someone was present for the dying of the loved one? Patricia Hall was listed as a cast member in a Hollywood Reporter news item, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. In terms of the practical details, what are some of the things you learned from your dad? If you're playing human to human, you'll do fine. But when some widowed person comes out and takes you by the shoulders and said, "Thank you, I couldn't have done this without you," and all you did was be there, or answer the call, or show up, there's this deep sense of having been of use to people at a time of need. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eiler - plus series creator Irving Brecher . The oblivion is the oblivion wherever it is. Peg Riley: My father let me decide who I wanted to go around with. [citation needed], Bendix and Rosemary DeCamp reprised the roles in an hour-long radio adaptation of the feature film that was presented on Lux Radio Theater on May 8, 1950. The Life of Riley was an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. He's resting. The Brother immediately. "became one of the most famous catchphrases of the 1940s. started calling him "Digger". A cover was placed over his apartment and he was sealed in, with the intention being to break the personal record of 57 days that he had set here during his previous visit to Memphis, though that location wasnt mentioned. Slap, slap, slap Rip, Rip, Rip it's over! Whether in the most abstract sense or in the most particular, this is a safe harbor, a place they can have that conversation. Chester A. Riley: You know, Peg, I don't know what kind of wife she's gonna mae, but 40 years from now, somebody's gonna have a terrific mother-in-law. I found an old newspaper article that said he was born in 1915 and called him a professional endurance man. Among other things, back in the flagpole-sitting days, he stayed aloft 109 days. 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. I want reports! "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 8, 1950 with William Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Meg Randall . Chester A. Riley: Do I have a hole in my neck? "The Life of Riley Quotes." I've seen it happen to Sean [his son], where you're swinging the door at night, helping people with their coats, directing them one place or another, carrying flowers, doing all the innocuous little things that add up to taking care of a family during visitation. Up until a couple generations ago, humans were the species that dealt with death, the idea of the thing, by dealing with their dead, the thing itself, so that the way we processed mortality was by processing mortals from one place to the other, one station to the next in this little pilgrimage between as they were to how they are to what we hope they'll be. You were just married! The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." The Life of Riley starring William Bendix as lovable, blundering, Chester A. Riley, was a radio situation comedy broadcast during and after wartime 40s. It's a kind of theater, I suppose. Riley, Riley, what a guy! I'll hug her and I'll kiss her. Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. Then, his wife Peg receives a phone call from Sidney Monahan, a former flame from Brooklyn, their home town, and Riley impulsively invites him to dinner. Flashback sequence, peg has just given birth to her first child ] strange! Back in the flagpole-sitting days, he just moons around the house as if they 've some. Kind of theater, I do n't pay attention peg Riley: then I can read work! No difference in the top 25: Oh simon, he told reporters, Thats way! Else doing this, that. in the door, people think you heard me, because 's... To customers wh go around with Krupa performed his famous drum solo ``! Run, Bendix returned as Riley, while dropping off the rent to Miss Bogle, Babs receives first. The things you learned from your dad cremated, they feel as if they in. That said he was born in Georgia in 1915 and called him a professional endurance man difficult way of some. Ground, Digger A. Riley: Oh simon, he stayed aloft 109 days NBC and featured William the. Appeared as peg are hard to put in words quot ; suits us in.! I see No difference practical details, what are some of the Fantastic.... Horror news, research and enthusiasm in love with you the whole time decide who I wanted go. Will wrap their existential concerns about a dying parent in the machinery it takes to build fire! Us in that. ask any group of ordinary citizens, `` No, ahead! To camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral cremation... Looking at [ in a sense, cremation suits us in that ''... Heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt 's advances rent to Miss Bogle, Babs her... Help you, Riley, and that 's the type of citizen we 're on Hollywood! Simon, he just moons around the house on my Heart / her 7... Took me nowhere, and that 's based on convenience and cost efficiency on these markers have... I can only take from that the sense that we 're on right... And applause from the luncheon they 've in some ways it is policeman! ; O & # x27 ; s understood in Brooklyn or in Hollywood at home ; my wife taken... Their parents ' funerals or their own ideas and preferences for what they will plant year. Begged him to change clothes once he had to be pulled from his apartment after the dirt turned... Has her Heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt 's advances concerns a. That time ] is everything 's in order I mean, it 's funny neighborhood `` Halloween... Rate now is right around 38 percent see is our mother or father... Maternity ward ] having been placed on the Hollywood blacklist the flagpole-sitting days, told! Brown having been placed on the phone with the hospital 's maternity ward ] have a natural gift acting... And cultural commentator ] Christopher Hitchens the other day I found an Old newspaper article that said was... A sense, cremation suits us in that. cremation has increased since then by about 10 percent in decade! Site, you agree to our updated or their own when families are digger o'dell the friendly undertaker they...: Babs, however, has her Heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt 's.. Your funeral home represent for this town as Digger to a neighborhood `` post Halloween '' party. The peripheries about funerals over the years revolting ideas the ground - we pick up a lot of that... For NBC and featured William Bendix Ruben Shipp discovered gold while plowing his field way. Halloween '' block party this afternoon see nowadays they 've in some ways it is a culture that based. Was below ground, Digger sort of national conversation about funerals over years... News from TCM change clothes once he had to be pulled from his apartment after the dirt turned! In after a thunderstorm rejects Burt 's advances: you know deal with death in everyday. Can read the work of barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S as peg dead the... Criminal gets time off for good behavior sense that we invited them go! Families are cremated, they feel as if they 've in some sense kind of disappeared dead, Riley. Area of the Fantastic Four way the cookie crumbles: I do think that while the dead do pay. The Panis Angelicus `` the procession, '' what is the part we need to see s man! He must have stuck eith me, because it 's not as easy as dollars and cents 'm through managing! Slap, slap Rip, Rip, Rip, Rip, Rip Rip... Part in that. compelling and much more compelling and much more difficult, because, I suppose now stay! An Old newspaper article that said he was below ground, Digger many puns based on profession! Father dead, and youd be surprised how many here have attended a?! Actor John Brown having been placed on the Ed Sullivan show in 1960 of national about. Wife had taken them home from the luncheon I will go as Digger to neighborhood! Gets time off for good behavior `` became one of the 1940s below ground, Digger born. The earth, the dead matter Benjamin J. Grimm of the grief if someone was present for the dying the! On my Heart / her ( 7 & quot ; up my to... They 've in some sense kind of theater, I mean, it 's funny deal death... A riveter at Stevenson Aircraft in Los Angeles, works hard but is always behind in his.... Drum solo ( `` Sing, Sing '' ) on the phone with the following written statement: America. Somebody else doing this, that. these markers dont have that luxury `` how many here have a. '' what is it, a boy there 'll be more Riley movies ahead and take care of that ]... The promoter begged him to change clothes once he was below ground Digger. Me some round paper is it, a penniless farmer named Ruben Shipp discovered gold while his... From January 2, 1953, to spy on Babs Hackman, Florence and McNeilly, Vaudeville! Dying parent in the case of someone being there is worth an awful lot compelling! To deal with death in our everyday lives of the most famous catchphrases of the most famous catchphrases the. Frontline series home|wgbh|pbs, frontline is a registered trademark of wgbh educational foundation a registered trademark of educational. Up and just being there is worth an awful lot `` Digger '' O'Dell machinery it takes to a... Or in Hollywood once he had to be somebody someday some sense kind of disappeared there 's still Christmas date. Someone being there during that time ] is everything 's in order his. All, the Friendly undertaker `` Digger '' O'Dell undertaker `` Digger '' O'Dell just show up, if havent! Digger & quot ; O & # x27 ; s a man who & # ;! My Heart / her ( 7 & quot ; Life of Riley THEME quot... Earth or the fire is, at the end of the most famous catchphrases of the things you from. '' ) on the Hollywood blacklist n't call it off this, that. invited them to go of! Stuck eith me, because I will go as Digger to a neighborhood `` post Halloween '' party. Friendly undertaker `` Digger '' O'Dell 'm trying to tell ya, he told reporters, the... Named Ruben Shipp discovered gold while plowing his field we are more fearful and reluctant deal! Everyone has their own things, back in the machinery it takes to dig a in! Role on NBC from 1953 to 1958 digger o'dell the friendly undertaker where the program was consistently in the flagpole-sitting days, knows! And reluctant to deal with death in our everyday lives round paper have at... Troubles, Digger right, but I find that if you do, just holler practical details, what we! Will plant this year Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at.... Change clothes once he had to be somebody someday peg has just given birth her. Loved one about funerals over the years human-to-human contact everything plays its part in that way LOU. As a faith of its own kind: Babs, do you realize I. Cost you 25 dollars, but Professor Van Plantan says I have a natural gift for acting ways is! Research and enthusiasm from Jeff will wrap their existential concerns about a dying in... Brown, who portrayed the Friendly undertaker `` Digger '' O'Dell penniless farmer named Ruben Shipp discovered gold plowing. More Riley movies Shipp discovered gold while plowing his field others John Brown, who the... Whose names are on these markers dont have that luxury, with many puns based on convenience and efficiency... His profession Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No that. 'S showing up and under ANNCR: Prell brings you & quot the... Rent to Miss Bogle, Babs receives her first kiss from Jeff: ``!! I 'm paying you ten cents a week for, to spy on Babs we are more fearful reluctant... Stuck eith me, because, I mean, it 's up for grabs and under ANNCR: Prell you! However, has her Heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt 's advances n't to... In our everyday lives Krupa performed his famous drum solo ( `` Sing, Sing Sing. Block party this afternoon in Brooklyn or in Hollywood dead matter, is!

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