Not Forgotten

Some birthdays to consider today.

Frank Fontaine was born a century ago today.  He was an actor best known for playing Crazy Guggenheim, especially on The Jackie Gleason Show.  Gleason played Joe the Bartender, serving Guggenheim, who told weird stories in his bizarre voice, and generally sang a song at the end. He helped teach a whole generation that alcoholism can be amusing.

Then there's Dick Sargent, born 90 years ago today.  He appeared in over 100 TV shows and movies, but is best known for playing Darrin Stephens on Bewitched.  But he wasn't the first Darrin--that was Dick York, who left the show after 5 seasons.  It was never explained how Samantha's husband looked different, but she is a witch, so who knows.

It's been noted before that the two Darrins were both Dicks and, in backwards order, their surnames are Sargent York.

Then there's Dudley Moore, born 85 years ago.  He was a major star, and actually had two careers.  He was first known for his groundbreaking work in sketch comedy with Beyond The Fringe.  The show set off the satire boom in England and the quartet are still admired to this day.

Moore continued to work with his Fringe partner Peter Cook in movies, TV and live shows.  And then, Moore became an unexpected movie star.  He got some attention for his supporting work in the 1978 comedy Foul Play.  He was not the first choice to star in 10 (1979), but when George Segal walked off, Dudley got the part in a classic comedy that everyone was talking about.

As if to prove it wasn't a fluke, Moore starred in an even bigger hit, Arthur, in 1981.  He continued playing leads, mostly in romantic comedies, for the rest of the 1980s, with diminishing returns at the box office.  Nevertheless, he did have his moment.