Peg Riley: All this plotting and scheming you remind me of a girl I once knew. Jim Gillis: Sure! I mean, that is the terrible, terrible part. 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. And yet someone's weeping because of the changed life that we're seeing before us. When he his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from the audience. Once Riley declares to Stevenson that he does not want the promotion, Babs realizes she is free and runs into Jeff's waiting arms. People will sometimes ask me about the connections between poetry and funerals, and I do see this huge connection between the use of language in the two of them and how both rely on ritual and symbol and metaphor. Chester A. Riley: [on the phone] What is it, a boy or a girl? Another time, firefighters rescued him after he apparently suffered a heart attack underground. All rights reserved. Vance Lauderdale is the history columnist for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. Peg Riley: Every day this week, he's been kept in after school. . The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. Chester A. Riley: Oh, you're gonna count my blood? When Riley learns that the couple is to spend their honeymoon in separate rooms, he becomes suspicious. Simon Vanderhopper: Yes sir, I don't let the grass grow under my feet! Jiffy peat pellets are a popular choice for starting tomatoes, but they can also be used for peppers. His real name, it seems, was Herbert O'Dell Smith. 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. Babs Riley: But Mother, this is the opportunity of my entire life! And does the rise in cremation in America parallel changes in demographics? May 25, 2021 #1 One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby "Digger" O'Dell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. 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. Im five-foot-eleven. 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. Gillis then forgives Riley, and Riley is satisfied that his family is happy once more. And they open your mouth. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. Peg Riley: Oh? He'd made a few films, like Lifeboat, but he was not a name. Not all of the radio cast made the transition to film; Paula Winslowe and Barbara Eiler were replaced with DeCamp and Meg Randall as Riley's wife, Peg, and daughter, Babs respectively. Chester A. Riley: Yeah! And yet you write that beautiful essay Tract in your book, The Undertaking, which is in some way a map, is it? Down your throat it goes. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract (part II). Peg Riley: Maybe he's sick or something. Chester A. Riley: I don't think you heard me, peg. And I have found that, whether I'm walking in the door with a stretcher and one of my own to help carry their dead out, or if I'm going to the hospital to visit a sick relative or friend, or if I show up for a funeral at another place, you know, at a distance, they thank you for that. I never felt better. Slap, slap, slap Rip, Rip, Rip it's over! 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. And there's somebody else arranging the flowers. Chester A. Riley: "Babs Riley Featured in Annual School Follies". So yeah, it is the good news and the bad news. 460 Tennessee Street #200, Memphis, TN 38103. Well, I'll kiss you twice tonight. to "what are we going to do?" Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. Some do. One day, after paying out all but five of his fifty-dollar-a-week paycheck, Riley has to sneak into his house to avoid his landlady, Miss Martha Bogle, to whom he owes money. I'm certain the same thing holds for people who put their dead in the sea or the fire or a tomb -- that we need time to disengage. Details Select delivery location Used: Like New | Details Sold by ral Add to Cart New & Used (2) from FREE Shipping Have one to sell? All rights reserved. The open casket, it is something that's often mocked. And somebody else is pressing somebody's clothes. I always knew I'd bring up my daughter to be somebody someday. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eiler - plus series creator Irving Brecher . 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. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral. Alan Lipscott and Reuben Ship wrote many of the radio series' early episodes, and Don Bernard was the show's initial director. The Life of Riley was the initial release of Brecher Productions, Inc. William Bendix first played "Riley" in the popular NBC radio series on which this film was based, and John Brown played "'Digger' O'Dell" in the series. If I'm an Italian Catholic or an Orthodox Jew or a Baptist African American, I don't have to wonder what's going to happen, because I know that my community of co-religionists, of ethnic fellows, my neighborhood, whatever, they've organized a plan so that I don't have to spend the first several hours or days or weeks trying to figure out what to do next because it's already been told by tradition, by custom, by culture, by form. I can only take from that the sense that we're on the right track there. And a narrative is nothing other than a journey. Jim Gillis: Of course it's right. During cocktails, a bill collector from the electric company shows up, and after Riley sends him on his way, he disconnects the Rileys' electricity. In October 1949, the NBC network began broadcasting a television series inspired by the radio program, also titled The Life of Riley. 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. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: Oh Simon, he knows! Chester A. Riley: Oh. She has her picture on the front page. It's amazing! Gillis often gave Riley bad information that got him into trouble, whereas Digger gave him good information that "helped him out of a hole," as he might have put it. And the components of a funeral sometimes change. When his efforts to impress his boss, Carl Stevenson, apparently fail, Riley becomes incensed and finally works up the courage to confront him. I enjoy listening to the frogs croak. Last updated Jun 12 2013. He would announce himself with, "'Tis I, Digger O'Dell, your friendly undertaker. And there's somebody else digging the hole in the ground. 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]. In many ways we represent the place where whatever conversation people want to have about death and dying and grief and bereavement. The local newspapers reported that an 18x24-inch plywood air shaft allowed Digger to receive air and food, and he had carefully stocked his tiny domicile with lights, reading glasses, even packs of cigarettes. Chester A. Riley: None of that radical talk out of you just 'cause you go to high school! 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. I just read this card, and I just spoke to the Justice of the Peace! Burial was the norm in the Western world probably until the mid-60s. So in a sense, cremation suits us in that way. That's enough, isn't it? Junior will be glad to pitch in. But there's no question that cremation has become normative in a way that it used to be exceptional. The boss' son (Long), who is in love with Babs, suggests that they get married in order to save Riley's job. Henry Morgan voiced Riley's father in one episode. 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. We do have a charge for our caskets. I know it won't matter, it will be others, but do you see yourself as the fire or the earth, or --? O'Dell was a character hastily written into the long-running radio (and, later, television) show, "The Life of Riley," which had its debut on radio in 1944, while Americans were dying by the thousands in Europe and the Far East. interview with the film's producers|credits|privacy policy|journalistic guidelines And so they'll know what to do. Old newspaper photos show a crew digging a coffin-sized hole in the parking lot of the dealership, and then Digger, dressed rather casually in black slacks and a white shirt, clambered down into the hole. Could have been man/wife or brother/sister. Brecher told Brown, "I want a very sepulchral voice, quavering, morbid," and he got it right away.[2]. 461. One of my favorite old time radio characters (other than Jack Benny) was Digger O'Dell "The Friendly Undertaker". Hal: I'm a father! Mail: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis magazine, What we have missed, however, in cremation in this culture is all the powerful metaphoric values provided by fire, its elemental worth. Jackson.Amongst the student body, there was boy with the surname of O'Dell. Does it make it easier? Chester A. Riley: Christmas, nothing doing! As far as I can tell, he performed it in Memphis only twice, but one of those events made the news because the police were summoned to dig up Digger. Digger: Every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eilerplus series creator Irving Brecher . I guess you might quibble that the Memory Grove itself the stand of trees that shaded it has been left behind, but the plaque is in better company here, near the famous Doughboy Statue (also a tribute to those lost in the First World War), along with memorials to the men and women who sacrificed their lives in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. He would have probably had a difficult way of managing some of the changes that we see nowadays. What is it, a boy or a girl? It is the ridiculous and the sublime. Western movie question: Movie likely from the 70s, has the climax where a man/boy is racing through the desert to beat a shadow across a certain line to save a girl captured by Indians. Babs: Well, I think he ought to get a fair trial. One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby Digger ODell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. 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. In some ways it is a culture that's based on convenience and cost efficiency. I'm calling it off now! 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". That's why I came over here tonight. 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. Chester A. Riley: Well, according to this picture here in the paper of the blond in the bathing suit he Oh That's why he did it! 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. Radio historian Gerald Nachman quotes Brecher as stating, "He was a Brooklyn guy and there was something about him. Digger's morbid sense of humor buttressed by Brown's off-kilter delivery was a hit with the show's audience, and for me, often the high point of the episode. I like the connection, the sound of the word "process"; it suggests movement, a pilgrimage. [1], William Bendix also starred in the 1949 film version of The Life of Riley directed by Irving Brecher. The show was canceled after its first season, but was revived in 1953, then ran on the NBC network until August 1958. According to the obituary, Digger was born in Georgia in 1915. The idea for the radio program had originated as a sitcom for Groucho Marx called The Flotsam Family , but Groucho was Groucho and the sponsor couldn't accept him as a family man. And we come away from these memorial events, these celebrations of life, with the increasing sense that something is missing. I always knew I'd bring up my daughter to be somebody someday. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker.Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. But, you know, we used to say to my father, who directed a fair few funerals, "What do you want done with you when you're dead?," and he'd say, "Well, you'll know what to do." Scars On My Heart / Her (7", Single) Ranger. Maybe the referee will give you a draw. 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. He had a new book out about God not being great. Peppers take longer than tomatoes to get going, so start them first. This is a sign to me that they don't care, that heaven is not having to worry about these things, so I'm determined not to worry about them either. And my father did have a sense of formality and tradition when it came to funerals. [5] Originally, William Bendix was to have appeared on both radio and TV, but Bendix's RKO Radio Pictures movie contract prevented him from appearing on the TV version. He's resting. Peg Riley: Yeah? This is the way I like to remember William Bendix - playing a family man doing the best he can in a world that tends to be a bit too much for him, with children that tend to be a bit too much for him too. US. Today he is just living the life of RileyThis is the story of Chester A. Rileywho is just livingin Los Angeles California." I think we act out things that are hard to put in words. 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. Chester A. Riley: Nah what would a rich man want with money? 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? I was thrilled to find IA, where I can find some of those classics. What can you tell me about this interesting fellow? Peg Riley: My father let me decide who I wanted to go around with. And yeah, everything plays its part in that. Unreliable advice on how to handle these situations came from Riley's pal Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker, who would sneak in a string of dark-humored jokes before he had to be "shoveling off". What are you doin' here in the park?Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Chester A. Riley: I got troubles, Digger. 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?" According to the 1999 obituary, Digger was survived by his wife, Julie Ann "Maggie" Smith of Dawsonville, Georgia; a son, Bobby Smith, of Lakewell, Florida; and a stepson, Timothy Eugene Fowler, of Gainesville, Georgia. 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." 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. He jumps across the line just as a girl, who is covered by a blanket, is being shot by an arrow and plunges off a cliff. I really don't care. This character was extremelly successfull, with many puns based on his profession. Her testimony is like all testimony -- it is a combination of gratitude and grief, and that the gratitude does not trump the grief, nor does the grief undo the gratitude. The program even utilized a stable of so-called "silent" characters, individuals referred to often but never actually heard. It then went into syndicated reruns. Though he's built like Boulder Dam He's tender as a lamb. That's not what you don't want to see, because we can fix that all." 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. P-R-E-L-L! It's that time of year again when gardeners all over the world are planning what to grow in their gardens. Thanks for any help. And is that the purposefulness in the ebb and flow of a wake and a funeral? FRONTLINE series home|wgbh|pbs, FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of wgbh educational foundation. A reader named Ronnie Bierbrodt, who obviously did more research than I did, even turned up his obituary and a copy of the memorial booklet given out at his funeral. Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. Land of miracles, where dreams come true! "The Life of Riley" The Billboard Magazine Dec 6, 1947 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. When he his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from the audience. And they won't forget, and that's the thing. Are social changes the reasons that we are more fearful and reluctant to deal with death in our everyday lives? All these things are part of the ongoing conversation that we here have. 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. At the beginning of the November 11, 1949 radio episode the announcer explained that William Bendix had strained his voice while performing the role of an umpire for an upcoming film (Kill the Umpire) and Gleason substituted for him that one night. And it was over, oftentimes, the most mundane of circumstances. He played "Al" on the radio series "My Friend Irma". The American Meat Institute (194445), Procter & Gamble (Teel dentifrice and Prell shampoo) (194549), and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (194951) took turns as the radio program's sponsor. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Do you hear that, Peg? Starting with the right soil and conditions can make all the difference when it comes to germination and transplanting of pepper seedlings. Chester A. Riley: Yeah, but that ain't right. And something is. producer's chat|readings & links|site map|dvd & transcript|press reaction Asked by yeaux. And there's somebody else doing this, that. Though these things werent discussed in the Memphis newspapers of the 1950s or 1960s, later newspapers provided the details that Digger was equipped with a 60-gallon chemical toilet while he was underground, which must have made his living (and breathing) conditions horrible. He'll never amount to anything. "[2], The reworked script cast Bendix as blundering Chester A. Riley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. The stock market is open. Chester A. Riley: Yes. But don't go there searching for a tombstone marked Digger O'Dell. I mean, it's uncomfortable, and I don't know what to say any more than the next guy, and I don't do strawberry rhubarb pie. Chester A. Riley: "Babs Riley Featured in Annual School Follies". The finger food was good, the talk was uplifting, the music was life-affirming; someone, usually the reverend clergy, could be counted on to declare closure, usually just before the Merlot ran out, and everyone was there but the one who had died. When the film opened in New York at the Loew's Criterion theater in April 1949, Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times turned his nose up at it writing, "As one whom domestic expediency occasionally compels to bear with the Friday night bull-bellowing of one Chester A. Riley on the radio, this reviewer can state with fair authority that no artistic advantage has been gained by making this same Mr. Riley and his family apparent on the screen." At weddings people are forever weeping at what is supposed to be a joyous event. [1] (Marx would get his own series Blue Ribbon Town instead.) So everything is weakened; weakened and tightened at the same time. Packed among his riding gear when on tour is a trumpet, and Helm has been known to join local bands in jam sessions. Gillis: I tried to help you, Riley, but I'm through. Portrayed Chester A. Riley's neighbor Gillis on "The Life of Riley" for ABC Radio (1944-1945) and NBC Radio (1945-1951). It's a culture that doesn't like to be reminded of mortality. The supporting cast featured Paula Winslowe as Riley's wife, Peg, and as Riley's mother-in law; Brown as O'Dell and as Riley's co-worker Jim Gillis; Francis "Dink" Trout as Waldo Binney; Tommy Cook, Bobby Ellis and Scotty Beckett as Junior at various times during the show's run; Barbara Eiler as Riley's daughter, Babs; Shirley Mitchell as Honeybee Gillis; Hans Conried as Uncle Baxter; and Alan Reed as multiple characters, including Riley's boss (Mr. Stevenson) and Peg's father. 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. Babs Riley: All right, but Professor Van Plantan says I have a natural gift for acting. 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." Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. They come in to talk about what to do with a child who's grieving because a schoolmate died, to talk about what will happen in the event of their own death, how to handle a dying parent, nursing home arrangements, elder care. Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Richard Long, Meg Randall and John Brown reprised their screen roles for an May 8, 1950 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast. And I'm, along with the next guy, as interested in those cartoons as everyone else is. Not sure where the voice actor was inspired from, but Mancubus sounds exactly like Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker from the old Life of Rile Press J to jump to the feed. It has always been a family-owned and -operated firm, founded by Thomas Lynch's father, Edward Joseph Lynch. You're sweet, though. Jim Gillis: Are you kiddin'? You had your tonsils out. I said NO! I prefer the dead languages. The Life of Riley (1949) co-starred Rosemary DeCamp, James Gleason, Beluah Bondi, Richard Long and John Brown as "Digger O'Dell" the friendly undertaker, a role that he also played on the radio program. That is a wheel we can only invent at the time it happens. Chester A. Riley: I know what you did! The second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953, to May 23, 1958. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on . He always knew that the real traffic was between the living and the dead, and it is in managing that and emboldening the living to deal with their dead that you do them the most service. Peg Riley: Well, he's always been so bright. Gene Krupa performed his famous drum solo ("Sing, Sing, Sing") on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1960. Jackie Gleason starred as Riley during the show's first year, while DeCamp and Lanny Rees reprised their film roles for the series. 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