Being Fred Mertz: The Life of William Frawley. The Early Years. The man who achieved television immortality as Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy was born in Burlington, Iowa, on February 2. Cast biographies, crew details, user comments, quotes, trivia, and production information.A defected Russian pilot named Yuri Dolgof hires Magnum to get his fiancée Nina, a member of the Soviet track team to defect as well. Erin: Yes, and then my very first series was Daktari. Remember that show? Sam: With Judy the Chimp and Clarence the cross-eyed lion! Erin: That’s right! The unexpected twist not only gave de Pablo’s Ziva a sort of spiritual presence in what was the final episode of original cast member Weatherly (de Pablo was shown. Dirty Harry Collection Blu-ray delivers great video and solid audio in this enjoyable Blu-ray release See individual titles for their synopses. Magnum, P.I. The series ran on CBS, which. As a young boy, William Clement Frawley sang in the choir at St. Paul's Catholic Church and played at the Burlington Opera House. His first job was as a stenographer for the Union Pacific Railroad; he later found employment as a court reporter. Finding Fame. Bitten by the show biz bug, he soon began performing a vaudeville act with his brother Paul. In 1. 91. 4, he married Edna Louise Broedt (his only marriage) and the two performed in vaudeville together in a light comedy act as . For the next 3. 5 years, Frawley was a beloved character actor and a familiar face in more than 1. His movie credits are eclectic as well as prolific and include such popular films as Gentleman Jim (1. Errol Flynn, Going My Way (1. Bing Crosby, the Christmas classic Miracle on 3. Street (1. 94. 7), and Charlie Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux (1. He also made two appearances with Abbott and Costello—A Night in the Tropics (1. Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1. Bob Hope, The Lemon Drop Kid (1. Bad Reputation. Although a highly successful . This seems to have two reasons, one of which was his legendary crabby, gruff, and misanthropic personality. A notorious curmudgeon, by 1. Frawley discovered that fewer and fewer actors, directors, and producers were willing to put up with him. So, in mid- 1. 95. Lucille Ball contacted Frawley about the possibility of taking on the role of gruff landlord Fred Mertz in her new comedy television series, I Love Lucy, she and her husband/co- star Desi Arnaz were more than a bit leery. Unable to get Gale Gordon, their first choice for the role, Arnaz contacted Frawley and laid down the law. He simply told Frawley that he'd get three chances. The first screw- up would be tolerated, the second would get him a severe reprimand, and the third would get him fired. Frawley, by then 6. Hollywood apartment, agreed to Arnaz's terms and was to conduct himself professionally over the course of the next nine years, until the show and its follow- up series, The Lucy- Desi Comedy Hour, ended their legendary runs in 1. I Love Lucy. On the first day of I Love Lucy rehearsals, Frawley overheard his scripted . No one will believe I'm married to that old coot. Frawley was willing to put aside his feelings toward Vance and saw the financial possibilities of the series, but Vance adamantly refused to ever work with Frawley again.)A lifelong baseball fan, Frawley had insisted on a unique clause in his I Love Lucy contract: If his beloved New York Yankees made it to the World Series, he would be given time off in October for the World Series. This clause came into play seven times during Frawley's I Love Lucy run and caused him to be written out of two full episodes. Frawley earned five consecutive Emmy nominations (1. Although he never won, Frawley's Fred Mertz remains one of the most beloved characters in the history of television. Despite his animosity toward Vance, Frawley did develop one of the few genuine friendships of his life during I Love Lucy, becoming close with Desi Arnaz. Arnaz, the show's producer, made sure his friend was well- paid; by the end, Frawley was pulling $7,5. My Three Sons. After the 1. Lucy, Frawley immediately found steady work as . Much like his I Love Lucy stint, Frawley's My Three Sons work was done professionally and without incident. One muffed take would follow another, and he'd try to cover his embarrassment by bellowing insults like, . Eventually, a prop man had to lie on the floor, out of the camera's view, and tap Frawley's shoe to keep him from dozing off in the close- ups. By the show's fifth season, Frawley was in such ill health that he couldn't pass the studio's annual health insurance exam and was let go. The End. William Frawley's last ever TV appearance was with his former co- star Lucille Ball on a 1. The Lucy Show titled . According to Hollywood lore, when Vance heard the news of his death, she shouted, . He's also been featured in several TV shows, including Magnum PI, The Facts of Life, and The Gong Show. And he's done thousands of voice- overs for radio and cartoons, such as Dexter's Laboratory and Family Guy. Magnum, P. I. Club. With so many new series popping up on streaming services and DVD, it gets harder and harder to keep up with recent shows, much less the all- time classics. With TV Club 1. 0, we point you toward the 1. TV series, classic or modern. They might not be the 1. It’s easy for a casual viewer—or one who has never even seen an episode—to write off CBS’ Magnum, P. I. It’s set in Hawaii! It has girls in bikinis and guns! There’s a Ferrari and probably many car chases! But even though all of those things happen to be true, Magnum, P. I. It’s an “iconic” show that might have the reputation of being “fun,” but it rarely gets points for also being a solid drama. The show’s premise is pretty simple. Private investigator (please don’t call him a “private eye”) Thomas Magnum, a Vietnam veteran, lives for free on the beautiful Oahu estate owned by mystery novelist Robin Masters. The estate is overseen by Jonathan Quayle Higgins (John Hillerman), a picky British ex- military man who clashes with Magnum’s laid- back, dress- in- shorts- and- have- a- beer attitude. Besides doing assignments for Masters, Magnum solves crimes with the help of fellow Vietnam vets T. C. Mosley), who owns a helicopter service, and Rick (Larry Manetti), who runs the King Kamehameha Club (though early on in the show he runs a Casablanca- ish bar named Rick’s Cafe). Magnum, P. I. Larson’s other ’8. Knight Rider, The Fall Guy, and B. J. And The Bear. But that would be a superficial comparison. Magnum is the better show by far. Maybe co- creator Donald Bellisario pulled him into more serious, straight territory or maybe it was a good combination. Maybe the show works so well and the darker moments stand out not in spite of these elements, but because of them. You certainly can’t tell how rough and serious Magnum, P. I. Sometimes they dress like clowns or accidentally scare each other. Sometimes they teach scantily clad girls how to swim, and maybe they even turn toward the camera and raise a fourth- wall eyebrow. But there’s also a lot of darker elements and thoughtfulness, because Magnum, P. I. It even holds up well compared to some of the dramas on television today. The 1. 0 episodes below from the show’s eight- season run are a good place to start: “China Doll” (season one, episode three): Hired to protect a Chinese woman and her valuable vase, Magnum battles a hit man who has a physical quirk that gives away when he is about to kill someone. Even in this early effort, we realize how Magnum does what needs to be done. This episode also illustrates how not showing the violence can make a scene even more powerful.“The Jororo Kill” (season two, episode 1. Kate Sullivan, an old journalist friend of Magnum, Rick, and T. C., comes to Hawaii to do a story on an international assassin. Magnum discovers that the intended target is a foreign prime minister, and maybe his old pal isn’t telling him everything. The master- of- disguise killer is an ex- military man who was drummed out of the British Army for cross- dressing, in an interesting plot twist.“Did You See The Sun Rise?” (season three, episode one): One of the aspects of Magnum, P. I. This could have easily just been a basic back story to explain how these men met, and never mentioned again. But this veteran status became the basis of several episodes and an important plot point that ran throughout the series. Nowhere was that more evident than in the season- three opener, when Ivan, an evil Russian who held the guys and their friend Nuzo captive during the war, has come to Hawaii to kill them. A good friend of Magnum’s get killed, which fuels his intense feelings of honor and revenge. This episode also has an ending that further illustrates that Magnum, P. I. Thomas Magnum could be a blunt killer, too.“Forty Years From Sand Island” (season three, episode 1. Higgins wasn’t just a foil for our lead, the guy who orders Magnum around and presents him with rules to follow at the mansion and gets into arguments when Magnum wants to grab a bottle of wine from the wine cellar. He’s also involved in many of the cases. In this episode, he’s doing research for a new novel that Robin Masters is writing, about the 1. Japanese internment- camp inmate, which leads to someone trying to kill Higgins. It should also be noted several episodes show Higgins alone, talking to Masters (voiced by Orson Welles). So unless Higgins is completely insane, it’s impossible for him to also be Robin Masters, as hinted at in the series finale.“Home From The Sea” (season four, episode one): Magnum often went out on the water by himself on his surf ski to get away from everything and relax. Especially on the Fourth Of July, the anniversary of his father’s death. Although these were usually safe trips, in this episode. He’s then promptly knocked off the surf ski by a jerk in a boat and has to tread water for hours and fend off sharks as he waits for help. We find out where Magnum learned how to stay afloat for so long (via flashbacks to his childhood) and the importance of the Rolex he wears. We also see the close, almost- psychic bond that T. C., Rick, and Higgins have with Magnum, when they all have a feeling that he’s in peril.“Distant Relative” (season four, episode four): Many TV shows offer an episode where a sibling or parent of one of the main characters comes to visit and gets into trouble. But this episode takes a dark turn on that trope when Rick’s sister comes to visit and Magnum agrees to chaperone her. You can probably figure out just by this paragraph what’s really going on, but that doesn’t make the ending any less powerful, and it messes Magnum up. These two episodes set up a story arc that plays out in the next one, ”Mac’s Back,” when Magnum imagines seeing the ghost of the good friend who died in “Did You See The Sun Rise?” Or is it a ghost? His friends don’t believe him and think he’s gone mad because of all of the stress he’s been under, but Magnum is determined to prove that his friend is alive.“Way Of The Stalking Horse” (season six, episode 1. It’s not easy to find a TV show episode with a twist that you truly don’t see coming—one that actually makes sense and makes you a little angry that you didn’t see it coming, and neither does Magnum. He’s hired by a man who wants to find his father, but nothing involving the case is what it appears to be, which leads to Magnum feeling very guilty about what he eventually lets happen.“Death And Taxes” (season seven, episode five): A Jack The Ripper- like killer is targeting people in Honolulu, and all the victims are connected in some way to Magnum’s past. The killer taunts the private investigator with phone calls and riddles about the slayings. He seems to know a lot about Magnum, including events that happened in Vietnam and in the very first episode of the series. Who the killer was and why he did it isn’t even fully explained at the end: Magnum checks his records and discovers he may have helped the guy with a case involving his marriage many years earlier, but it’s not clear what would drive this man to start killing people, and do it “for” Magnum. The tense episode has echoes of Michael Mann’s Manhunter and makes terrific use of the Genesis song “Mama.”“Limbo” (season seven, episode 2. This season finale was also meant to be the series finale. The show had been moved from its usual Thursday at 8 p. So in this finale, Magnum actually dies. The series was supposed to end with Magnum getting shot, walking around as a ghost with the friend who was killed in “Did You See The Sun Rise?”, then ascending to heaven. But Magnum fans were relieved when the cast and crew were resurrected for an eighth and final season. Availability: All eight seasons of Magnum, P. I. It’s also available on Xfinity On Demand.
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