The Ghost Of Bill Kennedy

[websurferdude]

@kc8yqq You are thinking about a comedy sketch that was part of a Dick Purtan TV special. I remember Kennedy’s movie that day was “The [i]First[i] of the Mohicans”. The “callers” to Kennedy’s show were instructed to use smoke signals.

[kc8yqq]

Thanks websurferdude! I'll try using your info and see what it turns up. The only other celebrity I recall in it was Mel Farr. This was when he was selling cars as "Mel Farr Superstar".

[bjmcdevitt]

I remember that Rita Bell used to dial the phone with a pencil. I don't know why but that really used to bug me.

[Bobbert]

A couple of years ago, the Redford Theatre did a tribute to Kennedy that included clips from his shows and movies. Interestingly, one of the speakers at the tribute was Elliot Wilhelm of the Detroit Film Theatre. Elliot's Film Festival movie show on PBS, with intros and outros, helped re-create the movie host era for a few years.

https://detroitmoviepalaces.com/blog/?p=9020

[SteveL]

My friends and I would always try to call in when Bill took live phone calls. Bill hated getting questions like "what ever happened to the Three Stooges?" so if we were lucky enough to get through we always asked him that.

[sfpcc]

[quote=SteveL post_id=617921 time=1594404262 user_id=5147]
My friends and I would always try to call in when Bill took live phone calls. Bill hated getting questions like "what ever happened to the Three Stooges?" so if we were lucky enough to get through we always asked him that.
[/quote]



After leaving the act in 1946 after having a series of strokes Curly Howard died in 1952.

Shemp Howard, who replace his younger brother, died in 1955 after having a heart attack in a cab.

The much maligned Joe Besser Died in 1984.

Moe And Larry died in 1975.

The last Stooge Joe De Rita died in 1993. I mentioned to my friend that the last Stooge died. He replied tersely "The last Stooge who died was moe!" He's pretty hardcore.

[sfpcc]

[quote=sfpcc post_id=618039 time=1594438365 user_id=4168]
[quote=SteveL post_id=617921 time=1594404262 user_id=5147]
My friends and I would always try to call in when Bill took live phone calls. Bill hated getting questions like "what ever happened to the Three Stooges?" so if we were lucky enough to get through we always asked him that.
[/quote]



After leaving the act in 1946 after having a series of strokes Curly Howard died in 1952.

Shemp Howard, who replace his younger brother, died in 1955 after having a heart attack in a cab.

The much maligned Joe Besser Died in 1984.

Moe And Larry died in 1975.

The last Stooge Joe De Rita died in 1993. I mentioned to my friend that the last Stooge died. He replied tersely "The last Stooge who died was moe!" He's pretty hardcore.

(Bill Kennedy died in 1997.)
[/quote]

[sfpcc]

[quote=sfpcc post_id=618040 time=1594438419 user_id=4168]
[quote=sfpcc post_id=618039 time=1594438365 user_id=4168]
[quote=SteveL post_id=617921 time=1594404262 user_id=5147]
My friends and I would always try to call in when Bill took live phone calls. Bill hated getting questions like "what ever happened to the Three Stooges?" so if we were lucky enough to get through we always asked him that.
[/quote]



After leaving the act in 1946 after having a series of strokes Curly Howard died in 1952.

Shemp Howard, who replace his younger brother, died in 1955 after having a heart attack in a cab.

The much maligned Joe Besser Died in 1988.

Moe And Larry died in 1975.

The last Stooge Joe De Rita died in 1993. I mentioned to my friend that the last Stooge died. He replied tersely "The last Stooge who died was moe!" He's pretty hardcore.

(Bill Kennedy died in 1997.)
[/quote]
[/quote]

[jry]

Hmmm... Jon Yingers Showtime..... Has a nice ring.

[Momo]

Bill Kennedy At The Movies in July 1980. At the time of the GOP Convention in Detroit.

[Ken H]

Bill was a unique TV movie host, in that he actually was a Hollywood actor in the 1940's and 50's, with one online source saying he appearing in over 100 movies. He never made the jump to being a major player, but his voice and tall stature kept him employed for decades. His most famous voice roll was as the announcer at the beginning of the original Superman TV series; "Faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound." He knew quite a few of the actors in the movies he'd show, and always had interesting antidotes delivered with his droll sarcasm.

His show would frequently have actors and celebrities visiting the Detroit area appear on the show, including Jayne Mansfield, Clint Eastwood, Debbie Reynolds, Kirk Douglas, Ann B. Davis, Joe Louis, Bob Hope, Guy Lombardo, Sir Graves Ghastly, Soupy Sales, Marlo Thomas, The Supremes, Gloria Swanson, Louis Armstrong, Sammy Davis Jr., Col. Harland Sanders, Billy Dee Williams, Charlton Heston, Diahann Carroll, among many others.

[jsf]

Yea remember seeing him in an old TV Lone Ranger episode.

[BFSEsq]

Bill Kennedy At The Movies in July 1980. At the time of the GOP Convention in Detroit.

This is such an amazing clip. I've never seen this much of the show archived before. Live ad reads! In one case, the pitch was live but not even from Bill himself! I can only imagine how cool it was in 1980 to catch a show like this (provided you were the right age at the time), knowing that what Bill Kennedy said was so off-the-cuff and fascinating but would only be heard right then and there. This probably isn't a revelatory concept but to me, something like this is pretty much just radio. The camera is on Bill but he's just reading. Including all of those great pre-internet viewer questions. I don't know, I guess it's amazing that TV could still be like that in 1980. And only 4 political out-of-towners showing up to see Phyllis Diller(!) on the Boblo Boat!

Less related: It blew my hair back when I heard a metro area phone number given with a prefix in 1980. (I believe it was "Luzon" 5-XXXX or LU5-XXXX.) Was that still done at all then?! I would have thought it had been decades. Or was that just an old-fashioned thing at the time that only a few old-timers and long time businesses were still hanging on to?

[Majik]

Bill Kennedy At The Movies in July 1980. At the time of the GOP Convention in Detroit.

This is such an amazing clip. I've never seen this much of the show archived before. Live ad reads! In one case, the pitch was live but not even from Bill himself! I can only imagine how cool it was in 1980 to catch a show like this (provided you were the right age at the time), knowing that what Bill Kennedy said was so off-the-cuff and fascinating but would only be heard right then and there. This probably isn't a revelatory concept but to me, something like this is pretty much just radio. The camera is on Bill but he's just reading. Including all of those great pre-internet viewer questions. I don't know, I guess it's amazing that TV could still be like that in 1980. And only 4 political out-of-towners showing up to see Phyllis Diller(!) on the Boblo Boat!

Less related: It blew my hair back when I heard a metro area phone number given with a prefix in 1980. (I believe it was "Luzon" 5-XXXX or LU5-XXXX.) Was that still done at all then?! I would have thought it had been decades. Or was that just an old-fashioned thing at the time that only a few old-timers and long time businesses were still hanging on to?

Was the phone exchange name for a Belvedere Construction ad. I seem to recall they were still referring to their phone number that way.

[ShempLives]

"You'll look at it, you'll love it and you'll take your time paying for it." Belvedere Construction's phone number was Tyler 8-7100. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxnzaJaaaC8