Category: Life with Pratts

Pratt Attack – 8

Last week’s Newsweek had a feature on comedy in the Baby Boom generation. I was surprised and pleased to see how much influence MAD Magazine is credited as having.

Alfred E. Neuman, a slightly altered spelling of the name of one of Randy Newman’s uncles, is of course the MAD Magazine mascot. The image of the face and the famous catch phrase, “What, Me Worry?”, were far from new when Harvey Kurtzman, MAD’s creator and its first editor, adopted them.

Helen Pratt was one Pratt who really did go on the attack! She sued MAD Magazine for copyright infringement. Her husband, Harry Stuff, had obtained a copyright for this image and slogan, for this postcard that he produced in 1914:

Helen Pratt Stuff lost after the case went all the way to the Supreme Court. The full story was written up by Maria Reidelbach in chapter 8 of her excellent 1991 book, Completely MAD. Here are excerpts of Reidelbach’s account.
Continue reading Pratt Attack – 8

The Flight of the Phoenix on Netflix

Borgnine

What’s on Netflix Watch Now? The Flight of the Phoenix. Not a great movie, but it’s one that I remember enjoying on TV with my father, decades ago.

I’d forgotten that it features Academy Award® winner Ernest Borgnine. Long ago, my mother was with Borgnine in a traveling troupe of actors from the Barter Theater. She always called him Ernie. Ya know, I’ve never really thought about it before, but Borgnine bears something of a resemblance to my father. Hmm…

Adams Lane, Norwalk CT

Norwalk

I wish there were some good online aerial photos of this area, instead of just this satellite image. This area shows most of my world for six years while growing up. In the lower, left corner is the Silvermine School. Our house was just below the “n” in Adams Ln. We had 2½ acres. The property was a perfect mix of grassy and rocky, woods and fields, flat and hilly. Here’s to Norwalk!

Vince Beck Postscript

VincentBeck.jpgI hope you’ve seen the post about my late mother’s friend, the character actor Vince Beck. If not, please click here. The New York Times has put its obituary archive online. Here is Vince’s obit.

Published: July 27, 1984

Vincent Beck, an actor and an official of two actors’ unions, died of cancer Tuesday at his home in Manhattan. He was 56 years old. Mr. Beck appeared in television commercials, films and several Broadway and Off Broadway productions.

He made his stage debut in ”A Flag Is Born” on Broadway in 1946. He also appeared in ”Peter Pan,” ”The World of Sholom Aleichem,” ”The Merchant of Venice,” ”Oliver,” ”Irma la Douce,” ”Gypsy” and ”Bells Are Ringing.” He had been president of the New York branch of the Screen Actors Guild since 1983 and third vice president of Actors Equity since 1982. Mr. Beck is survived by a sister, Carol Joyce.

Vince Beck

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Vincent Beck was a character actor who appeared on many TV shows in the 60’s. He also appeared live in our living room when I was a kid. Beck was a friend of my mother’s from her time at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Click the thumbnail pictures to see scans from her yearbook. Look for the name Joanne Waffle.

AADA47-b.jpg

AADA47.jpg

I’ve placed thick double borders around the pictures of my mother and Vince Beck. A third picture I’ve highlighted has a thin outside border. That’s David Andrews, or “Tige” Andrews. He was on an episode of “Star Trek” and he was one of the principal actors on the unforgettable “The Mod Squad.” I remember my mother once making light of Tige’s toupee.

Vince Beck’s resume of 60’s TV shows includes:

  • Bonanza
  • Get Smart
  • Gilligan’s Island
  • Gunsmoke
  • Lost in Space
  • The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
  • The Monkees
  • The Time Tunnel

Vince excelled at playing broad comic villains, particularly Russians. He was cast in no fewer than three episodes of The Monkees, which is one of my all-time favorite childhood shows. A clip from the Monkees episode “Royal Flush” is at the top of this post. Beck played the chauffeur.

Vince Beck’s worst movie credit is undoubtedly “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” His best is perhaps “… And Justice for All,” despite the profanity the part called for, which you won’t hear in this clip.

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You can imagine what a kick it was for us kids, having Beck visit! He stopped by our house in Norwalk, CT on his way to spend the summer at a theatre in Boothbay, Maine. I think he had a financial interest in the place.

I don’t know if Beck was just a friend of my mother’s, or if he was a former boyfriend. Vince Beck was a character actor and not a star, yet in person he was decidedly larger than life, and his presence added to the aura that my mother’s past retains to this day.

Pratt Attack – 7

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I had mentioned my late mother was a fan of Phyllis Diller. Another comedienne she enjoyed watching was Carol Burnett. Before Burnett’s long-running variety show, she did a series of TV specials with Julie Andrews.

One of shows included a musical sketch with Andrews making fun of her role of Maria in The Sound of Music. The only catch was, the movie wasn’t yet in production and she hadn’t even been cast for the part!

A little wordplay turned the large Trapp family into the Pratt family. We had only six kids in our Pratt family!

The video quality is shaky, but the sound is very good. Burnett looks concerned at the end after hitting Andrews because Julie was pregnant.