Dear Vance:My parents remember a Memphian named Digger ODell who had himself buried alive here sometime in the 1960s as a promotional stunt. Years later I had audio tapes to which I listened to repeatidly and learned to really admire Digger's council to Reilly via puns related to the profession of undertaking. For years, it was propped against a rugged concrete base, in a cluster of crepe myrtles on the southern edge of the park, close to the intersection of Poplar and Cooper. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. At the mobile home park, a local reporter didnt have a very high opinion of the aging stuntman, writing, He has the flushed face and shaking hand of a man who has seen the sun rise over many an empty bottle. Digger showed up at the park wearing only a bathrobe. Chester A. Riley: Well, that'll be it, Miss Millie. to "what are we going to do?" Isn't that awful? And the things we have to do in that period of two days or three days, that's also largely what you do for us, is that right? In many ways they're all replicated by this journey that we take between the living and the dead when someone dies, this procession. 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. So people come in to talk about arranging their parents' funerals or their own. I think we're among the first couple generations for whom the presence of the dead at their funerals has become optional, and I see that as probably not good news for the culture at large. But when people go with us, it's at the back end of an industrial park in Lavonia, near a railroad track, so it's unlike the kind of commemorative surroundings that we have in our local cemeteries -- more is the pity. Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. But I find that if you just show up, if you just walk in the door, people think you're a hero. [9], William Bendix and Sterling Holloway, 1957. [after Riley discovers the man he accused of bank robbery is a policeman]. Packed among his riding gear when on tour is a trumpet, and Helm has been known to join local bands in jam sessions. The program was broadcast live with a studio audience, most of whom were not aware Brown played both characters. Months after my father died, I can remember this wave of feelings that would come over me, catching me at the most unpredictable times, this wallop of him being dead, him being gone. Chester A. Riley: Babs, do you realize when I was 20, your mother was supporting me and a baby? "The Life of Riley Quotes." Will you care after your death if they take care of you in death as you did your dad? Chester A. Riley, a riveter at Stevenson Aircraft in Los Angeles, works hard but is always behind in his bills. By using this site, you agree to our updated. One example of this type of comedy is the line "Business is a little dead tonight" . Jackson.Amongst the student body, there was boy with the surname of O'Dell. While we would all agree that death is never funny, this show had an usual character in it by the name of Digby "Digger". 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." His frequent exclamation of indignation"What a revoltin' development this is! I see my sons now working through this, and their generation. Digger O'Dell Buried For Good This Time. 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. People will know that. What age were you when you really seriously thought you might become a funeral director, and how much of your dad's influence was a part of that decision? I got my picture in the paper! And I'm the most blissful man in the world. For many people I know, when families are cremated, they feel as if they've in some sense kind of disappeared. Simon Vanderhopper: Mr. Riley, you're not angry? 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. But the strange case of Digby "Digger" O'Dell offers an elegant counterpoint. 1949. Many customers have had positive experiences ordering from them, and their customer service has been praised for keeping buyers updated on order status. What can you tell me about this interesting fellow? Dear j.b.: Well, for starters I can tell you that this interesting fellow (and Im certainly not disputing that) was not a Memphian, and his name wasnt really Digger ODell. [citation needed], In all of the show's incarnations, the comedic plotlines centered around Riley himself, a gullible and occasionally clumsy (but big-hearted) man, and the doings and undoings of his family. He had a very good sense of that. [citation needed] Mel Blanc provided some voices as well, including that of Junior's dog Tiger as well as that of a dog catcher who claimed to have a special bond with dogs. 461. Henry Morgan voiced Riley's father in one episode. Irving Brecher's onscreen credit reads: "Written and directed by Irving Brecher." 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. Babs Riley: Guess what? And yet you write that beautiful essay Tract in your book, The Undertaking, which is in some way a map, is it? William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eilerplus series creator Irving Brecher . Help came from Digger O'Dell, the "friendly undertaker," who offered gruesome theories laced with repetitive puns, brilliantly delivered by John Brown. When his efforts to impress his boss, Carl Stevenson, apparently fail, Riley becomes incensed and finally works up the courage to confront him. Nevertheless, this Life of Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No. We can't prearrange that. His real name, it seems, was Herbert O'Dell Smith. By what name was The Life of Riley (1949) officially released in Canada in English? To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. It's the people who, in many ways, try to put on the smiley face, that brittle grin you see so often that says, "We're going to be happy." He would have thought much of it ridiculous and much of it sublime. And there's somebody else trying to get the choir to sing in tune. While readying for Monahan, Riley's daughter Babs, a serious-minded college student, catches the eye of Miss Bogle's handsome young nephew, Jeff Taylor. 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. There is a comfort when you don't have to reinvent that wheel, when we know we have to be at church at a certain time and that these prayers will be said and not those, and that this is accustomed behavior and this is outside the pale, and this is where we go. I cant say what finally happened to Digger. 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. The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." The Life of Riley starring William Bendix as lovable, blundering, Chester A. Riley, was a radio situation comedy broadcast during and after wartime 40s. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. 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! We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. And that's very seductive, because, I mean, it's human-to-human contact. Alan Lipscott and Reuben Ship wrote many of the radio series' early episodes, and Don Bernard was the show's initial director. What you're looking at [in the case of someone being there during that time] is everything's in order. And that is the cruel part, and that is the good news and the bad news all at once -- that things are happening even so. Jim Gillis: They put you to sleep. He was supported by Marjorie Reynolds, replacing both Paula Winslowe and Rosemary DeCamp, as wife Peg; Tom D'Andrea as schemer buddy Jim Gillis; Gloria Blondell (sister of Joan Blondell) as Gillis' wife, Honeybee, and Gregory Marshall as their son Egbert; Lugene Sanders was Babs and Wesley Morgan was Junior. What are you doin' here in the park? 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. j.b., memphis. Ferguson: That's the type of citizen we're sworn to protect. The custom of eulogy, what is its meaning? The elements are the elements. [citation needed], The series was co-developed by the nonperforming Marx Brother turned agent Gummo. 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. When my father died, I was not prepared to put him in the ground then. 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. His frequent exclamation of indignation became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s: "What a revoltin' development this is!" The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." Mar The question is not meant to mock; the question is to say: "What is it you don't want to see? And this movement, emotionally, is mirrored by a physical movement. You'd better stop talking that way. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. And there's somebody else arranging the flowers. A cover was placed over his apartment and he was sealed in, with the intention being to break the personal record of 57 days that he had set here during his previous visit to Memphis, though that location wasnt mentioned. It has to do with the gift of language. There are days I can get behind that theory and have. In the early 1970s, he had apparently retired and had opened World-Famous Digger ODells Farmers Market somewhere in that state, but had returned to his old stunts after the death of his wife from a heart attack. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract (part II). Whether in the most abstract sense or in the most particular, this is a safe harbor, a place they can have that conversation. Whether youre growing hot or sweet varieties, there are some important tips for success. Thanks for any help. DIGGER, Digby O'Dell, the Friendly Undertaker MOTHER, Irish and obnoxious ANNOUNCER SINGERS MUSIC: THEME . Peg Riley: You know what they say - ignorance is bliss. But then I can read the work of Barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S. 16 in its first season, with four of its six seasons in the top 30, and ran for a total of 217 episodes. So everything is weakened; weakened and tightened at the same time. We are less grounded than our grandparents were. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts Do you speak French? The open casket, it is something that's often mocked. For some people it's not the open casket and the three-day wake and the roses and the limousines and the Panis Angelicus. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: It's just not fair! Just as all appears lost, Riley learns from Burt that he has been promoted to a high-paying executive position. The Life of Riley starring William Bendix as lovable, blundering, Chester A. Riley, was a radio situation comedy broadcast during and after wartime 40s. To Babs's delight, Jeff, who has just moved in next door with his aunt, is a dedicated pre-med student. [6][7], The NBC adaptation, also created by Irving Brecher, was a single-season https://www.quotes.net/movies/the_life_of_riley_107479, https://www.quotes.net/movies/the_life_of_riley_quotes_107479. Chester A. Riley: The baby announcements? I know it won't matter, it will be others, but do you see yourself as the fire or the earth, or --?
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digger o'dell the friendly undertaker
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