Cooks and Caretakers on Television Shows Quiz

Answer: Charles O'Casey

Desilu Studios decided William Frawley was too ill to continue his role as Michael Francis "Bub" O'Casey by the end of 1964. William Demarest replaced him playing Bub's brother, Charles Leslie "Uncle Charley" O'Casey. He eased into the role by visiting at first before assuming the role as caregiver. His character was a former merchant sailor who played the cello.
Demarest enjoyed a film career spanning half a century appearing in over 100 films between 1926 and 1976. His first television appearance was on "The Danny Thomas Show" in 1957. He guest starred on various shows before playing Uncle Charlie for 215 episodes on "My Three Sons". He passed in 1983 at age 91.
Hank Jones had the role as Pete from 1964 to 1966. Bill Erwin played Joe Walters from 1962 to 1964 and John Howard played Dave Welch between 1965 and 1967.

Answer: Arnold's

In 1976 Molinaro was hired by "Happy Days" creator Garry Marshall to replace Pat Morita as the owner of Arnold's. Delvecchio was known for his line "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah". Ironically Molinaro was from Wisconsin and "Happy Days" was set in Milwaukee. Al left a prospective career in real estate to take up acting.

A fellow student in his improvisation class was Penny Marshall who introduced Molinaro to her brother who was producing "The Odd Couple" (1970-1975). Al landed the role of officer Murray Greshler until the show ended.

He began work as Arnold on "Happy Days" and on the spin-off show "Joanie Loves Chachi" (1982-1983). When the show ended he went into partnership with Anson Williams of "Happy Days" to open a chain of Big Al's restaurants.

Answer: M*A*S*H

Before playing Igor on "M*A*S*H" Maxwell played a student in "Young Frankenstein" (1974). He continued to play bit parts in a number of shows before landing the recurring role of Igor. When the show ended he wrote a cookbook titled "Secrets of the M*A*S*H Mess: The Lost Recipes of Private Igor".
Although it was not revealed until the ninth season of "M*A*S*H" SSG Pernelli was actually the cook but Igor had to take the brunt of all the complaints from the characters. In one episode he was asked his name by a disgruntled Major Burns and he answered with his real name, Maxwell.
"Dad's Army" ran in the UK from 1968-1977. "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." ran from 1964-1969. "Hogan's Heroes" aired from 1965-71.

Answer: Mr. Baxter

Hazel's employer was George Baxter played by Don DeFore. Hazel nicknamed his interior decorator wife Dorothy "Missy". Dorothy was played by Whitney Blake. Hazel's nickname for their son Harold was "Sport".
Shirley Booth was a stage actor beginning her career in 1925. She won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Lola Delaney in "Come Back, Little Sheba". In 1952 she was awarded the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her big screen adaptation of the same role. She was later cast in the role of "Hazel", a show based on a "Saturday Evening Post" magazine cartoon.
After "Hazel" ended Booth acted in a revival of Noël Coward's play "Hay Fever" in 1970. She retired from acting in the early seventies. In 1992 Booth died at age 94 in her Massachusetts home.

Answer: True

Vic Tayback was the only cast member to reprise his role from the 1974 movie "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" and remained with the television adaptation through its entire run. Alfred Lutter who played Alice's son Tommy was briefly considered for the role from the movie but was replaced after the pilot. Diane Ladd played Flo in the film and played Isabelle "Belle" Dupree in seasons four and five of the television show. New York native Victor Tayback had made appearances on "All in the Family" (1971-1979) and "Star Trek" (1966-1969) as well as several film roles beginning with "Five Minutes to Live" (1961) before landing the part of Mel in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". During and after the run of "Alice" on television he continued to have roles in films until his final role in "Beverly Hills Bodysnatchers" in 1989.

He passed the following year from a heart attack at age 60.

Answer: Family Affair

Brian Keith played Brian Davis, an architect who was bringing up his brother's orphaned children on "Family Affair". London native Sebastian Cabot worked in a garage and eventually became a valet and chauffeur for a British actor. He tried his hand at acting despite any formal training.

In 1936 he had his first credited role in the Alfred Hitchcock film "Secret Agent". He had roles in films and guest starred on several TV shows before landing a lead role on "Checkmate" (1960) for three years. He got the role of Mr. French on "Family Affair" and continued to act in occasional roles while he played Mr. French.

His final role was as the narrator in the 1977 animated film "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh". "Family Ties" ran from 1982 until 1989 and featured Michael J. Fox as Alex Keaton. "Family Matters" ran from 1989-1998. "The Partridge Family" aired from 1970 - 1974.

Answer: George Washington Wishbone

New Mexico native Paul Brinegar played George Washington Wishbone who was usually just called Wishbone. Brinegar had a career playing primarily Western characters in films and on television shows. Before landing the role of Wishbone he played James H. "Dog" Kelley, the mayor of Dodge City, Kansas, from 1956 to 1958 on "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp" (1955-1961).

He played Tom Jefferson Jeffrey in "Cattle Empire" (1958) the movie that inspired the television series "Rawhide". When "Rawhide" wrapped he played Jelly Hoskins on "Lancer" from 1968-1970. Notable film roles included a bartender in "High Plains Drifter" (1973), Opie Keetch in Elvis Presley's 1969 film "Charro" and his final role as a stagecoach driver in the film version of "Maverick" (1994). William R. Thompkins played drover Toothless Jeffries, John Hart played a drover named Narbo and Jesus "Hey Soos" Patines was a wrangler played by Robert Cabal.

Answer: Wagon Train

Benjamin Franklin McGrath played cook Charlie Wooster on "Wagon Train" for the 272 episodes aired during eight seasons of the series. He began his career as a stunt man falling from horses in such films as John Wayne's 1956 film "The Searchers". He gradually began making guest appearances in several Westerns on television until he landed a regular starring role as Charlie on "Wagon Train".

After "Wagon Train" ended he had roles in "The War Wagon" (1967), "Gunfight in Abilene" (1967) and his final role as Mr. Remington in "The Shakiest Gun in the West" (1968).

The film was released after his death in 1967 at age 45 of a heart attack. "The High Chaparral" ran from 1967-1971. "Overland Trail" and "Wrangler" only aired for the 1960 season.

Answer: Hop Sing

Victor Sen Yung played the Cartwright's cook Hop Sing. A running comedic aspect of the series was when he got upset when the family arrived late for dinner. Hop Sing appeared in about eight to ten episodes per season. He was the central character in only two episodes of the show and used martial arts in an episode to help the main characters subdue a foe.
He was born in San Francisco to Chinese immigrants and made his debut appearance as the number two son in the 1938 film "Charlie Chan in Honolulu". He went on to appear in 11 Charlie Chan films and worked with Humphrey Bogart in "Across the Pacific" (1942). Victor served in the military during WWII making training films in the Army Air Force.
In 1972 he was shot during a plane hijacking but recovered, finally passing at age 65 in 1980 when he was overcome by gas fumes from his ceramic kiln oven.

Answer: Alice Nelson

Ann B. Davis played Alice Nelson during the run of "The Brady Bunch". Before working with the Bradys she earned two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work as Charmaine "Schultzy" Schultz on "The Bob Cummings Show" (1955-1959.

She then worked for one season as a physical education teacher on "The John Forsythe Show" (1965). Anne also appeared in numerous commercials for Ford automobiles. After her run with "The Brady Bunch" she made appearances in "Brady Bunch" television movies and had a cameo role in "The Brady Bunch Movie" (1995) as a truck driver.

She also published a cookbook titled "Alice's Brady Bunch Cookbook" that also featured recipes from "The Brady Bunch" cast members. She continued to act in theater until she passed at age 88 in 2014 after a fall. Charlotte Rae had the role of Edna Garrett on "The Facts of Life" (1979-1986). Cloris Leachman replaced Rae at the end of "The Facts of Life" playing Beverly Ann Stickle. Mary Jo Catlett played Pearl Gallagher on seasons five and six of "Diff'rent Strokes" (1978-1985).