Question: What Is the Earliest TV Show with a First-Billed "Star" Still Living?

[p***@gmail.com]

With last year's passing of Mary Kay Stearns, I am wondering ...

What is the earliest American television program (comedy or drama) for which a first-billed performer is still living as of 2019?

The two that came to mind were the "Adventures of Superman" (Phyllis Coates, September 1952) and "Life with Elizabeth" (Betty White, October 1953). Are there any that pre-date these two, perhaps? If not, since both were produced for syndication, what is the oldest NETWORK show that has a surviving star?

There are probably a few then-child actors who are still around I'm sure, but unless they were a lead performer, they really do not count. Ditto for any announcers unless they were a part of the program's scripted "action."

Just curious about this; thanks for any/all replies.

-- Doug Peterson --

[David Carson]

Post by p***@gmail.com
With last year's passing of Mary Kay Stearns, I am wondering ...
What is the earliest American television program (comedy or drama) for which a first-billed performer is still living as of 2019?
The two that came to mind were the "Adventures of Superman" (Phyllis Coates, September 1952) and "Life with Elizabeth" (Betty White, October 1953). Are there any that pre-date these two, perhaps? If not, since both were produced for syndication, what is the oldest NETWORK show that has a surviving star?
There are probably a few then-child actors who are still around I'm sure, but unless they were a lead performer, they really do not count. Ditto for any announcers unless they were a part of the program's scripted "action."

As far as network shows go, all three children from "Father Knows Best"
are still alive. It debuted on 3 October 1954 and all three kids were in
the opening credits. I'll leave it to someone else to figure out whether
there is an earlier one.

David Carson

[J.D. Baldwin]

Post by David Carson

Post by p***@gmail.com
There are probably a few then-child actors who are still around I'm
sure, but unless they were a lead performer, they really do not
count. Ditto for any announcers unless they were a part of the
program's scripted "action."

As far as network shows go, all three children from "Father Knows
Best" are still alive. It debuted on 3 October 1954 and all three
kids were in the opening credits. I'll leave it to someone else to
figure out whether there is an earlier one.

I don't know an earlier one, but I can think of a few where the
surviving actor is more unambiguously the "first-billed star" of the
show. In fact, these three are the title characters of their shows:

1. Leave it to Beaver / Jerry Mathers still alive, show debuted in
October, 1957.

2. Dobie Gillis / Dwayne Hickman still alive, show debuted in
September, 1959.

3. Dennis the Menace / Jay North still alive, show debuted in October,
1959.

Considering only adult principals, I can't think of an older example
than The Real McCoys, debuted October, 1957, with Kathleen Nolan still
living. But Hickman might arguably beat her out. His spinoff is not
as old as The Real McCoys, but he had been a principal on The Bob
Cummings Show, which debuted in 1955. Hickman didn't star in that
show from the start, though, and I'm not sure just when he became a
fixture on it. He was very definitely billed just below Bob himself,
though.

[That Derek]

Great query !!!

As soon as it was posited, I consulted a TV print encyclopaedia (remember them?), viz. the Brooks/Marsh "Complete Directory," and started perusing the late 1940s schedule grids for ABC, CBS, Dumont, and CBS.

I came across a TV version of the movie series/radio programme "The Aldrich Family." It ran from 1949 through 1953 and it seemed to replace the actors who portrayed teenaged Henry, his mother Alice, his sister Mary, and his best friend Homer Brown, every season; the only mainstay was the father played by radio holdover House Jameson, who essayed his role for the entire TV run.

Henry #1 in 1949 was portrayed by Robert Casey (born 1922, extant per IMdB) and he was replaced by the equally WASPy named Richard Tyler (born 1932, extant per IMdB) in 1950.

[BTW, the final Henry Aldrich (#4) was Kenneth Nelson, the original boy in long-running off-Broadway smash "The Fantasticks" and a character in both the off-Broadway and film versions of "The Boys in the Band."]

My answer would be ROBERT CASEY (ding-ding-ding-ding-ding! we have a winner). However, these 1949 episodes are not readily available via YouTube. Thus, I cannot ascertain who was top-billed in either the opening nor closing credits. Perhaps the parents were top-billed a la "Leave It to Beaver" and Mr. Casey might not have been top-billed per the original question's criteria.

Of course, Jimmy Lydon, the most memorable movie "Henry Aldrich" is still alive in his upper-90s. I recently saw his name among the "Oldest Living Film People" thread.

On further inspection via Brooks/Marsh, "The Aldrich Family" debuted on 10/02/1949. It beat out another family sitcom "The Ruggles," which debuted on 11/03/1949. MARGARET KERRY played Charlie Ruggles's daughter on the entire 1949-1952 network run.

As a child actress, Ms. Kerry acted under the name "Peggy Lynch" (not to be confused with "Ethel and Albert" radio dramatist Peg Lynch) and was a second-tier/background member in a handful of "Our Gang" movie shorts; was the ingénue model or Disney's "Tinkerbelle": provided female voices for a brace of limited animation/superimposed lips cartoons like "Clutch Cargo" and "Space Angel"; and can be seen, usually as a frustrated mother, in the live wrap-around segments on the mid-1960s "The New 4 Stooges" cartoons.

My apologies of I overwhelmed you with my "ask him for the time and he'll explain how to build a watch" response.

[That Derek]

CORRECTION: "The New 3 Stooges" not "...4..."

Its theme-song was a go-to song when "Uncle Floyd" Vivino played his piano for an audio sound-check when we were taping "The Uncle Floyd Show" here in New Jersey.

[danny burstein]

Post by That Derek
CORRECTION: "The New 3 Stooges" not "...4..."
Its theme-song was a go-to song when "Uncle Floyd" Vivino
played his piano for an audio sound-check when we were
taping "The Uncle Floyd Show" here in New Jersey.

Ah, but what was the theme music
for Office Joe Bolton?

[A Friend]

Post by That Derek
when we were taping "The Uncle Floyd Show" here in New Jersey

Oh, you're *that* Derek. Loved the show. Still miss it.

[p***@gmail.com]

Gotta go with Derek's Robert Casey, unless someone can beat it, which is (in my opinion) doubtful. I even found a short clip of the opening credits For "The Aldrich Family" and, sure enough, Mr. Casey's name is right there for all to see, qualifying him as first-billed, at least by my definition.

... in case anyone cares enough to watch.

And as a network series (NBC), "The Aldrich Family" -- with a 1949 premiere -- beats anything else I have been able to unearth. Additionally, as Mr. Casey was in his twenties at the time (even though he played younger), I can't even dismiss him as a child performer.

The next best answer I could find (inspired as I was by Derek's research) was "One Man's Family," which boasted the still-living Eva Marie Saint as Claudia Roberts (#2) starting in 1950. I suspect she wasn't first-billed though, as the program has a rather extensive cast list on the IMDb.

In a related bit of trivia that I discovered, the earliest filmed record of a television drama is a five minute silent kinescope excerpted from "The Streets of New York," dating all the way back to 1939. Listed among the large cast is Norman Lloyd, who is thankfully still with us, and still working at 104!

Now you were asking about the time ...

[That Derek]

Another query, this time concerning the definition of "top billing."

I watched the YouTube link to the opening credits of the 1949 "the Aldrich Family," and Robert Casey's credit was saved for the end with "And ROBERT CASEY as Henry Aldrich," a la "And Jerry Mathers as 'The Beaver.'"

Does this mean that Messrs. Casey and Mathers usurped the privilege of being top billed in their respective sitcoms?

"Answer me that, Mister Green Lantern!"

Other final name examples:

The Big Valley: "And Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck as Victoria Barkley.

My Mother, The Car: kind of but not really because her billing was "and ALSO Starring Miss Ann Sothern as My Mother, the Car."

A tangential query: what other actresses in classic TV were billed to include the honorific "MISS" (a practice harkening back to a venerated stage tradition)?

When "Batman" battled "The Black Widow," the guest villainess was billed as "MISS Tallulah Bankhead."

Then there was "MISS Michael Learned" on the opening credits for "The Waltons" -- but I am led to believe that it wasn't really a "prestige" billing, but because she had a confusable male pre-name, like actresses Christopher Norris and Timothy Blake.

Of course, if Miss MICHAEL Learned married singer Tommy ROE, divorced him and married singer Joey DEE, and in succession, divorced and married South African premier P.W. BOTHA, comic actor Pauly SHORE, TV host Arsenio HALL, baseball player Jesus ALOU, and MGM animator, she'd be (wait for it) ...

... "Michael Roe-Dee-Botha-Shore-Hall-Alou-Lah!"

Speaking of "Learneds," if cosmetics mogul Helena Rubenstein married jurist Judge Learned Hand, and divorced him and married "Uncle Remus" portrayer James Baskette, she'd be ... Helena Hand-Baskette.

That Derek -- and he's all over the place

[A Friend]

Post by That Derek
A tangential query: what other actresses in classic TV were billed to include
the honorific "MISS" (a practice harkening back to a venerated stage
tradition)?

Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick were both honorificked as Miss on THE
SNOOP SISTERS (1972-74), which was part of THE NBC WEDNESDAY MYSTERY
MOVIE. There were only five episodes spread over three seasons.

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by A Friend

Post by That Derek
A tangential query: what other actresses in classic TV were billed to include
the honorific "MISS" (a practice harkening back to a venerated stage
tradition)?

Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick were both honorificked as Miss on THE
SNOOP SISTERS (1972-74), which was part of THE NBC WEDNESDAY MYSTERY
MOVIE. There were only five episodes spread over three seasons.

No, I remember watching when I was a kid. There was a pilot in 1972, in
which Art Carney played the chauffeur, but he wasn't in the series.

All four 90 minute episodes of the series were aired by NBC during the 1973-74
season on Mystery Movie, but Wednesday. No episodes were withheld for
airing in a later television season.

Having looked it up, I vaguely remember Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate,
an ABC Movie Of The Week, which was similar and included both women
in its cast. That could have easily served as the pilot but that would
have required Universal Television to buy the exploitation rights of the
original novel from another studio. Of course Universal went with ripping
it off instead.

[A Friend]

Post by Adam H. Kerman

Post by A Friend

Post by That Derek
A tangential query: what other actresses in classic TV were billed to include
the honorific "MISS" (a practice harkening back to a venerated stage
tradition)?

Helen Hayes and Mildred Natwick were both honorificked as Miss on THE
SNOOP SISTERS (1972-74), which was part of THE NBC WEDNESDAY MYSTERY
MOVIE. There were only five episodes spread over three seasons.

No, I remember watching when I was a kid. There was a pilot in 1972, in
which Art Carney played the chauffeur, but he wasn't in the series.
All four 90 minute episodes of the series were aired by NBC during the 1973-74
season on Mystery Movie, but Wednesday. No episodes were withheld for
airing in a later television season.

I drilled deeper. You're right. I was going by IMDb, which in this
case was a mess. Also, I made things worse by typing "seasons" instead
of "years."

Post by Adam H. Kerman
Having looked it up, I vaguely remember Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate,
an ABC Movie Of The Week, which was similar and included both women
in its cast. That could have easily served as the pilot but that would
have required Universal Television to buy the exploitation rights of the
original novel from another studio. Of course Universal went with ripping
it off instead.

FTR the four old ladies in this were played by Helen Hayes, Mildred
Natwick, Sylvia Sidney and Myrna Loy. I wonder if this film still
exists. It's on the edge of the time when they stopped throwing
everything away.

[RHDraney]

Post by That Derek
A tangential query: what other actresses in classic TV were billed to include the honorific "MISS" (a practice harkening back to a venerated stage tradition)?
When "Batman" battled "The Black Widow," the guest villainess was billed as "MISS Tallulah Bankhead."
Then there was "MISS Michael Learned" on the opening credits for "The Waltons" -- but I am led to believe that it wasn't really a "prestige" billing, but because she had a confusable male pre-name, like actresses Christopher Norris and Timothy Blake.

And one whose career I've been following lately, Jeff Donnell...she was
sporadically billed as "Miss", but I'm not sure if this was the case on
classic TV when she played George Gobel's wife "spooky old Alice" on his
early sketch show....r

[That Derek]

We have another near-contender who beats out Margaret Kerry! But that's OK, Ms. Kerry is probably the earliest debuting female actor.

LANNY REES portrayed "Junior Riley" on the 1949 single-season iteration of "The Life of Riley," which starred Jackie Gleason.

But, alas, Mr. Rees was not the lead character, did not have special billing, and most of all ...

"The Life of Riley" premiered two days after "the Aldrich Family" (10/04/1949 for Riley, 10/02/1949 for ).

"I guess I'll be ... shoveling off."

Digger O'Derek

[Adam H. Kerman]

Post by That Derek
We have another near-contender who beats out Margaret Kerry! But that's
OK, Ms. Kerry is probably the earliest debuting female actor.
LANNY REES portrayed "Junior Riley" on the 1949 single-season iteration
of "The Life of Riley," which starred Jackie Gleason.
But, alas, Mr. Rees was not the lead character, did not have special
billing, and most of all ...
"The Life of Riley" premiered two days after "the Aldrich Family"
(10/04/1949 for Riley, 10/02/1949 for ).
"I guess I'll be ... shoveling off."
Digger O'Derek

John Brown!

[That Derek]

"Well, I'll be a dirty bird."

Though I've seen George Gobel's eponymous show, I always appreciated him on other programmes. It was Gobel who was the interrupted guest on the Carson show when the Rat Pack decided to pay an impromptu visit. Gobel also had the hard-shoes-to-fill position when he replaced the deceased Clifford Arquette/Charlie Weaver's lower left-hand box on "Hollywood Squares."

Heretofore, I never heard of Miss Jeff Donnell. Is it properly pronounced "duh-NEL," or "DAHN-uhl"?-

Youth wants to know.

[RHDraney]

Post by That Derek
"Well, I'll be a dirty bird."
Though I've seen George Gobel's eponymous show, I always appreciated him on other programmes. It was Gobel who was the interrupted guest on the Carson show when the Rat Pack decided to pay an impromptu visit. Gobel also had the hard-shoes-to-fill position when he replaced the deceased Clifford Arquette/Charlie Weaver's lower left-hand box on "Hollywood Squares."
Heretofore, I never heard of Miss Jeff Donnell. Is it properly pronounced "duh-NEL," or "DAHN-uhl"?-
Youth wants to know.

Split the difference: dahn-EL (I was was saying DAHN-uhl myself until I
found the Gobel material)....

As to her androgynous nickname, Gobel made reference to it on one of the
shows I have where the guest was Jeffrey Hunter (whom George imagines
Alice married to instead of to him)...at the end he asks Hunter how a
big manly guy like him ended up with a girl's name....r

[p***@gmail.com]

Regarding Derek's ruminations with respect to unusual star billing, I offer Jonathan Harris, who was billed as a Special Guest Star for the entire run of "Lost In Space." And that billing -- like Robert Casey's -- was the final one in in the title sequence.

As far as I'm concerned, "The Aldrich Family" (courtesy of Mr. Casey) remains the answer to the question as I intended it to be understood.

Now as to hypotheticals:

What if the esteemed Judge Hand had never met his future wife, and instead married the aforementioned star of "The Waltons" while -- known progressive that he was -- taking her last name instead of the other way around? It only goes to follow that he would have traveled forward in time to replace Ronnie Van Zant as the lead vocalist of a certain seminal rock band, following the latter's untimely demise.

The mind fairly boggles. Or scrabbles.

I think I have a headache ...

[Michael OConnor]

Post by p***@gmail.com
Regarding Derek's ruminations with respect to unusual star billing, I offer Jonathan Harris, who was billed as a Special Guest Star for the entire run of "Lost In Space." And that billing -- like Robert Casey's -- was the final one in in the title sequence.

I've always read that Jonathan Harris demanded the "Special Guest Star" billing as a condition for taking the Dr. Smith role, and that the Dr. Smith role was originally designed to appear in the first half dozen or so episodes of "Lost in Space". However, as it works out sometimes on new TV shows, he unexpectedly became the breakout star of the show, and they decided to keep him on. I guess it would have been weird to change to try to change his billing after that, especially since he put up a fuss to get that billing in the first place.

[MJ Emigh]

Post by Michael OConnor
Dr. Smith role was originally designed to appear in the first half dozen or so episodes of "Lost in Space".

Do you, by chance, know what the character's fate was supposed to be? I don't see any references to your interesting statement on any fan sites. Killed off? Un-lost?

[Michael OConnor]

Post by MJ Emigh

Post by Michael OConnor
Dr. Smith role was originally designed to appear in the first half dozen or so episodes of "Lost in Space".

Do you, by chance, know what the character's fate was supposed to be? I don't see any references to your interesting statement on any fan sites. Killed off? Un-lost?

I remember a radio interview with him about 20 years ago where he was asked about the "Special Guest Star" billing, and he mentioned Dr. Smith was first conceived as a short-term character.

Jonathan Harris did not appear in the original LIS pilot, he was added to the second pilot episode (the one that airs in syndication) as it was felt the show needed an villain who was responsible for the spaceship getting lost. The show in it's early episodes was clearly trying to be a serious sci-fi series, but I'm sure the writers must have seen the on-screen chemistry between Dr. Smith and the robot character and Will Robinson as they started filming the series and that Dr. Smith was better suited to be a comic foil. From there, it quickly turned from what was intended to be a dramatic series into a campy quasi-comedy show that revolved around Dr. Smith, Will Robinson and the Robot. This is just my theory, but it makes sense if you watch the first season of "Lost in Space" that the writers clearly retooled the show after the first few episodes and made it lighter.

[p***@gmail.com]

Re: Michael O'Connor's assertion that Dr. Zachary Smith was intended to depart after the first few episodes of "Lost In Space," I can affirm that he's entirely correct. I learned as much from one of the best possible sources on the subject -- the one and only June Lockhart, who (whom?) I came to know quite well back in the 1970s.

She was -- and still remains, I'm sure -- a truly lovely lady, and I even had the pleasure of joining her for drinks (a strictly platonic association) in her room at the hotel where I was working at the time, and watching reruns of "Lost In Space" together.

[That Derek]

WE HAVE A NEW WINNER !!

It seems that "Mama," the TV version of the book-based film "I Remember Mama," debuted (according to Brooks/Marsh) on 07/01/1949, prior to the aforementioned juvenile actors from the "Henry Aldrich," "The Life of Riley," and "The Ruggles."

This means that the new titleholder is IRIS MANN, who portrayed little "Dagmar" in the show's initial year 1949. She was replaced in 1950 by ROBIN MORGAN for the remainder of the series (1950-1956).

Both Iris Mann and Robin Morgan are still off-topic according to IMdB.

Robin Morgan grew up to be a celebrity feminist (one-time president of NOW/National Organization for Women; one-time editor of Ms. magazine).

[p***@gmail.com]

Derek --

As the one who originally posed the question, I'm not sure that I am ready to acknowledge "Mama" (via Iris Mann) as the answer. Here's why:

Was she (Iris Mann) truly a "first billed performer?" While Robert Casey (of "The Aldrich Family") was one of three performers in the title credits, I strongly doubt that Iris Mann would have been. A YouTube of the Robin Morgan version --

-- gives only Peggy Wood (the titular Mama) top billing, while the rest of the cast is listed at the program's end. While that alone may be insufficient to disqualify her, there is little doubt that Casey's Henry Aldrich was central to the program, whereas Mann's Dagmar Hansen was considerably less so. After all, the "I" in "I Remember Mama" (upon which the TV series was based) refers to the oldest daughter, Kristen. That character was assayed by Rosemary Rice, who has been on-topic since 2012.

As I stated in the original question, "There are probably a few then-child actors who are still around I'm sure, but unless they were a lead performer, they really do not count." While that's admittedly a subjective criterion on my part, it definitely applies to the then-ten year old Miss Mann, while Mr. Casey was an adult in his twenties, even though his character was younger.

So if "Mama" is accepted as the answer, I think it may need to be qualified with a Roger Maris-style asterisk. Just my own two cents' worth, of course, and more great research (as always) on your part!

And tangentially, the entire principal cast of 1972's "I Dismember Mama" are (I think) still presently off-topic.

-- Doug Peterson --

[That Derek]

Astute points.

With Richard Tyler already concensussed, I brought up as runner-ups his juvenile contemporaries -- Lanny Rees (Mama) and Margaret Kerry (Ruggles) -- and you didn't raise any objections that they were not the title characters. Nor did anybody shoot down the early posting of "Father Knows Best's" Princess-bud-Kitten triumvirate.

Cut Iris Mann some non-asterisked slack.

BTW, I was familiar with Rosemary Rice from her annual appearances at the FOTR/Friends of Old Time Radio convention here in the NJ/metro NYC area. Raised in Montclair, Ms. Rice's primary RADIO credit came as girl-next-door Betty Cooper in "Archie Andrews," the radio version of the contemporaneous "Archie" comic books.

Actually the Archie radio programme was modeled as a knock-off of "The Aldrich Family" franchise -- girl troubles, a funny best friend, a no-nonsense father.

Rosemary Rice was a class-act to the end. I wish she was still with us so that she could be part of this discussion.

[p***@gmail.com]

Offered in the interest of spirited debate:

You are entirely correct, of course, that I failed to "disqualify" either Miss Margaret Kerry, Lanny Rees or Richard Tyler from consideration. However, that was merely because you had done so quite succinctly in the context of your own replies. No need to pile on, after all.

As to the younger members of the fictional Anderson household, it was actually my intention to post that while the characters were seen in the opening for "Father Knows Best," the performers were not credited by name, leaving Robert Young and Jane Wyatt as the sole first-billed cast members. However, by the time I had the opportunity to do so, you had unearthed Robert Casey (a poor choice of words, seeing as how he is still above ground) as a more appropriate candidate for the distinction in question.

That said, and in the spirit of compromise and conciliation, I will remove the asterisk from Iris Mann and "Mama" -- slack-cutter that I am -- if I may be permitted to retroactively revise my original question to read as follows:

"What Is the Earliest TV Show With a First-Billed Adult Star Still Living?"

(adult being defined as twenty one (21) years of age or older at the time)

To that, the still-proper reply is "The Aldrich Family" and the aforementioned Robert Casey. That is, unless yourself or someone else finds a better answer. ;)

-- Doug Peterson --