Always thought that William Schallert's first regular/recurring sitcom role was as Mr. Pomfritt on "Dobie Gillis." But that's apparently incorrect. I ran across an interesting tidbit of info while reading the new book "Lost Laughs of 50s and 60s Television," by David C. Tucker. In the chapter on the 1956-57 sitcom "Hey Jeannie," it is mentioned that after the series' initial run, it was re-tooled and briefly went back into production with an all-new supporting cast. This included William Schallert as an airline pilot, who was to be Jeannie's romantic interest. The series was also retitled "The Jeannie Carson Show." But only a few episodes were filmed, as it didn't get picked up by a network, and was farmed out to syndication instead.

Still, this would constitute Schallert's first regular or semi-regular sitcom work. There had been earlier one-shot appearances in shows like "Burns and Allen" and "It's a Great Life," but no steady role. Not that it probably mattered, as Schallert was busy as a bee anyway, appearing in slews of other (non-comedy) tv roles. Not too long ago, in fact, I encountered him in a 1960 episode of the detective series "Coronado 9," playing a vicious syndicate hit-man! Yipe!

That's interesting regarding his first recurring or regular role in a sitcom. Thanks for the info. I've seen most if not all of his Dobie Gillis appearances and it never occurred to me that he may have been cast in an earlier sitcom.

William did play the bad guy at times, like in some of his appearances in westerns.

....Schallert also appeared in an unaired [and unsold] 1963 pilot based on the Archie comic strip and magazines, produced by Screen Gems- "ARCHIE". He played Archie's father....

:tv:

I'd seen William Schallert's first "Gunsmoke" appearance many times. It was a semi-comic episode (1957) from the 3rd-season, in which he played a hillbilly who arrived in Dodge City to kill off a fellow he'd had a long-standing feud with. But somehow, I'd never seen Schallert's second "Gunsmoke" appearance (1958), from the following season, but thanks to its recent dvd release, I finally did the other day. Entitled "Gypsum Hills Feud," it features Schallert as (again!) a hillbilly involved in a feud. But it's a very nice episode, in which Matt and Chester, while riding through a valley, are fired upon. Investigating further, they run into a feud between two hillfolk families. Low-key, but quite satisfying. Schallert sure managed a wide variety of roles, and it amuses me to think the "Gunsmoke" casting director first thought of him in hillbilly terms!