Ken Berry (1933-2018) - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Zoneboy · 12-02-2018, 01:40 AM

The song-and dance-man, who received a career boost from Leonard Nimoy, also toplined the 'Andy Griffith Show' spinoff 'Mayberry R.F.D.'

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Ken Berry, the rubber-legged actor who delighted TV viewers as the blundering Capt. Wilton Parmenter on F Troop and as the accident-prone Vinton Harper on Mama's Family, has died. He was 85.

Berry, an agile song-and-dance man who was encouraged in show business by his U.S. Army sergeant, future Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy, died Saturday, his ex-wife, Jackie Joseph-Lawrence, reported.

The amiable Berry also was known for starring as town councilor Sam Jones on Mayberry R.F.D., the spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show that was created by CBS after Griffith exited the series — then the No. 1 show in the ratings — after its eighth and final season.

Berry came to fame for portraying the greenhorn Captain Parmenter on ABC's F Troop, which aired for only two seasons (65 episodes from September 1965 through April 1967) but lived on in syndication for decades.

A private, Parmenter was promoted to take command of Fort Courage in Kansas after his sneeze (which sounded like "Charge!") propelled Union troops to an inspirational victory over the Confederates.

Berry's goofball antics, which he dispensed with the dexterity of a trained dancer, supplied many of the show's highlights. In a 2012 interview with the Archive of American Television, he said he came up with many of the pratfalls himself.

"It was something that I could bring to the show," he said. "I would choreograph stuff. I would find things in the set or outside that I could use. [It got so that the F Troop scripts would say,] 'Business to be worked out with Ken on the set.' "

Berry's legions of fans included the great silent film star Buster Keaton, a master of physical comedy. "He once called me after the show had been on the night before and said, 'That was a good gag you did last night,' " he recalled. "Wow, that was high praise!"

After F Troop was canceled, Berry was introduced as the widowed farmer Sam in the final four episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, and other actors making the transition to Mayberry R.F.D. for the 1968-69 season included George Lindsey (Goober), Jack Dodson (Howard Sprague), Paul Hartman (Emmett) and Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee).

"It was scary," he said. "I went into that with great apprehension. All you hope is that you don't hurt it. I had nothing to do with the success of The Andy Griffith Show. I just hoped I wouldn't do anything wrong."

Berry performed soft-shoe routines and would occasionally sing on the porch, crooning such homespun fare as "Carolina Moon." His son on the series was played by Jodie Foster's brother, Buddy.

Despite its lineage, Mayberry R.F.D. never approached the magic of its classic progenitor and was canceled after three seasons, part of CBS' purge of rural shows that also saw Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies and Hee Haw removed from the network airwaves.

In 1972, he toplined his own summer-replacement series, The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show.

When Vicki Lawrence decided to reprise her uproarious role as Thelma from recurring sketches on The Carol Burnett Show, Berry came on board, first for the 1982 movie Eunice and then as the dim locksmith Vinton (married to Dorothy Lymon's Naomi) on Mama's Family.

The comedy debuted in 1983 and lasted two seasons on NBC, then achieved stellar ratings over another four seasons in syndication.

On the big screen, the family-friendly Berry also starred in the Disney films Herbie Rides Again (1974) and The Cat From Outer Space (1978).

Kenneth Ronald Berry was born Nov. 3, 1933, in Moline, Ill. His father was an accountant and his mother a housewife. As a teenager, he won a chance to dance, sing and tour with The Horace Heidt Youth Opportunity Program; the troupe performed in a different town every Sunday night and even did shows overseas for U.S. Air Force personnel.

Berry came home and graduated from Moline High School, then joined the U.S. Army just after the Korean War. He won a talent contest with a tap dancing routine that earned him a trip to New York and a spot on Soldier Parade, an ABC show hosted by Arlene Francis.

After Nimoy invited him into the Special Services Corps, which entertained fellow troops around the country, Berry won another talent contest; this one got him on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town.

"Lenny told me, 'You ought to get in touch with some of the people at the talent departments at the studios," Berry said in the TV Archive interview. "I said, 'I don't know how to do that.' He said, 'Ah, I'll do it for you.' And he did. He sent wires out to agencies and the people in charge of the talent programs at the various studios. I got a couple of bites, and I took the one from Universal."

Berry noted that he was up for a role in Francis in the Haunted House (1956), the final one in the series, but the part when to Mickey Rooney instead.

Meanwhile, Berry studied acting at Falcon Studios and landed a gig in Las Vegas with Abbott & Costello at the Sahara.

He became a regular with The Billy Barnes Revue, which made it to Broadway, and was spotted by Lucille Ball, who came backstage and offered him a spot in the new talent program at her Desilu Studios.

Berry won notice for playing the hotel bellhop Woody on the Desilu-CBS program The Ann Sothren Show and then was a regular on The Bob Newhart Show, the standup comic's first foray into television, in 1962.

Berry had recurring roles on two NBC series: Ensign O'Toole, a 1962-63 show that starred Dean Jones, and Richard Chamberlain's Dr. Kildare. His dancing background then helped him land him two episodes of CBS' The Dick Van Dyke Show, on which he played a choreographer.

Berry also appeared more than a dozen times on The Carol Burnett Show and performed alongside her in a 1972 TV version of Once Upon a Mattress and on stage in From the Top.

In a 1974 episode of the final season of The Brady Bunch, Berry played the adoptive father of three multiracial kids. The episode was meant to serve as a backdoor pilot, but the series was not picked up.

Berry also appeared on other TV shows including Combat!, Hazel, Rawhide, Medical Center, Little House on the Prairie (where he played a circus clown), Fantasy Island and The Golden Girls.

He also performed around the country in The Music Man, Oklahoma!, Promises, Promises and I Do! I Do!

In 1960, Berry married actress Jackie Joseph (The Doris Day Show, the Gremlins movies), whom he had met on The Billy Barnes Revue. They adopted two children before divorcing in 1977.

In the TV Archive interview, Berry said that he "didn't make a lot of money, but I made up for it in quantity. When Mama's Family was canceled, I was stunned that the phone didn't ring anymore." He had been working nonstop for 40 years and decided it was time to slow down.

The highlight of his career was, without a doubt, F Troop. "I have never been that happy in my life," he said. "I walked on air for a long time. It never let me down. I felt like that every day I went to work. I knew how lucky I was at the time."

Hawkee · 12-02-2018, 02:42 AM

Ken Berry was so cool and a laugh riot to watch because every sitcom he would do would leave people howling with laughter but I think Ken Berry's funniest role in my opinion would be Vinton Harper from Mama's Family because not only was Vinton cool but was very clumsy at times but he was a great son to Velma Harper even if Velma thought Vinton had funny inventions and ideas. Take for example in my favorite Mama's Family episode when Vinton attempted to fix the Harper's telephone by putting in a spare part but instead breaks the telephone and messes up the telephone proves how silly Ken proved to be as a sitcom star and I think that's why Ken won the part of Vinton Harper for Mama's Family. But in sitcom stars today you don't see many actors that can hold a candle to Ken Berry and Ken Berry should be a role model for many sitcom stars today
Bestie

DadTheKing · 12-02-2018, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LaBestia

Ken Berry was so cool and a laugh riot to watch because every sitcom he would do would leave people howling with laughter but I think Ken Berry's funniest role in my opinion would be Vinton Harper from Mama's Family because not only was Vinton cool but was very clumsy at times but he was a great son to Velma Harper even if Velma thought Vinton had funny inventions and ideas. Take for example in my favorite Mama's Family episode when Vinton attempted to fix the Harper's telephone by putting in a spare part but instead breaks the telephone and messes up the telephone proves how silly Ken proved to be as a sitcom star and I think that's why Ken won the part of Vinton Harper for Mama's Family. But in sitcom stars today you don't see many actors that can hold a candle to Ken Berry and Ken Berry should be a role model for many sitcom stars today
Bestie

I agree with you, Bestie. He was very talented. He could do everything. He will be missed.
DTK

howilu · 12-02-2018, 04:31 PM

Ken Berry was one of the few actors who would have regular roles in three sitcoms. I remember him as Captain Parmenter on F Troop, which was a very funny comedy western; Mayberry RFD, where he portrayed Sam Jones, a councilman and single father to Mike and Vint on Mama's Family.

I also remember him on the summer variety show The Ken Berry Wow Show that aired in the summer of 1972. May he rest in peace.

Yong Fang · 12-03-2018, 07:52 AM

As a sitcom actor to me he was pretty average. I was never a big fan of the shows he is most remembered for. F Troop was pretty funny as a kid but I haven’t seen that show in forever. Mayberry RFD was just the continuation of the declining TAGS color episodes, and I wasn’t into Mama’s Family either.

But one thing Barry was an incredible dancer. Watch some YouTube videos of this guy move. Just pure athleticism. He did a number on the Carol Burnett Show, where he pivoted one foot left and right and slid across the floor. I can’t find the video but I went “How the -beep- did he do that!” I tried, couldn’t figure it out. Michael Jackson could have learned from Ken Berry. Amazing.

Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Ken Berry was the trilogy.

storrs19 · 12-03-2018, 07:23 PM

Very sad to hear of his passing away. I enjoyed him in all of his shows but I liked Mayberry RFD the best and still watch my “grey area” DVD set of that show regularly.

Patty Duke · 12-03-2018, 08:35 PM

He was a very talented dancer. I also loved him in Mama's Family and Mayberry RFD. Almost all the greats are gone.

12-02-2018, 01:40 AM	#1
Zoneboy RIP, I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU :( Moderator Forum Superstar Join Date: Jul 13, 2003 Location: AT HOME WISHING ALL THIS WAS JUST A DREAM AND THAT I'LL WAKE UP FROM THIS NIGHTMARE. Posts: 34,366	Ken Berry (1933-2018) The song-and dance-man, who received a career boost from Leonard Nimoy, also toplined the 'Andy Griffith Show' spinoff 'Mayberry R.F.D.' Link Ken Berry, the rubber-legged actor who delighted TV viewers as the blundering Capt. Wilton Parmenter on F Troop and as the accident-prone Vinton Harper on Mama's Family, has died. He was 85. Berry, an agile song-and-dance man who was encouraged in show business by his U.S. Army sergeant, future Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy, died Saturday, his ex-wife, Jackie Joseph-Lawrence, reported. The amiable Berry also was known for starring as town councilor Sam Jones on Mayberry R.F.D., the spinoff of The Andy Griffith Show that was created by CBS after Griffith exited the series — then the No. 1 show in the ratings — after its eighth and final season. Berry came to fame for portraying the greenhorn Captain Parmenter on ABC's F Troop, which aired for only two seasons (65 episodes from September 1965 through April 1967) but lived on in syndication for decades. A private, Parmenter was promoted to take command of Fort Courage in Kansas after his sneeze (which sounded like "Charge!") propelled Union troops to an inspirational victory over the Confederates. Berry's goofball antics, which he dispensed with the dexterity of a trained dancer, supplied many of the show's highlights. In a 2012 interview with the Archive of American Television, he said he came up with many of the pratfalls himself. "It was something that I could bring to the show," he said. "I would choreograph stuff. I would find things in the set or outside that I could use. [It got so that the F Troop scripts would say,] 'Business to be worked out with Ken on the set.' " Berry's legions of fans included the great silent film star Buster Keaton, a master of physical comedy. "He once called me after the show had been on the night before and said, 'That was a good gag you did last night,' " he recalled. "Wow, that was high praise!" After F Troop was canceled, Berry was introduced as the widowed farmer Sam in the final four episodes of The Andy Griffith Show, and other actors making the transition to Mayberry R.F.D. for the 1968-69 season included George Lindsey (Goober), Jack Dodson (Howard Sprague), Paul Hartman (Emmett) and Frances Bavier (Aunt Bee). "It was scary," he said. "I went into that with great apprehension. All you hope is that you don't hurt it. I had nothing to do with the success of The Andy Griffith Show. I just hoped I wouldn't do anything wrong." Berry performed soft-shoe routines and would occasionally sing on the porch, crooning such homespun fare as "Carolina Moon." His son on the series was played by Jodie Foster's brother, Buddy. Despite its lineage, Mayberry R.F.D. never approached the magic of its classic progenitor and was canceled after three seasons, part of CBS' purge of rural shows that also saw Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies and Hee Haw removed from the network airwaves. In 1972, he toplined his own summer-replacement series, The Ken Berry 'Wow' Show. When Vicki Lawrence decided to reprise her uproarious role as Thelma from recurring sketches on The Carol Burnett Show, Berry came on board, first for the 1982 movie Eunice and then as the dim locksmith Vinton (married to Dorothy Lymon's Naomi) on Mama's Family. The comedy debuted in 1983 and lasted two seasons on NBC, then achieved stellar ratings over another four seasons in syndication. On the big screen, the family-friendly Berry also starred in the Disney films Herbie Rides Again (1974) and The Cat From Outer Space (1978). Kenneth Ronald Berry was born Nov. 3, 1933, in Moline, Ill. His father was an accountant and his mother a housewife. As a teenager, he won a chance to dance, sing and tour with The Horace Heidt Youth Opportunity Program; the troupe performed in a different town every Sunday night and even did shows overseas for U.S. Air Force personnel. Berry came home and graduated from Moline High School, then joined the U.S. Army just after the Korean War. He won a talent contest with a tap dancing routine that earned him a trip to New York and a spot on Soldier Parade, an ABC show hosted by Arlene Francis. After Nimoy invited him into the Special Services Corps, which entertained fellow troops around the country, Berry won another talent contest; this one got him on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town. "Lenny told me, 'You ought to get in touch with some of the people at the talent departments at the studios," Berry said in the TV Archive interview. "I said, 'I don't know how to do that.' He said, 'Ah, I'll do it for you.' And he did. He sent wires out to agencies and the people in charge of the talent programs at the various studios. I got a couple of bites, and I took the one from Universal." Berry noted that he was up for a role in Francis in the Haunted House (1956), the final one in the series, but the part when to Mickey Rooney instead. Meanwhile, Berry studied acting at Falcon Studios and landed a gig in Las Vegas with Abbott & Costello at the Sahara. He became a regular with The Billy Barnes Revue, which made it to Broadway, and was spotted by Lucille Ball, who came backstage and offered him a spot in the new talent program at her Desilu Studios. Berry won notice for playing the hotel bellhop Woody on the Desilu-CBS program The Ann Sothren Show and then was a regular on The Bob Newhart Show, the standup comic's first foray into television, in 1962. Berry had recurring roles on two NBC series: Ensign O'Toole, a 1962-63 show that starred Dean Jones, and Richard Chamberlain's Dr. Kildare. His dancing background then helped him land him two episodes of CBS' The Dick Van Dyke Show, on which he played a choreographer. Berry also appeared more than a dozen times on The Carol Burnett Show and performed alongside her in a 1972 TV version of Once Upon a Mattress and on stage in From the Top. In a 1974 episode of the final season of The Brady Bunch, Berry played the adoptive father of three multiracial kids. The episode was meant to serve as a backdoor pilot, but the series was not picked up. Berry also appeared on other TV shows including Combat!, Hazel, Rawhide, Medical Center, Little House on the Prairie (where he played a circus clown), Fantasy Island and The Golden Girls. He also performed around the country in The Music Man, Oklahoma!, Promises, Promises and I Do! I Do! In 1960, Berry married actress Jackie Joseph (The Doris Day Show, the Gremlins movies), whom he had met on The Billy Barnes Revue. They adopted two children before divorcing in 1977. In the TV Archive interview, Berry said that he "didn't make a lot of money, but I made up for it in quantity. When Mama's Family was canceled, I was stunned that the phone didn't ring anymore." He had been working nonstop for 40 years and decided it was time to slow down. The highlight of his career was, without a doubt, F Troop. "I have never been that happy in my life," he said. "I walked on air for a long time. It never let me down. I felt like that every day I went to work. I knew how lucky I was at the time."

12-02-2018, 02:42 AM	#2
Hawkee Michael Fassbender Fanatic Moderator Forum Star Join Date: Jan 17, 2016 Location: California Posts: 10,782	Ken Berry was so cool and a laugh riot to watch because every sitcom he would do would leave people howling with laughter but I think Ken Berry's funniest role in my opinion would be Vinton Harper from Mama's Family because not only was Vinton cool but was very clumsy at times but he was a great son to Velma Harper even if Velma thought Vinton had funny inventions and ideas. Take for example in my favorite Mama's Family episode when Vinton attempted to fix the Harper's telephone by putting in a spare part but instead breaks the telephone and messes up the telephone proves how silly Ken proved to be as a sitcom star and I think that's why Ken won the part of Vinton Harper for Mama's Family. But in sitcom stars today you don't see many actors that can hold a candle to Ken Berry and Ken Berry should be a role model for many sitcom stars today Bestie
	__________________ Hawkee and Aguilar, Hoping to be a great team

12-03-2018, 07:23 PM	#6
storrs19 B&W TV Lover Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 07, 2003 Location: Louisville, Kentucky Posts: 742	Very sad to hear of his passing away. I enjoyed him in all of his shows but I liked Mayberry RFD the best and still watch my “grey area” DVD set of that show regularly.
	__________________ Bring back my B&W TV Shows !!

12-03-2018, 08:35 PM	#7
Patty Duke Good night, John Boy Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 09, 2013 Location: The Land of Milk and Honey Posts: 788	He was a very talented dancer. I also loved him in Mama's Family and Mayberry RFD. Almost all the greats are gone.
	__________________ Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

12-02-2018, 04:31 PM	#4
howilu Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 20, 2003 Location: St. Louis Park, MN Posts: 1,959	Ken Berry was one of the few actors who would have regular roles in three sitcoms. I remember him as Captain Parmenter on F Troop, which was a very funny comedy western; Mayberry RFD, where he portrayed Sam Jones, a councilman and single father to Mike and Vint on Mama's Family. I also remember him on the summer variety show The Ken Berry Wow Show that aired in the summer of 1972. May he rest in peace.

12-03-2018, 07:52 AM	#5
Yong Fang Member Forum 3000 Club Member Join Date: Aug 04, 2009 Location: Memphis Tennessee Posts: 3,073	As a sitcom actor to me he was pretty average. I was never a big fan of the shows he is most remembered for. F Troop was pretty funny as a kid but I haven’t seen that show in forever. Mayberry RFD was just the continuation of the declining TAGS color episodes, and I wasn’t into Mama’s Family either. But one thing Barry was an incredible dancer. Watch some YouTube videos of this guy move. Just pure athleticism. He did a number on the Carol Burnett Show, where he pivoted one foot left and right and slid across the floor. I can’t find the video but I went “How the -beep- did he do that!” I tried, couldn’t figure it out. Michael Jackson could have learned from Ken Berry. Amazing. Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire and Ken Berry was the trilogy.