Millionaire recluse in nursing home? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Sydneysider · 08-12-2006, 09:13 PM

Howdy and greetings from Sydney, Australia!

I’m hoping someone here might know if there were any updates to a story I saw on UM years ago. Would have been 1995 or 96. Problem with UM in Australia was we were probably seeing shows years after they were made, so this story may have screened in the US much earlier than 1995, or whenever I saw it.

Anyway there was a retired gentleman living in a nursing home somewhere in the US. (Sorry, I cannot recall the names of any of the people or locations) He really didn’t talk much to other residents, or staff, of the facility, so no one really knew much about him.

Apparently he used to spend his days just watching traffic driving passed on the road out the front of the home.

So he died eventually. I believe there was nothing sinister about this, it was just natural causes. If I recall correctly he didn’t leave a will, and there were no known relatives, or family around.

So the public trustee (or the US equivalent) went about sorting out his affairs. In the process they discovered the deceased had hundreds of bank accounts all over the US, and the combined balances added up to about a million dollars!

The staff of the nursing home were interviewed in hopes of finding any leads to an heir to his money. Most of the nursing staff said no one ever came to see him, but someone recalled a woman did visit him just once. They had no idea who she was, and they never saw her again.

So UM was trying to track down this woman in the hope she may have had some connection to this mysterious gentleman, and lead them to any family he may have had, etc.

Does this story ring any bells for anyone here? Was there ever an update of any sort?

Thanks for your help!

DarkDante · 08-12-2006, 10:16 PM

Wow this is very interesting. Are you sure you saw this case in the mid 90s?

This is the case of George Marsh and was actually from the 3rd UM special featuring Karl Malden as the host instead of Robert Stack. They profiled Marsh who died in a Kansas City Nursing home and left a good deal of money and several yellowed snapshots behind as the only clues to his past.

Through UM they eventually did locate his heirs.

What is an "eye-opener" to me is the specials featuring hosts other than Robert Stack (specials #1-3) have never been syndicated in the United States since their airings in 1987 and 1988.

Your posting seems to suggest that at some point in time, in other places of the world, other networks syndicated the "Pre-Stack" specials. I wonder if these networks also syndicated the UM episodes as the originally aired as oppose to the "Lifetime" edits we get here in the United States.

VERY VERY INTERESTING!

Sydneysider · 08-13-2006, 12:04 AM

Cheers DarkDante! I've looked George Marsh up, and see there is an update thread on this board. Ok, so he was not quite a millionaire, but I still found his story really interesting.

As to when I saw this. I'm pretty sure it was around the mid 90's. Could have been anytime between 93 - 96 tho. UM was aired on a Saturday nite at about 7pm if I remember rightly. It was a kind of "fill-in" programme here, it was on after the evening news, but before the Saturday night movie.

I think we here only ever saw two or three series tho. I remember seeing the story about the 2 DJs who faked that on air murder confession twice and thinking "ah, these are just re-runs of re-runs!"

You know I didn't even realise UM had a host other than Mr Stack! Mind you it's been 10 years since I last saw the show!

crystaldawn · 08-13-2006, 07:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sydneysider

You know I didn't even realise UM had a host other than Mr Stack!

If you saw the original airing of the George Marsh case then Karl Malden would have been narrating it, not Robert Stack. Do you remember that? I also find it very interesting that apparently the PSS were shown in Australia.

Sydneysider · 08-14-2006, 04:09 AM

On further thought, I think I do recall noting a change in UM hosts.

Though I don't really know for sure, I think the TV station here screening UM at the time (Channel 10 - one of just five of the "free to air" TV stations in Aust!) only had access to two or three series (plus some of the "specials" by the sounds of things) but just aired programmes at random from the "pool", if that makes any sense.

For example I mentioned seeing the case of the two radio DJs faking that on-air murder confession. They actually replayed that show maybe four or five months after I originally saw it! It was also clear from the dates mentioned on UM, that we in Australia where seeing shows a good few years after they were made.

Despite Channel 10 apprently regarding it as "fill-in" material, I and many others did enjoy UM, and Robert Stack, and his presenting style, were a bit of a talking point, at the water cooler on Mondays back at work!

I dare say it is still showing here somewhere, in a late night spot, possibly on one of the cable networks, but I couldn't be sure of that.

starlette · 08-14-2006, 06:38 PM

I think UM is still showing on Foxtel - not sure of the channel though as we do not have it. Where in Sydney are you Sydneysider?

Sydneysider · 08-15-2006, 08:53 AM

Howdy Starlette, I'm in Randwick, and yourself? Don't have Foxtel either (despite the reps doing a marketing blitz in the area recently), barely get to see what's on free-to-air, let alone paying for something I'd never watch!

08-13-2006, 12:04 AM	#3
Sydneysider Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 12, 2006 Location: Sydney Posts: 5	Thanks! Cheers DarkDante! I've looked George Marsh up, and see there is an update thread on this board. Ok, so he was not quite a millionaire, but I still found his story really interesting. As to when I saw this. I'm pretty sure it was around the mid 90's. Could have been anytime between 93 - 96 tho. UM was aired on a Saturday nite at about 7pm if I remember rightly. It was a kind of "fill-in" programme here, it was on after the evening news, but before the Saturday night movie. I think we here only ever saw two or three series tho. I remember seeing the story about the 2 DJs who faked that on air murder confession twice and thinking "ah, these are just re-runs of re-runs!" You know I didn't even realise UM had a host other than Mr Stack! Mind you it's been 10 years since I last saw the show!

08-12-2006, 09:13 PM	#1
Sydneysider Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 12, 2006 Location: Sydney Posts: 5	Millionaire recluse in nursing home? Howdy and greetings from Sydney, Australia! I’m hoping someone here might know if there were any updates to a story I saw on UM years ago. Would have been 1995 or 96. Problem with UM in Australia was we were probably seeing shows years after they were made, so this story may have screened in the US much earlier than 1995, or whenever I saw it. Anyway there was a retired gentleman living in a nursing home somewhere in the US. (Sorry, I cannot recall the names of any of the people or locations) He really didn’t talk much to other residents, or staff, of the facility, so no one really knew much about him. Apparently he used to spend his days just watching traffic driving passed on the road out the front of the home. So he died eventually. I believe there was nothing sinister about this, it was just natural causes. If I recall correctly he didn’t leave a will, and there were no known relatives, or family around. So the public trustee (or the US equivalent) went about sorting out his affairs. In the process they discovered the deceased had hundreds of bank accounts all over the US, and the combined balances added up to about a million dollars! The staff of the nursing home were interviewed in hopes of finding any leads to an heir to his money. Most of the nursing staff said no one ever came to see him, but someone recalled a woman did visit him just once. They had no idea who she was, and they never saw her again. So UM was trying to track down this woman in the hope she may have had some connection to this mysterious gentleman, and lead them to any family he may have had, etc. Does this story ring any bells for anyone here? Was there ever an update of any sort? Thanks for your help!

08-12-2006, 10:16 PM	#2
DarkDante Member Senior Member Join Date: Jul 27, 2002 Posts: 1,569	Wow this is very interesting. Are you sure you saw this case in the mid 90s? This is the case of George Marsh and was actually from the 3rd UM special featuring Karl Malden as the host instead of Robert Stack. They profiled Marsh who died in a Kansas City Nursing home and left a good deal of money and several yellowed snapshots behind as the only clues to his past. Through UM they eventually did locate his heirs. What is an "eye-opener" to me is the specials featuring hosts other than Robert Stack (specials #1-3) have never been syndicated in the United States since their airings in 1987 and 1988. Your posting seems to suggest that at some point in time, in other places of the world, other networks syndicated the "Pre-Stack" specials. I wonder if these networks also syndicated the UM episodes as the originally aired as oppose to the "Lifetime" edits we get here in the United States. VERY VERY INTERESTING!

08-14-2006, 04:09 AM	#5
Sydneysider Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 12, 2006 Location: Sydney Posts: 5	On further thought, I think I do recall noting a change in UM hosts. Though I don't really know for sure, I think the TV station here screening UM at the time (Channel 10 - one of just five of the "free to air" TV stations in Aust!) only had access to two or three series (plus some of the "specials" by the sounds of things) but just aired programmes at random from the "pool", if that makes any sense. For example I mentioned seeing the case of the two radio DJs faking that on-air murder confession. They actually replayed that show maybe four or five months after I originally saw it! It was also clear from the dates mentioned on UM, that we in Australia where seeing shows a good few years after they were made. Despite Channel 10 apprently regarding it as "fill-in" material, I and many others did enjoy UM, and Robert Stack, and his presenting style, were a bit of a talking point, at the water cooler on Mondays back at work! I dare say it is still showing here somewhere, in a late night spot, possibly on one of the cable networks, but I couldn't be sure of that.

08-14-2006, 06:38 PM	#6
starlette Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 10, 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 10	I think UM is still showing on Foxtel - not sure of the channel though as we do not have it. Where in Sydney are you Sydneysider?

08-15-2006, 08:53 AM	#7
Sydneysider Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Aug 12, 2006 Location: Sydney Posts: 5	Howdy Starlette, I'm in Randwick, and yourself? Don't have Foxtel either (despite the reps doing a marketing blitz in the area recently), barely get to see what's on free-to-air, let alone paying for something I'd never watch!