Guest-actors doing double-duty too - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

broadmoor · 09-04-2010, 03:49 PM

Gee, dual roles must be catching. Watching this 3rd-season set, Patty Duke is hardly the only one demonstrating multiple characters. A number of guest supporting actors do double-duty too, albeit 'not' in the same episodes. First I noticed Natalie Masters (whom I always associate with Jack Webb and old-time radio) appeared as a visiting neighbor, Mrs. Marlow, in "A Foggy Day..." and "Our Daughter the Artist." But between those two episodes, she had a scene as a nurse in the funny "Operation: Tonsils" episode (where her face was actually obscured by a surgical mask), and then later on in the season, she appeared as Patty's teacher in "Patty, the Diplomat."

Ronnie Schell also gets a trio of different roles, first as Louie, the ice-cream shop proprietor in the aforementioned "Our Daughter the Artist." Then, with a ridiculous fright wig, he hams it up terribly as a poet/patient in "Patty the Candy Striper." Much later in the season, he appears as a married buddy of Patty and Richard's in "Fiancee for a Day." Any resulting identity crisis was hopefully squelched once he shipped out to the Marines and befriended Gomer. Steve Franken, of "Dobie Gillis" fame, also gets a couple of roles, first as a moody drama-student in "Sick in Bed," and then later as a mustachioed 'older man' date of Patty's in "Do You Trust Your Daughter," one of the strongest, if not somewhat disquieting, episodes out of season-3. Then, there's Mickey Deems, whom I recall seeing years back in that touring "Sugar Babies" revue with Mickey Rooney, appearing here in two totally different roles: made up (rather unconvincingly) as a professor/patient in "Patty the Candy Striper," and then two episodes later as a doctor in "Cathy Leaves Home."

Anyway, I don't know if the casting director was in a rut, or getting some kind of two-fer discount sale, but it started getting noticeable after a while. Actually, with the move of production to Hollywood that season, there is an uptick in familiar character actors, like Byron Foulger, Ken Lynch, Elvia Allman, Ned Glass, Amzie Strickland and such, who were old hands at perking up material. And frankly, this 3rd-season sometimes needed all the extra help it could get. Even though there are many good, memorable moments, the series as a whole seemed to get knocked off-kilter to a certain degree.

09-04-2010, 03:49 PM	#1
broadmoor Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Jul 10, 2010 Location: texas Posts: 489	Guest-actors doing double-duty too Gee, dual roles must be catching. Watching this 3rd-season set, Patty Duke is hardly the only one demonstrating multiple characters. A number of guest supporting actors do double-duty too, albeit 'not' in the same episodes. First I noticed Natalie Masters (whom I always associate with Jack Webb and old-time radio) appeared as a visiting neighbor, Mrs. Marlow, in "A Foggy Day..." and "Our Daughter the Artist." But between those two episodes, she had a scene as a nurse in the funny "Operation: Tonsils" episode (where her face was actually obscured by a surgical mask), and then later on in the season, she appeared as Patty's teacher in "Patty, the Diplomat." Ronnie Schell also gets a trio of different roles, first as Louie, the ice-cream shop proprietor in the aforementioned "Our Daughter the Artist." Then, with a ridiculous fright wig, he hams it up terribly as a poet/patient in "Patty the Candy Striper." Much later in the season, he appears as a married buddy of Patty and Richard's in "Fiancee for a Day." Any resulting identity crisis was hopefully squelched once he shipped out to the Marines and befriended Gomer. Steve Franken, of "Dobie Gillis" fame, also gets a couple of roles, first as a moody drama-student in "Sick in Bed," and then later as a mustachioed 'older man' date of Patty's in "Do You Trust Your Daughter," one of the strongest, if not somewhat disquieting, episodes out of season-3. Then, there's Mickey Deems, whom I recall seeing years back in that touring "Sugar Babies" revue with Mickey Rooney, appearing here in two totally different roles: made up (rather unconvincingly) as a professor/patient in "Patty the Candy Striper," and then two episodes later as a doctor in "Cathy Leaves Home." Anyway, I don't know if the casting director was in a rut, or getting some kind of two-fer discount sale, but it started getting noticeable after a while. Actually, with the move of production to Hollywood that season, there is an uptick in familiar character actors, like Byron Foulger, Ken Lynch, Elvia Allman, Ned Glass, Amzie Strickland and such, who were old hands at perking up material. And frankly, this 3rd-season sometimes needed all the extra help it could get. Even though there are many good, memorable moments, the series as a whole seemed to get knocked off-kilter to a certain degree.