Hazel and bowling

[MichaelKeith]

Was Shirley Booth really as good a bowler as they portrayed her to be on Hazel? I know bowling was really popular in the 50s and 60s and guess that she may have been but wanted to see if anyone has heard anything definitive on this.

[Leslie Eckhardt]

Originally Posted by MichaelKeith

Was Shirley Booth really as good a bowler as they portrayed her to be on Hazel? I know bowling was really popular in the 50s and 60s and guess that she may have been but wanted to see if anyone has heard anything definitive on this.

I have watched the bowling sequences on Hazel very closely to see if it was really Shirley Booth and she appears to sometimes, but not always turn her face to the camera after she gets a strike, indicating that it was she who threw the ball. Don DeFore, in the episode "The Natural Athlete" seems to do this most of the time in his shots, indicating that perhaps he was a pretty good bowler. They may have shot Shirley Booth's sequences in several takes until she actually got a strike. (After all, the lady was about 64 when they were filming this.) In a coincidence, I went bowling today for the first time in 15 years. Hazel would not have been proud of my scores on the two games I bowled!

[1960'sTVfan]

I also enjoy the episode The Natural Athlete where Hazel and Mr. B. compete in a game of bowling. Back in the 1980's I was a pretty good bowler, I was in a Tuesday night league and had a 172 average. But I haven't bowled regularly in about 20 years, if I went bowling now I'd probably be lucky to bowl a score of 120. If I would take up the sport again and join a league, I imagine with practice I eventually might be able to get my average back to near what it used to be in my bowling heyday.

A side note: I'm purchasing a house and will be moving soon, so I'm pretty busy these days preparing to move and don't have the time to post here at sitcoms online as often as I'd like. Hopefully things will get back to normal in a few months or so, and after I get settled in to the new place I can contribute here more often again. I'm moving from the city to the country where cost of living is much cheaper. The house I'm buying is big and roomy with over 1 acre of land. I've always been a city person so moving to the country will be a life adjustment for me, moving is a stressful experience but in the grand scheme of things I think this will be a good move.

[Leslie Eckhardt]

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

I also enjoy the episode The Natural Athlete where Hazel and Mr. B. compete in a game of bowling. Back in the 1980's I was a pretty good bowler, I was in a Tuesday night league and had a 172 average. But I haven't bowled regularly in about 20 years, if I went bowling now I'd probably be lucky to bowl a score of 120. If I would take up the sport again and join a league, I imagine with practice I eventually might be able to get my average back to near what it used to be in my bowling heyday.

A side note: I'm purchasing a house and will be moving soon, so I'm pretty busy these days preparing to move and don't have the time to post here at sitcoms online as often as I'd like. Hopefully things will get back to normal in a few months or so, and after I get settled in to the new place I can contribute here more often again. I'm moving from the city to the country where cost of living is much cheaper. The house I'm buying is big and roomy with over 1 acre of land. I've always been a city person so moving to the country will be a life adjustment for me, moving is a stressful experience but in the grand scheme of things I think this will be a good move.

Good luck with your move! My friend and I are planning to relocate from Chicago to Normal, Il in about three months. Having been a city person all my adult life, I feel that it's time for a less stressful, more peaceful lifestyle. There is much crime and gang activity where I am and I need to "get away from it all", to quote a Hazel episode title.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by Leslie Eckhardt

Good luck with your move! My friend and I are planning to relocate from Chicago to Normal, Il in about three months. Having been a city person all my adult life, I feel that it's time for a less stressful, more peaceful lifestyle. There is much crime and gang activity where I am and I need to "get away from it all", to quote a Hazel episode title.

Good luck with your move also. I'm nervous about mine but I have to do it, it's time to move on. It will take some time getting used to the new surroundings, but all things considered I think it will be a good move for me.

Getting back to Hazel and bowling, when Shirley Booth approches the foul line and releases the ball, it looks like the scene then cuts and when you see the ball roll down the lane, I think that is someone else's ball not Shirley Booth's. In the episode where Hazel bowls against Mr. B., I think they do a similar edit job with Don DeFore's bowling, but in the earlier scenes when he is practicing, that is him bowling all the way there is no fancy edit work.

[Hazel Anyday]

Yes, I've seen the bowling show many times. And some of the shots you can tell it's actually Hazel bowling and getting the strikes. But on other shots where it shows Hazel bowl the ball then suddenly cuts to the shot of the ball knocking over all the pins those shots are obviously not Hazel's real bowling. Same with Mr. B, he had real shots of him bowling strikes and other phonied shots. What the heck, it's TV Land where everyone bowls a strike!

[MrMattyMatt]

There is one shot where it looks as if the final pins of a strike were pulled down with hidden wires. Perhaps they used a "rigged" lane where every attempt would result in a strike as long ass the ball hit one of the pins?