I planned the whole thing. He would have figured that out, but I think for him the funeral, the procession, was part of the process. Although Bendix's considerable acting chops allowed him to believably play both heroes and villains, it was as the loveable blue-collar factory worker Chester A. Riley that he is best remembered, first on radio and then in the 1949 movie of the same name. Dr. Beamish: Not now, I'm afraid. Chester A. Riley is back, with long-suffering wife Peg, trouble-prone kids Junior and Babs, moochy pal Gillis, and Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker in sixteen hilarious half-hour episodes. 460 Tennessee Street #200, Memphis, TN 38103. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. And most good customs allow for some wiggle room, you know. Don't forget the gallon I gave to the Red Cross. Peg Riley: Theatre, huh? Burial was the norm in the Western world probably until the mid-60s. The Milford location is one of six Lynch funeral homes in the state. The program was broadcast live with a studio audience, most of whom were not aware Brown played both characters. But more and more, when we say to them, "You may, and maybe you ought " or, "Maybe someone in your family should be designated, just to go in as your proxy, to say, 'Everything was done as it should be done,'" they do it. Chester A. Riley: No. I thought, this guy could play it. Well, if you ask any group of ordinary citizens, "How many here have attended a cremation?" For years, it was propped against a rugged concrete base, in a cluster of crepe myrtles on the southern edge of the park, close to the intersection of Poplar and Cooper. And you have mentioned the range of feelings and emotions at a funeral. And yeah, everything plays its part in that. Everything seems to fall into place. [6][7], The NBC adaptation, also created by Irving Brecher, was a single-season home|introduction|watch online|stories & special video|to be an undertaker|join the discussion When families come in and have their loved one cremated, do you talk to them about going with you to the crematorium? Isn't that awful? But I remember coming home after the mass and the burial and the luncheon, getting back to her house -- it was about 3:00-ish in the afternoon -- and thinking, "The trick-or-treaters are coming." We're celebrating love, huh? This is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the winter and spring of 2006-2007. We'd just say, "Well, let's not think about that anymore." Every time I have a birthday, I realize that Mom's getting a year older. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 8, 1950 with William Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Meg Randall . Maybe because it's happening to their parents or their siblings and some of their friends now, suddenly I see the cultural conversation changing from "how much?" Do you hear that, Peg? And he's sorry to this day! What a revoltin' development, indeed." Digger O'Dell Buried For Good This Time. Web. He jumps across the line just as a girl, who is covered by a blanket, is being shot by an arrow and plunges off a cliff. During cocktails, a bill collector from the electric company shows up, and after Riley sends him on his way, he disconnects the Rileys' electricity. It follows the changes in our species, certainly in our culture. I went back to my father's house, and I remember thinking, "But life goes on." "[2], The reworked script cast Bendix as blundering Chester A. Riley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. "I play every chance I get music, that is!" Mounted on one of his five Harleys and racing most everywhere across the nation will be National Number 57; that's "Digger O'Dell," the friendly undertaker. Chester A. Riley: I don't think you heard me, peg. Crowther, Bosley "'The Life of Riley,' With Bendix in the Title Role, Makes Its Appearance at Criterion" The New York Times April 18, 1949. For 28 years, the CHFB has been the essential site for classic horror news, research and enthusiasm. . He made the news by being buried alive. One option is organic fertilizer made from chicken manure, which can be found at Menard's for a reasonable price of $10.99 per 25-pound bag. One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby Digger ODell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. There are days I can get behind that theory and have. Mrs. Abigail Uppington, the wimpy Wallace Wimple and the "friendly undertaker," Digger O'Dell. What are you doin' here in the park? When Monahan and his new wife Lucy arrive for dinner, Riley is envious of his former rival's obvious wealth and tries to hide his own financial shortcomings. Well, both my parents were buried like Irish Catholics were buried, so there was this sort of tribal and religious language that had been developed over centuries for how we do this. Babs: Well, I think he ought to get a fair trial. 461. I know it won't matter, it will be others, but do you see yourself as the fire or the earth, or --? Sponsors of the TV show included Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer (194950), Gulf Oil (195358) and Lever Brothers (195758). She means other kinds of trouble. Chester A. Riley: Oh. We get to say when people are dead to us, or dead enough, so that we can let them go. His frequent exclamation of indignation"What a revoltin' development this is! At the mobile home park, a local reporter didnt have a very high opinion of the aging stuntman, writing, He has the flushed face and shaking hand of a man who has seen the sun rise over many an empty bottle. Digger showed up at the park wearing only a bathrobe. Junior will be glad to pitch in. I mean, it's uncomfortable, and I don't know what to say any more than the next guy, and I don't do strawberry rhubarb pie. And that's very seductive, because, I mean, it's human-to-human contact. But people will go home, and they will look at pictures of the dead; they'll look at movies of the dead; they'll quote the dead to one another; and they will weep and laugh and carry on. It then went into syndicated reruns. But when people go with us, it's at the back end of an industrial park in Lavonia, near a railroad track, so it's unlike the kind of commemorative surroundings that we have in our local cemeteries -- more is the pity. he must have stuck eith me, because I will go as Digger to a neighborhood "post Halloween" block party this afternoon. So we had those advantages. By Lorraine LoBianco. While we would all agree that death is never funny, this show had an usual character in it by the name of Digby "Digger". He also portrayed "the friendly undertaker" Digby "Digger" O'Dell on the same show. Humiliated, Riley vows to Peg that he will become more successful, and after six weeks of working overtime, he volunteers to host the company's Labor Day beach picnic. Actor Ted de Corsia's name appears as both "de Corsia" and "deCorsia" in the onscreen credits. When he his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from the audience. The Brother immediately. So I like the word "funeral" for what we're doing here, because it doesn't require me to feel this way or that. And does the rise in cremation in America parallel changes in demographics? What are you doin' here in the park? He's resting. I see my sons now working through this, and their generation. Buried alive? The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." Jim Gillis: They put you to sleep. I was thrilled to find IA, where I can find some of those classics. Digger O-Dell And The Friendly Undertakers. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on . And we come away from these memorial events, these celebrations of life, with the increasing sense that something is missing. Simon Vanderhopper: Well, you can't call it off! Chester A. Riley is back, with long-suffering wife Peg, trouble-prone kids Junior and Babs, moochy pal Gillis, and Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker in sixteen hilarious half-hour episodes. And that's unfortunate. Whether in the most abstract sense or in the most particular, this is a safe harbor, a place they can have that conversation. So yes, the hurt is there, but the hurt does not overwhelm. There must be some reason for it! Punchy: Hey, why don't you get up, pal? The American Meat Institute (194445), Procter & Gamble (Teel dentifrice and Prell shampoo) (194549), and Pabst Blue Ribbon beer (194951) took turns as the radio program's sponsor. Most say, "No, go ahead and take care of that." So Ive got only one inch to run around in.. He'd made a few films, like Lifeboat, but he was not a name. You can read in history books about the way a funeral procession was laid out -- which civic group, which ecclesiastical group, which fraternal group, which family group -- how everybody was lined up, so that as people walked in, there was this rise and fall of relationship and grief, and people know this, that good, orderly direction that was assumed by this process, this ritual. But you have to do that first, because people will sense if you're not willing to do that, if you're just sort of going through the motions. Who were the other musicians in that performance? He has been buried in a concrete vault for 36 days, sealed in glass 33 days, and spent 26 days underwater., But somewhere along the way, he decided to concentrate on burying himself in the worlds smallest apartment, as the various promotions called it. The open casket, it is something that's often mocked. Well, if it's such a gift, why did it cost you 25 dollars? Rejected everywhere, Riley reluctantly asks Monahan for the money, but Monahan also refuses him. Jim Gillis: I know a lot about surgery. I see no difference in the machinery it takes to dig a hole [and] the machinery it takes to build a fire. Dunning, John On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio The Internet Movie Database [citation needed], In 1948, NBC broadcast "two live television test programs based on the radio series. I really think my people will know what to do when the time comes, and these are details I won't have to worry about. Both [are part of] this effort to say something about something unspeakable -- great love, great loss, great hope, great fear, great doubt, the fist we shake in God's face, asking him, "What did you have in mind here?". Will that matter? Patricia Hall was listed as a cast member in a Hollywood Reporter news item, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed. While the ratio may not be ideal for tomatoes, it can still produce great results with some preparation and understanding of the plant's genetic potential. He never came back here, as promised, but he continued to perform these stunts until he died in 1999, at the age of 83. He had a new book out about God not being great. The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. [citation needed] Brown's lines as the undertaker were often repetitive, including puns based on his profession; but thanks to Brown's delivery, the audience loved him. He first started doing various stunts in 1932, a time when people were trying to make crazy money with dancing marathons, flagpole sitting, and other endurance feats. Once he had to be pulled from his apartment after the dirt sides turned to mud and caved in after a thunderstorm. It was just doing the next right thing. What can you tell me about this interesting fellow? Peg Riley: Oh? Get Ready for a New Season of Gardening -Choose from Tomatoes, Peaches, Corn, Zinnias & More! What is your sense of what's driven and shaped that conversation, and what, if anything, has been missing from that public view of it all? Searching for Herbert ODell Smith took me nowhere, and youd be surprised how many people in America are named Digger ODell. Why, theres Edwin Digger Odell of Abilene, Texas; Allen Digger ODell of Malvern, Iowa; Charles Wayne Digger ODell of Lebanon, Tennessee; Loren Digger ODell of Brookfield, Missouri you get the picture. So what I find is that before people bring their expertise as an embalmer or as a manager or as an executive or as a director, before any expertise, you ante up your humanity, you know? And I do think that while the dead don't care, the dead matter. Before going, Riley instructs his precocious son Junior to exchange his piggy bank coins into bills and meet him at the restaurant, assuming that Junior's savings combined with his five dollars will be enough to pay for the meal. When Riley learns that the couple is to spend their honeymoon in separate rooms, he becomes suspicious. And I think this has to do with our notions about fire itself. During a burial in California, a sudden earthquake caved in the sides of his "apartment" and he had to be rescued. Chester A. Riley: What do you mean the baby announcements? Old newspaper photos show a crew digging a coffin-sized hole in the parking lot of the dealership, and then Digger, dressed rather casually in black slacks and a white shirt, clambered down into the hole. Because of its overwhelming radio popularity, Riley graduated as easily to a 1949 feature film, as it did to 1950s television. The local newspapers reported that an 18x24-inch plywood air shaft allowed Digger to receive air and food, and he had carefully stocked his tiny domicile with lights, reading glasses, even packs of cigarettes. The Life of Riley (1949) co-starred Rosemary DeCamp, James Gleason, Beluah Bondi, Richard Long and John Brown as "Digger O'Dell" the friendly undertaker, a role that he also played on the radio program. Whats more, said one newspaper, in his heyday, he could knock down $15,000 for a 60-day burial. At the mobile home park, the only money he brought home came from contributions. Some do. I'm certain the same thing holds for people who put their dead in the sea or the fire or a tomb -- that we need time to disengage. But when some widowed person comes out and takes you by the shoulders and said, "Thank you, I couldn't have done this without you," and all you did was be there, or answer the call, or show up, there's this deep sense of having been of use to people at a time of need. All to the good, I say. to "what are we going to do?" 2 Mar. However, it came to an end after 26 episodes because Irving Brecher and sponsor Pabst Brewing Company reached an impasse on extending the series for a full 39-week season. Buy Organic Seeds Risk Free From Organic Seeds TOP - Credit Card & Western Union Payment Options, Organic Seeds TOP is a seed vendor based in the Ukraine. I think we're all complicit in the banishment of the dead to the peripheries. Stevenson's ne'er-do-well son Burt, meanwhile, is cornered at the picnic by a thug named Norman, who demands that he repay a $25,000 gambling debt. After Riley overhears Burt discussing "business" with Norman, he beats up Norman and drags him before the wedding crowd. While readying for Monahan, Riley's daughter Babs, a serious-minded college student, catches the eye of Miss Bogle's handsome young nephew, Jeff Taylor. And there's somebody else doing this, that. The lead character was changed to Chester A. Riley, the title was changed to The Life of Riley and a show and star were born. The program even utilized a stable of so-called "silent" characters, individuals referred to often but never actually heard. Cast & Crew Read More Irving Brecher Director William Bendix Chester A. Riley James Gleason Gillis Rosemary Decamp Peg Riley Bill Goodwin Sidney Monahan Beulah Bondi Miss [Martha] Bogle Film Details Genre Comedy Release Date Mar 1949 Premiere Information Then, his wife Peg receives a phone call from Sidney Monahan, a former flame from Brooklyn, their home town, and Riley impulsively invites him to dinner. Chester A. Riley: Yeah! Are social changes the reasons that we are more fearful and reluctant to deal with death in our everyday lives? "You have to have helpers 24 hours a day.". It is that everything changes and nothing changes. I've really come to the point where I can see in a fire all that release; I can see the Holy Spirit in it, you know. Give me a sense of the changes in attitudes toward death in America. Last updated Jun 12 2013. Who is the producer of syndicated radio's 'The Sean Hannity Show' that is consistently referred to on-air as "Sweet Baby James"? When you grow up in funeral service, you always have a job. Peg Riley: My father let me decide who I wanted to go around with. Plunged into darkness, Riley takes the advice of friend and neighbor, undertaker "Digger" O'Dell, and invites his guests to a restaurant. A cover was placed over his apartment and he was sealed in, with the intention being to break the personal record of 57 days that he had set here during his previous visit to Memphis, though that location wasnt mentioned. I think the national rate now is right around 38 percent. MUSIC: THEME FILLS A PAUSE, THEN FADES OUT ANNCR: A daughter is no longer the daughter only or the son no longer the son only. Starting with the right soil and conditions can make all the difference when it comes to germination and transplanting of pepper seedlings. What is missing is the corpse: the thing itself, not the idea of the thing. And they take a very sharp instrument. He'll never amount to anything. All rights reserved. Instead, Jackie Gleason starred, with Rosemary DeCamp replacing Paula Winslowe as wife Peg, Gloria Winters as daughter Barbara (Babs), Lanny Rees as son Chester Jr. (Junior), and Sid Tomack as Jim Gillis, Riley's manipulative best buddy and next-door neighbor. interview with the film's producers|credits|privacy policy|journalistic guidelines She just cant help being money hungry.. This is a sign to me that they don't care, that heaven is not having to worry about these things, so I'm determined not to worry about them either. The company offers Elephant Gigantes seeds, as well as free seeds that come with recommended shelf life information included. Though other friends may fail you, I shall be the last to let you down." Chester A. Riley: What do you think I'm paying you ten cents a week for, to spy on Babs! And I have found that, whether I'm walking in the door with a stretcher and one of my own to help carry their dead out, or if I'm going to the hospital to visit a sick relative or friend, or if I show up for a funeral at another place, you know, at a distance, they thank you for that. Chester A. Riley : Hello, Digger. Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eilerplus series creator Irving Brecher . I think we're among the first couple generations for whom the presence of the dead at their funerals has become optional, and I see that as probably not good news for the culture at large. Details Select delivery location Used: Like New | Details Sold by ral Add to Cart New & Used (2) from FREE Shipping Have one to sell? Banners asked customers and anyone driving past the Buick showroom on Union Avenue, "HOW LONG CAN HE STAY BURIED ALIVE?" Mar You're sweet, though. Too often Bendix was cast as a mental case who enjoyed smashing skulls, or his roles would take his gentle giant exterior to the extreme and he would be cast as an overgrown child as in "The Babe Ruth Story". For that matter, a popular plant nursery just outside of town on Highway 64 is called Digger ODells, but thats yet another Digger (real name: Dennis). What is it, a boy or a girl? Everything seems to fall into place. The radio program initially aired on the Blue Network (later known as ABC) from January 16, 1944, to July 8, 1945, it then moved to NBC, where it was broadcast from September 8, 1945, to June 29, 1951. I don't know what my part of it is, except it's duty, detail: Show up, do this, do that, be sure the car starts, keep it clean, you know, that type of thing. But then I can read the work of Barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S. Even a criminal gets time off for good behavior. I cant say what finally happened to Digger. Once Riley declares to Stevenson that he does not want the promotion, Babs realizes she is free and runs into Jeff's waiting arms. On the day of Babs's wedding, which is to take place at the Stevenson mansion, Riley becomes annoyed and hurt when Gillis, his best friend and co-worker, snubs him because he is sure that Riley "sold" his daughter to get the promotion. A great memorable quote from the The Life of Riley movie on Quotes.net - "It is I, Digger O'Dell, your friendly undertaker. The custom of eulogy, what is its meaning? Chester A. Riley: Yes. But when the entire conversation circles around and around about how much it's going to cost or how can you prevent this charge, I just find it silly after a while. The Life of Riley was the initial release of Brecher Productions, Inc. William Bendix first played "Riley" in the popular NBC radio series on which this film was based, and John Brown played "'Digger' O'Dell" in the series. And this movement, emotionally, is mirrored by a physical movement. Chester A. Riley: Besides that, he's nothing but a lazy loafer. And a narrative is nothing other than a journey. Where is the meaning? The dead matter to the living. [1], William Bendix also starred in the 1949 film version of The Life of Riley directed by Irving Brecher. The trouble is, in our culture we try to have one or the other -- either/or -- and it's both and then some in real experience. So I'm interested in it. MUSIC: LOU KOSLOFF'S "LIFE OF RILEY THEME" . I think cremation very much is like us. Don't you worry about him; we'll pull him through. John Brown returned as the morbid, counseling undertaker Digby (Digger) O'Dell. Whether someone comes into the funeral home insisting on the least expensive or the most expensive, I see in both cases an effort to assign value to cost, and I just think in my own experience it's never had much to do with it. Chester A. Riley: "Babs Riley Featured in Annual School Follies". And for those who are unchurched or unfamiliar in any tradition that gives them sort of the framework for this, a funeral home is still a safe place to talk about matters mortuary and matters of mortality. According to the 1999 obituary, Digger was survived by his wife, Julie Ann "Maggie" Smith of Dawsonville, Georgia; a son, Bobby Smith, of Lakewell, Florida; and a stepson, Timothy Eugene Fowler, of Gainesville, Georgia. Portrayed Chester A. Riley's neighbor Gillis on "The Life of Riley" for ABC Radio (1944-1945) and NBC Radio (1945-1951). Radio historian Gerald Nachman quotes Brecher as stating, "He was a Brooklyn guy and there was something about him. [citation needed] Mel Blanc provided some voices as well, including that of Junior's dog Tiger as well as that of a dog catcher who claimed to have a special bond with dogs. The boss' son (Long), who is in love with Babs, suggests that they get married in order to save Riley's job. Brecher Productions, Inc.; Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc. "Digger" O'Dell, "the friendly undertaker", William Bendix came to the attention of the public in the 1944 Alfred Hitchcock film, Lifeboat , playing a dim-witted sailor who doesn't survive the ordeal. For some people it's not the open casket and the three-day wake and the roses and the limousines and the Panis Angelicus. Though other friends may fail you, I shall be the last to let you down.". Quotes.net. And oftentimes I'm impressed by how people will wrap their existential concerns about a dying parent in the prearrangement conference. I just gave him a sedative. I think he was keenly aware of the fact that a good funeral is not about what we buy or what we spend; that a good funeral is very much about what we do when someone dies. That is a wheel we can only invent at the time it happens. He played "Al" on the radio series "My Friend Irma". With your own mother and father and their funerals, what were the moments that had meaning for you? I'm the guy that has the hearse, but there's someone else in town who is making a strawberry rhubarb pie to bring to the luncheon afterward, and that's what she's doing on the day. He was Herbert ODell Smith, and he conducted this buried alive stunt, along with countless other feats of endurance, across the South. To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. No word on whether anyone felt like carrying on the family tradition. I said NO! Do they get through it better? I admire entrepreneurs and performers as much as the next guy, but it was surely a miserable way to make a living. We saw people start organizing these commemorative events to which everyone was invited but the dead guy. Help came from Digger O'Dell, the "friendly undertaker," who offered gruesome theories laced with repetitive puns, brilliantly delivered by John Brown. Chester A. Riley: Gee, Gillis, you're brave - making out you're happy when all the time, inside, you've got a broken heart. Gene Krupa performed his famous drum solo ("Sing, Sing, Sing") on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1960. Well, read it closely, and what I've written is that as long as they deal with it, I don't care what they do. Another time, firefighters rescued him after he apparently suffered a heart attack underground. There is a comfort when you don't have to reinvent that wheel, when we know we have to be at church at a certain time and that these prayers will be said and not those, and that this is accustomed behavior and this is outside the pale, and this is where we go. I'll treat her just like she wasn't my wife. What are you doin' here in the park?Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Chester A. Riley: Okay, maybe he ain't no Gregory Peck, but my boy's got it up here [points to head] . And I find that latter conversation much more compelling and much more difficult, because it's not as easy as dollars and cents. What you're looking at [in the case of someone being there during that time] is everything's in order. From NE Ohio to North Central Mississippi, everyone has their own ideas and preferences for what they will plant this year. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract (part II). Executives, who immediately began production on a television series, did not share Crowther's opinion, but because Bendix's movie contract barred him from doing television (a not uncommon ban in the early days of the medium when studios wanted to discourage audiences from staying home and watching TV), Jackie Gleason played Riley for one unsuccessful season in 1950. The Life of Riley starring William Bendix as lovable, blundering, Chester A. Riley, was a radio situation comedy broadcast during and after wartime 40s. One day, after paying out all but five of his fifty-dollar-a-week paycheck, Riley has to sneak into his house to avoid his landlady, Miss Martha Bogle, to whom he owes money. At weddings people are forever weeping at what is supposed to be a joyous event. So I took The Flotsam Family script, revised it, made it a Brooklyn Family, took out the flippancies and made it more meat-and-potatoes, and thought of a new title, The Life of Riley. Junior Riley: Why don't you wet a piece of confetti and drown your brain? It was a sudden inspiration brought on by ownership of a tuxedo T-shirt! To Riley's amazement, Stevenson reveals that he had already planned to promote him to foreman, beginning in January. We make appointments for cremations because we have to go and watch the placement of the body in the retort and the beginning of the process, the identification process that's part of that, and we retrieve the ashes. They can coexist. The stock market is open. Everything assumes its natural order. Oh, yeah. So we weep and we laugh, we laugh and we sing, and we try to work our way around this changed reality in much the same way a death in the family articulates this changed reality. Years later I had audio tapes to which I listened to repeatidly and learned to really admire Digger's council to Reilly via puns related to the profession of undertaking. And at least so far as my experience is concerned, the living who bear those burdens honorably are better off for it. The Life of Riley (1949) co-starred Rosemary DeCamp, James Gleason, Beluah Bondi, Richard Long and John Brown as "Digger O'Dell" the friendly undertaker, a role that he also played on the radio program. Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. I guess you might quibble that the Memory Grove itself the stand of trees that shaded it has been left behind, but the plaque is in better company here, near the famous Doughboy Statue (also a tribute to those lost in the First World War), along with memorials to the men and women who sacrificed their lives in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. Despite Gillis' accusations and Peg's doubts, Riley goes along with the wedding plan until Junior uses the Stevensons' intercom to eavesdrop on Burt's room. Dear Vance:My parents remember a Memphian named Digger ODell who had himself buried alive here sometime in the 1960s as a promotional stunt.

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