It's that time of year again when gardeners all over the world are planning what to grow in their gardens. Dear j.b.: Well, for starters I can tell you that this interesting fellow (and Im certainly not disputing that) was not a Memphian, and his name wasnt really Digger ODell. He's where he's buried for good. "; from "what are we going to buy?" Last updated Jun 12 2013. 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. And there's somebody else doing this, that. Opening credits conclude with the following written statement: "America! Western movie question: Movie likely from the 70s, has the climax where a man/boy is racing through the desert to beat a shadow across a certain line to save a girl captured by Indians. 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. And my father did have a sense of formality and tradition when it came to funerals. Actor Ted de Corsia's name appears as both "de Corsia" and "deCorsia" in the onscreen credits. I mean, there are good funerals. And then one year it disappeared, and I fretted that someone had stolen it for scrap metal. What are you doin' here in the park? If you're playing human to human, you'll do fine. And the things we have to do in that period of two days or three days, that's also largely what you do for us, is that right? [1], William Bendix also starred in the 1949 film version of The Life of Riley directed by Irving Brecher. They come in to talk about what to do with a child who's grieving because a schoolmate died, to talk about what will happen in the event of their own death, how to handle a dying parent, nursing home arrangements, elder care. Not to worry, though. And I think this has to do with our notions about fire itself. And that's unfortunate. In some ways it is a culture that's based on convenience and cost efficiency. He had a new book out about God not being great. It's possible to pay with credit card or Western Union, but PayPal isn't an option. We bid you welcome. Chester A. Riley: So was I. 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". Well, if you ask any group of ordinary citizens, "How many here have attended a cremation?" I've seen at the end of the day people walking upright away from graves, people walking upright away from fires, as if they were going to survive it. 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. We do have a charge for our caskets. A daughter is no longer the daughter only or the son no longer the son only. Chester A. Riley: Well, if you do, just holler. Paula Winslowe played "Peg" for most of the series' run. For more and more people it's a trip to the crematory and some variation on the wake where people pay different types of witness. Acti-Sol Hen Manure is one popular product that has been used with success by experienced, This website uses cookies for functionality, analytics and advertising purposes as described in our. 2023. What a revolting development this is! Chester A. Riley: You know, Peg, I don't know what kind of wife she's gonna mae, but 40 years from now, somebody's gonna have a terrific mother-in-law. He was Herbert ODell Smith, and he conducted this buried alive stunt, along with countless other feats of endurance, across the South. It gives us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread. Does it make it easier? And I do think that while the dead don't care, the dead matter. to "how come? The expression "life of Riley" or "living the life of Riley (Reilly)" emerged in the early 1920s, and was probably derived from turn-of-the-century Irish songs, such as "The Best in the House Is None Too Good for Reilly." Babs Riley: Guess what? Chester A. Riley: The baby announcements? 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. The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. interview with the film's producers|credits|privacy policy|journalistic guidelines 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. Oh, yeah. What a revoltin' development, indeed." Comedy Romance A factory worker's family is thrown into an uproar when his teenage daughter starts to date his boss' son. It is really helpful on the day your mother dies or your father dies or, God help us, a child dies, to have a certain part of the wheel already invented. It seems Digger ODell was a friendly undertaker character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesnt explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. 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. "Life goes on!" Do you speak French? The dead matter to the living. 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. 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. It's ridiculous, it's mundane, it's stupid, but at the end of the day what we are trying to do is assemble all our metaphoric weapons to do battle with this hurt, this still thing. 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. O'Dell was a character hastily written into the long-running radio (and, later, television) show, "The Life of Riley," which had its debut on radio in 1944, while Americans were dying by the thousands in Europe and the Far East. Chester A. Riley: Christmas, nothing doing! 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. Web. What is it, a boy or a girl? I think the national rate now is right around 38 percent. Well, we wear black for funerals -- people have to know who the directors are, who to ask -- and white shirts and gray ties. William Bendix and Digger O'Dell the friendly undertaker - The Life of Riley Complete Broadcast CBS Lux Radio Theatre 1950 (Lp) - Amazon.com Music Buy used: $198.00 $3.99 delivery January 26 - February 2. No word on whether anyone felt like carrying on the family tradition. 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. Will that matter? I'll treat her just like she wasn't my wife. During cocktails, a bill collector from the electric company shows up, and after Riley sends him on his way, he disconnects the Rileys' electricity. The open casket, it is something that's often mocked. All rights reserved. US. "The Life of Riley" The Billboard Magazine Dec 6, 1947 All to the good, I say. There are days I can get behind that theory and have. The second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953, to May 23, 1958. He's a boy who Chester A. Riley: He's a boy! During a burial in California, a sudden earthquake caved in the sides of his "apartment" and he had to be rescued. No one escaped Crowther's vitriol: Bendix was "an oaf," Lanny Rees, as son, Junior, looked "slightly frightening," Randall as Babs was "just another shapely blonde," and John Brown as Digger was "extremely disappointing in the flesh." Because of its overwhelming radio popularity, Riley graduated as easily to a 1949 feature film, as it did to 1950s television. So people come in to talk about arranging their parents' funerals or their own. Not wanting to uproot his family, Riley determines to come up with the $1,500 down payment and goes from bank to bank searching for a loan. Her testimony is like all testimony -- it is a combination of gratitude and grief, and that the gratitude does not trump the grief, nor does the grief undo the gratitude. The program was broadcast live with a studio audience, most of whom were not aware Brown played both characters. And somebody else is pressing somebody's clothes. He never acted this way before. Chester A. Riley: Do I have a hole in my neck? And we suspect there'll be more Riley movies. Digger's morbid sense of humor buttressed by Brown's off-kilter delivery was a hit with the show's audience, and for me, often the high point of the episode. Digger O'Dell Buried For Good This Time. 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. Chester A. Riley: I don't think you heard me, peg. I have children at home; my wife had taken them home from the luncheon. So it's not like you do things for them as much as you do it with them and embolden them to do for themselves. And the components of a funeral sometimes change. "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. 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. What we have missed, however, in cremation in this culture is all the powerful metaphoric values provided by fire, its elemental worth. Chester A. Riley: Yes. The latter portion of the fifth season, broadcast between April and June 1957, was filmed and originally broadcast in color, although only black-and-white film prints of those episodes were syndicated. His dramatic life story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit. I think mine will know what to do, too, not because I've said, "Do this or that," but because they have seen life as I have seen it, and they sort of know me and I know them. He also portrayed "the friendly undertaker" Digby "Digger" O'Dell on the same show. I'm not the type of friends who buts in. Babs: Well, I think he ought to get a fair trial. An unrelated radio show with the name Life of Riley was a summer replacement sh, Many,many, many years ago when I was in grade five I had as a teacher an American Christian Brother named Bro. Crowther concluded, "[W]e suppose there are millions who will like this sort of truck. . And yet you write that beautiful essay Tract in your book, The Undertaking, which is in some way a map, is it? Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker ANNCR: It's new! Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts 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. And sure enough, he came to Memphis in September 1961 to do this stunt for Bluff City Buick, located back then at 739 Union. I said NO! The supporting cast featured Paula Winslowe as Riley's wife, Peg, and as Riley's mother-in law; Brown as O'Dell and as Riley's co-worker Jim Gillis; Francis "Dink" Trout as Waldo Binney; Tommy Cook, Bobby Ellis and Scotty Beckett as Junior at various times during the show's run; Barbara Eiler as Riley's daughter, Babs; Shirley Mitchell as Honeybee Gillis; Hans Conried as Uncle Baxter; and Alan Reed as multiple characters, including Riley's boss (Mr. Stevenson) and Peg's father. I know as a person who has grieved before, and I also know as a person who has been next to people in grief, that one of the awful messages on the day is "Life goes on." Who buts in story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit to 1950s.! Any group of ordinary citizens, `` How many here have attended a cremation? by Irving.. ; s new the world are planning what to grow in their gardens with credit card Western. 'Ll treat her just like she was n't my wife dramatic Life is. 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