Do you ever watch old TV shows and immediately identify an
actor or actress with a particular character they played?
Pat Buttram is just such an actor.
I remember him from the classic Green Acres TV show as
Mr. Haney the farmer and con man. He made
the perfect antagonist for the lawyer turned farmer Oliver Douglas and his wife
Lisa.
It wasn’t until later that I spotted Pat in many classic
Western films as a bumbling sidekick, various TV show guest spots and as a
brilliant comedian.
Known as the Rocking Chair Humorist Mr. Buttram’s humor
harkened back to the days of Will Rogers and other down-home comedians.
In Pat Buttram
Rocking Chair Humorist author Sandra Grabman and BearManor Media examines the life and
career of the man many considered one of the kindest, generous and funny
performers in the profession.
He loved to make people smile and he had a big heart for
charities. The book even contains many
of his most well-known jokes. Get ready for some zinger one-liners!
I love old TV and movie Westerns and their stars. John Wayne, Bonanza, Clint Eastwood, Gunsmoke
and dozens of other actors, actress, TV shows and movies of the Western genre
are represented in a fun new book written and drawn by Mark O’Neill.
Hollywood
Goes West is the Coloring Book For Kids And Adults and features a
collection of character
caricatures perfect for the Western lovers in all of
us. Each illustration also offers a
short description of said TV or movie star.
It’s time to break out the crayons!
Like Pat Buttram, actor Steve Ihnat is an actor I
immediately associate one role with: the crazed, crazy and psychotic Garth of
Izar in Star Trek: The Original Series episode: Whom Gods Destroy.
However once I watched him in that particular episode I
began to notice his performances in Perry Mason, The Outer Limits and other
classic TV series of that time.
It wasn’t long after his TV appearances grew that he transitioned
to film where he played against superstars of the industry on a regular basis.
He was in high demand and never wanted for work. He was a constant fixture on TV and in films
and it looked as if fame and fortune were in his future.
Suddenly it all ended with his death.
Much is unknown about Ihna, other than his family history. His personal and professional life is clouded
in mystery even today.
Who was the man and what happened?
Author Linda Alexander examines Ihnat’s legacy in her new
book: The Life And Death Of Rising Star
Steve Ihnat: Gone Too Soon.
It is a truly remarkable book that tracks the rise and
fall of a promising new and powerful force on TV and in the movies.