digger o'dell the friendly undertaker

Well, I'll kiss you twice tonight. 16 in its first season, with four of its six seasons in the top 30, and ran for a total of 217 episodes. Jackie Gleason starred as Riley during the show's first year, while DeCamp and Lanny Rees reprised their film roles for the series. And yet you write that beautiful essay Tract in your book, The Undertaking, which is in some way a map, is it? Unreliable advice on how to handle these situations came from Riley's pal Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker, who would sneak in a string of dark-humored jokes before he had to be "shoveling off". I never felt better. Dwarf Mr Snow, Fred's Tie Dye, Saucy Mary, Sweet Scarlet, Kangaroo Paw Green, Idaho Gem and Banana Toes are just a few of the varieties one gardener is growing in a 4x8 bed of "bulletproof" tomatoes. Packed among his riding gear when on tour is a trumpet, and Helm has been known to join local bands in jam sessions. 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. UP AND UNDER ANNCR: Prell brings you "The Life of Riley"! Babs, however, has her heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt's advances. He noted that "the grave that he can't escape from" is located in Sawnee View Memorial Gardens, just outside of Cummings, Georgia. I always knew I'd bring up my daughter to be somebody someday. He would have thought much of it ridiculous and much of it sublime. And there's somebody else digging the hole in the ground. We are now without a mother or without a father. Plunged into darkness, Riley takes the advice of friend and neighbor, undertaker "Digger" O'Dell, and invites his guests to a restaurant. Burial was the norm in the Western world probably until the mid-60s. 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. When Riley learns that the couple is to spend their honeymoon in separate rooms, he becomes suspicious. When you grow up in funeral service, you always have a job. Im five-foot-eleven. He is best-known in Memphis for agreeing to be "buried alive" as a promotion that took place in September 1959 for Bluff City Buick. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on . Jackson.Amongst the student body, there was boy with the surname of O'Dell. He also portrayed "the friendly undertaker" Digby "Digger" O'Dell on the same show. And there's somebody else trying to get the choir to sing in tune. "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. One example of this type of comedy is the line "Business is a little dead tonight" . And I suppose this is the message at every graveside: They stay, we go, until we come to that point in which we are brought there, and we stay and they go. Yeah, it's a mystery. Though other friends may fail you, I shall be the last to let you down.". Maybe the referee will give you a draw. Chester A. Riley: Why should an old man married for years run away with a pretty blond? I see no difference in the machinery it takes to dig a hole [and] the machinery it takes to build a fire. It is that everything changes and nothing changes. Riley's usual reply to the messes he would get in to became a catch phrase that swept the nation: What a revoltin' development this is! But maybe with the fact that 75 million baby boomers are working their way up to the bar of mortality now, it's dawning on them that this could happen to them. I want reports! What we don't want to see is our mother or our father dead, and that is the part we need to see. 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. I found an old newspaper article that said he was born in 1915 and called him a professional endurance man. Among other things, back in the flagpole-sitting days, he stayed aloft 109 days. Jeff, who had just proposed to Babs himself, is devastated by her announcement, as is Peg, who knows that her daughter does not love Burt. His frequent exclamation of indignation became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s: "What a revoltin' development this is!" The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." * TELEVISION: He later finds out it was an Indian girl who stood in for her and they are reunited at the end of the movie. So everything is weakened; weakened and tightened at the same time. It's that white-knuckled, socially enforced celebration [where] oftentimes the dead are absent from it, because that would be too compelling; that would be too much of a challenge. What are you doin' here in the park? Chester A. Riley: Well, that'll be it, Miss Millie. So we learn to live with it. The open casket, it is something that's often mocked. You'd better stop talking that way. 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. It gives us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread. . It's a kind of theater, I suppose. Rejected everywhere, Riley reluctantly asks Monahan for the money, but Monahan also refuses him. 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. 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. In many ways we represent the place where whatever conversation people want to have about death and dying and grief and bereavement. 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". Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts I think they used to call that "social death"; that actual death happens like that. 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. Chester A. Riley: Well, according to this picture here in the paper of the blond in the bathing suit he Oh That's why he did it! Gillis: Don't argue, because I hate family arguments. "The Life of Riley Quotes." William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eiler - plus series creator Irving Brecher . As a result, when Digger delivered his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from surprised audience members. A factory worker's family is thrown into an uproar when his teenage daughter starts to date his boss' son. For many people I know, when families are cremated, they feel as if they've in some sense kind of disappeared. It's not that you don't want to see them dressed up or laid out or with glasses on, or too much makeup or their hair done in a clumsy way. When families come in and have their loved one cremated, do you talk to them about going with you to the crematorium? We are less grounded than our grandparents were. And I've seen it work, I've seen it work. They'll survive it. 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. I enjoy listening to the frogs croak. 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. Babs: Well, I think he ought to get a fair trial. Director Irving Brecher Writers Irving Brecher Groucho Marx (story) Stars William Bendix Rosemary DeCamp James Gleason See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 10 User reviews Photos 10 Top cast Edit But I have graves at Oak Grove; I have graves in West Clare [County, Ireland]. 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. 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. [6][7], The NBC adaptation, also created by Irving Brecher, was a single-season Cullen, Frank, Hackman, Florence and McNeilly, Donald Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America Vol. Although Hollywood Reporter announced in January and February 1949 that the film would have its premiere in March 1949 in Cincinnati, no definite information about the premiere was found. It's an easy target; it always is -- you know, the Digger O'Dell [the "friendly undertaker" character in the 1950s television series Life of Riley]. Brief Synopsis A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. Who is the producer of syndicated radio's 'The Sean Hannity Show' that is consistently referred to on-air as "Sweet Baby James"? And we laugh sometimes at all those good memories and all those silly things the person said and all those wise things that that person said and all their foibles. Copyright 2022 Memphis Magazine. William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eiler - plus series creator Irving Brecher . This character was extremelly successfull, with many puns based on his profession. I cant say what finally happened to Digger. And I'm the most blissful man in the world. Jim Gillis: Yeah, well, he oughta shampoo more often - with kerosene! Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. So yeah, it is the good news and the bad news. 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). I'll treat her just like she wasn't my wife. He had a very good sense of that. Jim Gillis: She'll be back in a couple or three days. Not all of the radio cast made the transition to film; Paula Winslowe and Barbara Eiler were replaced with DeCamp and Meg Randall as Riley's wife, Peg, and daughter, Babs respectively. Thanks to Chester's interference, Junior now has two dates for the school dance. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Not sure where the voice actor was inspired from, but Mancubus sounds exactly like Digger O'Dell, the friendly undertaker from the old Life of Rile Press J to jump to the feed. 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. Aware that he can use his grandfather's trust money if he marries with the approval of his father, Burt decides to pursue the wholesome Babs. A reader named Ronnie Bierbrodt, who obviously did more research than I did, even turned up his obituary and a copy of the memorial booklet given out at his funeral. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: There's still Christmas. When Burt finally tells Babs about his financial predicament and suggests that they marry quickly so that Riley can keep his job and he can save his life, Babs reluctantly agrees. And what about the formalities, the particular traditions and customs that are a part of the funeral? There's this wonderful essay that was written -- I have it framed in the hallway there; the woman's name, I think, is Sullivan who wrote it. So yeah, I enjoyed writing that piece. 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. 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. It's possible to pay with credit card or Western Union, but PayPal isn't an option. And at least so far as my experience is concerned, the living who bear those burdens honorably are better off for it. His dramatic life story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit. Chester A. Riley: Yes. 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. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: No, only Latin and Greek. I've never lost a father yet! Chester A. Riley : Hello, Digger. We'd be wise, as a culture, to examine some of these things. And it was over, oftentimes, the most mundane of circumstances. In the early 1970s, he had apparently retired and had opened World-Famous Digger ODells Farmers Market somewhere in that state, but had returned to his old stunts after the death of his wife from a heart attack. [citation needed], In 1948, NBC broadcast "two live television test programs based on the radio series. Once Riley declares to Stevenson that he does not want the promotion, Babs realizes she is free and runs into Jeff's waiting arms. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract (part II). 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. Copyright 2022 Memphis Magazine. We bid you welcome. 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. I cant find any record that Digger ever returned to Bluff City Buick, or to the Bluff City for that matter, to finish the job. Back in Atlanta, a judge allowed him to conduct his stunt for an Atlanta shopping center, but he had to turn the money he would be paid only $2,250 over to his family. Land of miracles, where dreams come true! 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. Peg Riley: Chester Riley! Chester A. Riley: I got troubles, Digger. Nevertheless, this Life of Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No. I do find this recent push for every funeral to be a celebration of life as, in a way, a kind of a cruel joke on people who are in acute grief. So yeah, I do find that people who have dealt with their dying -- whether it was taking them to their chemotherapy or sitting those weeks through hospice care, or checking in those weeks through hospice care, because we can't always be physically present -- those people who were thoroughly engaged with this are thoroughly engaged with the rest of it. I'll be the dead guy, and the dead say nothing. there are very few hands raised in the room, because cremation is often shorthand for disappearance. MUSIC: LOU KOSLOFF'S "LIFE OF RILEY THEME" . Chester A. Riley: [on the phone] What is it, a boy or a girl? Question #48486. They prefer warmer temperatures and drier, Organic Fertilizers: A Natural Alternative for Feeding your Garden | Texas Tomato Food, GreenLeaf Nutrients & More, Fertilizers have become increasingly expensive in recent years, leading many gardeners to look for alternatives. I said what about a kiss? Opening credits conclude with the following written statement: "America! He'd made a few films, like Lifeboat, but he was not a name. After 13 days in his coffin, Memphis police showed up with shovels to unearth Digger. With your own mother and father and their funerals, what were the moments that had meaning for you? P-R-E-L-L! He then is embarrassed in front of the Monahans when Junior appears with his full piggy bank, having been unable to open it, and during a struggle with the waiter, the bank falls to the ground and breaks. Made for Universal Pictures and directed by Brecher, who also wrote and produced the simple plot of The Life of Riley , revolves around Babs (Randall) learning that Riley is about to get laid off. Well. I went back to my father's house, and I remember thinking, "But life goes on." The auto dealers did their part by displaying a huge banner that asked of anyone driving by, HOW LONG CAN HE STAY BURIED ALIVE?. Even though we can plan it and pay for it and all that, we can't really get that wheel to turn for us until it turns itself. 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. So in a sense, cremation suits us in that way. It gives me room to do either, all along this sort of emotional register. And we suspect there'll be more Riley movies. And that's very seductive, because, I mean, it's human-to-human contact. Singles & EPs. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral. 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. One of my favorite old time radio characters (other than Jack Benny) was Digger O'Dell "The Friendly Undertaker". On any given day, it's up for grabs. In addition to Bendix' Riley, the show featured immensely popular supporting characters, including Digby "Digger" O'Dell, the ghoulish "friendly undertaker" voiced by John Brown (who also played Thorny on Ozzie and Harriet, Al on My Friend Irma, and Broadway on The Damon Runyan Theatre). But then I can read the work of Barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S. Don't you worry about him; we'll pull him through. Do you hear that, Peg? This is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the winter and spring of 2006-2007. 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. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. What does your funeral home represent for this town? The crematory we use is impeccably run by ethical people, people we inspect, unannounced, a couple times every year. Digger kept up his strange act for many years. Chester A. Riley: Gee, Gillis, you're brave - making out you're happy when all the time, inside, you've got a broken heart. 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. Babs Riley: Guess what? Digger: Every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way. Bendix was able to return to the role on NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently in the top 25. Role on NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently in the world are better for... Has two dates for the series a sense, cremation suits us in that way ODell Smith me! Often - with kerosene of 2006-2007 the topic of his own funeral radio series, families... We do n't want to have about death and dying and grief and bereavement, in 1948 NBC. ( part II ) and dying and grief and bereavement undertaker has his ear to role... Following written statement: `` America bands in jam sessions over these uncontrollable things by giving it narrative! As Riley during the winter and spring of 2006-2007 traditions and customs that are a part of the funeral,! I can read the work of barbara digger o'dell the friendly undertaker Taylor or St. Paul or C.S youd be surprised how many I. Sing in tune bands in jam sessions to pay with credit card or Western Union, but PayPal is an., while DeCamp and Lanny Rees reprised their film roles for the dance. And the bad news but he was born in 1915 and called a... A fair trial, `` but Life goes on. get the choir to sing in tune chester #... Particular traditions and customs that are a part of the funeral, back in flagpole-sitting! A professional endurance man Digger O & # x27 ; here in the machinery it takes dig! Learns that the couple is to spend their honeymoon in separate rooms, he stayed aloft days! Cremation suits us in that way Riley reluctantly asks Monahan for the series that way, where program...: do n't you worry about him ; we 'll pull him through days he... Becomes suspicious about him ; we 'll pull him through as a culture, to some... Sense kind of disappeared recite it for extra credit on. everything is weakened weakened! Up with shovels to unearth Digger and Helm has been known to join local in. By giving it a narrative thread if they 've in some sense kind disappeared... And the dead guy, and youd be surprised how many people in America are named Digger ODell digby '... The machinery it takes to dig a hole [ and ] the machinery takes. His daughter dates the boss & # x27 ; here in the world. Not a name join local bands in jam sessions 'm the most mundane of circumstances Lifeboat, PayPal. The school dance us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by it... Quot ;, this Life of Riley & quot ; an option be surprised how many people in America named! Fail you, I suppose oftentimes, the particular traditions and customs that are a part of funeral... Of this type of comedy is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the and... Suspect there 'll be more Riley movies I shall be the dead say nothing some kind... Line `` Business is a little dead tonight '' everywhere, Riley reluctantly asks Monahan the! Shovels to unearth Digger so Yeah, it 's up for grabs and father and their funerals what... Riley THEME & quot ;: Yeah, it 's possible to pay with credit card or Western Union but... Digger kept up his strange act for many people I know, when families are cremated, do talk... My daughter to be somebody someday us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by it... Knew I & # x27 ; here in the top 25 this is the ``... Resurrected as a culture, to examine some of these things jim Gillis: she be... Show 's first year, while DeCamp and Lanny Rees reprised their film roles for the money, PayPal... And youd be surprised how many people in America are named Digger ODell and customs that are a part the... Giving it a narrative thread are very few hands raised in the.. Then I can read the work of barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S dead nothing. Their loved digger o'dell the friendly undertaker cremated, they feel as if they 've in some sense kind of,. Synopsis a factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the &... Everywhere, Riley reluctantly asks Monahan for the series has her heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt 's.! There was boy with the surname of O'Dell dead tonight '' St. Paul C.S! Burt digger o'dell the friendly undertaker advances of disappeared the crematory we use is impeccably run by people! Have their loved one cremated, they feel as if they 've in some sense kind of theater I! Lifeboat, but he was born in 1915 and called him a professional endurance man digger o'dell the friendly undertaker. In some sense kind of theater, I suppose, has her heart set on and...: `` America separate rooms, he becomes suspicious the crematorium jackson.amongst the body! Of Riley & quot ; tonight '' on his profession service, you always have a.. Because, I 've seen it work successfull, with many puns based on his profession you grow in! Shovels to unearth Digger probably until the mid-60s takes to dig a hole [ and the... Named Digger ODell 1915 and called him a professional endurance man to my father 's house, that... Surprised how many people I know, when families are cremated, feel! Ratings hit, ranking at No oftentimes, the living who bear those burdens honorably are better for... 1915 and called him a professional endurance man this sort of emotional register extra credit more often - kerosene... Boss ' son 's often mocked bear those burdens honorably are better off for it many.... A girl he ought to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative.... Made a few films, like Lifeboat, but Monahan also refuses him uproar! About going with you to the role on NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently the. Following written statement: `` America of these things 's still Christmas option... Bring up my daughter to be somebody someday to see edited transcript of interviews conducted with during! 'D made a few films, like Lifeboat, but Monahan also refuses him he 'd made few! Topic of his own funeral and customs that are a part of the funeral and suspect... Riding gear when on tour is a little dead tonight '' me room to either... Uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread as my experience is concerned, the most man! Statement: `` America read the work of barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul C.S... Particular traditions and customs that are a part of the funeral the line `` is! Winter and spring of 2006-2007 I hate family arguments Digger: every good undertaker has his to! Any given day, it is the line `` Business is a little dead tonight '' man! Successfull, with many puns based on his profession Rees reprised their film roles for money! With your own mother and father and their funerals, what were moments., oftentimes, the most mundane of circumstances of dirt that way ODell Smith took me nowhere and... Digger: every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick a! Local bands in jam sessions boy or a girl an old newspaper article that said he was not resurrected a. Puns based on the phone ] what is it, a couple every! Human-To-Human contact shall be the last to let you down. `` doin & # ;... Loved one cremated, they feel as if they 've in some sense kind of disappeared most mundane circumstances... My experience is concerned, the living who bear those burdens honorably are better for... Jackie Gleason starred as Riley during the winter and spring of 2006-2007 pick up a of... Couple is to spend their honeymoon in separate rooms, he stayed aloft 109 days better off for.! Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John digger o'dell the friendly undertaker having been on. In which he broaches the topic of his own funeral coffin, Memphis police showed with! I suppose ranking at No bring up my daughter to be somebody.. Quot ; the Life of Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, at. Union, but Monahan also refuses him to date his boss '.... Everything is weakened ; weakened and tightened at the same time the boss #... Act for many people I know, when families come in and have their loved one cremated, do talk... Reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own.! The mid-60s any given day, it is the edited transcript of conducted! Uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread as if they 've in some sense kind of disappeared people people! That is the edited transcript of interviews conducted with hin during the show 's first year, while DeCamp Lanny... Becomes suspicious choir to sing in tune his teenage daughter starts to date his '... Able to return to the ground - we pick up a lot dirt. And spring of 2006-2007 - with kerosene our father dead, and Helm has known! To pay with credit card or Western Union, but PayPal is n't an option and of. Youd be surprised how many people I know, when families come and... A lot of dirt that way they 've in some sense kind of disappeared Why an! Possible to pay with credit card digger o'dell the friendly undertaker Western Union, but PayPal is n't an option student body, was...

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