Comical Co-Stars of Television: From Ed Norton to KramerAlthough some scholars credit Shakespeare with creating in Henry IV's Falstaff the first "second banana" character (reviving him for Henry IV Part Two), most television historians agree that the popular co-star was born in 1955 when Art Carney, as Ed Norton, first addressed Jackie Gleason with a "Hey, Ralphie-boy," on The Honeymooners. The phenomenon has proved to be one of the most enduring achievements of the American sitcom, and oftentimes so popular that the co-star becomes the star. Twenty-nine of those popular co-stars get all of the attention in this work. Each chapter focuses on one television character and the actor or actress who brought him or her to life, and provides critical analysis, biographical information and, in several instances, interviews with the actors and actresses themselves. It includes people like Art Carney of The Honeymooners, Don Knotts of The Andy Griffith Show, Ted Knight of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Max Baer of The Beverly Hillbillies, Vivian Vance and William Frawley of I Love Lucy, Ann B. Davis of The Brady Bunch, Jamie Farr of M*A*S*H, Ron Palillo of Welcome Back, Kotter, Jimmie Walker of Good Times, Tom Poston of Newhart and Michael Richards of Seinfeld, to name just a few. |
Contents
1 | |
7 | |
16 | |
30 | |
52 | |
71 | |
81 | |
97 | |
Dave Madden Reuben Kincaid on The Partridge Family Earl Hicks on Alice | 207 |
Whitman Mayo Grady Wilson on Sanford and Son | 223 |
Don Most Ralph Malph on Happy Days | 231 |
Ken Osmond Eddie Haskell on Leave it to Beaver | 242 |
Ron Palillo Arnold Horshack on Welcome Back Kotter | 248 |
Tom Poston George Utley on Newhart Franklin Delano Bickley on Mork and Mindy | 255 |
Michael Richards Cosmo Kramer on Seinfeld | 269 |
Jack Riley Elliot Carlin on The Bob Newhart Show | 285 |
109 | |
Gale Gordon Theodore J Mooney on Heres Lucy Osgood Conklin on Our Miss Brooks | 120 |
James Gregory Inspector Luger on Barney Miller | 130 |
Pat Harrington Dwayne Schneider on One Day at a Time | 142 |
Ted Knight Ted Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show | 156 |
Don Knotts Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show Ralph Furley on Threes Company | 173 |
Tom Lester Eb Dawson on Green Acres | 189 |
George Lindsey Goober Pyle on The Andy Griffith Show | 197 |
Ronnie Schell Duke Slater on Gomer Pyle USMC | 301 |
Rose Marie Sally Rogers on The Dick Van Dyke Show | 311 |
Larry Storch Corporal Randolph Agarn on F Troop | 320 |
Vivian Vance Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy | 336 |
Jimmie Walker JJ Evans on Good Times | 345 |
Fred Willard Jerry Hubbard on Fernwood 2Night | 357 |
Index | 375 |