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Sid Melton, Comic Actor of Film and TV, Dies at 94
nytimes.com ^ | 11/07/2011 | Paul Vitello

Posted on 11/07/2011 10:10:42 AM PST by massmike

Sid Melton, the jug-eared character actor best known for his regular roles in the television shows “Make Room for Daddy” and “Green Acres,” and for his unflagging reliability as the comic relief in many science-fiction and noir films of the 1950s, died on Wednesday in Burbank, Calif. He was 94.

Mr. Melton’s acting career spanned more than a half-century, from his stage debut in a road production of the Broadway play “See My Lawyer” in 1939, to a recurring role as the husband (deceased, appearing in flashbacks and dreams only) of Sophia, the mother of Bea Arthur’s character in “The GoldenGirls,” the television sitcom, between 1985 and 1992.

He also played Alf Monroe, one of two incompetent carpenter siblings on the improbable, campy and very popular sitcom, “Green Acres,” which ran from 1965 to 1971. A recurring gag was that Alf’s “brother” Ralph was a woman, a fact that only Oliver, played by Eddie Albert, seemed to find odd.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: greenacres; obituary; sidmelton
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To: massgopguy
I liked when Mr. Douglas went to Sam Drucker’s store to buy board games. Drucker tells him he has Cabbage and Monotony. Douglas corrects him that they are Cribbage and Monopoly. Drucker pulls out the boxes that say Cabbage and Monotony.

I'm with you . . . except I believe it was "Scribble" and "Monotony."

I remember when hired hand Eb Dawson was trying to win a radio contest by identifying songs heard on the Pixley radio station. Every song was *exactly* the same instrumental, but Eb would come up with a song title such as "Five-Foot-Two, Eyes of Purple, Has Anyone Seen My Martian Gurple."

The cow, Eleanor, swallowed the transistor radio, in the middle of the contest.

As Lisa, Eb, and Oliver gathered around her to hear the next song (which sounds exactly the same as the others), Eb excitedly says "I've Got Tears In My Ears From Lying On My Back In My Bed While I Cry Over You!" Oliver says "that sounds just like 'Five-Foot-Two, Eyes of Purple, Has Anyone Seen My Martian Gurple.' (which is does)".

Of course, everyone looks at him as if he's crazy, and Eb says "boy, are you tone deaf!"

21 posted on 11/07/2011 11:57:36 AM PST by Scoutmaster (I stand for something; therefore, I can't stand Romney)
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To: massmike

Funny guy. RIP.


22 posted on 11/07/2011 11:58:12 AM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Rick Perry has more red flags than a May Day Parade)
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To: massgopguy

That show was one of the most surreal things ever to appear on television.


23 posted on 11/07/2011 12:16:28 PM PST by Charles Martel (Endeavor to persevere...)
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To: massmike

Wasn’t he also one of the G.I.s on the Phil Silvers Show?


24 posted on 11/07/2011 12:20:09 PM PST by pingman (Durn tootin'; I like Glock shootin'!)
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To: massmike

RIP Mr. Melton.


25 posted on 11/07/2011 12:43:56 PM PST by BigAl13
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To: pingman
I think you're thinking of Joe E. Ross


26 posted on 11/07/2011 12:52:18 PM PST by massmike (Massachusetts:Stopped hanging witches;started electing Kennedys.Coincidence?)
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To: oh8eleven

Ichabod Mudd!

That takes me back a bit.

R.I.P. Sid Melton; you brought a lot of happiness and fun to so many of us.


27 posted on 11/07/2011 9:49:57 PM PST by Jack Hammer
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