We are less grounded than our grandparents were. He's resting. With your own mother and father and their funerals, what were the moments that had meaning for you? Irving Brecher's onscreen credit reads: "Written and directed by Irving Brecher." Junior Riley: Why don't you wet a piece of confetti and drown your brain? Peg Riley: No. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." The Life of Riley was an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. [citation needed] Mel Blanc provided some voices as well, including that of Junior's dog Tiger as well as that of a dog catcher who claimed to have a special bond with dogs. But I don't know of anybody who has come in here entirely angry at the prospect of God who has done well with this type of thing, with deaths in the family. Whether youre growing hot or sweet varieties, there are some important tips for success. 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." "[6] The April 13 episode starred Herb Vigran as Riley, and the April 20 episode had Buddy Gray in the title role. Another time, firefighters rescued him after he apparently suffered a heart attack underground. It's the people who, in many ways, try to put on the smiley face, that brittle grin you see so often that says, "We're going to be happy." 1949. How different is confronting death without faith? After 13 days in his coffin, Memphis police showed up with shovels to unearth Digger. 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. He calculated that he had been "buried alive" 94 times, and some of these almost ended his life. He was Herbert ODell Smith, and he conducted this buried alive stunt, along with countless other feats of endurance, across the South. 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. "The Life of Riley Quotes." This character was extremelly successfull, with many puns based on his profession. Simon Vanderhopper: Yes sir, I don't let the grass grow under my feet! That is a wheel we can only invent at the time it happens. j.b., memphis. Peg Riley: Then I've been in love with you the whole time. Well, read it closely, and what I've written is that as long as they deal with it, I don't care what they do. Cast & Crew Read More Irving Brecher Director William Bendix Chester A. Riley James Gleason Gillis Rosemary Decamp Peg Riley Bill Goodwin Sidney Monahan Beulah Bondi Miss [Martha] Bogle Film Details Genre Comedy Release Date Mar 1949 Premiere Information The Life of Riley (1949) co-starred Rosemary DeCamp, James Gleason, Beluah Bondi, Richard Long and John Brown as "Digger O'Dell" the friendly undertaker, a role that he also played on the radio program. Digger O-Dell And The Friendly Undertakers. Everything seems to fall into place. interview with the film's producers|credits|privacy policy|journalistic guidelines Mail: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis magazine, 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. 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. Vance Lauderdale is the history columnist for Memphis magazine and Inside Memphis Business. Maybe the referee will give you a draw. He noted that "the grave that he can't escape from" is located in Sawnee View Memorial Gardens, just outside of Cummings, Georgia. Still, as every grieving person knows, we have to reinvent the wheel in which we are now orphaned. Let's see! Many customers have had positive experiences ordering from them, and their customer service has been praised for keeping buyers updated on order status. She talks about how in her life the difference was not between doing good and evil. And is that the purposefulness in the ebb and flow of a wake and a funeral? [9], William Bendix and Sterling Holloway, 1957. Isn't that awful? One of my favorite old time radio characters (other than Jack Benny) was Digger O'Dell "The Friendly Undertaker". It was just doing the next right thing. It gives us a way to get some little mastery over these uncontrollable things by giving it a narrative thread. The Brother immediately. [Riley believes Junior stole five dollars]. Instead, Jackie Gleason starred, with Rosemary DeCamp replacing Paula Winslowe as wife Peg, Gloria Winters as daughter Barbara (Babs), Lanny Rees as son Chester Jr. (Junior), and Sid Tomack as Jim Gillis, Riley's manipulative best buddy and next-door neighbor. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract, in which he broaches the topic of his own funeral. started calling him "Digger". Then, his wife Peg receives a phone call from Sidney Monahan, a former flame from Brooklyn, their home town, and Riley impulsively invites him to dinner. Rejected everywhere, Riley reluctantly asks Monahan for the money, but Monahan also refuses him. . For 28 years, the CHFB has been the essential site for classic horror news, research and enthusiasm. 460 Tennessee Street #200, Memphis, TN 38103. Chester A. Riley: None of that radical talk out of you just 'cause you go to high school! In many ways they're all replicated by this journey that we take between the living and the dead when someone dies, this procession. main photograph corbis, all rights reserved Chester A. Riley: Oh, you're gonna count my blood? I'm calling it off now! And does the rise in cremation in America parallel changes in demographics? And are you a cremation or a burial man? Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. Alan Lipscott and Reuben Ship wrote many of the radio series' early episodes, and Don Bernard was the show's initial director. Well, it's showing up and just being there is worth an awful lot. 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]. 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. 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. I've always been touched by the fact that there seems to be as much laughter as weeping at the big life events. The question is not meant to mock; the question is to say: "What is it you don't want to see? Lewis, and I think, how would you get by without it? 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. Irving Brecher, who would direct the film adaptation of Life of Riley, had seen William Bendix in a film called The McGuerins of Brooklyn (1942) and knew he'd found his man. We can't prearrange that. And when we talk about "the procession," what is the meaning of that? 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". 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. It has always been a family-owned and -operated firm, founded by Thomas Lynch's father, Edward Joseph Lynch. Buick customers could view him through a periscope, or they could drop coins down a tube that urged them, Can you ring the bell? Nobody seemed to ask and the newspapers werent telling how on earth the man would use the bathroom during his 58 days (and maybe longer) underground. According to the obituary, Digger was born in Georgia in 1915. What is missing is the corpse: the thing itself, not the idea of the thing. On any given day, it's up for grabs. 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. He's a man who's understood In Brooklyn or in Hollywood. 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 . But when some widowed person comes out and takes you by the shoulders and said, "Thank you, I couldn't have done this without you," and all you did was be there, or answer the call, or show up, there's this deep sense of having been of use to people at a time of need. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. Chester A. Riley: Okay, maybe he ain't no Gregory Peck, but my boy's got it up here [points to head] . US. : Commissioned in 1932 by Memphis Chapter 1 of the American War Mothers, this large bronze plaque carried the names of 27 Memphians who had lost their lives in World War I. Maybe bigger. Peg Riley: All this plotting and scheming you remind me of a girl I once knew. Chester A. Riley: I know what you did! He'd made a few films, like Lifeboat, but he was not a name. I mean, that is the terrible, terrible part. Riley, Riley, what a guy! And they take a very sharp instrument. When he his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from the audience. Gillis: Don't argue, because I hate family arguments. Riley is overjoyed by his unexpected "step up," unaware that Babs asked Burt to offer him the job, and that he did so without his father's knowledge. I cant even blame my wife too much. And oftentimes I'm impressed by how people will wrap their existential concerns about a dying parent in the prearrangement conference. MUSIC: THEME FILLS A PAUSE, THEN FADES OUT ANNCR: Riley's catch phrase in the series and the film was "what a revolting development this turned out to be." The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. But don't go there searching for a tombstone marked Digger O'Dell. May 25, 2021 #1 One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby "Digger" O'Dell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. But the strange case of Digby "Digger" O'Dell offers an elegant counterpoint. producer's chat|readings & links|site map|dvd & transcript|press reaction 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. To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. She has her picture on the front page. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: There's still Christmas. When he heard the sad news about his wife, said a newspaper, Diggers own heart broke like a clod of dirt. I know his nickname was Digger, but thats just mean. The elements are the elements. Riley's annoying co-worker, Gillis, was also voiced by Brown. That they do it for themselves I think is very important. The last mention I can find of his exploits came from a 1979 newspaper published in the little town of Phenix City, Alabama, which reported that Digger was performing his 158th burial in the parking lot of Macks Mobile Homes there. Babs Riley: But Mother, this is the opportunity of my entire life! 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. In terms of the practical details, what are some of the things you learned from your dad? Details Select delivery location Used: Like New | Details Sold by ral Add to Cart New & Used (2) from FREE Shipping Have one to sell? A comic book adaptation of the show was produced by Dell Comics in 1958 as part of their Four Color series of one-shots. Maybe because it's happening to their parents or their siblings and some of their friends now, suddenly I see the cultural conversation changing from "how much?" Chester A. Riley: No. During cocktails, a bill collector from the electric company shows up, and after Riley sends him on his way, he disconnects the Rileys' electricity. Punchy: Hey, why don't you get up, pal? Chester A. Riley: Yes. And I'm, along with the next guy, as interested in those cartoons as everyone else is. web site copyright 1995-2014 Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. Don't forget the gallon I gave to the Red Cross. Down your throat it goes. And so I think of widowed people who must go through that when they're folding a sweater or cleaning out a drawer or looking for the power drill that their husband used to use to fix this drawer or that one -- these little mundane reminders that life is changed utterly and yet utterly the same. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. In 1949, Universal Studios released a Life of Riley motion picture, and later that same year NBC produced a TV version with Jackie Gleason playing Riley (Bendix was unable to play the role . It's a culture that doesn't like to be reminded of mortality. So in a sense, cremation suits us in that way. Brown also played "Gillis" on the radio. Whether or not my family is involved with the care of my body, that's their business. Chester A. Riley: Yeah, but that ain't right. And something is. Id like to think that the cemetery installed a periscope so visitors could see him, or at least a tube where they could drop coins and see if they could ring the bell but I doubt it. From NE Ohio to North Central Mississippi, everyone has their own ideas and preferences for what they will plant this year. Land of miracles, where dreams come true! Chester A. Riley: Besides that, he's nothing but a lazy loafer. After the boorish Monahan orders the most expensive items on the fancy French menu, however, Riley barely has enough to cover the check. 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. Well, if it's such a gift, why did it cost you 25 dollars? You were just married! It is the ridiculous and the sublime. We bid you welcome. We're celebrating love, huh? [citation needed] Brown's lines as the undertaker were often repetitive, including puns based on his profession; but thanks to Brown's delivery, the audience loved him. Portrayed Chester A. Riley's neighbor Gillis on "The Life of Riley" for ABC Radio (1944-1945) and NBC Radio (1945-1951). You can read in history books about the way a funeral procession was laid out -- which civic group, which ecclesiastical group, which fraternal group, which family group -- how everybody was lined up, so that as people walked in, there was this rise and fall of relationship and grief, and people know this, that good, orderly direction that was assumed by this process, this ritual. "You have to have helpers 24 hours a day.". Chester A. Riley: What do you mean the baby announcements? But cremation has increased since then by about 10 percent in every decade. Brecher Productions, Inc.; Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc. "Digger" O'Dell, "the friendly undertaker", William Bendix came to the attention of the public in the 1944 Alfred Hitchcock film, Lifeboat , playing a dim-witted sailor who doesn't survive the ordeal. 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? 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