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Sid Melton, character actor, dies at 94
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aadavid
Nov 4, 2011, 7:18:03 AM11/4/11
to
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20111104,0,2646778.story
Sid Melton, 94, a character actor perhaps best known for his roles in
the hit television shows "Green Acres" and "The Danny Thomas Show,"
died of pneumonia Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in
Burbank, his family said.
During a career that spanned nearly 60 years, Melton appeared in about
140 television and film projects. They included two 1951 movies, "Lost
Continent" with Cesar Romero and the Samuel Fuller-directed "The Steel
Helmet," and 1972's "Lady Sings the Blues" with Diana Ross.
On the 1950s TV show "Captain Midnight," Melton co-starred as the
hero's sidekick, Ichabod Mudd. Decades later, he recalled that fans
still greeted him with the character's signature line: "Mudd with two
Ds."
A regular on "The Danny Thomas Show" from 1959 to 1971, Melton played
club owner Uncle Charley Halper. Melton also had a recurring role in
the late 1960s on the sitcom "Green Acres" as Alf Monroe, half of an
inept brother-sister carpenter team. He also appeared in flashback
sequences as the husband of Estelle Getty's widowed character on "The
Golden Girls" sitcom, which originally aired from 1985 to 1992.
He was born Sidney Meltzer on May 22, 1917, in New York City. His
father, Isidor Meltzer, was a comedian in Yiddish theater.
On the stage, Melton debuted in 1939 in a touring production of "See
My Lawyer" and appeared in 1947 on Broadway in "The Magic Touch,"
using his stage name, Sid Melton.
Melton broke in to Hollywood with the help of his older brother, Lewis
Meltzer, a screenwriter who adapted "Golden Boy" and "Man With the
Golden Arm." After interviewing at MGM, the actor soon had a small
part in the 1941 film "Shadow of a Thin Man" with William Powell and
Myrna Loy.
Sid Melton, 94, a character actor perhaps best known for his roles in
the hit television shows "Green Acres" and "The Danny Thomas Show,"
died of pneumonia Wednesday at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in
Burbank, his family said.
During a career that spanned nearly 60 years, Melton appeared in about
140 television and film projects. They included two 1951 movies, "Lost
Continent" with Cesar Romero and the Samuel Fuller-directed "The Steel
Helmet," and 1972's "Lady Sings the Blues" with Diana Ross.
On the 1950s TV show "Captain Midnight," Melton co-starred as the
hero's sidekick, Ichabod Mudd. Decades later, he recalled that fans
still greeted him with the character's signature line: "Mudd with two
Ds."
A regular on "The Danny Thomas Show" from 1959 to 1971, Melton played
club owner Uncle Charley Halper. Melton also had a recurring role in
the late 1960s on the sitcom "Green Acres" as Alf Monroe, half of an
inept brother-sister carpenter team. He also appeared in flashback
sequences as the husband of Estelle Getty's widowed character on "The
Golden Girls" sitcom, which originally aired from 1985 to 1992.
He was born Sidney Meltzer on May 22, 1917, in New York City. His
father, Isidor Meltzer, was a comedian in Yiddish theater.
On the stage, Melton debuted in 1939 in a touring production of "See
My Lawyer" and appeared in 1947 on Broadway in "The Magic Touch,"
using his stage name, Sid Melton.
Melton broke in to Hollywood with the help of his older brother, Lewis
Meltzer, a screenwriter who adapted "Golden Boy" and "Man With the
Golden Arm." After interviewing at MGM, the actor soon had a small
part in the 1941 film "Shadow of a Thin Man" with William Powell and
Myrna Loy.
radioacti...@gmail.com
Nov 4, 2011, 11:01:40 AM11/4/11
to
I always liked this diminutive fellow, whether on GA and TDTS or even in a small guest role in a couple of episodes of "I Love Lucy".
Glad he made it as far as 95...
Glad he made it as far as 95...
Message has been deleted
Kris Baker
Nov 4, 2011, 2:50:17 PM11/4/11
to
"silas" <silasc...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:3adcebd9-dc63-41bf...@u12g2000vbx.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 4, 7:18 am, aadavid <aada...@gmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-passings-20111104,0,2646...
> A regular on "The Danny Thomas Show" from 1959 to 1971, Melton played
> club owner Uncle Charley Halper.
and the other regulars reprised their roles in "Make More Room for
Daddy", an episode of Danny Thomas's one-season anthology series, in
1967. They came back again in ABC's "Make Room for Granddaddy"
series, another one-seasoner, in the 1970-1971 season. Sid was not
collecting a weekly paycheck for twelve years, as the obit implies.
After interviewing at MGM, the actor soon had a small
> part in the 1941 film "Shadow of a Thin Man" with William Powell and
> Myrna Loy.
------------------------------------------
No matter what, Melton's one of the most recognizable and least-
appreciated "funny sidekick" character actors.
One site says that Jeff Goldblum honored Melton in "Jurassic Park".
Kris
eeo...@gmail.com
Nov 4, 2011, 4:15:00 PM11/4/11
to Kris Baker
Must be something to that cleaning living farm life in Hooterville. :)
Four of the "Green Acres" cast lived into their 90s:
Eddie Albert (99), Frank Cady (96+ and still going), Sid Melton (94) and producer Paul Henning (93). Others made it well into their 80s.
Melton's "brother" on the series, Mary Grace Canfield, is also still with us at 87.
Four of the "Green Acres" cast lived into their 90s:
Eddie Albert (99), Frank Cady (96+ and still going), Sid Melton (94) and producer Paul Henning (93). Others made it well into their 80s.
Melton's "brother" on the series, Mary Grace Canfield, is also still with us at 87.
R H Draney
Nov 4, 2011, 7:10:46 PM11/4/11
to
eeo...@gmail.com filted:
I was surprised to find when checking just now that Hank Patterson (Fred Ziffel)
was only 86...but not half as surprised as I was to learn a moment later that
Tea Leoni is his grand-niece....r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
was only 86...but not half as surprised as I was to learn a moment later that
Tea Leoni is his grand-niece....r
--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.
Kris Baker
Nov 4, 2011, 9:18:57 PM11/4/11
to
"R H Draney" <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:j91rd...@drn.newsguy.com...
his
father.
Kris
R H Draney
Nov 5, 2011, 12:43:47 AM11/5/11
to
Kris Baker filted:
now....r
>> I was surprised to find when checking just now that Hank Patterson (Fred
>> Ziffel)
>> was only 86...but not half as surprised as I was to learn a moment later
>> that
>> Tea Leoni is his grand-niece....r
>
>.....and Eddie Albert's son Edward Albert Jr, died at 55, just a year after
>his
>father.
And Eva Gabor's sister has been dying one piece at a time for over a year
>> Ziffel)
>> was only 86...but not half as surprised as I was to learn a moment later
>> that
>> Tea Leoni is his grand-niece....r
>
>.....and Eddie Albert's son Edward Albert Jr, died at 55, just a year after
>his
>father.
now....r
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