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1-9 of 9
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Deacon was the bald, bespectacled character actor most famous for playing television producer Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961) from 1961 to 1966. In the first season of that show he also continued to appear on the series he was already appearing on, Leave It to Beaver (1957), playing Lumpy Rutherford's father Fred.
Born on May 14, 1922, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the tall, bass-voiced Deacon took to the boards as a stage actor. At the beginning of his career, stage legend Helen Hayes told Deacon that he would never become a leading man but encouraged him to become a character actor. It was good advice, as Deacon's show business career lasted decades and only was terminated by his death.
Because of his looks and authoritative voice, Deacon usually was typecast as a humorless or foul-tempered authority figure. He became a highly regarded supporting player in films, complimented by many of the leading actors he played opposite, including Jack Benny, Lou Costello and Cary Grant. However, it was in television that Deacon really thrived.
It was his five-year gig on "The Dick Van Dyke Show", where he earned television immortality playing the long-suffering brother-in-law of Alan Brady (the faux-TV star for whom Dick Van Dyke and his companion writers, Morey Amsterdam and Rose Marie, wrote). Deacon's character was constantly harassed by Amsterdam's diminutive wisecracking character Buddy Sorrell. After the show ceased production (still at the top of the ratings; Carl Reiner had terminated the series in order to go out while the show was on top), Deacon co-starred on the TV sitcom The Mothers-In-Law (1967) with Kaye Ballard and Eve Arden (Deacon replaced original series co-star Roger C. Carmel as Ballard's husband in the second season after Carmel was fired from the series by producer Desi Arnaz for refusing to accept a pay cut). After the show was canceled, Deacon returned to work as a freelance actor. Back on the boards, he appeared in the long-running Broadway production of "Hello Dolly" as Horace Vandergelder, opposite Phyllis Diller as the eponymous heroine in the 1969-70 season. Deacon continued appearing on television and in the movies until his death.
In real life, Deacon was a gourmet chef. In the 1980s he hosted a Canadian TV program on microwave cookery, and even wrote a companion book on the subject
On the night of August 8, 1984, he was stricken by a heart attack in his Beverly Hills home. He was rushed to Cedars Sinai Hospital, where he died later that night. He was 62 years old.- Began publishing science-fiction with "The Ifth Of Oofth" (as Walter S. Tevis) in "Galaxy Science Fiction" in 1957. After first two novels, Tevis stopped writing, and became Professor of English at Ohio University. Left in 1978, resumed writing.
- Ellen Raskin was born in 1928. Later in her life, she married Dennis Flanagan. She wrote many books, perhaps the two most famous are "The Mysterious Disappearance Of Leon (I Mean Noel)" and "The Westing Game", both published in the 70s. The latter won the Newberry Award for the best children's book of the year. It remains one of the most famous fictional books ever published. Even after her death, it remains her most famous book. She died in the early 1980s, not a very famous author or illustrator except for The Westing Game.
- Walter Plankinton was born on 22 October 1928 in Kansas, USA. He died on 8 August 1984 in the USA.
- Nina Petrovna Khrushcheva was born on 14 April 1900 in Wasylów, Lublin Governorate, Russian Empire [now Lubelskie, Poland]. She was married to Nikita Khrushchev. She died on 8 August 1984 in Moscow, RSFSR, USSR [now Russia].
- Music Department
Al Marineau was born on 18 August 1902 in Minnesota, USA. Al died on 8 August 1984 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Denis Johnston was born on 18 June 1901 in Dublin, Ireland. He was a producer and writer, known for Guests of the Nation (1935), ITV Play of the Week (1955) and River of Unrest (1936). He was married to Betty Chancellor and Shelah Richards. He died on 8 August 1984 in Dublin, Ireland.- Sound Department
Charles E. Moran was born on 2 May 1943 in San Francisco, California, USA. He is known for Grease (1978), Miami Vice (1984) and Private Benjamin (1980). He died on 8 August 1984 in British Columbia, Canada.- Writer
- Additional Crew
Stanka Veselinov was born on 5 February 1920 in Kruscica, Serbia, Yugoslavia. Stanka was a writer, known for Arrive Before Daybreak (1978). Stanka died on 8 August 1984 in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia.