Three little Foys. I guess that is more famously the Seven Little Foys. Let's start at the beginning, but we will only cover film accomplishments, and only for Eddies (plural).
Richard Fitzgerald came to America from Ireland. His son, Edward Fitzgerald, who became Eddie Foy at age 15, was one of the best loved stage and vaudeville performers of all time. Richard was in no movies. He died in 1862 and they weren't invented yet.
Eddie Foy, Sr. (1856 - 1928) was only in a handful of movies from 1910 to 1919, and they would all have been silent. His last film was called Yankee Doodle in Berlin which had nothing to do with George M. Cohan.
Senior knew Wyatt Earp, Bat Masterson and Doc Holliday, and was appearing in Tombstone, AZ at the time of the Gunfight at the OK Corral.
He and his seven children were billed with him as The Seven Little Foys. One of them was:
Eddie Foy, Jr. (1905 - 1983). Junior made 62 movies and had about 19 TV appearances. His first two films were silents, then he started acting in his own films in 1929 in Queen of the Nightclubs, which was also George Raft's film debut, and was directed by brother Bryan Foy.
Junior was in some good movies and was able to sing and dance in a lot of them. I bet his father would have loved doing that as well. He was in Bells are Ringing in 1960 with Judy Holliday and Dean Martin. Later he appeared in several of the Gidget movies, and his last film, in 1976, was...are you ready?...Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood. (I have to watch that film. It had a great cast.)
Eddie Foy III was Junior's son. Born in 1935, he worked mostly in the casting department and as a producer. He acted in five movies and on five TV productions. His best known film would be Run Silent, Run Deep with Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster in 1958.
All of the above Foys, including the four other Little Foys, appeared in only one film together, that was in 1915 in a movie called A Favorite Fool. It would have been great to have them in a sound film.
Eddie Foy, Jr. was able to play his father in four movies and on TV once. One of those films was Yankee Doodle Dandy starring James Cagney as George M. Cohan in 1942. A later film in 1955 called The Seven Little Foys was made about their family. That one starred Bob Hope as Eddie Foy, Sr. and also included James Cagney again playing George M. Cohan.
What a talented family. Which actors today will leave a legacy like this one?
Showing posts with label Eddie Foy Jr. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eddie Foy Jr. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Bells are Ringing
I had the chance to watch Bells are Ringing last night. An MGM musical from 1960 starring Judy Holliday and Dean Martin. I first saw this film when it premiered at Radio City Music Hall in NY. What a place!
A quick look at the cast listed on IMDb sends you to bit part Heaven! So many actors and actresses were tapped for this film. It was a little surprising to see so many familiar TV faces, especially in the street scene where Dean and Judy are saying "Hello" to everyone. Many of theses actors and actresses were working in TV and also doing some movie parts. I bet you will recognize most of the faces, but never knew their names. I'd like to scan the faces later in that scene where Dean is singing while walking through the crowd.
Bells are Ringing includes the talents of Herb Vigran who has 324 roles listed to his credit from 1934 to 1987, Frank Richards (143 roles), Milton Parsons (155 roles), and Len Lesser (165 roles). Of special note we heard Mae Questel as the voice of Olga on the phone. Mae was also the voice of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop in cartoons. In his first movie, Hal Linden was the nightclub singer who performed the classic tune, The Midas Touch. Hal didn't even get screen credit.
One thing that looked like it really didn't belong in the film were the prat falls of Gil Lamb. I can see one fall, tripping over Judy's removed skirt, but then he kept upstaging everyone to show how flexible he is. It didn't work for me.
I hope you saw Leonard Bremen! He was the man on the street who almost gets run over. Of course, he is one of my choices for all time best bit actor. His voice is very distinctive...in a character actor sort of way.
I must also mention the dentist/composer, Bernard West. His was a small, but important part. He didn't do much acting in his career, but he was a writer and producer of note. In fact, he was the producer for "All in the Family" and of course, Jean Stapleton was in that and Bells are Ringing. See how everything fits together?
If you've never seen Bells, please go rent or buy it. Some reviews on IMDb have trashed it a bit, but this is a very entertaining film. How can you beat the great musical numbers and orchestrations, the singing of Dean Martin, the comedy of Judy Holiday in her only color film, plus the wonderful character portrayals of Jean Stapleton and Eddie Foy, Jr.?
A quick look at the cast listed on IMDb sends you to bit part Heaven! So many actors and actresses were tapped for this film. It was a little surprising to see so many familiar TV faces, especially in the street scene where Dean and Judy are saying "Hello" to everyone. Many of theses actors and actresses were working in TV and also doing some movie parts. I bet you will recognize most of the faces, but never knew their names. I'd like to scan the faces later in that scene where Dean is singing while walking through the crowd.
Bells are Ringing includes the talents of Herb Vigran who has 324 roles listed to his credit from 1934 to 1987, Frank Richards (143 roles), Milton Parsons (155 roles), and Len Lesser (165 roles). Of special note we heard Mae Questel as the voice of Olga on the phone. Mae was also the voice of Olive Oyl and Betty Boop in cartoons. In his first movie, Hal Linden was the nightclub singer who performed the classic tune, The Midas Touch. Hal didn't even get screen credit.
One thing that looked like it really didn't belong in the film were the prat falls of Gil Lamb. I can see one fall, tripping over Judy's removed skirt, but then he kept upstaging everyone to show how flexible he is. It didn't work for me.
I hope you saw Leonard Bremen! He was the man on the street who almost gets run over. Of course, he is one of my choices for all time best bit actor. His voice is very distinctive...in a character actor sort of way.
I must also mention the dentist/composer, Bernard West. His was a small, but important part. He didn't do much acting in his career, but he was a writer and producer of note. In fact, he was the producer for "All in the Family" and of course, Jean Stapleton was in that and Bells are Ringing. See how everything fits together?
If you've never seen Bells, please go rent or buy it. Some reviews on IMDb have trashed it a bit, but this is a very entertaining film. How can you beat the great musical numbers and orchestrations, the singing of Dean Martin, the comedy of Judy Holiday in her only color film, plus the wonderful character portrayals of Jean Stapleton and Eddie Foy, Jr.?
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