Back from Vaca at Walt Disney World

Yes, this is a blog about Bit Part Actors, but I just spent a week with a full cast of the best actors and actresses on the planet. The cast members at Walt Disney World.

Everyone (if you know anything about Disney) knows that all of the employees of the Disney organization are called "cast members." You don't apply for a job there, you audition for a part, and hey don't wear uniforms, they are costumes, etc. Each ride is a "show" and they follow a script. 

We spent five days and four nights at Disney's Caribbean Beach Resort. Highly recommended for a relaxing atmosphere that is needed after a day at one of the theme parks. And the combination of going in October, plus a AAA discount, made our trip quite affordable. Think about this...the room at a Disney moderate resort (they have value, moderate and premium), a day in a theme park (usually about $85), and the Disney Dining Plan that paid for almost all of our food, was only about $100 per person/per day.

We spent a day at the Food and Wine Festival in Epcot. Held in the fall, the festival includes many extra-cost demonstrations, some concerts, and booths scattered around the park where you can buy samples of food and drink from different countries. I was very happy there!

While at Epcot, we visited the Mexico exhibit. I am amazed every time I walk in there. Inside, no matter how hot and bright the day is, you are brought OUTSIDE at night, to a Mexican plaza with shopping stalls and a restaurant. It is fun! They also have a short boat ride. Please be careful stepping into your boat...

The ride is basically a travelogue of Mexico, and it stars Donald Duck, Jose Carioca, and Pancito, from the 1944 Disney animated feature, The Three Caballeros. This feature was very similar to a 1942 feature, Saludos Amigos, featuring Donald and Jose. These travelogues were made to bolster our ties with South America during World War II.

Of course, Donald Duck was voiced by Clarence 'Ducky' Nash (1904 - 1985). Ducky would usually walk around with his Donald marionette and let Donald speak for him. Nash had quite a career for basically only playing a single role...but who among us wouldn't have done the same thing, given the chance?

IMDb lists 188 titles for Nash, plus 7 more as himself. In addition to Donald, he also voice Donald's nephews a few times, plus a bat, a bullfrog, Figaro in Figaro and Cleo (1943) and a sequel, and that's about it from 1934 to 1983.

In my collection I have The Reluctant Dragon (1942) which was released as a DVD titled Behind the Scenes at the Walt Disney Studios starring Robert Benchley (1889 - 1945). It is a priceless look at how things were done to create the wonderful animated features we grew up with. Ducky Nash is featured recording a scene as Donald with Clara Cluck, voiced by Florence Gill (1877 - 1965). 

What fun! I can't wait to go back. Maybe next fall, as long as the economy keeps the prices down!

Buster Keaton

There are many names that shine when you think of silent movies.  Buster Keaton (1895 - 1966) is certainly one of them.  But he was not always a star.  In fact, his star shown brightest for only a few years in his long acting career of over 150 titles.

Keaton started acting at age three in his parents' vaudeville act, along with partner Harry Houdini (1974 - 1926).  From what I have read, it was a tough act for Buster, who was physically mistreated on stage in the act, in search of laughs.  He took all the punishment, and always came up with his stone face in the end.  A trait he never lost.  His father's problem with alcohol finally ended the act, and I hope it was before Buster was seriously injured. 

His first small part in film was The Gangsters in 1913 (of course, everything in 1913 was a small part), and he started in a movie career in 1917.  His friendship with Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle (1887 - 1933) would last through over 20 films together.

Keaton took second billing (or lower) to Fatty in many of these early films.  But he also was a writer and director for some of them.  In 1920, Keaton gets top billing in the short film, One Week.  His first feature length film, The Saphead, was released the same year. 

Shortly after that, Arbuckle fell into legal troubles that ended his acting career, but Buster was off and running.  1920 to 1929 would be his finest decade. 

Of the best, we have The Navigator (1924), Sherlock Jr. (1924), The General (1926), and Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928).  I have previously written about The General, which is considered one of the best examples of silent film.  And Steamboat Bill Jr., would inspire Walt Disney to make the first Mickey Mouse talkie, Steamboat Willie, also in 1928.

In many instances, silent film stars would lose their glow with the advent of sound films.  This was not the case with Buster Keaton, but he declined none-the-less.  His many personal problems led to drinking.  He moved to MGM, and lost his creative control, which deepened his depression. 

By 1940 he was in his third marriage, this time to Eleanor Norris (1918 - 1998) who is credited with helping Buster end his drinking so he could get some work.  His movie career continued, but he would never be a big star again.  He had many small appearances in great films such as In the Good Old Summertime (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), and Limelight (1952).

After growing up watching old Buster Keaton two-reelers on television, I was pleased to see him in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) with the greatest comedy cast ever assembled for a movie.  He belonged in that film, and even at age 68 he still had his screen charm and his ability to play a physical part. 

Keaton also found some television work, but he was misplaced in Beach Blanket Bingo and How to Stuff a Wild Bikini, both in 1965 with Annette Funicello.  His final film was A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) starring Zero Mostel, Phil Silvers and Buster Keaton. 

Keaton's huge house in Hollywood was purchased by James Mason, and Mason found a treasure trove of Buster's old nitrate films in a hidden closet.  Luckily Mason knew these films were important and he made sure they were preserved for us to enjoy. 

That's quite a story about one of the greatest silent movie stars, who became a wonderful Bit Actor.

Buckaroo Banzai

And the full title is The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984).  BB has become a cult movie over the years.  In my opinion, it is because the cast was amazing, creative, and uninhibited.

Most of the cast of BB were Bit Actors at the time.  Some went on to become much bigger stars, and many were chosen because they were unknown.  It is Peter Weller's (b. 1947) fifth movie, and was made before Robocop (1987).  Jeff Goldblum (b. 1952), John Lithgow (b. 1945) and Christopher Lloyd (b. 1939) each had a few more films under their belt, but were not yet household names. 

I guess the first read of the script of BB, before auditioning for a part, would scare away any A list star.  Here we have a neurosurgeon/physicist who is also a test car driver and has a rock band (and no time for much else, I imagine), trying to prove that his overthruster will allow him to drive through a mountain.  I can't see Harrison Ford (b. 1942) jumping at that role.  And did I mention, all the bad guys in the movie are named John, and the good guys are all Hong Kong Cavaliers.

Ellen Barkin (b. 1954) is the love interest, Penny Priddy.  Barkin has had a few good roles, including The Big Easy (1986) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007), and she has won an Emmy Award.  I don't put much weight on the Emmy, because I appeared in an Emmy winning documentary once!

Lewis Smith (b. 1956) only has 29 titles listed on IMDb, starting in 1981.  He goes on to play Curly Bill in Wyatt Earp (1994) starring Kevin Costner, but mostly he does guest parts on television.  He played Perfect Tommy, well, perfectly in BB. 

Robert Ito (b. 1931) has always been one of my favorites, ever since I got to know him as Sam on "Quincy M.E." starring Jack Klugman (b. 1922).  Ito has 129 titles listed now, but his career started a while ago.  His first movie was Women of the Prehistoric Planet (1966) starring Wendell Corey (1914 - 1968).  I think Wendell should have his own entry in my blog someday.  Corey may be best known as Det. Lt. Doyle in Rear Window (1954, and one of my favorite films), but his career ended after he appeared in The Astro-Zombies (1968). 

Just a few more names...Vincent Schiavelli (1948 - 2005) is another John (but he already looks like an alien), and Yakov Smirnoff (b. 1951) plays the National Security Advisor, of course.  The full cast list is long and distinguished!

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension is a complex film that requires some minor understanding of physics to at least get some of the theory, and a quick wit to get all of the inside jokes among the more obvious ones.  It is a film that must be seen more than once to fully enjoy it.  But if you are trying to make sense out of it, you may have to see it many more times. 

The Big House and Chester Morris

Sometimes I wonder how my brain works.  In idle conversation last week, a friend of ours was mentioning that she didn't want a big house.  That got me thinking about the 1930 gangster movie, The Big House, starring Chester Morris (1901 - 1970) and Wallace Beery (1885 - 1949).  Now you are probably wondering how my brain works.

I haven't seen The Big House in quite some time, but I remember the movie as being quite gritty, almost artsy in the filming.  Early talkies had less than optimal sound and that added to the dark feel of the film, and the hopelessness of being in prison.

Chester Morris started acting on the stage and made a few silent films from 1917 to 1925.  His first talkie was Alibi in 1929, and he had the starring role.  He was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in that film.  He was now off on a movie career as a star.

The Big House was the next year, and it was also a big hit.  Morris played many gangsters and detectives in the decade of the 1930s, co-starring with a fine bunch of popular stars.  By 1940, he was losing his stardom, and I think we could categorize him as a very popular Bit Actor from that time on.

The next decade saw him in B-movies, including a series of Columbia films where he played Boston Blackie.  I believe they made 14 Blackie films in the 1940s, and this is where Morris is best remembered.  I should take a closer look at the full cast of these films, because they are one of the best sources for great Bit Actors.

Boston Blackie's Chinese Venture (1949) was his last in the series.  It starred Morris and Richard Lane (1899 - 1982) as Insp. Farraday.  This would also be Morris' last movie in a starring role.

The 1950s brought television, and Morris was seduced by the dark side.  In fact, I only counted three movies on IMDb from 1950 to 1970 for him.  The rest was TV.  I am sure his name was remembered by the new television audience, so this was probably a good move for him..  His movie career hadn't made him another Bogart or Cagney, and television was rapidly taking over the leisure time of the new bunch of younger viewers.  (Including me.)

Morris shows up in many of the teleplays that were popular in the 1950s.  Shows like "Omnibus," "The Phillip Morris Playhouse," "Studio One in Hollywood," "Playhouse 90," and "The United States Steel Hour."

The 1960s brought many new series' to TV, and Chester obliged by appearing in "Rawhide," "Naked City," "Route 66," "Suspense," and "Dr. Kildare."  I am amazed that Morris was able to shape his career so neatly into decades!

His final role was a movie, The Great White Hope (1970) starring James Earl Jones (b. 1931) in his fourth film.  Chester Morris passed away in 1970, a victim of an intentional overdose while he was suffering from cancer.  His death took place in New Hope, PA, which is not too far from where I live.

I wonder if he knew how much pleasure he brought to his fans over the years?  I certainly hope so.

Andrew Duggan

I happened on a broadcast of "Cheyenne" on Encore Westerns the other day, and decided to watch it.  I instantly recognized Andrew Duggan (1923 - 1988) as the villain, so here he is.  The episode was called "The Angry Sky" from 1958, and Duggan played a judge who was also trying to be a great criminal.  Good old Cheyenne Bodie, played by Clint Walker (b. 1927) figured it out in no time.

After some work on Broadway, Duggan started his screen acting career in teleplays in 1949.  I would say that he was best known as a guest star on over 100 TV shows.  He appeared on "Cheyenne" at least six times, but he also worked on the big screen.  He has 174 titles listed on IMDb, so let's look at some highlights. 

His first movie was Patterns (1956) starring Van Heflin (1910 - 1971) and written by Rod Serling (1924 - 1975).  It appears that his early films were mostly B movies with stars like Randolph Scott (1898 - 1987) and Rory Calhoun (1922 - 1999).  In 1958 he is in The Bravados starring Gregory Peck. 

In 1959 he got his own TV series, "Bourban Street Beat" that lasted only one season.  Still, it was top billing.  Along at this time, he is listed as the trailer narrator for several films, including Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (1962).  After Bourbon was cancelled, one of it's spin offs, "77 Sunset Strip," provided Duggan with some guest work.  He also was the narrator for PT 109 in 1963.

A bigger hit for Duggan was Seven Days in May (1964) starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.  Later in the 1960s he had a recurring role as Brig. General Ed Britt in "12 O'Clock High."

After playing many high ranking military officials, Duggan finally gets to play the president in James Coburn's spy spoof, In Like Flint (1967).  1969 brought his last starring TV role in "Lancer."  In 1971 he played John Walton in the TV movie, "The Waltons" before it was made into the popular series. 

Speaking of presidents, Duggan played Dwight D. Eisenhower in "Tail Gunner Joe" (1977), Lyndon B. Johnson in The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977), an unnamed president in "A Fire in the Sky" (1978), President Eisenhower again in a TV mini-series "Backstairs at the White House" (1979), and Eisenhower again in his final television role in "J. Edgar Hoover" (1987). 

Somewhere in there he appeared on "M*A*S*H" as Margaret Houlihan's father, Col. Alvin 'Howitzer' Houlihan, and as a character called 'Hacksaw' on "Charlie's Angels."

Andrew Duggan's final movie was A Return to Salem's Lot (1987), which was not rated very good on IMDb.  All in all, I think he had a great career with a lot of varied work.  Although never a big star, he certainly qualifies as a great Bit Actor.  We can even forgive him for mistakes like Frankenstein's Island (1981)!

Virginia Davis and Walt Disney

I started thinking about early Walt Disney (1901 - 1966) live action films and took a look at IMDb.  Well, Disney produced over 650 films, mostly shorts and most of the early films were animated.  With no easy way to figure out which were live action, I decided to continue looking at other resources.

On Wikipedia I found that Disney's first successful cartoon series' were the Alice Comedies.  Starting with the 1923 silent short, Alice's Wonderland.  These films included live action and animation.  Alice was originally played by Virginia Davis (1918 - 2009).  Walt himself, and Virginia's mother Margaret Davis also appeared in the film.  Also included in the film is Ub Iwerks (1901 - 1971), the legendary animator of the Disney Studios, and co-creator of Mickey Mouse (b. 1927).

There were about 57 entries in the Alice series. and they were made during Disney's move from Kansas City to California.  Virginia moved with the studio, to help Margaret's ambitious hopes for her daughter.

Virginia worked in 15 of the Alice Comedies, and also in a few more silents with Ronald Coleman (1891 - 1958) and Harry Carey (1878 - 1947).  In 1932 she appears in Three on a Match, with a young Bette Davis (1908 - 1989) and Joan Blondell (1906 - 1979), and also Humphrey Bogart (1899 - 1957).  She plays Blondell's character when she was young. 

Virginia went on to a few more uncredited roles before giving up acting.  Notably, she was in: College Holiday (1936) with Jack Benny, George Burns and Gracie Allen; You'll Never Get Rich (1941) starring Fred Astaire (1899 - 1987) the year before he made Holiday Inn; a couple of Betty Grable (1916 - 1973) films; and her final film was The Harvey Girls (1946) starring Judy Garland.

Wikipedia credits her with several films that don't appear in IMDb, and I have no way of checking those listed.  If you see Virginia Davis in Flying Down to Rio (1933), please let me know.

After leaving Hollywood, Virginia eventually started a career as a realtor in the mid-west, and ended up selling homes back in California.  She was later sought out by Disney fans and regained more popularity than she had when she was making films.  That must always be a shock to actors who thought they left their old career in the dust.

She certainly qualifies as a Bit Actress, and I would say a successful one, even with a short career spanning just 18 years and 28 films.  She helped make Walt Disney a household name.

Don't Think Twice, It's Bob Dylan

Labor Day weekend is upon us.  I am not sure where I'll be or what we will be doing for the next few days, so here I am, writing.  I found a new, free music service on the Internet called Spotify.  It has a few ads, but it isn't very intrusive.  What I like is the ability to search and easily create playlists that are saved in the cloud.  You can then retrieve the same playlists on any computer.

Music is integral to movies, and could be considered a Bit Actor of sorts (I guess).  Well, maybe that's stretching it a bit, but this is my blog and one song has grabbed my attention.

I heard the Bob Dylan song "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and wondered how many versions are available by different artists.  I counted over 65 different recordings, but they didn't have one on Spotify by Dylan, who wrote the words.  I heard quite a few who tried to sound like him, though.

The song came to my attention years ago because I used to listen to Peter, Paul and Mary a lot.  I met all three of them several times.  Nice folks.  They had a big hit with the song, which went to #9 on the charts.

Some of the versions I heard today (I have been listening to the same song for over three hours) are truly terrible.  Many are by folk singers and they tend to all sound the same.  Elvis Presley recorded it.  I am currently listening to it sung by Shinji Tonomura in Japanese (I think).

If you try this, watch out for karaoke versions.  It seems the same version is released on multiple karaoke albums, so they all sound exactly the same.  Feel free to sing along.

The absolute best version out there is by The Wonder Who.  As a joke, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons did a rock'n'roll version of DTT,IAR in 1965, but they didn't use their real name.  It was such a hit that it reached #12 on the charts!

Let's look at the history.  Bob Dylan (b. 1941) wrote it down in 1962 and released it in 1963.  The melody was taught to him by (or stolen from) a folksinger named Paul Clayton (1931 - 1967) who was popular in the Greenwich Village scene.  Clayton called the song, "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons When I'm Gone?"  Dylan and Clayton both had recording contracts and their record companies fought out lawsuits over the song, but the two artists remained friends.

The melody is actually from an older folk song called, "Who's Gonna Buy You Chickens When I'm Gone?" and that one is in the public domain.  I love that title!


As far as the movie connection, so I can stay somewhat on topic...  According to Wikipedia, the song was used in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973).  Then Bob Dylan made a four hour long movie called Renaldo and Clara (1978).  It was used in other Dylan films, Hearts of Fire (1987) and Masked and Anonymous (2003).  In 2007 it is in I'm Not There, a bio/musical with Dylan influence.  Plus you will hear it in countless documentaries about Dylan and the era that brought music of the same genre.
 
Bob Dylan had numerous other songs recorded for soundtrack use, and he appears in six movies and a TV movie.  He is heard on well over 300 soundtracks.
 
There was also a movie released in 1999 called Don't Think Twice, that has nothing to do with the song or Dylan. 
 
I am approaching six hours of listening to the same song.  They are playing in artist first name order.  I'm still waiting for the Ts to play so I can hear The Four Seasons version.  I'm up to Steel Train, whoever that is.  It must be like a movie marathon...I'm not tired of hearing it!
 
Have a great holiday weekend!

Hurricane Irene Missed Key Largo

Thankfully, Hurricane Irene went through the Philadelphia area with little damage.  My problem now is that there are few hurricane movie titles.

The Hurricane shows up first in 1926.  That would be a silent film, but it has no storyline listed, so it is probably lost.  In 1937 there is a Dorothy Lamour and Jon Hall film called The Hurricane that includes a big storm.  I have never seen it, though.

The Hurricane (1999) is a Denzel Washington film about a boxer, not a storm.  Hurricane Season (2009) is a Forrest Whitaker film about high school basketball after Hurricane Katrina.  And Eye of the Hurricane (2011) is in post-production.

What is your favorite movie that includes a hurricane?  For any real classic film fan, the only answer is Key Largo (1948), and I think I would agree.  The only problem with Key Largo is that I won't write about Bogart, Bacall, Barrymore or Robinson.  Not even about Claire Trevor.  They aren't Bit Actors.

Thomas Gomez (1905 - 1971) is.  He played Curly, one of the thugs.  He also appeared in almost 100 other titles in his career.  He started out in Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942) starring Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  A good start!

That first year Gomez was also in Who Done It? starring Abbott and Costello, and Pittsburgh starring John Wayne and Marlene Dietrich.  He made eight films with Turhan Bey (b. 1922), and one more with The Duke.

In 1950 Gomez got to work with Barbara Stanwick in The Furies.  In 1951 he stars in The Harlem Globetrotters as Coach Saperstein.  Then, in the mid-50s, he can be found on TV.  He has quite a good list of films and television, but nothing as big as Key Largo.  His final movie was Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) and he appeared on "Gunsmoke" in 1972.

Harry Lewis (b. 1020) played Toots, another bad guy.  He has 59 titles listed on IMDb, starting in 1941, after a time running a successful hamburger restaurant.  His first film was Dive Bomber starring Errol Flynn.  He made five films with Flynn.

After Largo, Lewis works with Edward G. Robinson twice more.  In Vice Squad (1953) and The Ten Commandments (1956).  As I have said before, everyone in Hollywood was in The Ten Commandments.

Lewis' also did a lot of television work, and his final film was The Astral Factor (1976) starring Stefanie Powers (b. 1942) about a strangler in jail who learns to make himself invisible.  (A little too late, if you ask me.)

Another Largo henchman, Ziggy, was played by Marc Lawrence (1910 - 2005).  He has 217 titles listed, and was in everything from If I Had a Million (1932) with an all star cast including Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton and W. C. Fields, through two James Bond films (Diamonds are Forever (1971) and The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)), to two "Star Trek" appearances on "The Next Generation" and "Deep Space Nine."

Lawrence's final film is Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) with Brendan Fraser, Steve Martin and Timothy Dalton. 

I would be remiss in my duties if I failed to mention one of the Seminole Indians who was killed by the gang.  Jay Silverheels (1912 - 1980) played Tom Osceola, and he went uncredited.  I'm glad he recovered in time to become Tonto the next year on "The Lone Ranger."

I must watch Key Largo again.  It is a classic hurricane movie.

Earthquake in SenSurround

The year was 1974.  SenSurround Sound was invented by a loudspeaker company call Cerwin Vega.  SenSurround was basically a set of sub-woofers that would produce a low frequency rumble to shake the theater and all who were in it.  Perfect for a movie called Earthquake.  Since we just had an earthquake of our own on the east coast of the USA yesterday, I thought a quick look at this movie to be appropriate, or at least, timely.

The cast is amazing, with Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene (playing Gardner's father, despite being only 7 years older), Genevieve Bujold (in a Bit Part due to her part being edited), Lloyd Nolan, Walter Matthau (as a drunk in an extra's part.), and Victoria Principal.

The movie wasn't as good as the cast list.  Lots of love triangles, cheating, jealousy, and overall bad feelings, as sometimes happens in LA.  So they had an earthquake to set things right.  Most of the leads die leaving only the good people to start over.  That sounds like a movie plot. 

How about the real Bit Actors?  Well, we have Monica Lewis (b. 1922) who appeared in some earlier films such The D.I. (1957).  She did a lot of TV shows as an actress or a singer.  After 'Quake she went on to Airport '77 (1977 of course), Rollercoaster (another SenSurround film), The Concorde... Airport '79 (guess what year), and The Sting II (1983). 

Wonderful John Randolph (1915 - 2004) played the mayor.  He looks a bit like Carl Reiner, don't you think?  Randolph has 173 titles on IMDb, including everything from The Naked City in 1948 to You've Got Mail 1998, and a few others after that.  He even managed to be in a coupla Planet of the Apes films in between. 

We also see Donald Moffat (b. 1930) in a small part as a doctor.  Of his 117 roles, my favorite is as the taxman in Popeye (1980 - That's a "45 cent rowboat under the wharf tax.")  He went on to play Lyndon Johnson in The Right Stuff (1983), and the president in Clear and Present Danger (1994).  Love those movies!

The real star of the film was SenSurround.  When the film premiered at Grauman's, they had to fasten a net below the ceiling to catch the chandeliers in case they fell.  Actually, SenSurround worked a bit too well.  It sickened viewers and caused complaints from the neighbors, so after a few more films, it was discontinued.  Where's their sense of humour?

This weekend the Philadelphia area will be treated to The Arrival (1996) of Hurricane Irene.  What's next...Armageddon (1998)?  Maybe I'll watch 2012 (2009), or just look out the window.

Paul Newman

I know, Paul Newman is NOT a Bit Actor.  Well, he was at one time.  Let's take a look.

Paul Newman was born in 1925.  After the war and his stint in the navy, he graduated from college and went to The Actor's Studio in New York.  His Broadway acting was successful, and led to some television and then movie opportunities.  I would say that he did everything right to start an acting career.

Oh, those early television days!  Paul started out in "Tales of Tomorrow" which is a show dim in my memory.  The series only aired for two years, but presented quite a variety of suspense stories, and an equal number of great actors.  Look for Boris Karloff, Gene Lockhart, Leslie Nielsen, Thomas Mitchell, Brian Keith and many others...if you can find the episodes to watch.  The Internet is your best choice here.  It is such a shame that the primitive production value of these early shows keeps them from becoming true collector classics.  Kinescope was the best they could do to preserve the moment.

Next up was a spot on "Suspense," another anthology series of suspenseful stories.  Most of the stars are the same as on Tales, but "Suspense" went on for a few more years, so add a few more stars. 

Newman appeared on "The Aldrich Family" next.  He is listed on IMDb as an 'occasional cast member.'  All of these early roles were short term deals.  He wasn't much more than an extra, I am sure, but I haven't seen any of them. 

He was on "You Are There" three times.  That was an interesting series hosted by Walter Cronkite (1916 - 2009) that attempted bring some history to TV land by taking the audiuence back to the time of certain events and interviewing the people who made it happen.  In one episode, Paul Newman was Plato!  OK.

Paul appeared a few times on "The Web," which had nothing to do with the Internet.  It was live presentations of mysteries.  All this time, he is making friends and watching the performances of some great stars. 

There were a few more television dramas before his big screen debut in The Silver Chalice (1954).  I think he was less than thrilled with the result of his first movie.  It was a box office disaster.  The film starred Virginia Mayo (1920 - 2005) and Jack Palance (1919 - 2006) in a drama about creating the cup of Christ.  It was so bad, that Newman took out a full page ad to apologize for his performance.

So Newman went back to TV for a couple of years.  He got to play Billy the Kid for the first time on "The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse."  We'll come back to Billy the Kid later.

His next film was a starring role, but I don't think Newman was a full fledged star yet.  He played Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) and got good reviews. 

As he continued to climb the ladder to stardom, he gets top billing in The Rack (1956) and The Helen Morgan Story (1957) starring Ann Blyth (b. 1928), and then Until They Sail (1957) with Jean Simmons (1929 - 2010) and Joan Fontaine (b. 1917).

1958 was Paul Newman's golden year.  Four films that year.  The Long, Hot Summer; The Left-Handed Gun (yes, Billy the Kid again); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; and Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!  All hits, and two of them with Joanne Woodward (b. 1930) who would become his long time wife. 

Paul Newman was no longer a Bit Actor.  The rest, as they say, is history.