Rest In Peace.

[ness]

Continued progress and good luck with your shoulder build-up, Tilden! Our good thoughts and prayers are with you!

The King Family? Large? OH YEAH! I guess, in a way, you could kind of even think of them as the Duggars of their day. Except that I don't think their mom gave birth to 19 of 'em. But, that aside, they were fruitful and multiplied, and, good Lord, get 'em all on the stage en masse? Whoah.

A tone-deaf King? That'd be hard to imagine, but not out of the realm of possibility. And with THAT many people, even back then, it'd be too easy to mask the tone-deaf one. Just have whoever learn the words to the song, then during filming, MOUTH the words. Along with everybody else. Just not sing.

Ooooh . . . Hope you find the info on the ice-skating segment of that Christmas show! I'd definitely like to see that!

And Donny on Andy's knee? You hit it dead on. He DID look like a ventriloquist's dummy, didn't he?

They were all so cute, back then, but especially Donny. He was a real rip!

[Tilden]

Thank you for the kind thoughts--and everybody be careful of the sidewalks upon which you tread. All I did was catch my toe on a crack between blocks of sidewalk, something we've all done hundreds of times, only that one time, it went terribly wrong--badly dislocated shoulder/cracked humerus which led to everything else.

Anyway, I was thinking Peggy Fleming, but apparently it was Dorothy Hamill who hit the rounds of all those shows. I might have been confusing her with Fleming, because she had all those specials of her own. There is youtube footage of Dorothy and Andy in 19th century costumes that involves a sketch where, wisely, Dorothy skates and Andy sings. There's also a clip from the Andy Williams 1967 Christmas special of Andy skating with "some of the best young skaters in California" including a very young Jo Jo Starbuck. Andy does okay at basic skating skills, but at one point, he's suddenly doing a very credible spin from way back in the scene--only it's not him, it's a skate-in. There are also clips on youtube of the very special about the Andy Williams Christmas shows that I remembered watching on PBS.

Just for fun, I also looked for King Family clips--and there they were. Dozens and dozens of them doing Christmas songs. One of the guys in the family also says in one clip that he can't remember what was a special and what was their own family Christmas anymore, because the specials became such a part of their own Christmas traditions.

[Tilden]

Okay, so I apparently really have nothing better to do with myself this morning, I went looking to see what's available on DVD with regard to those old Christmas specials. For you Perry Como fans out there, a DVD release of Perry Como's Christmas Around the World is due out November 6 and is available for pre-order now at Barnes and Noble and Amazon. It's two hours of the best of his Christmas specials from around the world (and as a kid, to me, the best part of his specials was that he was always in some different part of the world for each of the sixteen he did--I just discovered, by the way, that that's how many Christmas specials he did). There's a trailer available on-line if you want to get an idea of what's included on the DVD. I will say that I watched the trailer and there is a clip of Dorothy Hamill skating and another of the very Ave Maria performance someone else mentioned in this thread.

I have a friend whom we've kidded unmercifully about her Perry Como addiction, so I may order one for her for Christmas.

[ness]

Thank you for the kind thoughts--and everybody be careful of the sidewalks upon which you tread. All I did was catch my toe on a crack between blocks of sidewalk, something we've all done hundreds of times, only that one time, it went terribly wrong--badly dislocated shoulder/cracked humerus which led to everything else.

Anyway, I was thinking Peggy Fleming, but apparently it was Dorothy Hamill who hit the rounds of all those shows. I might have been confusing her with Fleming, because she had all those specials of her own. There is youtube footage of Dorothy and Andy in 19th century costumes that involves a sketch where, wisely, Dorothy skates and Andy sings. There's also a clip from the Andy Williams 1967 Christmas special of Andy skating with "some of the best young skaters in California" including a very young Jo Jo Starbuck. Andy does okay at basic skating skills, but at one point, he's suddenly doing a very credible spin from way back in the scene--only it's not him, it's a skate-in. There are also clips on youtube of the very special about the Andy Williams Christmas shows that I remembered watching on PBS.

Just for fun, I also looked for King Family clips--and there they were. Dozens and dozens of them doing Christmas songs. One of the guys in the family also says in one clip that he can't remember what was a special and what was their own family Christmas anymore, because the specials became such a part of their own Christmas traditions.

Thanks for the warning! It never ceases to amaze me how there's something you do 1,000 times, no problem. Then, time 1,001 . . . Oh brother!

Thanks, too, for the tips on the You Tube videos of the skaters and skating on Andy's Christmas special(s). And the Kings. I'm planning on checking them out, for sure!

Ahhhhhh . . . MEMORIES!

[Florimel]

I remember the King sisters; there were five of them and each had their own brood. I remember the youngest one having an extra ruffle on her gown one year when she became pregnant. And, of course I remember Tina Cole. Don Grady (Robbie) was one of those who passed away this year and his sister, Lani O'Grady was one of the Eight is Enough kids.

The Christmas specials from all of them were so very entertaining and heartwarming. I also recall Perry Como singing a wonderful rendition every year of "Ali Ali", a Hebrew song traditionally sung during the High Holiday. He did it beautifully.

[cablejockey]

Montage of Andy from his Christmas tv show.
Andy Williams Christmas Show [ wonderfull time of the year ] - YouTube

[Florimel]

Michael O"Hare, who played Captain Jeffrey Sinclair on Babylon 5, another of my favorite science fiction series, has died of a heart attach at age 60. Way too young.
Babylon 5 Star Michael O'Hare Dies - Today's News: Our Take | TVGuide.com

Here is another very strange one for those of you who watch Sons of Anarchy.
Sons of Anarchy Actor Johnny Lewis Found Dead - Today's News: Our Take | TVGuide.com

[prhoshay]

Isn't that Johnny Lewis guy the one who was a known community nut? Just seems wrong that they let known dangers just roam loose in the community. Forgive me, I didn't read the link. Think I heard about him a few days ago, and it was ugly and not good.

[AJane]

Isn't that Johnny Lewis guy the one who was a known community nut? Just seems wrong that they let known dangers just roam loose in the community. Forgive me, I didn't read the link. Think I heard about him a few days ago, and it was ugly and not good.

He's not a well-known actor so fans of the show wouldn't know anything about him IRL...but his SOA character, Kip, was sweet and goofy. His "death" on the show brought tears to my eyes. Hard to reconcile the obvious fact he was nothing like Kip. People associated with the show weren't surprised he met a bad end. I'm very sorry for his victims' families and for his family as well.

[libgirl2]

Alex Karras has died. Great athelete, great actor.

Alex Karras, former NFL lineman, actor, dies at 77 | Comcast