I read Paul Mavis's DVD review of What Makes Sammy Run? at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=36236 and...Paul, I remember this being broadcast and my not wanting to see it. Your comments have changed my thinking and I will be putting it up as soon as a copy comes my way.

Barry

His review had me running to Netflix. I should get it tomorrow. Barry, I can't believe you would remember something that was broadcast that long ago.

Now that Larry Blyden's classic performance in Sammy is available, we can only hope that Bill Cullen's near-legendary turn as Richard III is restored. I hear it puts Olivier to shame.

I never knew this, until researching the actor, but Blyden had a very successful Broadway career long before (and during) the role we all probably remember him for: that of a TV game show host, like Cullen.

And Blyden is incredible in this role. Right on a par with Griffith's turn in A Face in the Crowd.

Kidding aside, this sort of thing apparently wasn't all that unusual back in the 50's, 60's, and 70's. Peter Marshall and Richard Dawson were both actors before becoming hosts, and even Johnny Carson did some acting during his run as the host of Who Do You Trust?

And then there was Wink Martindale as Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons...argh, I can't resist, it's too easy!

You're right -- Gene Rayburn and Burt Convey were both Broadway stars, too (as well as Charles Nelson Reilly, who you can stretch to "honorary" co-host of Match Game).

Bert was of course a MLB player, too. He was in the original cast of Cabaret and sings wonderfully on the OCR. Charles was in a ton of shows, including Hello, Dolly! and is on many OCRs. I'm friends with his former publicist, who is full of great Reilly stories. The only Broadway appearance of Rayburn's I'm familiar with is his short-lived replacement as Albert in Bye, Bye Birdie after Dick Van Dyke left.

As a matter of fact, What Makes Sammy Run? was musicalized (by Ervin Drake, the guy who wrote "It Was a Very Good Year" for some singer named Sinatra or something like that). Budd wrote the book, and it starred Steve Lawrence. That OCR is available and has some nice stuff on it.

I wish someone had videotaped Blyden and Phil Silvers in their early-'70s revival of A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM.

In some completely unrelated but kind of cool tangential AFTHOTWTTF news, I'm conducting a production of THE PRODUCERS here in Portland this summer and it turns out the director, an L.A. based actor/director, is neighbors with Ken Thorne, the guy who won an Oscar for the film version. Ken is lending us some keyboards for our show and hopefully will travel north to see it--I hope so, I'd love to meet him.