"I knew I didn't look like an ingenue... My nose was too long. I had crooked teeth. I wasn't blond. I knew I looked like a character actress. But I also knew I'd find a way." One of the most accomplished scene stealers in the history of TV comedy, character actress Alice Ghostley, is dead at 81. [more inside]
posted by miss lynnster on Sep 22, 2007 - 16 comments

As I'm sure you all know, today would've been the 74th birthday of actor Vic Tayback, best known as everybody's favorite hairy, sweaty, ill-tempered (yet almost cuddly) diner chef on that wacky piece of 70's tv Americana Alice (Remember when Mel called Vera "dingy"? Sitcom gold!). Kept busy for years as a character actor with constant tv guest spots on everything from "I Dream of Jeannie" to "Gunsmoke," Vic embraced job security when given an opportunity to expand one character in particular, Mel Sharples from Martin Scorcese's drama "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (starring Ellen Burstyn [she won an Oscar], Kris Kristofferson, Diane Ladd, Harvey Keitel and Jodie Foster). Thanks to Vic, the character of Mel smoothly adapted from his dramatic origins into his new home of sit-com hi-larity... one of the rare attempts of that kind to succeed.

RIP Vic. Oh, and kiss my grits.
posted by miss lynnster on Jan 6, 2005 - 22 comments