But when people go with us, it's at the back end of an industrial park in Lavonia, near a railroad track, so it's unlike the kind of commemorative surroundings that we have in our local cemeteries -- more is the pity. There's this wonderful essay that was written -- I have it framed in the hallway there; the woman's name, I think, is Sullivan who wrote it. CONTINUES IN BG SINGERS: Riley, Riley, what a pal! Babs, however, has her heart set on Jeff and rejects Burt's advances. The trouble is, in our culture we try to have one or the other -- either/or -- and it's both and then some in real experience. Peg Riley: My father let me decide who I wanted to go around with. Lewis, and I think, how would you get by without it? [1], William Bendix also starred in the 1949 film version of The Life of Riley directed by Irving Brecher. John Brown, Radio and TV Actor, Dies; Played Digger O'Dell in 'Life of Riley' Give this article May 18, 1957 The New York Times Archives See the article in its original context from May 18, 1957,. It seems Digger ODell was a friendly undertaker character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesnt explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. But then I can read the work of Barbara Brown Taylor or St. Paul or C.S. Jackie Gleason starred as Riley during the show's first year, while DeCamp and Lanny Rees reprised their film roles for the series. Actor Ted de Corsia's name appears as both "de Corsia" and "deCorsia" in the onscreen credits. The supporting cast featured Paula Winslowe as Riley's wife, Peg, and as Riley's mother-in law; Brown as O'Dell and as Riley's co-worker Jim Gillis; Francis "Dink" Trout as Waldo Binney; Tommy Cook, Bobby Ellis and Scotty Beckett as Junior at various times during the show's run; Barbara Eiler as Riley's daughter, Babs; Shirley Mitchell as Honeybee Gillis; Hans Conried as Uncle Baxter; and Alan Reed as multiple characters, including Riley's boss (Mr. Stevenson) and Peg's father. The crematory we use is impeccably run by ethical people, people we inspect, unannounced, a couple times every year. Later, while dropping off the rent to Miss Bogle, Babs receives her first kiss from Jeff. Many customers have had positive experiences ordering from them, and their customer service has been praised for keeping buyers updated on order status. Chester A. Riley: Christmas, nothing doing! Rosemary DeCamp (as "Peg Riley"), Lanny Rees (as "Junior Riley") and John Brown (as "Digger O'Dell, the Friendly Undertaker") all reprised their movie roles in the original The Life of Riley (1948) TV series. The bearing of it is so very, very important. Chester A. Riley: Yeah, but that ain't right. Jim Gillis: So by her leavin', I'm getting away without goin' out of the house. I like the connection, the sound of the word "process"; it suggests movement, a pilgrimage. Procter and Gamble's new Radiant Creme Shampoo in the handy tube! And particularly when you see the transaction which involves this rather impressive life-or-death event with the rather mundane mercantility of it all. Nevertheless, this Life of Riley series with Bendix was a ratings hit, ranking at No. "I play every chance I get music, that is!" Mounted on one of his five Harleys and racing most everywhere across the nation will be National Number 57; that's "Digger O'Dell," the friendly undertaker. . I think they used to call that "social death"; that actual death happens like that. During a burial in California, a sudden earthquake caved in the sides of his "apartment" and he had to be rescued. And Mrs. Verrino's eulogy, her narrative of what she and her husband and their child were going through, was a way of sort of mastering this journey. Portrayed Chester A. Riley's neighbor Gillis on "The Life of Riley" for ABC Radio (1944-1945) and NBC Radio (1945-1951). But people will go home, and they will look at pictures of the dead; they'll look at movies of the dead; they'll quote the dead to one another; and they will weep and laugh and carry on. I do find this recent push for every funeral to be a celebration of life as, in a way, a kind of a cruel joke on people who are in acute grief. Maybe because it's happening to their parents or their siblings and some of their friends now, suddenly I see the cultural conversation changing from "how much?" Web. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. So we learn to live with it. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. FRONTLINE series home|wgbh|pbs, FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of wgbh educational foundation. "Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60-minute radio adaptation of the movie on May 8, 1950 with William Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Meg Randall . The local newspapers reported that an 18x24-inch plywood air shaft allowed Digger to receive air and food, and he had carefully stocked his tiny domicile with lights, reading glasses, even packs of cigarettes. She must have money. [1], Irving Brecher pitched the radio series for friend Groucho Marx under the title The Flotsam Family, but the sponsor balked at what would have been essentially a straight head-of-household role for Marx. His dramatic life story is so well-known that schoolchildren are taught to recite it for extra credit. Up until a couple generations ago, humans were the species that dealt with death, the idea of the thing, by dealing with their dead, the thing itself, so that the way we processed mortality was by processing mortals from one place to the other, one station to the next in this little pilgrimage between as they were to how they are to what we hope they'll be. Well, it's showing up and just being there is worth an awful lot. When Riley learns that the couple is to spend their honeymoon in separate rooms, he becomes suspicious. What we have missed, however, in cremation in this culture is all the powerful metaphoric values provided by fire, its elemental worth. But cremation has increased since then by about 10 percent in every decade. Are social changes the reasons that we are more fearful and reluctant to deal with death in our everyday lives? I'll be the dead guy, and the dead say nothing. What a revolting development this is! Hal: I'm a father! Another time, firefighters rescued him after he apparently suffered a heart attack underground. It's an easy target; it always is -- you know, the Digger O'Dell [the "friendly undertaker" character in the 1950s television series Life of Riley]. [citation needed], Bendix and Rosemary DeCamp reprised the roles in an hour-long radio adaptation of the feature film that was presented on Lux Radio Theater on May 8, 1950. "You have to have helpers 24 hours a day.". To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. The Life of Riley was the initial release of Brecher Productions, Inc. William Bendix first played "Riley" in the popular NBC radio series on which this film was based, and John Brown played "'Digger' O'Dell" in the series. I planned the whole thing. [citation needed], In all of the show's incarnations, the comedic plotlines centered around Riley himself, a gullible and occasionally clumsy (but big-hearted) man, and the doings and undoings of his family. WGBH educational foundation, How we've become estranged from death and the dead, The meaning and power of rituals and customs, The often-mocked tradition of an open casket, How the baby boomers will change the conversation about funerals. All to the good, I say. Peg Riley: Theatre, huh? Chester A. Riley: Besides that, he's nothing but a lazy loafer. Not a day went by that I wasn't kept in after school. UP AND UNDER ANNCR: Prell brings you "The Life of Riley"! Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp, Richard Long, Meg Randall and John Brown reprised their screen roles for an May 8, 1950 Lux Radio Theatre broadcast. We'd just say, "Well, let's not think about that anymore." Chester A. Riley: Well, if you do, just holler. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: It's just not fair! Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Get Ready for a New Season of Gardening -Choose from Tomatoes, Peaches, Corn, Zinnias & More! I've always been touched by the fact that there seems to be as much laughter as weeping at the big life events. Opening credits conclude with the following written statement: "America! Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts Sign Up now to stay up to date with all of the latest news from TCM. Chester A. Riley: What do you mean the baby announcements? It gives me room to do either, all along this sort of emotional register. The Life of Riley (1949) co-starred Rosemary DeCamp, James Gleason, Beluah Bondi, Richard Long and John Brown as "Digger O'Dell" the friendly undertaker, a role that he also played on the radio program. Alan Lipscott and Reuben Ship wrote many of the radio series' early episodes, and Don Bernard was the show's initial director. In the early 1970s, he had apparently retired and had opened World-Famous Digger ODells Farmers Market somewhere in that state, but had returned to his old stunts after the death of his wife from a heart attack. https://www.quotes.net/movies/the_life_of_riley_107479, https://www.quotes.net/movies/the_life_of_riley_quotes_107479. I mean, that is the terrible, terrible part. Well, to find the answer to that question, you need to read the full story here. At the mobile home park, a local reporter didnt have a very high opinion of the aging stuntman, writing, He has the flushed face and shaking hand of a man who has seen the sun rise over many an empty bottle. Digger showed up at the park wearing only a bathrobe. Mrs. Abigail Uppington, the wimpy Wallace Wimple and the "friendly undertaker," Digger O'Dell. And I find that latter conversation much more compelling and much more difficult, because it's not as easy as dollars and cents. Chester A. Riley is back, with long-suffering wife Peg, trouble-prone kids Junior and Babs, moochy pal Gillis, and Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker in sixteen hilarious half-hour episodes. The expression "life of Riley" or "living the life of Riley (Reilly)" emerged in the early 1920s, and was probably derived from turn-of-the-century Irish songs, such as "The Best in the House Is None Too Good for Reilly." The program was broadcast live with a studio audience, most of whom were not aware Brown played both characters. His frequent exclamation of indignation"What a revoltin' development this is! I don't know what my part of it is, except it's duty, detail: Show up, do this, do that, be sure the car starts, keep it clean, you know, that type of thing. Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. And my father did have a sense of formality and tradition when it came to funerals. Henry Morgan voiced Riley's father in one episode. So it's not like you do things for them as much as you do it with them and embolden them to do for themselves. Chester A. Riley: Gee, Gillis, you're brave - making out you're happy when all the time, inside, you've got a broken heart. I enjoy listening to the frogs croak. Peg Riley: All this plotting and scheming you remind me of a girl I once knew. Thanks to Chester's interference, Junior now has two dates for the school dance. I think mine will know what to do, too, not because I've said, "Do this or that," but because they have seen life as I have seen it, and they sort of know me and I know them. It's Prell! What age were you when you really seriously thought you might become a funeral director, and how much of your dad's influence was a part of that decision? Money is involved. Buried alive? When the publicity manager urged him to change into a dark suit (so it would be more funeral-like) Digger refused: Ive got to have my robe. 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