Where Are They Now? - My Three Sons - Scoop - Where the Magic of Collecting Comes Alive!

Scoop - Where the Magic of Collecting Comes Alive! - Where Are They Now?

Where Are They Now?

The 1950s and 60s made family friendly television. Dad was the
provider, while mom cooked and cleaned, and the children got into
trouble, then learned lessons from the always wise parents. The houses
were clean and audiences could practically smell apple pie baking in
the spotless oven. Thank God My Three Sons had a little chaos.

Though still family entertainment, My Three Sons was a
little more livable. With clutter around and boys trying to set their
father up on dates, audiences fell in love with the charming,
male-dominated cast. The show ran from 1960 until 1972, making it one
of the longest running American sitcoms. After finishing the show, the
cast continued to entertain.

Father of the rambunctious crew was Fred MacMurray. His acting
career spanned over 50 years and 100 movies. While playing Steve
Douglas, he was also the Absent Minded Professor, The Happiest Millionaire, and then Charley in Charley and the Angel. He played another father in The Chadwick Family and his last role was in the action horror movie The Swarm in
1978. MacMurray was married twice during his life and adopted two
children during each marriage. He died in 1991 at age 83, after a long
fight with leukemia. In September of 2007, the first full-length book about his life was published, written by Charles Tranberg, with an introduction by Don Grady.

Teen heartthrob Don Grady continued to act for a few years after
playing middle son Robbie Douglas, before turning to his love of music.
His last few acting appearances were on To Rome With Love, After the Honeymoon, Love, American Style, and his last role was in a few episodes of Simon & Simon
in 1984. He studied orchestration and composition with Albert Harris,
David Angel, big band writer Bill Fritz, and mentor Don Nemitz. Grady
composed music for The Kitchen Casanova in 1996, Good Neighbor and Emperor’s New Groove in 2001, The Story Behind the Story, and the AFI Tribute to Meryl Streep in 2004. He did the score for The Wild, Wild, Wild West show for Universal Studios in Hollywood and Florida and recently almost an hour of his original composition is featured on the Beauty & The Beast 2-disc DVD set. Go to his website for more interesting information.

Little Chip Douglas, aka Stanley Livingston, grew up in front of and behind the camera. After My Three Sons he starred in cult hit Private Parts, a few episodes of The Roman Holidays, and most recently in Bikini Drive-Inm
in 1995. He’s written, produced, and directed many commercials,
educational programs, and music videos. He co-authored the screenplay
for the film The Aftermath, wrote the musical Dorian, starring his real-life and television brother Barry Livingston, and produced Hey, Ma…
a one-woman show presented at the Henry Fonda Theater in Los Angeles.
Now Livingston is the head of First Team Productions and just finished
working on The Actor’s Journey Project about children, teens, and young adults in entertainment. Check out his website for more about Stanley Livingston.

After playing adopted brother Ernie, Barry Livingston has acted
consistently over the past 35 years. He has appeared on a multitude of
popular TV shows including, Room 222, Simon & Simon, Doogie Howser, M.D., Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, The Nanny, Sliders, Ally McBeal, The West Wing, Will & Grace, Roswell, The Drew Carey Show, and Crossing Jordan, to name only a few. On film, he was in The Elevator, Easy Wheels, The Nutt House, The O.J. Simpson Story, Invisible Mom, Robbie’s Brother, First Daughter, Zodiac, and is currently filming You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.

Tim Considine, oldest and often absent brother Mike had a few more
acting jobs while pursuing a career in writing and photography. He was
in episodes of Bonanza, The Fugitive, Ironside, Gunsmoke, the 2000 movie The New Adventures of Spin and Marty: Suspect Behavior, and Ray of Sunshine earlier this year. He writes features for magazines, including The New York Times Magazine and newspapers and has exhibited his photographs in galleries and museums. Considine has authored three books: The Photographic Dictionary of Soccer, The Language of Sport, and American Grand Prix Racing: A Century of Drivers & Cars. Authorsandartists.com has more details on his books and photographs.

William Demarest, Uncle Charley to the Douglas family, had a long,
illustrious acting career. He was in over 100 films from 1926 through
1978, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting role in
The Jolson Story. He was in the hilarious It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, the eerie TV movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, The Wild McCullochs in 1975, and his last movie was The Millionaire in 1978. Demarest died in 1983 at the age of 91.

My Three Sons came at the end of William Frawley’s
acting career. Before playing the maternal grandfather, he was neighbor
and friend Fred Mertz in I Love Lucy. He did an episode of My Living Doll in 1964 and his last appearance was on The Lucy Show in
1965. For his contribution to television, Frawley was awarded a star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Hollywood Boulelvard, the street on which
he had a heart attack and died on in 1966.

This show was chosen by readers’ requests. Let us know who’s on your list to know where they are now. Email: samanda@gemstonepub.com

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Superman #1 CGC 1.0 Tops $20,000 - Scoop - Where the Magic of Collecting Comes Alive

Scoop - Where the Magic of Collecting Comes Alive! - Superman #1 CGC 1.0 Tops $20,000

Superman #1 CGC 1.0 Tops $20,000

A copy of Superman #1 CGC-certified
1.0 with cream to off-white pages sold for $22,000 after receiving 20
bids. The CGC label noted that there was a very minor amount of glue on
the back cover. The CGC Census currently notes 65 copies of Superman #1 certified with the highest graded unrestored copy grading 8.0.

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Scoop - Where the Magic of Collecting Comes Alive! - The Good Guy in Black

We need more of this kind of thing today, kids don’t really have anyone to look up to these days.  Hopalong Cassidy was always one of my Dad’s favorites, and I remember watching his movies with my Dad when I was a kid. 

Those are some of my favorite times growing up, and I wouldn’t trade those for anything.  Thanks Dad!

Scoop - Where the Magic of Collecting Comes Alive! - The Good Guy in Black

The Good Guy in Black

Rare poster from the first Hopalong Cassidy movie in 1935  Grace Bradley circa 1934  Young Bill Clinton dressed as Hoppy

Some celebrities emphatically proclaim that they don’t want to be role
models. They won’t adhere to certain behaviors, even if their limelight
activities may be mimicked by children. Others take on the role with
pride, using their clout to organize events, raise money for charities,
and the new trend of being green.   

One celebrity who loved being a role model was William Boyd. Known
primarily as Hopalong Cassidy, Boyd wanted the character, and his
public appearances, to mean something to people. However, Hoppy wasn’t
always that way. As a pulp-fiction character he was a whisky-drinking,
hard-living, foul-mouthed wrangler. When Boyd took the role to film he
cleaned up the character making him a cowboy hero who didn’t drink,
swear, or smoke, and he never started a fight. 

Hopalong Cassidy was known as a noble cowboy, and he took that
seriously. When Hoppy producer Harry Sherman wanted to cancel the
series, Boyd gambled virtually everything he had to buy the character
rights from creator Clarence Mulford and movie rights from Sherman. He
sold many of his possessions and spent most of his money on the belief
that America wanted more Hoppy, and that he could deliver.

Boyd was always good to his fans. He generously gave money to
charities and hospitals to help those less fortunate. On a regular
basis, he would visit hospitals and take part in children’s programs to
interact with his youthful fans. When going to hospitals, dressed as
Hoppy, he would bring gifts for children, making their day in the
process.

Aside from taking part in charities, he expressed moral justness.
By the end of every Hopalong Cassidy show he gave encouraging advice
telling people to be kind to animals, support their country, go to
church, behave for your parents, etc. At a department store opening he
refused to sign autographs until the two lines, one of African American
children and one of Caucasian children, were integrated.

William Boyd was not just an entertainer, but a humanitarian. His
personal values and unwavering pursuit of morality imparted wisdom to
generations of children and that will always be part of his legacy.

Gemstone’s Hopalong Cassidy book is well on its way. Co-authored by
his widow, Grace Bradley Boyd, the book will give insight into William
Boyd’s life, the love he shared with Grace, and the message he and
Hoppy shared with America. Gemstone is still collecting photographs of
children dressed as Hoppy. If you have these photos, particularly of
the early 1950s, send them to russ@russcochran.com.

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