A long-sought-after treasure of Careyana has been found! It’s Timothy’s Halloween commercial for Sambo’s restaurants, first aired on NBC-TV on October 29, 1980. Who is that at the very beginning, appearing from behind a newspaper as Frankenstein’s monster? I think we all know who! Happy Halloween, everybody!
Better late than never, folks. Richard Anderson, Timothy’s co-star in Paths of Glory (1957) (two years later they both appeared in The Gunfight at Dodge City, though not together), passed away on August 31 (my birthday!) of this year at the age of 91. He was of course best known for his role as Oscar Goldman in The Six Million Dollar Man television series. Romeo Carey did get an interview with him a few years ago, thankfully. As today is Wednesday, the usual day for Video of the Week, here is Anderson with Timothy in the memorable court-martial scene from Paths. Rest well, Oscar.
It’s Wednesday, and you may or may not remember what that means around here: it’s time for the Video of the Week! This week we bring you another of Timothy’s very early appearances on the small screen. It’s the Death Valley Days episode “Cynthy’s Dream Dress,” first airing on March 3, 1953. Tim’s very small part as a bartender begins at about the 10:35 mark. Don’t blink!
The episode also stars Virginia Lee (D.O.A. [1950]); Brad Johnson (Bedtime for Bonzo [1951]); and Helen Brown (Shane [1953]). Also appearing are two of Ed Wood‘s favorite character players, Lyle Talbot and Kenne Duncan. Enjoy!
Set those DVRs, you Super Human Beings – Timothy’s mad masterpiece returns to TCM Underground tomorrow night, October 29! 11:30 PM PST, 2:30 AM EST! Check your local listings!
Kudos to Turner Classic Movies for featuring the great James Edwards in their Summer Under the Stars showcase today, but it looks like they forgot one…
Well look what I found on Dailymotion! The full length CHiPs episode “Kidnap,” first broadcast on January 26, 1980. Most definitely one of Timothy’s most eccentric performances.
Tim’s cohort in crime here is Warren Berlinger, another venerable character actor born in Brooklyn (with the same birthday as me!). He’s been all over the big and small screens since the late 1950s. He is also Milton Berle‘s nephew!
This week’s video accompanies the wonderful article by filmmaker Andre Perkowski (and was also created by him) that provided our Quote of the Week last Sunday. It comprises scenes from Timothy’s last television appearance in the Airwolf episode “Tracks” (3.22.1986) overlaid with the audio from Morgan Morgan’s near-soliloquy from Minnie and Moskowitz (1971). The result is surrealism at its finest. Enjoy!
OH MY GOD. Shield your eyes, folks, it’s Chesty Anderson U.S. Navy (1976) in its entirety. Horrible print, horrible film, and Timothy’s most over-the-top, unhinged performance ever. Well, maybe tied with The World’s Greatest Sinner (1962).
Co-star Rosanne Katon told Shock Cinema magazine that the production of this film was “chaotic”: “That’s another one where we had new pages every day, three directors – after a while it was like, ‘How do I get out of this?!’ It was one absurd situation after another. I think I stayed on just to watch Timothy Carey around the Craft Services table! He was certifiable. I mean, he was climbing the walls. They almost had to get a net just to pull him over so he could say his lines, and then he’d wander off again. It was insane. They had all these garbage trucks around, and girlfriends of the investors – when I wasn’t laughing at what was going on, I was reading a book in the corner. I’ll put it that way.”
Today is the birthday anniversary of not one but two great men who played important roles in Timothy’s career. After wondering why I never noticed this before, I thought it fitting to pay tribute to both of them at once.
First up is Kirk Douglas, who turns an incredible 99 years old today. He may not have been thrilled with Tim’s improvisational acting style in Stanley Kubrick‘s Paths of Glory (1957), but you would never know it from this scene, from the court-martial of the three scapegoated prisoners.
John Cassavetes, who did appreciate Tim’s freestyle approach to his craft, was born on this date in 1929. He managed to capture Tim’s essence in two fantastic films, Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie (1976). Here is Tim’s appearance in the former film, with star Seymour Cassel, in its glorious entirety.
Happy birthday, gentlemen!
Well this is not how I wanted to end “Timothy in Color Week,” I can assure you. Robert Loggia, character actor and tough guy extraordinaire, passed away today at the age of 85. He and Timothy only made one film together, the drive-in classic Speedtrap (1977). To mark his passing, let’s share not only a pic from that film but a video clip as well.
From Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) to The Sopranos (2004), Loggia marked whatever project he found himself in with the indelible stamp of his personality. He will truly be missed.
The Timothy Carey Experience 