American actor (1921?2007)
Tom Poston
|
---|
Poston in 1965
|
Born
| Thomas Gordon Poston
(
1921-10-17
)
October 17, 1921
|
---|
Died
| April 30, 2007
(2007-04-30)
(aged 85)
|
---|
Resting place
| Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
|
---|
Occupation
| Actor
|
---|
Years active
| 1950?2007
|
---|
Spouses
|
Doris Sward
(
m.
1949, divorced)
(
m.
1955;
div.
1961)
Kay Hudson
(
m.
1968;
div.
1976)
(
m.
1980; died 1998)
|
---|
Children
| 3
|
---|
Thomas Gordon Poston
(October 17, 1921 ? April 30, 2007) was an American actor, appearing in television roles from the 1950s through the early to mid-2000s, reportedly appearing in more
sitcoms
than any other actor.
[1]
In the 1980s, he played George Utley on the
CBS
sitcom
Newhart
, receiving three
Emmy Award
nominations for the role. In addition he had a number of film roles and appeared frequently on Broadway and television game shows.
Early life
[
edit
]
Poston was born on October 17, 1921 in
Columbus, Ohio
, to George and Margaret Poston.
[2]
His father was a liquor salesman and
dairy
chemist.
[3]
After completing high school, Poston attended
Bethany College
in
West Virginia
, but did not graduate. While there, he joined the
Sigma Nu
fraternity. He joined the
United States Army Air Forces
in 1941. Accepted to officer candidate school and then graduating from flight training, Poston served as a pilot in the
European Theater
in
World War II
; his aircraft dropped paratroopers for the
Normandy invasion
.
[4]
Poston served in North Africa, Italy, France, and England. After his discharge, he began studying acting in
New York City
, graduating from the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
.
[5]
Career
[
edit
]
In 1953, as Thomas Poston, he was cast as "Detective" in the film
City That Never Sleeps
. In 1957, Poston gained recognition as a comedic "Man in the Street" (along with his colleagues
Louis Nye
,
Dayton Allen
and
Don Knotts
) on
The Steve Allen Show
. For these performances, Poston won the 1959 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Continuing Character) in a Comedy Series. In the fall of 1959, when the Allen program moved west to Los Angeles, Poston remained in New York, appearing frequently on Broadway and television game shows.
His film career was limited, with appearances in films such as
William Castle
's
Zotz!
(1962),
The Old Dark House
(1963),
Soldier in the Rain
(1963),
Cold Turkey
(1971),
The Happy Hooker
(1975),
Rabbit Test
(1978),
Up the Academy
(1980) and
Carbon Copy
(1981). He was cast as Michael Carrington's uncle Tom Anderson in
Grease 2
(1982), but his scenes were deleted.
His television career covered the better part of five decades. When
Mel Brooks
submitted his idea for
Get Smart
to the
ABC
network, ABC wanted Poston for the lead role of Maxwell Smart.
[6]
When ABC passed on the show,
NBC
picked it up and the lead went to
Don Adams
. Poston, however, made a guest appearance on the show as a KAOS villain. He appeared in
Thriller
during its second season in 1961. The episode, number six, was titled "Masquerade" and starred
Elizabeth Montgomery
.
In 1968, Poston played the role of the
Scarecrow
, at
The Municipal Opera Association of St. Louis
, production of
The Wizard of Oz
.
Lana Cantrell
played
Dorothy Gale
, and Betty Low played the Sorceress of the North, also known as
Glinda
.
Poston was a recurring guest star on
The Bob Newhart Show
in the 1970s, playing "The Peeper", a buddy of Bob's since college, whereby he and Bob would try to one-up each other with practical jokes. Poston later played the role of Franklin Delano Bickley on
Mork & Mindy
.
A longtime friend of
Bob Newhart
, Poston also played George Utley, a simple country handyman of the Stratford Inn, on
Newhart
, and appeared with Newhart in
Cold Turkey
as the town drunk, Edgar Stopworth. He was nominated for an Emmy Award three times for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance on
Newhart
in 1984, 1986, and 1987. He had a third role with Newhart in the short-lived sitcom
Bob
.
Poston had roles on many other television series:
Family Matters
,
Murphy Brown
,
Home Improvement
,
Cosby
,
Malcolm & Eddie
,
ER
,
Grace Under Fire
,
That '70s Show
(as
Kitty Forman
's father, Burt Sigurdson),
Will & Grace
, and guest starred in
an episode
of
The Simpsons
as the
Capital City Goofball
. He played dentist/jeweler, Art Hibke, on ABC's
Coach
, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series in 1991. He guest-starred on
Home Improvement
as a surly airport clerk in
Alpena, Michigan
when Tim and Al get stuck there during a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, and again as that character's brother in the episode "The Tool Man Delivers", and again as the third brother in the episode "Thanksgiving".
In 2001, he appeared on
The Lone Gunmen
episode "The Cap'n Toby Show" and in
King of the Hill
episode "Now Who's The Dummy?" as Mr. Popper (voice). In 2005, he played the character "Clown" on the brief-lived NBC series
Committed
and guest-starred on the ABC series
8 Simple Rules
as Rory's unlawful friend Jake in the episode "Good Moms Gone Wild". In 2006, Poston guest-starred on an episode of
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
, entitled "Ah! Wilderness" as Merle, which was his final role.
Personal life and death
[
edit
]
Poston married Doris Sward in 1949.
[7]
They later divorced.
[8]
He married
Jean Sullivan
in 1955. They had a daughter, Francesca (born 1956). Poston and Sullivan announced their separation in 1959 and divorced two years later.
[9]
[10]
Poston began dating Kay Hudson in the spring of 1961, when she was 17 and he was 39.
[11]
The couple married in 1968. They had two children, son Jason (born 1969) and daughter Hudson (born 1972). They divorced in 1976 but remarried in 1980 and remained together until her death at age 54 in 1998 from
ALS
.
[2]
In 2001, Poston married actress
Suzanne Pleshette
, who played the wife of Newhart's character Bob Hartley on
The Bob Newhart Show
. It was his fourth marriage and her third.
[12]
Pleshette and Poston had dated briefly in 1959 and got back together in 2000.
[5]
After a brief illness, Poston died of respiratory failure on April 30, 2007, in
Los Angeles, California
, at the age of 85.
[5]
He pre-deceased Pleshette by nine months. Although he was not Jewish, he is interred in the Jewish
Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery
alongside Pleshette, who was Jewish.
[13]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Films
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
1950
|
Tom Corbett, Space Cadet
|
The Alkarian
|
Episode: "The Mystery of Alkar"
|
1950?1951
|
Lights Out
|
Sir John
|
2 episodes
|
1951
|
Studio One in Hollywood
|
Sentry / Alec Gordon
|
2 episodes
|
1953
|
Hawkins Falls: A Television Novel
|
Toby Winfield
|
Unknown episodes
|
1955
|
Goodyear Playhouse
|
Currently Unknown
|
Episode: "Tangled Web"
|
1956
|
Playwrights '56
|
Fletcher
|
Episode: "You Sometimes Get Rich"
|
Robert Montgomery Presents
|
Currently Unknown
|
Episode: "Who?"
|
1956?1957
|
The Phil Silvers Show
|
Guard House Lieutenant / The Lieutenant
|
2 episodes
|
1956?1960
|
The Steve Allen Plymouth Show
|
Comedian / Guest / Himself
|
44 episodes
|
1957
|
The United States Steel Hour
|
Chester
|
Episode: "The Change in Chester"
|
The Steve Allen Show
|
Comedian
|
Episode: "#3.11"
|
1958
|
The Christmas Tree
|
Tom
|
Television Film
|
1958?1966
|
What's My Line?
|
Himself / Mystery Guest / Panelist
|
10 episodes
|
1959
|
The Ed Sullivan Show
|
Lieutenant Ferguson Howard
|
Episode: "#13.9"
|
1959?1960
|
Split Personality (Game Show)
|
Himself / Host
|
Studio: NBC Studio 8H, New York City, NY
|
1959?1967
|
To Tell the Truth
|
Himself / Panelist
|
317 episodes
|
1960
|
The Tempest
|
Trinculo
|
Television Film
|
Play of the Week
|
Supervisor
|
Episode: "The Enchanted"
|
1961
|
Thriller
|
Charlie Denham
|
Episode: "Masquerade"
|
1963?1964
|
Match Game
|
Himself / Team Captain
|
35 episodes
|
Missing Links
|
Himself / Panelist
|
27 episodes
|
1964
|
The Defenders
|
Sheldon Lowell
|
2 episodes
|
1965
|
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
|
Janitor / Lieutenant Courtney
|
Episode: "Double Jeopardy"
|
1968
|
Gentle Ben
|
Joe Cardigan
|
Episode: "Trophy Bear"
|
1969
|
The Good Guys
|
Julian Brent
|
Episode: "The World's Second Greatest Lover"
|
Get Smart
|
Doctor Zharko
|
Episode: "Shock It to Me"
|
1974
|
Bobby Parker and Company
|
His Psychiatrist
|
Television Film
|
1975
|
Harry and Maggie
|
Arlo Wilson
|
Television Short
|
1975?1976
|
On the Rocks
|
Mister Sullivan
|
13 episodes
|
1975?1977
|
The Bob Newhart Show
|
Cliff Murdock
|
5 episodes
|
1976
|
Alice
|
Jerry Dittmeyer
|
Episode: "Vera's Mortician"
|
1976?1977
|
Match Game
|
Himself / Panelist
|
10 episodes
|
1977
|
All's Fair
|
Harold Banks
|
Episode: "Save the Yak"
|
The Magnificent Magical Magnet of Santa Mesa
|
William Bensinger
|
Television Film
|
1977?1978
|
We've Got Each Other
|
Damon Jerome
|
13 episodes
|
1977?1987
|
The Love Boat
|
Tom Poston / Daniel Baker / Mickey O'Day
|
3 episodes
|
1978
|
A Guide to the Married Woman
|
Marty Gibson
|
Television Film
|
Flying High
|
Zarky
|
Episode: "The Vanishing Point"
|
Fame
|
Car Salesman
|
Television Film
|
1979
|
$weepstake$
|
Leeds
|
Episode: "Dewey and Harold and Sarah and Maggie"
|
CHiPs
|
Bill Conner
|
Episode: "Quarantine"
|
Beane's of Boston
|
Mister Frank Beane
|
Pilot Episode
|
1979?1980
|
The Hollywood Squares (Daytime)
|
Center Square / Himself / Panelist
|
21 episodes
|
1979?1981
|
Mork & Mindy
|
Franklin Bickley
|
54 episodes
|
1980
|
Good Time Harry
|
Ben Younger
|
Episode: "Ben Younger"
|
1981
|
The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite
|
Omar Krepps
|
Television Film
|
1981?1982
|
Password Plus
|
Celebrity Contestant / Himself
|
11 episodes
|
1982
|
King's Crossing
|
Brian Gunshore
|
Episode: "The Home Front"
|
I've Had It Up to Here
|
Currently Unknown
|
Television Film
|
1982?1990
|
Newhart
|
George Utley
|
184 episodes
|
1983?1984
|
Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour
|
Himself / Panelist
|
24 episodes
|
1984?1985
|
Body Language
|
Himself
|
15 episodes
|
1984?1989
|
Super Password
|
Celebrity Contestant / Himself
|
70 episodes
|
1985
|
Hotel
|
Tommy Rooney
|
Episode: "Pathways"
|
1986
|
Crazy Like a Fox
|
Currently Unknown
|
Episode: "A Fox at the Races"
|
Fresno
|
Doctor Parseghian
|
Miniseries 4 episodes
|
1987
|
D.C. Follies
|
Tom Poston
|
Episode: "Pilot"
|
1988
|
Save the Dog!
|
Currently Unknown
|
Television Film
|
St. Elsewhere
|
Jim Morrison
|
Episode: "The Abby Singer Show"
|
1990
|
A Quiet Little Neighborhood, a Perfect Little Murder
|
Don Corman
|
Television Film
|
The Simpsons
|
Capital City Goofball (voice)
|
Episode: "
Dancin' Homer
"
|
1990?1991
|
Good Grief
|
Ringo Prowley
|
13 episodes
|
1990?1995
|
Coach
|
Dr. Art Hibke / Art Hibke
|
4 episodes
|
1991
|
Harry and the Hendersons
|
Currently Unknown
|
Episode: "Harry and the Homeless Man"
|
1992?1993
|
Bob
|
Jerry Fleisher
|
4 episodes
|
1993
|
Dream On
|
Sidney 'Uncle Bouncy' Barish
|
Episode: "Oral Sex, Lies and Videotape"
|
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
|
Mysterious 'Dead Man'
|
Episode: "Halloween"
|
1994
|
Big Daddy's Barbecue
|
Virgil
|
Television Film
|
1994?1995
|
Family Matters
|
Mr. Looney
|
3 episodes
|
1994?1996
|
Murphy Brown
|
Old Man Swenson
|
2 episodes
|
1995
|
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
|
Ralph / Burly Man (voices)
|
Episode: "Eau de Krumm/O'Lucky Monster"
|
1995?1997
|
Home Improvement
|
Ted / Ned / The Clerk
|
3 episodes
|
1995?1998
|
Grace Under Fire
|
Floyd Norton
|
32 episodes
|
1996
|
The Larry Sanders Show
|
Tom Poston
|
Episode: "My Name Is Asher Kingsley"
|
1997
|
George and Leo
|
Traffic Cop
|
Episode: "The Pilot Episode"
|
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
|
Mortgage Banker
|
Episode: "Witch Trash"
|
1998
|
Just Shoot Me!
|
Herb
|
Episode: "Jack's Old Partner"
|
Touched by an Angel
|
Ed Yablonsky
|
Episode: "Cry and You Cry Alone"
|
Suddenly Susan
|
Mr. Vance
|
Episode: "Sleeping with the Enemy"
|
Maggie Winters
|
Lester Mulford
|
Episode: "Mama's Got a Brand New Bag"
|
Rugrats
|
Roy (voice)
|
Episode: "Baking Dil/Hair!"
|
Contempt of Court
|
Coroner
|
Television Film
|
1999
|
Cosby
|
Tim
|
2 episodes
|
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
|
Uncle Cosmo
|
Episode: "Honey, It's the Ghostest with the Mostest"
|
Diagnosis: Murder
|
Tom Porter
|
Episode: "The Roast"
|
1999?2000
|
Malcolm & Eddie
|
Garth Dubin
|
2 episodes
|
2000
|
Dharma & Greg
|
Dr. Gillespie
|
Episode: "The Spy Who Said He Loved Me"
|
Normal, Ohio
|
Stanley
|
Episode: "Just Another Normal Christmas"
|
2001
|
The Drew Carey Show
|
Roscoe Harvey
|
Episode: "Oswald's Dad Returns"
|
King of the Hill
|
Mr. Popper (voice)
|
Episode: "Now Who's the Dummy?"
|
ER
|
Earl
|
2 episodes
|
The Lone Gunmen
|
Captain Toby / Fred Tabalowski
|
Episode: "The 'Cap'n Toby' Show"
|
The Ellen Show
|
Joe
|
Episode: "Joe"
|
2002
|
Apple Valley Knights
|
Justice Knight Sr.
|
Unknown episodes
|
Becker
|
Joe Willakie
|
Episode: "Talking Points"
|
Will & Grace
|
Norman
|
Episode: "Went to a Garden Potty"
|
Liberty's Kids
: Est. 1776
|
John Ashley (voice)
|
5 episodes
|
2002?2003
|
That '70s Show
|
Burt Sigurdson
|
3 episodes
|
2003
|
Good Morning, Miami
|
Lenny
|
2 episodes
|
8 Simple Rules
|
Jake
|
Episode: "Good Moms Gone Wild"
|
2005
|
Committed
|
Clown
|
13 episodes
|
2006
|
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
|
Merle
|
Episode: "Ah! Wilderness!"
|
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Moore, Dennis (August 5, 2013).
"Which American Actor Appeared in the most TV Sitcoms?"
.
USA Today
. Retrieved
April 21,
2014
.
- ^
a
b
Bernstein, Adam (May 2, 2007).
"Tom Poston; Played the Comically Clueless"
.
The Washington Post
. Retrieved
April 21,
2014
.
- ^
"Tom Poston spreads holiday cheer".
Chippewa Herald-Telegram
. December 23, 1989. p. C2.
- ^
Astor, Gerald (1999).
The Greatest War ? Volume II: D-Day and the Assault on Europe
. New York: Warner Books. p. 247.
ISBN
0-446-61047-X
.
- ^
a
b
c
Fox, Margalit (May 2, 2007).
"Tom Poston, Virtuosic Comic Actor, Is Dead at 85"
.
The New York Times
. Archived from
the original
on November 6, 2014
. Retrieved
April 21,
2014
.
- ^
Parish, James Robert (February 28, 2008).
It's Good to Be the King: The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks
. John Wiley & Sons. p. 165.
ISBN
978-0-470-22526-4
.
- ^
"Northampton County Marriage Licenses"
.
The Morning Call
. Allentown, Pennsylvania. September 20, 1949. p. 4 – via
Newspapers.com
.
- ^
"Poston's Third".
The Atlanta Constitution
. June 8, 1968. p. 2.
- ^
Actor Tom Poston, Wife Are Separated
The Miami News
, August 28, 1959
- ^
"Ask TV Scout"
.
Fort Lauderdale News
. May 18, 1962.
- ^
"Tom Poston, Tough Kid: From $10 Fights To Broadway".
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
. September 25, 1980. p. 3E.
- ^
Donnelley, Paul (September 1, 2010).
Fade to Black: A Book of Over 1500 Movie Obituaries
. Omnibus Press.
ISBN
978-1-84938-246-5
.
- ^
Archerd, Army (May 2, 2007).
"Tom Poston Farewell"
.
Variety
. Archived from
the original
on February 2, 2016
. Retrieved
November 15,
2019
.
External links
[
edit
]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Tom Poston
.
|
---|
1954?1975
| |
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1976?2000
| |
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2001?present
| |
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|
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International
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National
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People
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Other
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