By the second half of its second season Dennis the Menace had proved a hit for CBS, rising to the #11 spot
in the ratings for 1960-61. The producers astutely recognized that the main
reason for its popularity was due to the antics of constantly exasperated,
pompous windbag George Wilson, Dennis' next-door neighbor, whom Dennis
considers his best friend though the feeling is definitely not mutual. There
were minor cast changes from the second half of Season 2 through the beginning
of Season 3. When Gloria Henry went on maternity leave, Kathleen Mulqueen was
added as Dennis' paternal grandmother who comes to stay with Henry and Dennis,
but like Dennis' mother Alice, she is a mere prop for the interplay between
Dennis and Mr. Wilson. Henry Mitchell gets a new antagonist in Charles Brady,
obnoxious father of equally obnoxious Johnny Brady, who becomes Dennis' chief
antagonist. Dub Taylor's general-purpose character Opie Swanson is replaced by
Chubby Johnson's locksmith/junk dealer Buzz in Season 3. Ronnie Howard's
character Stewart, a friend of Dennis' who understands even less than he does,
is replaced by Robert John Pittman's Seymour as Howard's time was consumed
playing Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show. And even Jeannie Russell's portrayal of Dennis antagonist and suitor
Margaret is greatly reduced--she appears in 8 episodes but always as just
another one of his friends he is trying to press into service for one of his
schemes. She no longer tries to get him to play house or speaks of a future
marriage. Man-hungry spinster Miss Cathcart has one episode devoted to her, "Miss
Cathcart's Friend" (January 22, 1961), in which Dennis overhears his
mother telling another lady over the phone that it would be good if Cathcart
had a companion, so Dennis decides to get her a dog while she thinks he is recruiting
her a husband. She has a supporting role in "Dennis' Tool Chest"
(March 5, 1961) when we see her trying to woo an insurance salesman who is all
business while her cat gets stuck in the trunk of Wilson's car and forces him
to strip it down to its bare bones to try to get rid of the squeak he does not
recognize as a meow. She also babysits Dennis in "Dennis' Obligation"
(April 2, 1961) and makes a brief singing performance in "Dennis the
Campaign Manager" (January 15, 1961).
However, for most of the episodes that aired in 1961, the
show could have been renamed The Constant
Humiliation of George Wilson because each installment went to great lengths
in putting Wilson's character in ever-more ridiculous predicaments. But over
time, Wilson's troubles came to be more of his own making rather than Dennis',
and Dennis actually begins saving Mr. Wilson from his own worst impulses. In "Dennis'
Penny Collection (January 8, 1961), Wilson runs into trouble by entrusting
Dennis to put a penny in a parking meter outside a bookstore which winds up
with Wilson getting a parking ticket, and then leaves Dennis alone in front of
the bank while he dashes inside, which results in Dennis thinking an armored
car guard has given him permission to look through the pennies in the back of
his truck, which Wilson dashes out to try to prevent but only makes it look
like he is trying to break into the armored car. Wilson is taken down to police
headquarters before the misunderstanding is straightened out, but Dennis
manages to charm the other policemen, who let him trade his current rolls of
pennies from some newly taken out of parking meters, resulting in Wilson
finding a rare 1914 penny he has wanted for his collection for years.
In "Dennis the Campaign Manager" (January 15,
1961), Dennis charms a TV producer into doing an interview with Wilson after he
decides to run for Parks Commissioner because the producer thinks it is a human
interest story that a little boy would campaign for candidate for public
office. Of course, Wilson botches the entire interview and decides to drop out
of the race due to the humiliation. In "Dennis' Birthday" (Februrary 19,
1961) Wilson has overpromised his lodge that he can come up with a celebrity to
appear at their annual fundraiser, but Dennis bails him out by befriending TV
star Spring Byington when he meets her babysitting the baby sister of his
friend Herbie. And in "Dennis and the Camera" (May 7, 1961), Wilson
has been tasked with getting a photograph of the rare night-blooming cereus
plant by nature club president Mr. Timberlake but winds up falling asleep in
the middle of the night; fortunately Dennis is camping in his back yard with his
father and wakes up at the right time to rush inside and grab his own camera to
snap the elusive cereus. He even delivers the photo to newspaper editor Mr.
Krinke in time for the next morning's edition, but Wilson does not escape
unscathed because Dennis' photo also shows Wilson sleeping on the job. The list
goes on and on--many more episodes from late Season 2 have Wilson getting into
a predicament, sometimes caused by Dennis' overzealousness but just as often
from Wilson's stupidity, often ending with Dennis providing some sort of silver
lining.
In Season 3, the producers decided to up the ante on the
ridiculous quagmires Wilson gets dragged into. The season's first episode,
"Trouble From Mars" (October 1, 1961) has Wilson getting a stripe of
hair shaved off the back of his head when Dennis and his friends frighten
Wilson's barber, followed by Wilson foolishly trying on Dennis' toy space
helmet, only to get it stuck on his head, and then gets himself trapped in his
second-story bathroom without his pants from which he has to be rescued by the
fire department with all of his neighbors watching in addition to a magazine
photographer who has shown up to profile him in an article about placid
retirement. The next episode, "Best Neighbor" (October 8, 1961) has
Wilson again getting into trouble in the pursuit of fame when he learns he is a
candidate for Best Citizen of the Year from the local garden club and therefore
figures he needs to be nice to Dennis to avoid a bad reputation, so he agrees
to help Dennis join the Junior Pathfinder club by camping overnight atop the
town's cold and drafty mountaintop. Needless to say, Wilson winds up falling
out of a tree and getting rained on so that he catches a cold, but he still
manages to win the award. In "The School Play" (November 5, 1961)
Wilson is forced into taking part in Dennis' school play when he is
accidentally handcuffed to Dennis' friend Tommy, which includes wearing a
ridiculous fake beard, a hat that is much too small for his head, and being
carted around in a red wagon. After being humiliated by the laughter of all the
school parents and running out of the theater in the middle of the play once
the locksmith unlocks the handcuffs, the newspaper review says casting him in
the role was comedic genius and he is invited back to give a repeat performance
the next afternoon for charity.
The humiliation of Wilson is such a central theme of the
program that the inclusion of the other adult supporting characters is solely
to ridicule him. George Cisar's police Sgt. Theodore Mooney delights in ribbing
Wilson as a hardened criminal when he is brought in for the armored car fiasco
in "Dennis' Penny Collection." And he enjoys giving Wilson a ticket
for raising livestock inside the city when Dennis brings over an incubator full
of eggs that he is keeping at home until the power goes out in a thunderstorm
that miraculously spares Wilson's house. Irene Tedrow's character Lucy Elkins
is a notorious gossiper who goes out of her way to sully Wilson's reputation
when she sees him run off Dennis who has disturbed him while he is trying to
compose a letter protesting his property tax in "Pythias Was a Piker"
(January 29, 1961). She foils his attempt to win a 5-minute shopping spree at
Mr. Finch's drugstore in "The Fifty Thousandth Customer" (November
12, 1961) by refusing to move ahead of him in line when he realizes that he
will enter the store too soon to win the contest. And in "Mr. Wilson's
Inheritance" (November 26, 1961) she threatens to spread the bad word
about him amongst all the cat-loving societies when he refuses to donate any
money to support the construction of a new cat hospital.
Speaking of Mr. Finch, he enjoys also trying to foil
Wilson's attempt to clean up if he were to win his contest by repositioning all
the best merchandise onto higher shelves to make them harder to reach. When
Dennis bails out Wilson by letting him keep a pair of earrings he bought for
his mother but hides at Wilson's house only to have Martha find them and think
they are a surprise from her husband, Finch takes particular pleasure in
steering Dennis to the most expensive replacement gift knowing that Wilson will
be paying for it in "The Going Away Gift" (March 12, 1961). Grocer
Otis Quigley, played by Willard Waterman, also savors any chance to take a poke
at Wilson. In "The Fifteen-Foot Christmas Tree" (December 24, 1961)
Quigley is convinced that George is going to botch his attempt to cut down a
live pine tree for Dennis, so much so that he gives him the phone number for
the nearest hospital that Wilson will have to visit after chopping off his toes,
and he saves the small white Christmas tree Wilson pushes Henry to return
because he knows the Mitchells will need it later after Wilson mangles the tree
he has cut down himself.
While the plots during this period of the program are
entirely predictable, there is a certain enjoyment in seeing a know-it-all
receive his come-uppance, but Dennis the
Menace perhaps came to rely too heavily on the humiliation of George Wilson
and in particular Joseph Kearns' portrayal of such because when Kearns
unexpectedly died during the filming of Season 3, the show didn't have a leg to
stand on, and despite Gale Gordon being brought in as Wilson's brother to give
Dennis a new adult to pester, the chemistry was never the same and after a
fourth and final season failed to crack the top 30 in the ratings, the show was
canceled.
The Actors
For the biographies of Jay North, Joseph Kearns, Gloria
Henry, Herbert Anderson, Sylvia Field, Billy Booth, and Jeannie Russell, see
the 1960 post for Dennis the Menace.
Mary Wickes
Born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser in St. Louis, MO, Wickes'
father was a banker and both her parents were theater buffs who began taking
her to performances at an early age. She graduated two years early from high
school at age 16 where she had been a member of the debate team, and then moved
on to college at Washington University in her home town. Though she majored in
English and Political Science and considered a career as a lawyer, her English
professor, who had cast her in one of his theatrical productions, suggested she
pursue acting, so she joined the Saint Louis Little Theater and continued
appearing in local productions while working as the University's Assistant
Publicity Director. One of her performances at the Little Theater caught the
attention of visiting director F. Cowles Strickland, who invited her to join
his playhouse in Stockbridge, MA, where she spent several seasons. Her work
there drew the attention of actress Ina Clair, who wrote her a letter of
recommendation that led to her first Broadway appearance in a cast with Henry
Fonda in 1934. During this time she also became a member of Orson Welles' radio
troupe and made her feature film debut in his 1938 production Too Much Johnson. But her film career
really took off when she was cast as Nurse Preen in the film version of The Man Who Came to Dinner in 1942 after
playing the same role on the stage. She would appear in support of Bette Davis again
later that year in Now, Voyager and
found steady work in supporting roles throughout the 1940s and 1950s in films
such as June Bride, White Christmas, and Destry. She made her television debut in
a 1945 episode of the drama anthology NBC
Dramatic Sustainer and in 1949 played the title role in the early TV
version of Mary Poppins on Studio One in Hollywood. Her first
recurring TV role came as Alice the housekeeper on the 1954-55 sitcom The Halls of Ivy. She appeared 21 times
as Liz O'Neill on Make Room for Daddy between
1956 and 1958 and played the maid Katie on the Walt Disney serial Annette in 1958 before being cast as
man-hungry spinster Esther Cathcart on Dennis
the Menace beginning in 1959.
Concurrent with her 10 appearances over 4 seasons on Dennis, Wickes played supporting
character Maxfield on the Gertrude Berg sitcom Mr. G. Goes to College in 1961-62, which garnered her an Emmy
nomination. Wickes become good friends with Lucille Ball and after appearing in
a single episode of I Love Lucy playing
a ballet instructor in 1952, she appeared 9 times in various roles on The Lucy Show between 1963-67 and in 9
more episodes of Here's Lucy between
1969-74. She had five appearances as Ida Goff on the historical western Temple Houston in 1964, played Melba
Chegley 8 times on Julia between
1969-71, Mrs. Bullard 4 times on The
Jimmy Stewart Show in 1971, Aunt Zelda in 25 episodes of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters in 1973-74,
Nurse Beatrice Tully 14 times on Doc
in 1975-76, and Marie Murkin 42 times on Father
Dowling Mysteries in 1989-91. These recurring roles were in addition to
numerous guest appearances on many other programs at the same time. Nor did her
feature film work wane during this time either--she played nuns in the Disney
comedies The Trouble With Angels (1966)
and its sequel Where Angels Go Trouble
Follows! (1968) and pulled the same stunt 25 years later playing Sister
Mary Lazarus in Sister Act (1992) and
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit
(1993). Over her 50-year career she also appeared in The Music Man, Postcards From
the Edge, and the 1994 production of Little
Women. Her last roles were providing the voices of Grandma on the Louie
Anderson animated series Life With Louie
and Laverne in the Disney animated feature The
Hunchback of Notre Dame. Wickes suffered from numerous medical ailments
late in life and broke her hip while staying in the hospital, then died from
surgical complications on October 22, 1995 at the age of 85. Like Miss
Cathcart, she was a spinster to the end and bequeathed her $2 million estate to
set up a library fund at her alma mater in her parents' names.
Willard Waterman
Willard Lewis Waterman was born in Madison, WI, where he
attended the University of Wisconsin. Though he studied electrical engineering
there, his experience in theater productions and the campus radio station
persuaded him to pursue an acting career. He moved to Chicago after graduating
in 1936 and quickly found work as a radio actor, appearing on such programs as Chicago Theater of the Air, the comedy Harold Teen, and the soap operas Girl Alone, The Guiding Light, Lonely
Women, The Road of Life, and Kay Fairchild, Stepmother. While working
in Chicago radio, he met fellow actor Harold Peary and took over his role on The Tom Mix Ralston Straight Shooters.
He also co-founded the American Federation of Radio Artists in 1937, which
later became the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and
served on its board until 1990. He made his debut in film in 1949 and after a
few uncredited roles appeared in Flame of
Youth and Free for All later that
year. His film roles tended to be minor, often uncredited, even in major
productions such as Father of the Bride
and Three Coins in the Fountain until
his breakthrough role playing opposite Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame in 1958. But his move into television was tied to his
old friend Geary, who had spun off the character of bombastic politician
Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve from the 1930s radio program Amos 'n' Andy into his own program The Great Gildersleeve. However, Peary wanted to take advantage of
a capital gains loophole being offered by CBS in the late 1940s, so he decided
to leave NBC, but the show's sponsor Kraft refused to follow his lead and
instead replaced him with Waterman in the title role. He continued to play
Gildersleeve when the program was adapted to TV as a syndicated sitcom which
ran from 1954 to 1956. After Gildersleeve's
cancelation, Waterman found steady work doing guest spots on a number of series
that included playing the semi-recurring role of magician Mac MacGinnis on The Real McCoys and Carl Foster on The Eve Arden Show. In 1959 he made the
first of 14 appearances as grocer Otis Quigley on The Dennis the Menace, his longest-running TV role after Gildersleeve.
He continued to find occasional TV guest work after Dennis' cancelation, but he found
greater fame in the theater, appearing in both the Broadway 1966 original and
1983 revival of Mame, the 1973
Broadway revival of The Pajama Game,
and the national touring productions of How
to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His last credit on
film was the 1972 feature Hail. He
received a Clio award for a radio commercial he made for Sony in 1980. He was
awarded a star on the Radio section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He died from bone marrow disease on
February 2, 1995 at the age of 80.
Irene Tedrow
Born in Denver in 1907, Tedrow began appearing in theatrical
productions as a teen before attending college at Carnegie Tech in Pittsburgh from
which she graduated with a B.A. in 1929. She studied acting under B. Iden
Payne, was a member of Maurice Evans' New York theater troupe, as well as a
member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre group. She was a founding member of the
Old Globe Theater in San Diego and appeared in several Broadway Shakespearean
productions in the 1930s. At the same time she was building a prolific career
as a radio actor. Besides appearing in a 1937 production of George Bernard
Shaw's Back to Methuseleh, she had
recurring roles on Meet Corliss Archer
as Mrs. Janet Archer from 1943-56, as Jessie Ward Calvert on Aunt Mary from 1944-61, and on
shorter-lived series such as The Gallant
Heart, Jonathan Trimble, Esquire,
and My Friend Irma. Her feature film
career began in 1940 with We Who Are
Young, but most of her roles were minor, uncredited parts, the exceptions
being The Cincinnati Kid and Empire of the Ants. She broke into
television playing Margaret Ruggles on The
Ruggles in 1949 and continued playing Janet Archer when Meet Corliss Archer was adapted for TV
in 1951. However, though her guest work on TV was extensive throughout the
1950s, she did not win another recurring role until being cast as Mr. Wilson
nemesis Lucy Elkins on Dennis the Menace
beginning in 1959, a role in which she appeared 26 times over the program's
duration.
After Dennis'
cancelation in 1963, Tedrow remained busy with scores of TV guest appearances
and occasional feature film roles, but found no more recurring roles except for
being a replacement for the Aunt Alex character on The Young Marrieds in 1965-66. However, her later TV work won her
two Emmy nominations--for playing Eleanor Roosevelt's grandmother in the 1976
mini-series Eleanor and Franklin and
as a special guest on a 1978 episode of James
at 16. Other late-career notable performances were as Congresswoman
Margaret Geddes in two episodes of The
Mary Tyler Moore Show, three appearances as Mrs. Foley on the short-lived
Dorothy Loudon series Dorothy, and
playing Garry Shandling's grandmother on an episode of It's Garry Shandling's Show in 1988. Her last credit came in the
1989 TV movie A Deadly Silence. She
died from complications after suffering a stroke on March 10, 1995 at age 87.
Her daughter Enid Kent also became an actress and played nurse Lt. Bigelow on M*A*S*H.
George Cisar
Born in Cicero, Illinois in 1912, not much has been
published about Cisar's early life, but like Willard Waterman and Irene Tedrow,
his work in radio eventually led to a career in film--he appeared in over 50
episodes of the radio anthology series Curtain
Time in 1947-48 before getting his first feature film role as a policeman
in Call Northside 777 in 1948. The
following year he played opposite a young Mike Douglas, again playing a
policeman, in the crime drama Stand by
for Crime. In fact, Cisar could have had a prolific career just on the
number of times he played policemen in movies and on TV. His most noted role
was his 31 appearances as Sgt. Theodore Mooney on Dennis the Menace, but he also showed up playing cops on The Thin Man, The Untouchables, My Favorite
Martian, and The Beverly Hillbillies.
He also showed up on a number of other programs as bartenders, bailiffs, and
other incidental characters. In feature films, he often went uncredited in
bigger-name productions such as Somebody
Up There Likes Me, Designing Woman,
Jailhouse Rock, Some Came Running, and Elmer
Gantry, but he also had larger roles in exploitation fare such as The Werewolf, Attack of the Giant Leeches, and Vice Raid.
After Dennis was
canceled, Cisar had moderate success playing Cyrus Tankersley on The Andy Griffith Show and its sequel Mayberry R.F.D., appearing on 4 episodes
of each. He also played Donald Hollinger's father Harold in two episodes of That Girl. But after appearing in single
episodes of Hogan's Heroes and Ironside in 1969 and the Jim Brown
feature film ...tick...tick...tick...
in 1970, Cisar retired from acting. He died June 13, 1979 at age 66.
Elizabeth Harrower
Though she appeared only 10 times on Dennis the Menace, first as nondescript neighbor Mrs. Johnson and
later as Dennis' teacher Miss Perkins, Harrower's biography is in and of itself
quite a story. Born Betty Louise Foss in Almeda, CA during the 1918 flu
epidemic, Harrower's mother died six weeks after she was born and her father
had a nervous breakdown, so the baby was passed from one relative to another
until she was finally placed in a San Francisco orphanage because it was
commonly believed then that babies transmitted the flu. She was eventually
adopted by Scottish immigrants William and Jessie Harrower, but when William's
salary was cut in half during the Great Depression, Jessie pulled young
Elizabeth out of school to start her acting career. She landed her first role
at age 17 in the 1935 feature film Becky
Sharp, the first feature film shot entirely in color. In 1942 she married
Harry Seabold, an Air Force cadet she met in the 5th grade, but he was sent off
to war not long thereafter, though not before Harrower conceived a daughter
Susan, who was born in 1943. The couple divorced after the war. Though Harrower
would not appear in her next feature film for another 14 years, she eked out a
career as a radio actor until appearing in two religious dramas The Pilgrimage Play and Life of St. Paul in 1949. Her feature
film career thereafter was sparse, but she did have significant roles in Thunder Pass, Don't Knock the Twist, and True
Grit. Her television career began with an appearance in a 1951 episode of Front Page Detective, though she was
largely relegated to minor, one-off parts on series such as Racket Squad, Annie Oakley, and Adventures
of Wild Bill Hickock.
She made more appearances on Dennis the Menace than on any other show, but she continued receiving
occasional roles until 1974, ending with appearances on Gunsmoke and The F.B.I.
before moving to the other side of the camera to write for soap operas. Her
daughter Susan Seaforth Hayes had been a cast member of Days of Our Lives playing character Julie Williams since 1970. Harrower
joined the writing crew and by the late 1970s was head writer for the series,
winning Emmy nominations for writing in both 1978 and 1979. In all she would
write 270 episodes through 1980 and would go on to also write episodes for The Young and the Restless and Generations. However, after contracting
cancer and undergoing chemotherapy in 2003, she joined the cast of The Young and the Restless as Charlotte
Ramsey, appearing in 18 episodes before finally succumbing to cancer December
10 of that year at age 85.
Kathleen Mulqueen
Born Katherine Agatha Mulgreen in Philadelphia on August 6,
1899, the most extensive biography of Mulqueen is provided in The Gay and Lesbian Theatrical Legacy
whose information is based on interviews with Mulqueen's foster son Kaier
Curtin. When Mulqueen was only 12 she met "the love of her life"
actress Hazel Dawn, then performing on Broadway in The Pink Lady. After writing Dawn a note, Mulqueen was invited
backstage and went on to become like a younger sister to the actress for the
next 40 years. Mulqueen was spotted by a Broadway talent scout at age 16 and
eventually made her way to Broadway to star in musical comedies of the 1920s,
where one critic dubbed her "the most beautiful girl on Broadway." During
this time she met gay actor Paul Guilfoyle and the two became friends,
attending many parties and other functions together. Curtin believes that
family pressure about her still unmarried state prompted Mulqueen, then 30, to
elope with a New York Times reporter
but on her honeymoon realized her mistake and obtained a "quickie"
divorce in Cuba a short time later. She then decided to marry Guilfoyle to give
them both cover for their sexual orientation, and the couple was invited by
Dawn to move to Hollywood, where Guilfoyle secured a contract with RKO. But
Guilfoyle was caught in a homosexual encounter that received front page
exposure in the late 1940s, which led to him being blackballed. So Mulqueen
returned to acting, making her feature film debut in Journey Into Light in 1951. She made her television debut in an
episode of My Little Margie the
following year and continued to have relatively steady though modest work in
both movies and TV throughout the 1950s. Her role playing Grandma Mitchell in 8
episodes of Dennis the Menace was her
only recurring role, and once Gloria Henry returned from maternity leave, she
would not appear in the series again.
Her half a dozen credits over the next four years included
only one credited part in an episode of Arrest
and Trial in 1964. Guilfoyle was caught in another compromising affair in
the late 1950s and this time was blackmailed, which prompted him to turn to
heavy drinking. He died June 27, 1961 at age 58. Mulqueen, though she would
never have another role after 1965, lived to age 90, dying on May 10, 1990 in
Los Angeles.
Notable Guest Stars
Season 2, Episode 15, "Dennis the Campaign Manager":
Charles Watts (Judge Harvey Blandon on Bachelor Father) plays Parks Commissioner T.H. Thorndyke. Jane Nigh (Lorelei
Kilbourne on Big Town) plays TV
producer Miss Rawlings. Stuart Nisbet (Bart the bartender on The Virginian) plays an angry neighbor.
Season 2, Episode 16, "Miss Cathcart's Friend": Mel
Blanc (shown on the left, see the biography section for the 1960 post on The Flintstones) plays dog pound clerk Mr. Trinkle. John Zaremba
(Special Agent Jerry Dressler on I Led 3
Lives, Dr. Harold Jensen on Ben Casey,
Admiral Hardesy on McHale's Navy, Dr.
Raymond Swain on The Time Tunnel, and
Dr, Harlem Danvers on Dallas) plays
dog owner Arthur Prylich. Paul Barselou (played various bartenders in 9
episodes of Bewitched) plays TV
repairman Maurice.
Season 2, Episode 19, "Wilson Sleeps Over": Don C.
Harvey (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Rawhide) plays a policeman.
Season 2, Episode 20, "Dennis' Birthday": Spring
Byington (shown on the right, see the biography section for the 1961 post on Laramie) plays herself. Vaughn Taylor (starred in Jailhouse Rock, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Psycho,
and In Cold Blood and played Ernest
P. Duckweather on Johnny Jupiter) plays
George Wilson's cousin Jim. Elvia Allman (Aunt Vera on I Married Joan, Jane on The
George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Cora Dithers on Blondie, Mrs. Montague on The
Bob Cummings Show, Elverna Bradshaw on The
Beverly Hillbillies, and Selma Plout on Petticoat
Junction) plays his wife Edna.
Season 2, Episode 21, "Dennis Goes to Camp": Mary Beth
Hughes (appeared in Star Dust, The Ox-Bow Incident, Orchestra Wives, Inner Sanctum, Riders in the
Sky, and Young Man With a Horn) plays
a young camper's mother. Pat Rosson (played Jerry Karr on The Young Marrieds) plays Dennis' friend Kevin.
Season 2, Episode 22, "Dennis' Tool Chest": Roy
Roberts (shown on the left, played Capt. Simon P. Huxley on The
Gale Storm Show, Admiral Rogers on McHale's
Navy, John Cushing on The Beverly
Hillbillies, Mr. Cheever on The Lucy
Show, Frank Stephens on Bewitched,
Norman Curtis on Petticoat Junction,
and Mr. Botkin/Bodkin on Gunsmoke)
plays insurance salesman Humphrey McDougall.
Season 2, Episode 23, "The Going Away Gift": Charles
Lane (Mr. Fosdick on Dear Phoebe,
Homer Bedloe on Petticoat Junction,
Foster Phinney on The Beverly Hillbillies,
Dale Busch on Karen, Maxwell on The Phyllis Diller Show, and Judge
Anthony Petrillo on Soap) plays druggist
Mr. Finch.
Season 2, Episode 24, "Dennis and the Fishing Rod":
Charles Lane (see "The Going Away Gift" above) returns as druggist
Mr. Finch. Stanley Adams (Lt. Morse on Not
for Hire and Gurrah on The Lawless Years) plays coin dealer Jerry Richman.
Season 2, Episode 25, "Dennis and the Good Example":
Alan Hewitt (shown on the right, starred in That Touch of
Mink, Days of Wine and Roses, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and
played Det. Bill Brennan on My Favorite
Martian) plays physician Dr. Alfred Simpson. Jon Lormer (Harry Tate on Lawman, various autopsy surgeons and
medical examiners in 12 episodes of Perry Mason, Judge Irwin A. Chester on Peyton
Place, and Simon Benjamin on The
Young Marrieds) plays pet shop owner Mr. Bergstrom. Harry Landers (Dr. Ted
Hoffman on Ben Casey and was the spokesman
for Taster's Choice coffee) plays TV exercise instructor Mike Duval.
Season 2, Episode 26, "Dennis' Obligation": Stuart
Nisbet (see "Dennis, the Campaign Manager" above) plays neighbor Mr.
Wade. Paul Barselou (see "Miss Cathcart's Friend" above) plays returns
as TV repairman Maurice.
Season 2, Episode 28, "Woodman, Spare That Tree": Charles
Watts (see "Dennis, the Campaign Manger" above) plays returns as
Parks Commissioner Thornton. Maurice Manson (shown on the left, played Josh Egan on Hazel and Hank Pinkham on General
Hospital) plays Nature Society president Mr. Timberlake.
Season 2, Episode 29, "The Boy Wonder": Tyler
McVey (Maj. Norgrath on Men Into Space)
plays construction manager Mr. Erickson. Hal Hopper (Cpl. Clarke on The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin and
composed theme music for Circus Boy, 26 Men, Colt .45, and Bearcats!)
plays a brick delivery man.
Season 2, Episode 30, "The Soapbox Derby": Laurence
Haddon (shown on the right, played Ed McCullough on Mary Hartman,
Mary Hartman, the foreign editor on Lou
Grant, Dr. Mitch Ackerman on Knots Landing,
and Franklin Horner on Dallas) plays obnoxious
father Charles Brady.
Season 2, Episode 31, "Dennis and the Camera": Maurice
Manson (see "Woodman, Spare That Tree" above) returns as Nature
Society president Mr. Timberlake. Rickie Sorensen (Thomas Banks on Father of the Bride) plays a boy scout.
Season 2, Episode 32, "Dennis and the Miracle Plant
Food": Will Wright (shown on the left, played Ben Weaver on The Andy Griffith Show) plays nursery owner Mr. Merrivale. Jonathan Hole (Orville
Monroe on The Andy Griffith Show)
plays garden club member Mr. Trumble. Lillian Culver (wife of the founder of
Culver City, California) plays garden club member Mrs. Schooner. Paul Barselou
(see "Miss Cathcart's Friend" above) plays garden club member Mr.
Fizby.
Season 2, Episode 33, "Dennis' Newspaper": Charles
Seel (played the bartender on Tombstone Territory and Tom Pride on The Road
West) plays newspaper editor Mr. Krinke. Jimmy Hawkins (see the
biographical section for the 1961 post on The Donna Reed Show) plays college student Chuck Long. Wallace Rooney (Andrew
Winters on The Doctors) plays a
raccoon coat owner. Dan Sheridan (see the biographical section for the 1960
post on Lawman) plays another raccoon
coat owner.
Season 2, Episode 34, "Mr. Wilson's Paradise":
Vaughn Taylor (shown on the right, see "Dennis' Birthday" above) plays Dennis' teacher
Mr. Hubbard.
Season 2, Episode 35, "The Fortune Cookie":
Stephen Roberts (Stan Peeples on Mr.
Novak) plays scam artist Mr. Sheldon.
Season 2, Episode 36, "The Pioneers": Judson Pratt
(Billy Kinkaid on Union Pacific)
plays newspaper photographer Kowalski.
Season 2, Episode 37, "Father's Day for Mr.
Wilson": Willis Bouchey (Mayor Terwilliger on The Great Gildersleeve, Springer on Pete and Gladys, and the judge 23 times on Perry Mason) plays attorney John McRae.
Season 2, Episode 38, "Dennis and the Picnic":
Robert Bice (shown on the left, played Police Capt. Jim Johnson on The Untouchables) plays police detective Lt. Rockwell. Hal Smith (see the
biography section for the 1961 post on The Andy Griffith Show) plays neighbor Frank Wade. Laurence Haddon (see
"The Soap Box Derby" above) returns as obnoxious salesman Charles
Brady.
Season 3, Episode 1, "Trouble From Mars": Forrest
Lewis (Mr. Peavey on The Great
Gildersleeve) plays barber Selby. Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays policeman Ted Quincy.
Season 3, Episode 2, "Best Neighbor": Lillian
Culver (see "Dennis and the Miracle Plant Food" above) returns as
garden club member Mrs. Schooner. Kate Murtagh (Iona Dobson on It's a Man's World and was the cover
model for the Supertramp album Breakfast
in America) plays nature explorer Crystal Bell.
Season 3, Episode 3, "Keep Off the Grass": Alma
Platt (Mrs. Henehan on These Are My
Children) plays a librarian.
Season 3, Episode 4, "Mr. Wilson's Safe": Will
Wright (see "Dennis and the Miracle Plant Food" above) returns as
nursery owner Mr. Merrivale.
Season 3, Episode 5, "Haunted House": Harvey
Korman (shown on the right, played various characters on The
Carol Burnett Show, the voice of The Great Gazoo on The Flintstones, Harvey A. Kavanuagh on The Harvey Korman Show, Leo Green on Leo & Liz in Beverly Hills, and Reginald J. Tarkington on The Nutt House) plays realtor Bowers. Harold
Gould (Bowman Chamberlain on The Long Hot
Summer, Harry Danton on The Feather
and Father Gang, Martin Morgenstern on The
Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda,
Jonah Foot on Foot in the Door, Ben
Sprague on Spencer, and Miles Webber
on The Golden Girls) plays a tramp. 
Season 3, Episode 6, "The School Play": Chubby
Johnson (Concho on Temple Houston)
plays locksmith Buzz. Sherry O'Neill (shown on the left, played Sarabelle Jordan on The Young Marrieds) plays theater teacher Miss Gilbert.
Season 3, Episode 7, "The Fifty Thousandth Customer":
Charles Lane (see "The Going Away Gift" above) returns as druggist
Mr. Finch.
Season 3, Episode 8, "Dennis and the Pee Wee League":
Chubby Johnson (shown on the right, see "The School Play" above) returns as Buzz, now a
junk dealer. Laurence Haddon (see "The Soapbox Derby" above) returns
as bragging father Charles Brady. Charles Seel (see "Dennis' Newspaper"
above) returns as newspaper editor Mr. Krinke.
Season 3, Episode 9, "Mr. Wilson's Inheritance": Gordon
Jones (shown on the right, appeared in The Green Hornet, Flying Tigers, My Sister Eileen, The Secret
Life of Walter Mitty, and McLintock!
and played Mike Kelley on The Abbott and
Costello Show, Pete Thompson on The
Ray Milland Show, Hubie Dodd on So
This Is Hollywood, and Butch Barton on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet) plays house foundation repairman Mr.
Bierschmidt. Lennie Weinrib (the voice of H.R. Pufnstuf on H.R. Pufnstuf, Moonrock on The
Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, and Scrappy-Doo on Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo amongst many others) plays a truck
delivery driver.
Season 3, Episode 10, "Dennis Is a Genius": James
Millhollin (shown on the left, played Anson Foster on Grindl)
plays child intelligence expert Mr. Heydon.
Season 3, Episode 11, "The Lucky Piece": Henry
Beckman (Commander Paul Richards on Flash
Gordon, Mulligan on I'm Dickens, He's
Fenster, George Anderson on Peyton
Place, Colonel Harrigan on McHale's Navy,
Capt. Roland Frances Clancey on Here Come
the Brides, Pat Harwell on Funny Face,
Harry Mark on Bronk, and Alf Scully
on Check It Out) plays a tobacco
store clerk. David Bond (Tremblay on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis) plays a hobo.
Season 3, Episode 12, "The Fifteen-Foot Christmas Tree":
Pat McCaffrie (Chuck Forrest on Bachelor Father and Dr. Edgar Harris on Outlaws)
plays a bus driver. Bill McLean (Dave on The
Jim Backus Show) plays a drunk bus passenger.
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