THE HAT SQUAD: GEORGE FURTH

Another actor who passed away while I was on vacation was George Furth. As an actor, Furth may be best known as Van Johnson, a citizen of Rock Ridge in "Blazing Saddles" (which has a Toobworld counterpart in the aired pilot 'Black Bart').

But Furth's greatest triumph would be for writing the book to "Company", a Stephen Sondheim musical. There were two TV adaptations of this look at relationships in the 1970s, one of them for British television and directed by Sam Mendes.

Furth also wrote the play "Twigs", which was adapted for television as well with Carol Burnett playing the four women in each of the play's vignettes.

Here is a list of the characters George Furth gave life in Toobworld:

STARRING ROLES
"The Dumplings" (1976) TV series .... Frederic Steele

"The Good Guys" (1968) TV series .... Hal Dawson

"Tammy" (1965) TV series .... Dwayne Whitt

RECURRING ROLES
"Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" .... Jedediah Bancroft
- The First Circle (1994)

- The Visitor (1993)

"Sisters" .... Mr. Rattner

- Crimes and Ms. Demeanors (1993)

- The Kindness of Stranglers (1991)

"Batman" .... Gallus

- Dizzoner the Penguin (1966)

- Hizzonner the Penguin (1966)

"Broadside" .... Ensign Beasley

- Lt. Morgan's Secret Marriage (1964)

- The Non-Permanent Wave (1964)

[Grandfather to Pam Beasley?]

GUEST STARRING ROLES
"You Wish" .... Minister

- Bride and Prejudice (1998)

"The Nanny" .... Minister

- Freida Needa Man (1996)

[A 'Nanny' website lists this role as "Rabbi".]

"Murder, She Wrote"

- The Dead File (1992) .... Jerry Bozell

- Dead Letter (1989) .... Fred Owens

- No Laughing Murder (1987) .... Farley

"L.A. Law"

- Wine Knot (1992)

"Murphy Brown" .... Buzz Ramsey

- Night of Living News (1992)

"Wings" .... Frank

- A Terminal Christmas (1990)

"The Trials of Rosie O'Neill" .... Judge Binghampton

- The Man from ELF (1990)

"Life Goes On" .... Everett Spence

- The Banquet Room Renovation (1990)

"CBS Summer Playhouse" .... Rip

- Mickey and Nora (1987)

"Salvage 1" .... Bassett (1 episode, 1979)

- Up, Up and Away (1979) TV episode .... Bassett

"Little House on the Prairie" .... Hannibal Godfrey

- The Talking Machine (1976)

"All in the Family"

- Mike Faces Life (1975) .... Gordon Crenshaw

- Archie's Aching Back (1971) .... Whitney Fitzroy IV

"Ellery Queen" .... Albert Klinger

- The Adventure of the 12th Floor Express (1975)

"Happy Days" .... Mr. Pinney

- Goin' to Chicago (1975)

"Archer"
- Blood Money (1975)

"The New Dick Van Dyke Show" .... Tom Lassiter

- House Guests (1974)

"The Odd Couple"

- The Flying Felix (1974) .... Belkon Jr.

- I Do, I Don't (1970) .... Harvey

"Love, American Style"

- Love and the Well-Groomed Bride (1971)
- Love and the Intruder (1970)

"Bonanza"

- Rock-A-Bye Hoss (1971)

- Another Windmill to Go (1969) .... Horace Keylot

"Green Acres" .... Mark Allan

- The Ex-Secretary (1971)

"Adam-12" .... Tyler Finch

- Log 56: Vice Versa (1971)

"That Girl" .... Maury

- Stag Party (1971)

"Night Gallery" .... Gillings

- The Little Black Bag (1970)

"The Governor & J.J." .... Buddy Harbach

- Check the Check (1970)

"The Debbie Reynolds Show" .... Matthew Keller

- It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Debbie (1969)

"I Dream of Jeannie" .... Farnum

- Blackmail Order Bride (1969)

"Ironside" .... Ray Harrison

- The Man Who Believed (1967)

"The Monkees"

- A Coffin Too Frequent (1967) .... Henry Weatherspoon

- One Man Shy (1966) .... Ronnie Farnsworth

"Felony Squad" .... George Dunn

- The 30-Gram Kill (1967)

"Laredo" .... Carl Strade

- Walk Softly (1967)

"The Girl from U.N.C.L.E." .... Miklos

- The Carpathian Killer Affair (1967)

"F Troop" .... Captain Jonathan W. Blair

- Survival of the Fittest (1966)

"Run for Your Life"

- Grotenberg Mask (1966) .... Arthur Neely

- In Search of April (1966) .... Osborne Parquette III

"The Road West" .... Virgil Slaughter

- This Dry and Thirsty Land (1966)

[Ancestor for Murray Slaughter?]

"Honey West" .... Sandy Corbin

- Pop Goes the Easel (1966)

"Profiles in Courage" (1 episode, 1965)

- Robert A. Taft (1965)

"McHale's Navy" .... Roger Whitfield, III

- The Dart Gun Wedding (1964)

"The Alfred Hitchcock Hour"

- Beast in View (1964) .... Jack Terola

- Nothing Ever Happens in Linvale (1963) .... Charlie

"The Farmer's Daughter"

- Katy and the Imagemaker (1964)

"The Defenders" .... Bradford III

- Claire Chevel Died in Boston (1964)

"Arrest and Trial" .... Melvin

- Call It a Lifetime (1963)

"Alcoa Premiere" .... Henry Blett

- The Way from Darkness (1962)

"Going My Way" .... Lester

- A Matter of Principle (1962)

TV MOVIE ROLES
The Scarlett O'Hara War (1980) (TV) .... George Cukor
Let's Switch! (1975) (TV) .... Sidney King
For the Use of the Hall (1975) (TV) .... Martin
What Are Best Friends For? (1973) (TV) .... Barry Chambers
The Third Girl from the Left (1973) (TV) .... Zimmy

TV PILOTS

Charlie Cobb: Nice Night For A Hanging (1977) (TV) .... Conroy
Sam Hill: Who Killed Mr. Foster? (1971) (TV) .... Fletcher
Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966) (TV) .... Morgue Attendant

The characters he played in the Westerns are dead now in the TV timeline. Gillings from the episode of 'The Night Gallery' has yet to be born. As for the others, unless they died within the course of the episode or perhaps were sentenced to death for any crimes they committed (won't say which show), then they may have outlived this man who played them.

Those series that are highlighted have featured pictures.

As Red Skelton would say, "And may God bless....."

BCnU....
Toby O'B