TV USA Notables Challenge: Celebrating Centennial Births (Feb 2024)

Question

Last month we honored the passings of 40 legendary American television actors. This month we celebrate the births of 40 others. 2024 marks the centennial birthdays of each of these great stars. Won't you help us make each of their profiles a shining star of WikiTree! Some are already pretty close, others not so much.

We need the help of BioBuilders, Sourcerers, DataDoctors, Categorizers, Formatters, Proofreaders, PhotoFinders, and more. For those who prefer research over profile building, we also want to increase each of our notables' CC7s, and of course we want to make sure each is connected to the Big Tree.

Remember, no contribution is too small, so jump in wherever you think you'll have the most fun. Just remember to keep us posted on your accomplishments on this G2G thread so that we can all share in your successes.

Comments

Just added two more names to the roster.

Jackie Vernon was the voice of Frosty in the beloved Rankin/Bass Christmas special, Frosty the Snowman (1969). 

Comedian Bill Dana played the character of Bolivian astronaut José Jiménez on a number of early variety shows and sitcoms including his own The Bill Dana Show (1963-1965). 

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Just three days in and we've made five connections and have improved the CC7s of seven others Not bad gang!

Answer 1

Bettye Ackerman is connected.

Comments

That was fast! I'll update the roster.

Answer 2

Russell Johnson - The Professor - is connected through a second line.

Comments

Hard to believe he'd be 100 years old now. I never met him, but I did get to meet the Skipper once. It was one of the highlights of my childhood!

Answer 3

Connected Joe Flynn through his wife.

Comments

You're on a role Roger!

Answer 4

Art Fleming is now connected thru his wife Peggy Ann Ellis aka LaBlanche Pafford Metz. 

Comments

Thanks Judith. Hard to imaging there was Jeopardy before Alex Trebek.

Answer 5

I got Herman Wedemeyer connected through his mother.

Comments

I expect him to be a tough one. Great job Roger.

Answer 6

Joyce Randolph is connected thru her husband Richard Lincoln Charles 1st wife Jacquelyn Christyne Emerson. Actually connected 2 branches.

Answer 7

Billie Hayes is now connected to her grandfather Charles Oliver Armstrong 

Comments

I'm so happy to see her connected. As a kid I loved watching Witchiepoo and the other Kroft characters. I even had a Pufnstuf lunchbox. (Until I replaced it with Adam 12!)

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I'm sitting here singing the theme song in my head!!

Answer 8

 Les Lye should be connected to the tree once the update happens.

Comments

His show was slightly after my time, but I love seeing the Canadian's connected none-the-less.

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I knew what show he was from as soon as I saw his picture. Very funny guy!

Answer 9

I got Bill Dana connected through his wife.

Comments

This one was a little before my time. I'm not sure how well his act would go over today but in his time he was quite popular. I noticed that his wife's father was notable character-actor Owen McGiveney, and have added the Notables Sticker to his profile as well.

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Mine, too.  I just remember it from The Right Stuff, where Alan Shepard is focused on his routine.

Answer 10

Jackie Vernon is connected.

Comments

Great job Elizabeth. I don't think a year has gone by since I was a little kid - first with my parents and siblings, then with my kids, and now with my grandkids. Never knew the man behind the snowman until now.

Answer 11

I just looked at Carroll O’Connor and he is connected.

Comments

Hi Liza. Carroll O'Connor is connected. When you look at the roster of each month's TV Notables, notice the final column. This column tells you if the person is connected or not, and if so, when. 

If it says that "not connected", obviously the person is not connected. That one is pretty straight forward. 

If the column says "connected", that means they were connected by the team during the month of the challenge.

If the column is blank, that means the Notable was already connected prior to the start of the challenge. Since this is a profile improvement project and not strictly a connectors challenge many of the profile we start with are already connected to the tree. Those are the ones that need bios, sourcing, etc.  

Carrol O'Connor's column is blank, which tell us he was already connected but that his profile still needs some TLC. 

Thanks for the opportunity to clarify this.

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Thank you for the clarification David.

Answer 12

I improved the profile of Florence Stanley. Her parents are identified and have sources, too. If someone wants to create them, that would be great.

Comments

I added her parents, sister, and husband.

Answer 13

Jack Weston- 388, was  born in 1924  He should  be your Notable list. He has a wikipedia entry. He was married to Margie Redman -1493. I am trying to connected these two Notables to the BIG Tree.

Both were born in Cleveland were I am from. Great sources from here  Cleveland Memories or Wayback machine from case. edu.

Comments

I've added Jack Weston to the roster. I had no idea he was married to Marge Redmond (who is also on our list). He was more of a film actor than a television star, although he did make periodic guest appearances on several television shows.

Jack did star in a shot-lived TV series called The Hathaways, in which he and Peggy Cass played a suburban couple who adopt a trio of chimpanzees. The show also featured Mary Grace Canfield. Coincidentally, Peggy Cass and Mary Grace Canfield are also on this month's roster.