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Dig A Hole: Dody Goodman

June 23rd, 2008 by Scott Marks

Dody Goodman as Martha Shumway in MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN

Dody Goodman, the pixyish Southern belle comedienne/character actress know for her appearances on Jack Paar’s couch as well as the mother on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and Blanche Hodell in both Grease movies died Sunday at the age of 93.

Born Dolores Goodman in Columbus, Ohio on October 28, 1914 where her father ran a cigar store. For years Goodman successfully shaved 14 years off her age by listing her birth year as 1929. This minor discrepancy was upheld for decades before the past eventually caught up with her and shattered the myth.

She arrived in New York to study dance in the late 1930s. She studied at the School of American Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School, and later graduated to Broadway musicals.

According to the Associated Press, Goodman gained a measure of success for her dancing solos in such ’40s Broadway musicals as High Button Shoes and Wonderful Town. In 1955, she stopped the show in the off Broadway production Shoestring Revue with the novelty song Someone’s Been Sending Me Flowers. She returned to Broadway in 1974 to appear in Lorelei with Carol Channing.

Jack Paar & Dody Goodman

Goodman first appeared on television in the recurring role of a waitress on The Phil Silvers Show. Adopting a scatterbrain persona, Goodman eventually caught the attention of talk show pioneer Jack Paar. Her ditzy aura and seemingly spontaneous malaprops delighted Paar and gaine national attention for Goodman who was soon invited to become a semi-regular on The Tonight Show.

“I was just thrown into the talking,” Goodman said in a 1994 interview with The Associated Press. “I had no idea how to do that. In fact, they just called me up and asked me if I wanted to be on ‘The Jack Paar Show.’ I didn’t know who Jack Paar was. They said, ‘We just want you to sit and talk.”‘

Jack Paar did not take well to being upstaged and Dody’s impeccable ad-libs eventually resulted in a permanent falling out. In 1958 she was dropped from The Tonight Show’s roster, but invitations from other talk shows soon began pouring in.

She began making regular appearances on Virginia Graham’s Girl Talk, Merv, and The Mike Douglas Show. In 1970, with Paar safely out of the picture, she once again began appearing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.

She hit her stride plating Louise Lasser’s mother on the dotty serial Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Her high-pitched voice could be heard announcing the show’s title at the beginning of each episode.

Following Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Goodman’s career gained momentum. She picked up where Marion Lorne left off playing addled neighbor ladies or eccentric housekeepers on TV’s Diff’rent Strokes and Punky Brewster, as well as movie roles in both Grease films and cartoon voiceovers on a slew of Chipmunk Adventures.

Goodman, who never married, is survived by seven nieces and nephews, 11 great nieces and nephews and 15 great-great nieces and nephews.

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Filed Under Obituaries

WOMEN IN FILM: 77 Actresses Morph in Under 3 Minutes

June 19th, 2008 by Scott Marks

This fascinating exercise in the never changing face of beauty was put together by Mako100 and from what I can gather first appeared on glumbert.

Of course there are many oversights in this glamour rundown, most notably Jean Arthur, Mae West and Claudette Colbert. It’s also interesting to note how the caliber of acting has greatly diminished after Jacqueline Bisset, but considering that this ends with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Halle Berry, it’s clear that Mako100 was concentrating more on physical allure than talent.

It’s almost certain that this video was put together as a paean to pulchritude, but after watching it one is left with a sense of sameness. Take 77 faces, flatten them out and suddenly the belles become monotonous. Not a bad comment on Hollywood style, but I have my doubts that Mako100 was aiming for such a lofty target.

Here is a list of the actresses included:

Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, Marlene Dietrich, Norma Shearer, Mary Boland, Jean Harlow, Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, Barbara Stanwyck, Vivian Leigh, Greer Garson, Hedy Lamar, Rita Hayworth, Gene Tierney, Olivia deHavilland, Ingrid Bergman, Joan Crawford, Ginger Rogers, Loretta Young, Deborah Kerr, Judy Garland, Anne Baxter, Lauren Bacall, Susan Hayward, Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe, Grace Kelly, Lana Turner, Elizabeth Taylor, Kim Novak, Audrey Hepburn, Dorothy Dandridge, Shirley MacLaine, Janet Leigh, Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Ann Margret, Julie Andrews, Raquel Welch, Tuesday Weld, Jane Fonda, Julie Christie, Faye Dunaway, Catherine Deneuve, Jacqueline Bisset, Candice Bergen, Isabella Rossellini, Diane Keaton, Goldie Hawn, Meryl Streep, Susan Sarandon, Jessica Lange, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sigourney Weaver, Kathleen Turner, Holly Hunter, Jodie Foster, Angela Bassett, Demi Moore, Sharon Stone, Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, Salma Hayek, Sandra Bullock, Julianne Moore, Diane Lane, Nicole Kidman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Reese Witherspoon and Halle Berry.

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Filed Under Video Mashups

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