Veteran
comedic actor Tom Poston, he with the bugged-out eyes that commonly accentuated
a vague look of bewilderment, was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1921 and, by age
nine, was appearing with an acrobatic troupe. He was attending Bethany College
in West Virginia when World War II broke out and he joined the U.S. Army Air
Corps. He won medals for his courage under fire, and rose to the rank of
captain. While Tom never returned to Bethany College, he would later receive an
honorary doctorate from the institution.
Following
military duty, Tom went to New York and studied at the American Academy of
Dramatic Art, training with acting guru Sanford Meisner, among others. Making
his Broadway debut in 1947 in José Ferrer's production of "Cyrano de
Bergerac", Tom had the makings of a serious dramatic actor, also appearing
in such classic plays as "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" and
"King Lear". Although he also appeared seriously in TV drama in the
early stages, comedy would become his forte. Hosting the amusing daily TV show
"Entertainment" led to his biggest break on Steve Allen's TV variety
series The Steve Allen Plymouth Show (1956). He, Louis Nye, Don Knotts and
other members of Allen's stock company became famous for their hilarious
characters in Allen's famed sketch sequences. Tom himself would be best
remembered as the "Man on the Street" interviewee who could never
remember his own name. Winning an Emmy during those four seasons with the Allen
show (1956-1960), Tom went on to host another program -- this time a game show
-- entitled Split Personality (1959).
From
this, he developed an affinity for parlor games and appeared as a panelist on
other quiz shows as well, notably To Tell the Truth (1956). Given a chance to
star in his own comedy films by the early 1960s, Tom went completely unnoticed
in such blah vehicles as Zotz! (1962) and The Old Dark House (1963), which
failed to capitalize on his delightfully bungling, eccentric humor, although he
did turn in a very funny supporting perf as a perpetually soused playboy in the
Dick Van Dyke comedy Cold Turkey (1971).
After his
movie career fell through, TV again became the object of his affection, usually
in service to other stars. Alongside such top comedians as Bob Newhart (Newhart
(1982)) and Robin Williams (Mork & Mindy (1978)), Tom's absent-minded
"second banana" foils found their engaging niche. He also continued
with light comedy theater vehicles such as "Forty Carats", "Come
Blow Your Horn", "Plaza Suite" and "Mary, Mary" and
even managed a few musicals ("A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the
Forum" and "Fiddler on the Roof"). Tom's first wife was film actress
Jean Sullivan. Their daughter, Francesca Poston, also became an actress. He had
two other children by second wife Kay, daughter Hudson and son Jason. They
divorced in 1975 but remarried in 1980 and remained together until her death in
1998 from ALS. Kay and Tom appeared on many telethons to talk about the crippling
disease.
Three
years later, at age 80, Tom found happiness once again when he married lovely
actress Suzanne Pleshette (they originally met while appearing in the 1959
Broadway comedy "Golden Fleecing", then worked again together on the
old The Bob Newhart Show (1972)). He provided glum, baggy-eyed comedy relief on
TV as an octogenarian up until the end. Sadly, while wife Suzanne was battling
cancer, Tom passed away unexpectedly at his Los Angeles home on April 30, 2007,
after a brief illness. Stalwart Tom Poston may not have nabbed top comic
stardom in his heyday, but he certainly enjoyed a long, durable career doing
what he does best -- acting goofy and giving audiences a reason to smile.
Following
the demise of the "B" western in the early 1950s, Hale toured the
country as part of a musical cowboy act in rodeos and circuses. He made a few
television guest appearances and taught James Dean his rope tricks during their
work together on Giant (1956). Hale thereafter retired from films. In his later
years, he wrote songs and continued making appearances at Western film fan
conventions.
