Conried worked continually during the days of network radio, one of those top supporting actors who could do several shows a day. Then he appeared regularly on television. But he sighed that he still had to keep working because he didn’t have money. Either Conried was spending way too much on Japanese antiques or he wasn’t getting paid enough.
By 1958, one of Conried’s semi-regular TV parking spots was on the Jack Paar version of the Tonight show. Paar and Conried were friends and occasionally took trips together. Here are a couple of feature stories on Conried’s appearances on the show. The first is from the New York Daily News of August 27, 1958. Conried reveals where he and Paar first met. The second is from Arthur Grace’s column in the Miami News of January 15, 1958. Conried credits Mel Blanc into getting him into radio comedy.
By the way, to explain something odd in the second story—when the Tonight show first started on NBC with Steve Allen, the show moved over from WNBT in New York. Because of local ad commitments, the show started at 11:15 p.m. with the first 15 minutes appearing only on WNBT. This carried over into the Paar years, which is referenced in the story (Johnny Carson finally ended the quasi-pre-show after refusing to appear on it; Ed McMahon and bandleader Skitch Henderson were responsible for the 11:15-11:30 period).
Jack Paar's Looks Set Hans Conried to Talking
By MATT MESSINA
Hans Conried never has trouble doing his conversational bits on Jack Paar's NBC-TV shows. “When Jack looks at me the first time, I start talking. When he looks the second time, I stop,” he explained.
Conried is in New York on one of his quickie trips from the Coast. He has been hopping around town the last two weeks doing everything from recording for NBC-Radio's "Monitor" to posing for liquor ads—“little bits of sweepings” is how he describes his varied jobs—and, of course, he’s guested with Paar (he was on last night).
The busy actor appeared on Paar's summer-subbing stint for Jack Benny on CBS-Radio some years ago.
“Since then, Paar has taken a kind interest in me. He has been unfailing in his loyalty, based on nothing but a sense of kindness, I’m sure,” he said.
No Scripts
Is all the repartee between him and Paar ad lib? “Completely,” he declared. That's one of the reasons he looks forward to guesting with Paar. “It's very easy—no scripts, no lines to memorize.”
Conried will be visiting Paar whenever he’s in town. “I have an open invitation to go on his show,” he related.
Featured in most of the top shows during radio's “golden age,” Conried has also been seen in many TV offerings, including “Omnibus,” “Maverick,” Danny Thomas' stanzas and “Pantomime Quiz.”
He appeared on the latter, in fact, when the program was first struggling as a West Coast TVer.
“We didn’t get any money in the beginning. But, in lieu of cash, the members of the panel were rewarded with cigaret lighters. Also, a local mill company used to send six bags of its flour products to the show, so that the Conried household had a pantry full of macaroni, pancake mix, etc. We lost our figures for a while until I started getting money for my appearances,” said the lean six-footer.
Watches His Old Movies
Conried confesses to a “morbid fascination” in watching on TV one of the more than 100 movies he made in Hollywood. “I see a young man of 20 or so, slim, with all his hair, who now works for nothing in competition with you on television,” he said with a bite in his voice. Then, putting a hand to his head, he added: “All the hair you see here is mine, but there used to be more.”
Although Conried, who began his career as a Shakespearean actor, admits “No one ever becomes an actor without wanting to become a star,” he insists he has no ambition to head a TV show of his own. “I'd want a challenge, but without the responsibility. And that’s hard to come by.”
He's had two-and-a-half weeks off from work in the last 16 months and there doesn't seem to be any letup in sight. For example, Conried will be seen in the Bell science TV series’ “Alphabet Conspiracy” and he’ll also guest on the Danny Thomas CBS-TV show this fall.
“I'd like to retire,” he sighed, “but who can afford it?”
Hans Conried Set a For Busy Future
If there is anything more grisly than driving from Tropical Park to the Carillon Hotel on Miami Beach, I'd just as soon not know about it. Or maybe you think it's fun driving 20 miles through hip-deep traffic after betting nine losers?
I made this interminable journey Monday night for one reason only; I had to find out what happens on the first 15 minutes of Jack Paar's delightful "Tonight" show.
Ever since I started watching "Tonight" on Channel 7, the first 15 minutes of the show have been preempted by a surly, rotund horse player who dabbles in sports announcing. This fellow happens to be entertaining enough to prevent me from lodging loud protest, but I still wondered what happened to "Tonight" between 11:15 and 11:30 p.m.
With Paar and his guests telecasting for one week from Miami Beach, I had my chance to find out. I can now report on what local viewers missed:
1. An amusing monologue by Paar.
2. A pretty French song by Genevieve.
3. An interview with an inventor of odd-ball shoes.
4. Jose Melis at the piano.
Funny Stuff
Paar's monologue was first rate. Referring to the still-incomplete hotel, he commented that he had a room overlooking a carpenter.
The weather report was very heartening, he noted. Temperatures of 78 and sun were expected tomorrow, with winds of 140 miles-per-hour.
The shoe salesman has invented "shoes" which will enable its users to walk on water. It is intended, I gathered, to replace the Queen Mary.
The shoes resemble two outrigger canoes. A hotel lifeguard tried to demonstrate them but was unable to move. It wasn't clear whether they were for motivation or for anchorage.
As for the song by Genevieve and Metis' piano playing, both were completely enjoyable.
The first "Tonight" telecast originated from the Tambourine Room of the hotel. It is a small area and things were pretty hectic Monday night. Facilities were not all that they might be.
At 12:31, for example, the show signed off when it should have signed on. For about 60 seconds, in view of millions, Paar tried to determine whether he was on or off the air.
These little entanglements would be catastrophic to most shows. On easy-going "Tonight" it's just part of the fun.
Jack's guests for the week include urbane Hans Conried, inexplicable Dody Goodman, the somewhat British Hermione Gingold and a confused Genevieve.
Hans Tops
“All actors go through phases,” he said. “I started with Shakespeare, working with Barrymore for three or four years. I realized there was no commercial future in this so I became an emotional radio actor, doing a lot of dialect parts.
“World War II came along and I became a heavy, one Nazi officer after another. I went into the Army and came out without a job.
“A friend of mine—Mel Blanc—had a comedy show and asked me if I wanted to work. I told him I'd never been really successful at comedy roles but he insisted. All at once I was ‘hot’ as a comedian.
“When radio went downhill we had to adjust. A radio actor had about as much future as a dirigible pilot.
“So I’ve drifted into comedy and I’m being kept busy. Next Monday I fly back to the west coast to film a ‘Danny Thomas Show.’ I play his Armenian uncle. It’s character comedy, not the role of a stooge.”
A dozen years ago, however, Hans was “stooging and knocking around town” when Paar hired him for his show.
“He gave me a job when it counted and things have gone pretty well since. I’ve worked with him often. I don’t know why he’s so loyal to me. I guess it's because we like each other; he likes to have his friends around him.
“Most of the people on this show would go through fire for Jack.”
Is Hans unhappy with his role of “professional wise guy?” Not at all.
“It isn’t bad; working on Jack’s show is the easiest job I’ve ever had and the most fun. There's no preparation at all. My ambition? To keep working.”
Conried recently completed two movies, with “The Big Beat” to be released in April. He will portray a witch in the "Hansel and Gretel" TV spectacular in April. He always keeps turning up on panel shows such as “Pantomime Quiz” and “What's It For.” Not even Hans could save the latter series from an untimely death at the age of 13 weeks.
If Conried can't save a show, it’s beyond human salvation.
It is this writer’s opinion that Mr. Conried would be perfect as narrator of children’s stories on TV. A title? How about “Hans Across The Fable.”
On "Make Room for Daddy," Hans portrayed Uncle Tonoose (based on Danny's real-life uncle), who was Lebanese. He also played one other role on the show, a washed-up Shakespearean actor.
ReplyDeleteAs a youth, my first experiences with Conried were of course," Uncle Tonoose ", " Snidely Whiplash " and " Wrong Way Feldman " twice, on Gilligan's Island. I later discovered his movie roles from the 1940's,one was dark, " Passage to Marseille ", along side heavy weights like Bogart, Claude Rains,Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet. Totally different from the Conried persona we would know later.
ReplyDeleteJune Foray said that, during recording sessions for Dudley Do-Right, the cast wasted a great deal of time and tape trying to get Hans Conried to break up while he was doing his lines. She said they never succeeded. In his stage training, he had disciplined himself never to do that.
ReplyDelete