''Life with Father'' is an American television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

that ran from 1953 to 1955. It starred

Leon Ames Leon Ames (born Harry L. Wycoff;U.S. Federal Census for 1910 for Fowler, Center Township, Benton County, State of Indiana, access via Ancestry.com January 20, 1902 – October 12, 1993) was an American film and television actor. He is best rememb ...

as Clarence Day Sr. and

Lurene Tuttle Lurene Tuttle (August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986) was an American actress and acting coach, who made the transition from vaudeville to radio, and later films and television. Her most enduring impact was as one of network radio's more versatile a ...

as his wife Lavinia. It began broadcasting in color in 1954, and was the first live color TV series for network television originating in Hollywood. It was based on the long-running

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

play of the same name Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

, which had been adapted into a 1947 film, based on ''

New Yorker New Yorker or ''variant'' primarily refers to: * A resident of the State of New York ** Demographics of New York (state) * A resident of New York City ** List of people from New York City * ''The New Yorker'', a magazine founded in 1925 * ''The New ...

'' articles and books by

Clarence Day Clarence Shepard Day Jr. (November 18, 1874 – December 28, 1935) was an American author and cartoonist, best known for his 1935 work ''Life with Father''. Early life and family background Day was born in New York City to Clarence Shepard D ...

reminiscing about his family in late-19th century New York City.

Background

''Life with Father'' debuted on Broadway in 1939 and ran for 3224 performances over eight years, making it the longest-running nonmusical play in Broadway history, and the longest-running play of any kind between 1947 and 1972. The Broadway production earned $5.8 million playing to 2.1 million people, and in addition to the Broadway production it was a popular regional theater presentation. While the show was playing on Broadway, 11 touring companies performed in 214 cities, earning $5 million from audiences of 3.7 million people.

Production

The half-hour show premiered on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

television network on November 22, 1953. It was broadcast live from

CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is an American television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue. Designed by architect William Pereira and Ch ...

studios in Hollywood. The producer was

Fletcher Markle Fletcher Markle (March 27, 1921 – May 23, 1991) was a Canadian actor, screenwriter, television producer and director. Markle began a radio career in Canada, then worked in radio, film and television in the United States. Films and television B ...

, who produced the ''Studio One'' live anthology series. Katherine B. Day, widow of Clarence Day, was editorial advisor, as were

Howard Lindsay Howard Lindsay, born Herman Nelke, (March 29, 1889 – February 11, 1968) was an American playwright, librettist, director, actor and theatrical producer. He is best known for his writing work as part of the collaboration of Lindsay and Crouse ...

and

Russel Crouse Russel Crouse (20 February 1893 – 3 April 1966) was an American playwright and librettist, best known for his work in the Broadway theatre, Broadway writing partnership of Lindsay and Crouse. Life and career Born in Findlay, Ohio, Crouse was th ...

, authors of the Broadway production. Ames and Tuttle were selected as the leads after 100 auditions and 30 on-camera tests, and 200 auditions were conducted to select the supporting cast.

Pat Hitchcock Patricia Alma Hitchcock O'Connell (7 July 1928 – 9 August 2021) was an English-American actress and producer, acting under the name Pat Hitchcock. She was the only child of English director Alfred Hitchcock and film editor Alma Reville, and ...

, daughter of the director

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...

, appeared in the premiere as Nora, the maid;

Dorothy Bernard Nora Dorothy Bernard (June 25, 1890 – December 15, 1955) was an American actress of the silent era. She appeared in nearly 90 films between 1908 and 1956. Biography She was born Nora Dorothy Bernard in Port Elizabeth, British Cape Colon ...

recreated her Broadway performance as Margaret, the family cook.

Cast

Premiere episode: *

as Clarence Day Sr. *

as Lavinia * Ralph Reed as Clarence Day Jr. * Ronnie Keith as Whitney * Harvey Grant as Harlan * Freddie Leiston as John *

as Margaret *

as Nora Replacement cast: *

Steven Terrell Steven Terrell (born September 21, 1990) is a former American football safety after playing in the league for five seasons. He played college football at Texas A&M University and attended Allen High School in Allen, Texas. He has also been a me ...

as Clarence Day Jr. * B.G. Norman as Whitney * Freddy Ridgeway as Whitney * Malcolm Cassell as John *

Marion Ross Marion Ross (born Marian Ellen Ross; October 25, 1928) is a American former actress. Her best-known role is that of Marion Cunningham on the ABC television sitcom ''Happy Days'', on which she starred from 1974 to 1984 and for which she receive ...

as Nora

Reception

Newsday ''Newsday'' is an American daily newspaper that primarily serves Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI", and f ...

'' columnist

Jo Coppola Jo Coppola was a prominent 1950s columnist and television critic for '' Newsday'' and the ''New York Post''. She was the first TV critic ''Newsday'' ever had, and also wrote for '' Commonweal,''Hadjuk (2008) and others. In 1959 she wrote the scrip ...

harshly criticized the television adaptation, saying "Even when the industry gets its hands on superior material, the end result is rotten." She called the script "inept, implausible and routine," and said that Ames character emerges as a "rude, bumbling and arrogant man" and lacking in the original production's warmth and humor. ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' reviewer

Jack Gould John Ludlow Gould (February 5, 1914 – May 24, 1993) was an American journalist and critic, who wrote commentary about television. Early life and education Gould was born in New York City into a socially prominent family and attended the Loomis ...

called the premiere episode a "tawdry and pedestrian Hollywood farce in the worst video tradition," and described the title character as a "monstrous caricature of the original." Mary Cremmen, the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' television columnist, observed that the Ames' first performances "exaggerated the raving, explosive aspects of the Father far more than we ever recalled seeing on stage," but that his characterization had "mellowed considerably" by the December 27, 1953 program. Gould expressed similar views in a February 1954 review, saying that the show has "retrieved itself splendidly" and praised Ames' performance, saying "there is now the warmth and characterization vital to faithful interpretation of the Clarence Day Jr. stories." A ''Times'' review of the 1954 season premiere criticized the writing, but called the series "one of the more sensible shows about family life."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 045408
Episode guide at Classic TV Archive
1953 American television series debuts 1955 American television series endings CBS original programming American live television series Television series set in the 1880s Television shows set in New York City Period family drama television series Television series by CBS Studios