''Our Man Higgins'' is an American
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 aired on
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
from October 3, 1962, to May 17, 1963.
Synopsis
''Our Man Higgins'' follows the adventures of an
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
butler
A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...
portrayed by
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles Stanley Holloway on stage and screen, on stage and screen, especially t ...
, who is inherited by a suburban American family, resulting in a
culture clash
Cultural conflict is a type of conflict that occurs when different cultural values and beliefs clash. Broad and narrow definitions exist for the concept, both of which have been used to explain violence (including war) and crime, on either a mic ...
that grows into a cultural blending.
Higgins answers to Duncan and Alice MacRoberts, played by
Frank Maxwell
Charles Francis Maxwell (November 17, 1916 – August 4, 2004) was an American actor who served as president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists from 1984 to 1989.
Life and career
A native of The Bronx borough of New Yo ...
and
Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.
Early life
Audrey – some sources indicate "Audra" – Totter w ...
. Joining Holloway, Maxwell and Totter were
Ricky Kelman
Rickey William Kelman (born July 6, 1950) is a former child and young adult actor who appeared in film and on television from 1954 to 1974. He had supporting roles in two single-season situation comedies, ''The Dennis O'Keefe Show'' (1959-1960) ...
, K.C. Butts, and Regina Groves, who portrayed the children Tommy, Dinghy, and Joanie MacRoberts, respectively.
[http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Stage/2950/US/Comedy/OurManHiggins.htm]
/ref>
''It's Higgins, Sir
''It's Higgins, Sir'' is a radio comedy program in the United States with Harry McNaughton as the title character. It had a limited run on NBC in 1951 as a summer replacement for ''The Bob Hope Show''.
The program's premise was that among an Am ...
'' was previously a 13-episode NBC radio comedy series in 1951, created and produced by Paul Harrison, and written by Harrison and Rik Vollaerts. Harry McNaughton read the starring role of Higgins in that series, broadcast on Tuesdays at 9 P.M. (as Bob Hope
Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
's summer replacement).
Cast
*Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles Stanley Holloway on stage and screen, on stage and screen, especially t ...
as Higgins
*Regina Groves as Joanie MacRoberts
*Audrey Totter
Audrey Mary Totter (December 20, 1917 – December 12, 2013) was an American radio, film, and television actress and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player in the 1940s.
Early life
Audrey – some sources indicate "Audra" – Totter w ...
as Alice MacRoberts
*Ricky Kelman
Rickey William Kelman (born July 6, 1950) is a former child and young adult actor who appeared in film and on television from 1954 to 1974. He had supporting roles in two single-season situation comedies, ''The Dennis O'Keefe Show'' (1959-1960) ...
as Tommy MacRoberts
*Frank Maxwell
Charles Francis Maxwell (November 17, 1916 – August 4, 2004) was an American actor who served as president of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists from 1984 to 1989.
Life and career
A native of The Bronx borough of New Yo ...
as Duncan MacRoberts
*K.C. Butts as Dinghy MacRoberts
Episodes
Guest stars
*Don Drysdale
Donald Scott Drysdale (July 23, 1936 – July 3, 1993) was an American professional baseball player and television sports commentator. A right-handed pitcher for the Brooklyn / Los Angeles Dodgers for his entire career in Major League Baseball, D ...
*Stuart Erwin
Stuart Erwin (February 14, 1903 – December 21, 1967) was an American actor of stage, film, and television.
Early years
Erwin was born in Squaw Valley, Fresno County, California. He attended Porterville High School and the University of ...
*Reginald Gardiner
William Reginald Gardiner (27 February 1903 – 7 July 1980) was an English actor on the stage, in films and on television.
Early years
Gardiner was born in Wimbledon, England, and he was a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Katz, ...
*Connie Gilchrist
Rose Constance Gilchrist (July 17, 1895 – March 3, 1985) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Among her screen credits are her roles in the Hollywood productions '' Cry 'Havoc (1943), ''A Letter to Three Wives'' (1949), ' ...
*Sylvia Field
Sylvia Field (born Harriet Louisa Johnson; February 14, 1901 – July 31, 1998) was an American actress whose career encompassed performances on stage, screen, and TV. She was best known for playing the understanding Mrs. Martha Wilson (Mr. Wilso ...
*Paul Hartman
Paul Hartman (March 1, 1904 – October 2, 1973) was an American dancer, stage performer and television actor.
Early years
Born in San Francisco, California, Hartman was the son of Ferris Hartman, who was sometimes called the "Ziegfeld of ...
*Julian Holloway
Julian Holloway (born 24 June 1944) is a British actor. He is the son of comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and former chorus dancer and actress Violet Lane. He is the father of author and former model Sophie Dahl.
Early life
Holloway was ...
*Edward Everett Horton
Edward Everett Horton Jr. (March 18, 1886 – September 29, 1970) was an American character actor. He had a long career in film, theater, radio, television, and voice work for animated cartoons.
Early life
Horton was born in Kings County ...
*Bernie Kopell
Bernard Morton Kopell (born June 21, 1933) is an American character actor known for his roles as Siegfried in ''Get Smart'' from 1966 to 1969 and as Dr. Adam Bricker ("Doc") on ''The Love Boat'' from 1977 to 1986.
Early beginnings
Kopell was bo ...
*Cheryl Miller
Cheryl D. Miller (born January 3, 1964) is an American former basketball player. She was formerly a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst, having worked previously as a sportscaster fo ...
*Roger Mobley
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
*Slim Pickens
Louis Burton Lindley Jr. (June 29, 1919 – December 8, 1983), better known by his stage name Slim Pickens, was an American actor and rodeo performer. Starting off in the rodeo, Pickens transitioned to acting and appeared in dozens of movies and ...
*Stafford Repp
Stafford Alois Repp (April 26, 1918November 5, 1974) was an American actor best known for his role as Police Chief Miles Clancy O'Hara on ABC's ''Batman'' television series.
Career
Soon after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, he serv ...
*Roy Roberts
Roy Roberts (born Roy Barnes Jones, March 19, 1906 – May 28, 1975) was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen.
Life and career
Born in Tampa ...
*Kurt Russell
Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the Westerns on television, western series ''The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (TV series), The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (19 ...
*Martha Stewart
Martha Helen Stewart (, ; born August 3, 1941) is an American retail businesswoman, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing pub ...
*Dick Wessel
Richard Michael Wessel (April 20, 1913 – April 20, 1965) was an American film actor who appeared in more than 270 films between 1935 and 1966. He is best remembered for his only leading role, a chilling portrayal of strangler Harry "C ...
*Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes (born Mary Isabella Wickenhauser; June 13, 1910 – October 22, 1995) was an American actress. She often played supporting roles as prim, professional women, secretaries, nurses, nuns, therapists, teachers and housekeepers, who made ...
*Dick Wilson
Dick Wilson (July 30, 1916 – November 18, 2007) was an American actor who was best known as grocery store manager Mr. George Whipple in more than 500 Charmin bathroom tissue television commercials (1965–89, 1999–2000).
Biography
Dick Wi ...
Scheduling
''Our Man Higgins'', co-sponsored by General Motors
The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...
' Pontiac Pontiac may refer to:
*Pontiac (automobile), a car brand
*Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief
Places and jurisdictions Canada
*Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality
** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...
division and American Tobacco, aired on ABC at 9:30 P.M. Eastern on Wednesdays opposite ''The Dick Van Dyke Show
''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Carl Reiner that initially aired on CBS from October 3, 1961 to June 1, 1966, with a total of 158 half-hour episodes spanning five seasons. It was produced by Calvada Product ...
'' on 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 Entertainm ...
and the second half of '' Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall'' on NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
. ''Higgins'' followed another one-year ABC series ''Going My Way
''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest ta ...
'', starring Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...
, Dick York
Richard Allen York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American radio, stage, film, and television actor. He was the first actor to play Darrin Stephens on the ABC fantasy sitcom ''Bewitched''. He played teacher Bertram Cates in the ...
, and Leo G. Carroll
Leo Gratten Carroll (25 October 1886 – 16 October 1972) was an English actor. In a career of more than forty years, he appeared in six Hitchcock films including ''Spellbound'', '' Strangers on a Train'' and ''North by Northwest'' and in thre ...
, in a television version of the 1944 Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
.[1962-1963 American network television schedule]
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 0055697, Our Man Higgins
1962 American television series debuts
1963 American television series endings
1960s American sitcoms
American Broadcasting Company original programming
Black-and-white American television shows
English-language television shows
Fictional butlers
Television series about families
Television series based on radio series
Television series by Screen Gems