Television Obscurities

Television Obscurities

Keeping Obscure TV From Fading Away Forever

Category Archives: Rest in Peace

Sherman Hemsley (1938-2012)

Actor Sherman Hemsley, best known for playing George Jefferson on All in the Family and its spin-off The Jeffersons, passed away today at the age of 74. Hemsley first played George Jefferson in a 1973 episode of All in the Family, during that show’s fourth season, and would ultimately make more than a dozen appearances … Continue Reading →

Andy Griffith (1926-2012)

Television legend Andy Griffith passed away this morning at the age of 86. Best known for sitcom The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968) and drama Matlock (1986-1996), Griffith also appeared in a number of feature films, like A Face in the Crowd and No Time For Sergeants (where he recreated a role he originated on the … Continue Reading →

Eugene Polley (1915-2012)

Eugene Polley, the man responsible for the wireless television remote control, passed away on Saturday (May 20th) at the age of 96. Polley was working as an engineer for Zenith in 1955 when he developed the Flash-Matic remote control, shaped like a ray gun (or perhaps something you’d find at the end of a garden … Continue Reading →

Dick Clark (1929-2012)

  • Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 at 8:08PM
  • 1 Comment
Television icon Dick Clark, famously called the world’s oldest teenager, passed away today at the age of 82. To many, Clark is best known as the host of American Bandstand (from 1956 to 1989); to others, as the host of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” (1972-2011, excluding 1999 and 2004). Obituaries can be found … Continue Reading →

Mike Wallace (1918-2012)

Veteran CBS News reporter Mike Wallace died last night at the age of 93. The following is a segment from this morning’s Face the Nation, in which Morely Safer paid tribute to his late colleague: Obituaries can be found at CBS News, The New York Times, Variety and CNN. CBS News has compiled nine memorable … Continue Reading →

Fred Foy (1921-2010)

  • Thursday, December 23rd, 2010 at 9:25AM
  • 2 Comments
Announcer Fred Foy, best known for his work on the radio and television versions of The Lone Ranger, passed away yesterday at the age of 89. According to The New York Times, Foy began working at radio station WXYZ in Detroit in 1942, was an announcer for Armed Forces Radio during World War II, and … Continue Reading →

Ted Sherburne (1919-2010)

Edward “Ted” Sherburne, who was at the helm of public television pioneer WGBH-TV when it went on the air in 1955, died last month (November 22nd) at the age of 91. According to an obituary published in The Charlotte Observer/Legacy.com, after being discharged from the U.S. Army in 1945, Sherburne worked at the Naval Special … Continue Reading →

Leslie Nielsen (1926-2010)

  • Monday, November 29th, 2010 at 12:27AM
  • 1 Comment
Canadian actor Leslie Nielsen passed away today at the age of 84. Although known today for comedic films like Airplane! and the Naked Gun series, he spent the first decades of his lengthy career playing mostly dramatic parts, the bulk of them on television. During the 1950s he appeared in dozens of programs, including Actor’s … Continue Reading →