MovieChat Forums > Ellery Queen (1975) Discussion > Favorite guest actors

Favorite guest actors

posted 10 years ago by MsELLERYqueen2
19 replies | jump to latest

Quite a few terrific guest actors on this show! Do you guys have any favorites?

Off-hand, I really liked the actress who played the reporter's grandmother in The 12th Floor Express...hilarious character! Too bad she was only on for a few minutes.

I liked the divorced couple in The Blunt Instrument. Those actors were good at playing a couple that has been through a lot. In the same episode, Eva Gabor was quite amusing.

Also the blonde woman in The Comic Book Crusader...can't think of her name now. She was terrific at playing a very ditzy lady!

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] Angel_Buffy 10 years ago

Oooh that's a tough one. Despite such a short run, it really did have some great guest stars!

I think my two favorite were Dana Andrews in The Adventure of the Judas Tree and Larry Hagman in The Adventure of the Mad Tea Party, if only because I got so excited when they came in and I recognized them! Two actors I love in one of the best mystery shows of all time? That's a great combination :-)

And agree with you about the women in The Comic Book Crusader, that was easily one of my favorite episodes and she was so much fun to watch!

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

I love Dana Andrews, but he was given a pretty boring part, I think. He could have done something better in this show.

I agree about The Comic Book Crusader. Terrific episode! I loved seeing "Mr. Cunningham" in it.

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] Angel_Buffy 10 years ago

True, in that regard, it wasn't the most exciting guest star bit. But seeing Dana Andrews doing it, made it worth it for me :-D.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

It's always great to see the actors from the Golden Age as guest stars in this series, even if they weren't on the screen for very long.

Dana Andrews, Ray Milland, Milton Berle, Victor Buono, etc.

I wish that Dana Andrews had been cast in one of the other episodes, maybe as a gangster or something.

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] Angel_Buffy 10 years ago

Lol! Yes, I always picture Dana Andrews as playing gangsters as well, though I'm not sure why! Of the four movies I've seen him in, he was only a gangster in one o them..

It would have been nice if he'd gotten a more exciting role though.

It is a lot of fun to see how many well known actors signed up for Ellery Queen. I haven't seen a whole lot of shows from this era, was that common do you know? For Golden Age actors to guest star on TV shows like this one?

[–] ghostfan 10 years ago

I'm not sure if it was common, as it was a Levinson and Link quirk. It is a good way to see favorites, and a good way for production to have actors they could count on... tried and true, so to speak.
they did the same thing when they produced Columbo and Murder She Wrote. MSW especially had five or six well known actors per show that were guest stars.

Personally -- as far as Ellery Queen goes, I loved seeing Vincent Price show up, and of course, Edward Mulhare... but he's a favorite of mine anyway. Roddy McDowall anytime, naturally!

I think it would be fun to see how many EQ actors also appeared on MSW over the years.

How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.

[–] Angel_Buffy 10 years ago

I've never really watched Murder She Wrote....I saw a few episodes on TV once when I was very little but don't remember enough of them to know if it was any good. How does it compare to Ellery Queen? I like Angela Lansbury so I'm tempted to try it.

Agree with you, especially about Vincent Price!

[–] ghostfan 10 years ago

Well, in a way, it was the same formula... mystery writer who keeps solving mysteries.. mostly murders... and there were five or six suspects each week played by guest stars.

Big difference is while Ellery learned about most of his murders through his father, the police inspector, Jessica seemed to stumble on a lot of hers while she was traveling for her writing. There were also some that took place in her home town of Cabot Cove. fun show. The first eight years were the best.

I honestly think part of the reason Ellery didn't work, though I loved it, was the 1940's setting. More expensive. MSW ended up with much higher ratings Lansbury is great... so they were able to do more expensive shows later.

How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.

[–] Angel_Buffy 10 years ago

Oh interesting...it never really occurred to me that might be the reason Ellery Queen didn't make it.

I've tried Columbo a couple of times but I don't enjoy as much mysteries that are built around attempting to figure out how the killer did it rather then who the killer is, and that seemed to be the general basis of the show. I give it credit for doing something different but it just wasn't something I was as interested in watching.

Well Murder She Wrote sounds like something I'd quite enjoy, so I'll be sure to check it out.

[–] Jimmy-128 10 years ago

Oh interesting...it never really occurred to me that might be the reason Ellery Queen didn't make it.

Yeah, period pieces are always more expensive to produce than contemporary ones - that's also why Wonder Woman almost didn't make it to a second season, and why they moved it from World War II to the present day.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

I honestly think part of the reason Ellery didn't work, though I loved it, was the 1940's setting. More expensive.

Why would it be more expensive?

Even though the setting was 1940s, it looked more seventies than forties.

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] ghostfan 10 years ago

Well, Ellery's clothes looked a bit more like 70's but they did have other period clothes... and cars.

How sad, that you were not born in my time, nor I, in yours.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

True about the cars, except that they probably reused the same ones in each episode. Period clothes wouldn't have cost that much to make. Not all of the characters wore them.

My guess is that it just wasn't the right time for such a series. A few years later, when the Agatha Christie adaptations became popular, it would have lasted longer. Of course, they wouldn't have had Jim Hutton in the leading role.

Even just one more season would have been so wonderful!

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

The only reason I didn't watch Murder She Wrote as a child/teen is because I wasn't into mysteries back then. I did see a few episodes and liked them. One that I saw last year was an episode which was written originally for EQ. This episode starts out with Angela Lansbury saying that she heard about a mystery which took place in the forties, and then they switch to a forties setting and tell the story. I wish that this episode had been filmed as part of the EQ series.

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] CarolTheDabbler (521) 7 months ago

... it would be fun to see how many EQ actors also appeared on MSW....

Here you go:

https://www.imdb.com/search/name/?roles=tt0072496,tt0086765

These IMDB "collaboration" searches include crew members as well as cast, and of course there are a bunch of each in this case, for a total of 127 people (including David Wayne!).

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

Is Ball of Fire one of those films you've seen? He plays a bad boy in that movie.

I don't know if it was common for Golden Age actors to get guest spots on TV shows in the seventies. There would have been some demand for older actors for certain parts, but I have no idea if the producers went with the known actors or with unfamiliar faces.

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] Angel_Buffy 10 years ago

Yes one of them is Ball of Fire! I love that movie, it's wonderful cast and just such a fun plot. I'm always on the look out for more Dana Andrew films, I find him very charming and a very attractive hero, and he also seems to be a good actor, at least he was very good in The Best Years of Our Lives.

[–] MsELLERYqueen2 10 years ago

Those two movies are terrific. Also see him in Laura and Where the Sidewalk Ends, if you haven't already. If you want to, of course. Both of those are film noir.

Have you seen the western The Ox-Bow Incident? Geez, he was wonderful in that movie! It's a very heartbreaking film, though.

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JimHutton (1934-79) & ElleryQueen

[–] Angel_Buffy 10 years ago

I'd forgotten he was in Laura. I guess I've seen him in another movie then. Have never heard of Where the Sidewalk Ends, but I'll look it up!

I haven't seen the Ox-Bow Incident either, nor did I know he was in that. I do believe I have the DVD somewhere though so I'll see if I can't find it. I always sort of avoided it because Henry Fonda isn't an actor I'm terribly fond of, but if Dana Andrews is in it I'll definitely give it a try.