Hazel (1962)

As we covered in our post for the 1961 episodes, the adaptation of Ted Key's series of one-panel cartoons for the Saturday Evening Post about indefatigable and unconventional maid Hazel into a TV sit-com was a revelation and instant success, thanks in large part to the considerable talents of Academy-Award-winning lead actor Shirley Booth in the title role and a team of writers who were unafraid of depicting a middle-aged, somewhat heavy domestic servant as equal to and more often superior to her employers and anyone else who made the mistake of taking her on, regardless of wealth or social status. The program was so refreshing that it vaulted to #4 in the ratings for its first season as the top ranked comedy behind the western triad of Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, and Bonanza. It also garnered two TV Guide covers in 1962, territory afforded only to the very top-tier programs like Gunsmoke. And yet with a breakout hit on their hands, the writers and producers of the show already began watering down and sentimentalizing the series in the second half of Season 1 to bring it more in line with other conventional sit-coms like My Three Sons and The Donna Reed Show rather than sticking to the formula that had made the show a success in the first place. At least The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis waited until it had completed an entire season before eviscerating its unconventional depiction of teenage lust and parental dysfunction. Creator Ted Key already began justifying the modifications in a January 13, 1962 TV Guide cover story in which he revealed the origins of the TV program 19 years after his first Saturday Evening Post cartoon and a failed attempt to bring the character to the stage with Booth in the title role not long after his discharge from military service after World War II. Key explained that in adapting the character from a one-panel cartoon to a 30-minute sit-com some adjustments had to be made, among them that Hazel could not win every battle like she did in the cartoon: "No human being could continually top others, line after line, for almost thirty minutes and be made to appear sympathetic or credible. Invincibility had to be maintained and yet it had to be tempered." Granted, an invincible Hazel would have been monotonous and the novelty would have worn off quickly, but turning her into a sentimentalist who pushes all the conventional and cliched buttons about family, God, and country made her even less interesting and entertaining.

The trouble begins with the very first episode to air in 1962, "Hazel's Dog Days" (January 4, 1962), which trots out the tried-and-true tear-jerker formula of a young boy about to lose his dog. In this case, Harold adopted his dog Smiley after witnessing him being abandoned by a man who pushes the dog out of his car and drives off, only to discover in this episode that Smiley was kidnapped by a disgruntled gardener as payback for a disagreement with his employer Mr. Wagner. When Hazel and Dorothy take Smiley to a dog training school to teach him not to howl at night, the owner recognizes the dog as belonging to Wagner and notifies the original owner about who has his dog. Though Wagner is sympathetic to Harold's attachment to Smiley, he has a daughter who is just as heartbroken over her loss of the dog, so he has every intention of taking him back. But in the unrealistic world of conventional sit-coms, the Baxters have a friend with a highly trained poodle that they cannot take with them when the husband is assigned to a job overseas for several years, so they borrow the poodle and have it perform its tricks for the young Wagner girl, who agrees to accept it as a substitute for Smiley after seeing how sad Harold was about the prospect of losing Smiley. Obviously pleased with this sappy boy-and-his-dog weeper, the writers and producers go to the well again in Season 2 with "Genie With the Light Brown Lamp" (November 22, 1962). This time the family loses Smiley while vacationing hundreds of miles away at Natural Caverns in Virginia when everyone assumes the dog is in the car before they head home, only to discover that he is not when they get home. Harold pines for his missing dog and his grades begin to suffer. After being told by his math teacher about the psychological principle of the replacement theory--getting him to forget his obsession by giving him something else to focus on--Hazel reads Harold a bedtime story about Aladdin and his lamp, only instead of getting him to forget about Smiley it only reinforces his intention of bringing the dog back by purchasing a gravy boat he thinks looks like Aladdin's lamp and using it to wish for Smiley's return. Hazel and the Baxters try to make Harold recognize that it is only a gravy boat, but they are stumped when he quotes the Bible in saying that anything is possible if you have faith. So obviously Harold gets Smiley back when, miraculously, a truck driver whose route happens to run from Virginia to the Baxters' hometown is told about the dog by the gas station owner where he was lost, and Smiley just happens to return back to that gas station after trying to hitch a ride with another truck driver, and the gas station owner just happens to have the Baxters' address, etc. You can see the chain of miracles that have to be performed for this plot to work and for Harold to be reunited with his dog once again after all seemed lost. What do these two stories have to do with the saucy maid who is smarter and more accomplished than her employers and others socially above her? Nothing--the story could have been placed in any other sit-com of the era with very few modifications, meaning that by this point Hazel had been reduced to the level of every other mediocre family-themed TV show.

In one sense, the program was struggling with its identity, wavering between its irreverent title character and the actress who played her with the standard conventions of the TV sit-com. Reflective of this searching, the show cycled through three different opening title sequences in just over one season: it began with a sequence where Hazel is baking cookies and the aroma summons all the members of the Baxter family in the kitchen, which was replaced in the second half of Season 1 with a sequence where Hazel comes out the front door to greet the Baxters returning from a vacation in their station wagon, first aired during "Hazel and the Gardener" (March 8, 1962). When the series moved to color programming at the beginning of Season 2, the first episode, "Hazel's Cousin" (September 20, 1962), returned to the baking cookies sequence, though in color, originally used in the lone Season 1 color episode "What'll We Watch Tonight?" (November 2, 1961), except that Bobby Buntrock as Harold does not skip backwards after smelling the cookies. Beginning with the second episode of Season 2, "Rosie's Contract" (September 27, 1962), the show switched to a third opening title sequence with Hazel sitting in the back of the Baxters' convertible while being showered with confetti by Harold and the members of his football team in celebration of Hazel being their coach.

While this may be a minor detail in the show's production, it is reflective of a larger indecision about what the program should be. Through the end of Season 1 and beginning of Season 2, the writers and producers continued introducing new characters, whose stories Hazel sometimes is merely an innocent bystander observing, as a way to keep from focusing on Hazel and the Baxters in every episode. But these new characters rarely stick around for very long, as they are auditioned and then eventually discarded. This trend begins with "Number, Please?" (March 22, 1962) where we first meet taxi driver Mitch Brady, played by Dub Taylor, who quickly becomes a rival suitor for Hazel's attention with mailman Barney Hatfield (though the two are never shown meeting each other). Taylor would appear three more times as Brady, the last coming in a 1963 episode in the middle of Season 2, but then never reappear. In the next episode after "Number, Please?" we are introduced to new next-door neighbors the Blakes, consisting of widower Stan Blake and his four children (two boys and two girls to avoid the obvious comparison to My Three Sons). In "Them New Neighbors Is Nice" (March 29, 1962), teenager Don Blake develops an immediate infatuation with Dorothy, and she and Hazel have to find a gentle way to show him how unrealistic his fantasy is. Hazel ultimately shatters his illusion by saying he would have to support Dorothy financially and become a father to Harold, which quickly redirects his attention to girls his own age without as many responsibilities. In the following episode, "Hazel's Pajama Party" (April 5, 1962), it is Hazel who has her illusions shattered after proposing to host a pajama party for teenage Linda Blake and her friends after reminiscing about what fun she had years ago doing the same thing for Dorothy and sentimentally bemoaning that she never got to have such parties when she was a teenager because her mother died when she was 14 and she was forced to care for her younger siblings. Linda and her friends think it would be weird to have a pajama party with a middle-aged woman, and heart-broken Hazel has to recognize that they are right, on one level, at least. And in "Hazel the Matchmaker" (May 3, 1962), Hazel tries to hook Stan Blake up with one of Harold's teachers rather than the gold-digger sister of George's law partner, whom George champions. But after these three episodes in a six-episode span centered around the Blakes, we only see Stan and his young daughter Mavis one more time in the mid-Season 2 episode "Top Secret" in 1963.

Another cast of characters who are auditioned and then jettisoned is the young couple comprised of Hazel's nephew Eddie and George's niece Nancy Thompson, who were first introduced in the Season 1 episode "George's Niece" (November 16, 1961). They appear twice more in the early Season 2 episodes "License to Wed" (November 15, 1962) and "Hazel and the Lovebirds" (December 27, 1962) before never being heard from again. All three of these episodes recycle two common themes employed elsewhere in the series--Hazel as matchmaker and/or love advisor, and Hazel as foil to the socially pretentious, in this case George's sister Deirdre Thompson, who touts her family's connections to the first American settlers and believes a match with the nephew of a maid is far beneath her exalted social position. In "License to Wed," Hazel uses the same tactic described above on Don Blake--show the young couple the sober realities of having to set up house before being financially settled in order to dissuade them from a premature marriage. And in "Hazel and the Lovebirds," Hazel has to show Deirdre that trying to keep the couple apart artificially only does more harm than good--Deirdre initially sends Nancy away to a private, out-of-town college to get her away from Eddie but agrees to let her return home and attend the local university where Eddie is also studying provided that she also dates other boys. However, her plan backfires when she tries arranging a date for Nancy with the son of George's former Yale roommate. However, Nancy meets the young man working in a gas station and when she mentions this her mother prohibits her going out with him based solely on his job, not knowing who he really is. When she later meets the young man at the Baxters, she feels defeated because now the young man is dating the Thompsons' new Italian maid. Do Eddie and Nancy eventually get married after college? At this point, who knows? Perhaps Hazel will get a letter from them announcing their fate in some future episode, but they will never appear again on film in this series, having served whatever their purpose was.

However, there is one sub-series within Hazel that actually works and was retained through Season 4--the Baxters' dotty English next-door neighbors Herbert and Harriet Johnson, who were featured in 13 episodes. The Johnsons have obviously had servants their entire lives and are completely clueless about doing anything for themselves, from cooking to even knowing what household appliances are for. They also have a consistent streak of driving their servants batty, leading them to quit and thereby forcing Hazel to help them out until they can hire someone new. In fact, this is the theme for the second episode to air in 1962, "A Replacement for Phoebe" (January 11, 1962) in which Hazel auditions a number of replacement maids for the Johnsons, at first thinking that the former maid of an army general who is super organized and efficient is just what they need to combat their total ineptitude, but by episode's end Hazel realizes that the Johnsons and the army maid could never get along, so she backtracks to a candidate she initially ruled out because the woman couldn't do anything. As it turns out, she is perfect for the Johnsons because they have found someone even more lost than they are, allowing them to feel that they are helping her. In "Bringing Out the Johnsons" (April 19, 1962) the elderly couple volunteer their house as an election site for a special bond election as a way to get more involved with their community but end up treating the election as some sort of tea party with a string quartet and a table full of drinks and hors d'oeuvres. "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (May 10, 1962) is the obligatory cute baby episode in which the Johnsons are entrusted with the care of their niece's infant, aided by an overly strict hired nurse who they end up firing, thereby thrusting Hazel into action because the Johnsons could never care for a baby on their own. This is undoubtedly one of the least satisfying Johnson episodes--they are merely used as an excuse to get a cute baby on screen so that Hazel and George can hold it and viewers can coo "Aww!" But "Herbert for Hire" (December 20, 1962) is a much better use of the Johnsons' talents as Herbert is forced to recognize that his longtime investments in whalebone and buttonhooks are no longer providing the income to sustain his household and he must therefore seek employment. While he cluelessly imagines he would enjoy positions he sees advertised in the newspaper managing military missiles and such, George is able to twist his client Mr. Griffin's arm to consider Herbert for some kind of position in one of Griffin's many corporations. As luck would have it, Griffin is currently vexed by persistent wealthy stockholder Mrs. Totter, whose impractical suggestions drive Griffin crazy. Herbert is just the sort of sunny optimist who can listen to Totter prattle on without the least bit of annoyance, so Griffin puts Herbert in charge of stockholder relations while assuring him that he will have absolutely no authority to implement anything, much to Herbert's relief. The Johnsons provide an effective complement to the ultra-competent Hazel and the respected attorney George Baxter, and some of their appearances are among the best episodes in the series.  But thankfully they are not tasked with carrying an entire series because witnessing their antics week after week would quickly devolve into one-joke water torture  a la Mr. Magoo.

But besides the few bright spots occasioned by episodes featuring the Johnsons, the rest of Hazel quickly resorted to rehashing the same stories again and again--Hazel the matchmaker, Hazel the anti-snob, Hazel the meddler, Hazel's competitions with fellow maid Rosie, Mr. Griffin the overbearing client, etc. And in the tug-of-war between the real Hazel of Ted Key's cartoons and the conventions of mediocre sit-coms, it is clear that the latter had prevailed by episode 11 of Season 2, "The Natural Athlete" (November 29, 1962). One of Hazel's defining characteristics had always been her athletic prowess. In fact, the series' very first episode depicted her using her bowling skills to raise money for an improved children's playground. We see her have to tone down her abilities late in Season 1 in "Hazel and the Gardener" when she tries to boost the spirits of Baxter gardener Ernie Talbot by agreeing to go on a date with him after he gets dumped by his long-time girlfriend. She says she can't go bowling with him because if she lost, everyone at the bowling alley would know she was throwing the game. So she suggests they shoot billiards but momentarily forgets herself and runs the table, then has to quickly usher Talbot to a carnival where she has better luck doing poorly at a shooting gallery when she closes her eyes and pretends to be afraid of the gun going off. This allows Talbot, a former military marksman as it turns out, to show her how it's done and impress the pretty female booth attendant, thereby starting a new romance for the dejected gardener--in other words, the Hazel the matchmaker trope. But when she loses at bowling to George Baxter in "The Natural Athlete" with him having just retaken up the sport with a week of daily instruction, the series has in effect "jumped the shark." Hazel does not let George win; he simply outperforms her. And a Hazel who can be beat at bowling is no longer Hazel. She's just another sit-com maid.

The Actors

For the biographies of Shirley Booth, Don DeFore, Whitney Blake, Bobby Buntrock, Maudie Prickett, Queenie Leonard, Norma Varden, Howard Smith, and Cathy Lewis, see the 1961 post for Hazel.

Robert B. Williams

Born in Glencoe, Illinois on September 23, 1904, Williams (not to be confused with the actor Robert Williams born 10 years earlier who was once married to singer Marion Harris and, later, silent film actress Alice Lake) is one of those ubiquitous character actors who seemed to appear everywhere and yet nothing has been published about his life outside his filmography. While his Wikipedia biography mentions that he did not debut in films until his 30s, beginning with the short Mixed Policies in 1936, a search of the Internet Broadway Database shows a Robert B. Williams appearing in a 1930 production of Little Orchard Annie and a 1935-36 production of Let Freedom Ring. His IMDB.com page also lists a theatrical appearance in a late 1936 production of 200 Were Chosen at the 48th Street Theatre, so it is very likely that Williams had an established career on the stage before moving into films. His early work in features often were uncredited and unnamed characters, but they also included major films such as How Green Was My Valley in 1941. His first credited roles came 3 years later in The Ghost That Walks Alone and Two-Man Submarine, two of the 16 feature films he appeared in that year. Other major film appearances included Lady in the Lake, Call Northside 777, Raw Deal, On the Town, Father's Little Dividend, Singin' in the Rain, Rebel Without a Cause, The Killing, North by Northwest, Pillow Talk, Birdman of Alcatraz, Viva Las Vegas, Mary Poppins, A Patch of Blue, and Hang 'Em High. Beginning in 1952, he began transitioning into television, starting with appearances on Dangerous Assignment, I Love Lucy, Adventures of Superman, and Hopalong Cassidy, and over the remaining 25 years of his career he found more work on TV than feature films, though he continued doing both.

His recurring role as mailman Barney Hatfield on Hazel was actually foreshadowed or perhaps due to his first recurring TV role as mailman Mr. Dorfman on Dennis the Menace, a role he appeared in 5 times in 1959-60. On Dennis the Menace, Dorfman was one of many targets of man-crazy spinster Esther Cathcart, while on Hazel his character Barney Hatfield is often depicted as Hazel Burke's primary boyfriend, though not her only suitor. Williams' other brief recurring TV characters included 3 appearances as Heartless Harry on The Jim Backus Show in 1960-61 and his last 4 appearances on film as Martin Mull's father Garth Gimble, Sr. on Fernwood Tonight in 1977. Williams would pass away the following year on June 17 at the age of 73.

Robert P. Lieb

Born Robert Pelham Liebeskind in Pelham, New York on September 15, 1914, Lieb attended New York University, graduating with a degree in theatrical arts, and then pursued a career on Broadway, appearing in productions of Inherit the Wind, Death of a Salesman, Harvey, and Two Blind Mice. He joked that his theatrical career began playing a dead body falling out of a closet in the production of Mr. and Mrs. North, which according to IMDB.com, also provided his television debut in the form of a 1946 TV movie of the same story directed by Fred Coe, who reportedly persuaded Lieb to pursue a television career after meeting him at a dinner party at Sardis Restaurant. Coe was apparently taken with the tall, dark, and handsome Lieb, who also worked as a magazine model for the Forbes Agency at some point during his career. Coe would also direct Lieb that same year in an episode of Lights Out, but it would take another 5 years before his next appearance, a time during which he kept busy on Broadway in several of the productions mentioned above. By 1951 he was appearing regularly on TV shows such as Pulitzer Prize Playhouse, Crime Photographer, and Out There. Lieb continued making one-off guest appearances on a variety of television series throughout the 1950s and got his first taste of feature film work playing District Attorney Hogan in Somebody Up There Likes Me. One of Lieb's more memorable guest spots on TV was portraying police officer Flaherty who arrests Art Carney's drunk Santa Claus in the 1960 Twilight Zone Christmas episode "The Night of the Meek." His first somewhat regular TV role came with 3 appearances as Douglas neighbor (and Mike's girlfriend's father) Mr. Pearson on My Three Sons in 1960-61. While he continued making guest appearances on a number of other TV series in 1961-62, such as Dr. Kildare, Room for One More, and It's a Man's World, he was first introduced as Harry Thompson, George Baxter's brother-in-law and chief consoler of his snooty sister, in the Season 1 final episode "Hazel's Day" on June 7, 1962, a role he would reprise only 7 more times during the next 4 seasons.

While he would stay busy with regular guest work for TV series, occasional feature film roles, and a fair number of TV movies into the 1990s, Lieb would not find any more recurring work on television. He did make multiple guest appearances on The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Virginian, Bonanza, F Troop, and The F.B.I. and had supporting roles in movies such as Clambake, Angel in My Pocket, The Love God?, Myra Breckenridge, and How to Frame a Figg. But Lieb was perhaps just as active in charitable causes and other entertainment-and religious-related work such as being a member of the Screen Actors Guild, supporting the Motion Picture and Television Fund, being a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, serving as chairman for his local charters of the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Clubs, helping found the Canyon Theatre Guild, and serving as a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse. His last film appearance was a minor role in the 1999 comedy Mystery Men. He passed away after complications from intestinal surgery on September 28, 2002 at the age of 88. His daughter Barbara Fairchild was editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit magazine from 2000-2011. Another daughter, Devra Lieb, was a partner in the Hollywood literary agency Hohman Maybank Lieb, which was later acquired by the Gersh Agency from which Lieb retired in 2013.

Donald Foster

Henri Donald Foster was born in Oil City, Pennsylvania on July 31, 1889. Although he claimed in an article about him in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1941 that he had to that point a rather uneventful life, the article also mentions that he began his acting career performing in productions on a traveling riverboat but that one such performance in 1915 roused the ire of the local Women's Puritan League due to the show's title, The Thief, which led to Foster and other actors getting ducked in the river. Foster said that at the time he did not know how to swim but made a point of taking swimming lessons soon thereafter to be prepared for any such future watery adventures. He also related in the same newspaper article that he had been cast in older roles from the very beginning of his career when he was still young, necessitating the donning of wigs and beards to appear older, and that during one such production his on-stage scuffle with a fellow actor resulted in his beard being pulled off, at which the stage manager wanted to drop the curtain on the production but the audience demanded that Foster be allowed to continue clean-shaven. Foster's career on the stage far outweighed his later work in film, making his Broadway debut in a 1917 production of The Country Cousin. The Internet Broadway Database lists Foster in 31 productions from that year all the way up to 1956, including productions of George Washington (1920), the Gershwin musical Girl Crazy (1930) with Ethel Mermen and Ginger Rogers, The Curtain Rises (1933) with Jean Arthur, My Sister Eileen(1940-43) with Shirley Booth, Twentieth Century (1950-51) with Jose Ferrer, Gloria Swanson, Werner Klemperer, and Edward Platt, another Gershwin musical Of Thee I Sing (1952) with Jack Carson, and The Ponder Heart (1956) with David Wayne, Will Geer, and Una Merkel. Foster made his television debut in a 1950 episode of Lights Out followed by several more drama anthologies, and by the end of the decade was also appearing in series such as Have Gun -- Will Travel, Mike Hammer, and Dragnet. His first few feature film appearances were uncredited in Al Capone(1959), Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1960), and All in a Night's Work (1961). In fact, his only credited appearance in a feature film came in Lord Love a Duck in 1966.

His TV work picked up considerably in the 1960s with multiple appearances on Bonanza, The Farmer's Daughter, The Monkees, and Run for Your Life as well as single appearances on many more programs. His role as clueless Baxter neighbor Herbert Johnson on Hazel was his only recurring role, with 14 appearances from 1961-64. He continued working in television almost until his death, his last credits being 1968 episodes of Run for Your Life and That Girl. He passed away at home on December 23, 1969 at the age of 80.

Molly Dodd

Born in Los Angeles on May 11, 1921, Mary Elise Dodd was the daughter of an Episcopal priest who graduated from Hollywood High School, where she was active in student theatrical productions. She made her professional debut at age 18 in a revival of the stage play The Cradle Song put on by The Westwood Theatre Guild. She began garnering favorable notices in two 1940 theatrical productions of The Penguin and And Eternal Darkness, and in 1947 received a USO citation for her performance in a production of Noel Coward's Private Lives. She also performed as a singer on USO tours throughout World War II and after the War had a prolific career in stock theater productions. After meeting and impressing director Francis D. Lyon at a Ciro's Nightclub dinner party, Dodd broke into television in a 1954 episode of Man Against Crime but would not appear again until 4 years later in episodes of Bachelor Father and Playhouse 90. That same year she appeared in the first of only 5 feature films in an uncredited part as a beautician in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. In 1951 she married author Henry Farrell, best known for his novel Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? and its follow-up short story "Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte," which was adapted into the film Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte, for which Farrell wrote the screenplay. Dodd received her first credited feature film appearance in an adaption of another Farrell novel, What's the Matter With Helen? (1971) and appeared in the 1970 TV movie How Awful About Allan based on another Farrell novel.

In the meantime, Dodd began working steadily in TV guest roles beginning in 1960 on shows such as The Rifleman, The Donna Reed Show, Dennis the Menace, and Peter Loves Mary. Her only recurring TV role was playing George Baxter's secretary Miss Scott, in which she appeared 9 times beginning with the 1961 episode "Hazel Plays Nurse." She remained active on television throughout the 1960s, mostly on comedies such as The Andy Griffith Show, The Farmer's Daughter, Gomer Pyle: USMC, and Bewitched, but by the 1970s her roles began to diminish, though she did find work on The Brady Bunch, The Waltons, and The Rockford Files. Outside of her on-screen career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, a supporter of the Motion Picture and Television fund, chairwoman of her local charters of St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital and the American Red Cross, and was a theatrical and vocal coach for the Pasadena Playhouse. She was a founding member of the Canyon Theatre Guild, and with actor Robert Lansing helped found the State Repertory Theatre as a venue for professional actors wanting to practice their craft outside the commercial realm. Her last feature film appearance came in 1978's Harper Valley P.T.A., after which she appeared in 3 TV movies before dying unexpectedly from undisclosed causes at the age of 59 on March 26, 1981.

Notable Guest Stars

Season 1, Episode 14, "Hazel's Dog Days": Wendell Holmes  (shown on the left, appeared in Good Day for a Hanging, Because They're Young, Elmer Gantry, and The Absent Minded Professor) plays dog owner Mr. Wagner. Dan Sheridan (see the biography section for the 1960 post on Lawman) plays dog training school owner Harris.

Season 1, Episode 15, "A Replacement for Phoebe": Elvia Allman (shown on the right, played Aunt Vera on I Married Joan, Jane on The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Cora Dithers on Blondie, Mrs. Montague on The Bob Cummings Show, Elverna Bradshaw on The Beverly Hillbillies, and Selma Plout on Petticoat Junction) plays former army general's maid Gertrude Hammond. Frank Milan (appeared in The Gold Racket, Hollywood Cowboy, and And One Was Beautiful and played one of the Committee Members on The Witness) plays George's client Mr. Sprague. Claire Carleton (Nell Mulligan on The Mickey Rooney Show and Alice Purdy on Cimarron City) plays maid candidate Elizabeth.

Season 1, Episode 16, "Hazel's Famous Recipes": Harry Ellerbe (shown on the left, appeared in So Red the Rose, The Magnetic Monster, Desk Set, and House of Usher) plays book publisher Mr. Fenton. Jack Daly (appeared in Once a Thief, Phantom From Space, The Big Chase, and The Snow Creature and played Herb on Waterfront) plays photographer Mr. Hathaway.

Season 1, Episode 17, "Hazel's Tough Customer": Norman Leavitt (Ralph on Trackdown) plays Hazel's date Charley.

Season 1, Episode 18, "Hazel's Secret Wish": Kathryn Givney (shown on the right, appeared in My Friend Irma, A Place in the Sun, Three Coins in the Fountain, Daddy Long Legs, and Guys and Dolls and played Grandma Collins on My Three Sons) plays millionaire Mrs. H.T. Forbes-Craigie. Peg La Centra (former singer with Artie Shaw's orchestra and wife of actor Paul Stewart) plays magazine editor Edith Stone. Betty Lou Gerson (appeared in The Red Menace, The Fly, and The Miracle of the Hills and voiced Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmations) plays snooty resort customer Elaine Willoughby. Maxine Stuart (see the biography section for the 1962 post on Dr. Kildare) plays her friend Louise Carter. Jean Engstrom (mother of actor Jena Engstrom, appeared in Voodoo Island, The Space Children, and The Restless Ones) plays resort hostess Mrs. Camden.

Season 1, Episode 19, "Hazel, the Tryst-Buster": Kathie Browne (shown on the left, played Angie Dow on Hondo and was Darren McGavin's second wife) plays George's former girlfriend Trudy Garson. Walter Reed (appeared in Mexican Spitfire's Elephant, Mexican Spitfire's Blessed Event, Young Man With a Horn, Flying Disc Man From Mars, Super Man and the Mole-Men, and Those Redheads From Seattle and played Police Lt. Jim Quinn on Coronado 9) plays her husband Fred. Sheila Bromley (Janet Tobin on I Married Joan, Ethel Weiss on Hank, and Mrs. Riley on Days of Our Lives) plays Trudy's mother Mrs. Arnold.

Season 1, Episode 20, "The Investment Club": Frederic Downs (Quentin Andrews on First Love and Hank Wilson on Days of Our Lives) plays George's cousin Charles Parkins. Gertrude Flynn (appeared in War and Peace, Rome Adventure, and Funny Girl and played Anna Sawyer on Days of Our Lives) plays Hazel's friend Hilda. J. Edward McKinley (appeared in The Angry Red Planet, Advise & Consent, The Interns, The Party, and Where Does It Hurt?) plays financial scammer Howard Porter. John Astin (shown on the right, appeared in That Touch of Mink, The Wheeler Dealers, Move Over, Darling, Viva Max, and Freaky Friday and played Harry Dickens on I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, Gomez Addams on The Addams Family, Rudy Pruitt on The Phyllis Diller Show, Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Sherman on Operation Petticoat, Ed LaSalle on Mary, Buddy Ryan on Night Court, Radford on Eerie, Indiana, and Prof. Albert Wickwire on The Adventures of Briscoe County, Jr.) plays his assistant Hal Gordon. Dee J. Thompson (appeared in The Killer Is Loose, The Lady Takes a Flyer, and The Glass Bottom Boat and played Gwen Harrison on The Ray Milland Show and Agnes on Grindl) plays Sunshine Girls president Laurie.

Season 1, Episode 21, "Hazel's Mona Lisa Grin": Ralph Clanton (William Collins on Search for Tomorrow) plays New York decorator Mr. Williams.

Season 1, Episode 22, "Hazel and the Gardener": O.Z. Whitehead (appeared in The Grapes of Wrath, Ma and Pa Kettle, Beware, My Lovely, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and The Lion in Winter) plays the Baxters' gardener Ernie Talbot. Joan Tompkins (shown on the left, played Marion Walker on Valiant Lady, Trudy Wagner on Sam Benedict, Mrs. Brahms on Occasional Wife, and Lorraine Miller on My Three Sons) plays shooting gallery attendant Florence Gurney. Henry Beckman (Commander Paul Richards on Flash Gordon, Mulligan on I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, George Anderson on Peyton Place, Colonel Harrigan on McHale's Navy, Capt. Roland Frances Clancey on Here Come the Brides, Pat Harwell on Funny Face, Harry Mark on Bronk, and Alf Scully on Check It Out) plays a carnival pitchman.

Season 1, Episode 23, "Dorothy's Birthday": Sam Edwards (starred in Captain Midnight, Twelve O'Clock High, and The Beatniks and played Hank the hotel clerk on The Virginian and Mr. Bill Anderson on Little House on the Prairie) plays milkman Fred Archibald. Ollie O'Toole (Mr. Meeker on Circus Boy) plays tradesman Charlie. Joan Banks (shown on the right, played Sylvia Platt on Private Secretary and Helen Hadley on National Velvet) plays Dorothy's friend Jane Edwards.

Season 1, Episode 24, "Number, Please?": Vinton Hayworth (see the biography section for the 1961 post on Lawman) plays George's client Mr. Sutherland. Dub Taylor (shown on the left, starred in You Can't Take It With You, Bonnie & Clyde, and The Wild Bunch, played Cannonball in 53 western films, and played Wallie Simms on Casey Jones and Ed Hewley on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays taxi driver Mitch Brady. Fay Baker (appeared in Notorious, Chain Lightning, The House on Telegraph Hill, and Deadline U.S.A.) plays Baxters' friend Madeleine Van Dyke.

Season 1, Episode 25, "Them New Neighbors Is Nice": John Newton (Bill Paley on Search for Tomorrow and Judge Eric Caffey on Law & Order) plays new neighbor Stan Blake.

Season 1, Episode 26, "Hazel's Pajama Party": Brenda Scott (shown on the right, married and divorced actor Andrew Prine three times, now married to producer Dean Hargrove, played Midge Pride on The Road West and Dr. Gina Dante Lansing on General Hospital) plays new neighbor Linda Blake. Ann Marshall (Angela Brown on My Favorite Martian and Cynthia Wright on My Three Sons, later was the first females newscaster in Los Angeles at KHJ-TV) plays her friend Mary Selby.

Season 1, Episode 27, "Three Little Cubs": Henry Hunter (later played Dr. Summerfield on Hazel) plays dentist Dr. Bruce Kingsley. Alix Talton (shown on the left, appeared in Rock Around the Clock, The Man Who Knew Too Much, and The Deadly Mantis and played Myra Cobb on My Favorite Husband) plays his wife Anne. Scott Lane (Gary McKeever on McKeever and the Colonel) plays their son William. Rickie Sorensen (Tommy Banks on Father of the Bride) plays Boy Scout Sid. Mary Treen (appeared in Babbitt, A Night at the Ritz, Love Begins at Twenty, and It's a Wonderful Life and played Emily Dodger on Willy and Hilda on The Joey Bishop Show) plays Dr. Kingsley's nurse.

Season 1, Episode 29, "Hazel Quits": John Litel (shown on the right, starred in Back in Circulation, On Trial, Murder in the Blue Room, four Nancy Drew films, and eight Henry Aldrich films and played the Governor on Zorro and Dan Murchison on Stagecoach West) plays developer Mr. Wheeler. Charles Seel (Otis the Bartender on Tombstone Territory, Mr. Krinkie on Dennis the Menace, and Tom Pride on The Road West) plays canoe renter Chet Cooper. Larry Thor (Capt. Adams on West Point and Jim Hendriks on Mr. Novak) plays a TV reporter. Paul Barselou (played various bartenders in 9 episodes of Bewitched) plays shopper Mr. Blick.

Season 1, Episode 30, "Hazel the Matchmaker": Doris Singleton (shown on the left, played Caroline Appleby on I Love Lucy, Susie on Angel, and Margaret Williams on My Three Sons) plays George's law partner's sister Mimi Andrews. Renee Godfrey (appeared in Highways by Night, Terror by Night, Winter Wonderland, and Inherit the Wind) plays Harold's teacher Miss Lewis. Kim Tyler (Kyle Nash on Please Don't Eat the Daisies) plays next-door neighbor Stevie Blake.

Season 1, Episode 31, "Rock-a-Bye Baby": Don Dorrell (appeared in The Gambler Wore a Gun, None But the Brave, and That Darn Cat! and played Donovan on Pony Express) plays the Johnsons' nephew-in-law David Watson. Pat McNulty (wife of actor Don Dorrell) plays his wife Angela. Mary Grace Canfield (shown on the right, played Amanda Allison on The Hathaways, Harriet Kravitz on Bewitched, and Ralph Monroe on Green Acres) plays hired nurse Miss Simmons.

Season 1, Episode 32, "The Burglar in Mr. B's PJs": Alan Hale, Jr. (shown on the left, played Biff Baker on Biff Baker U.S.A., Casey Jones on Casey Jones, and The Skipper on Gilligan's Island) plays destitute mechanic Peter Warren.

Season 1, Episode 33, "Heat Wave": Virginia Gregg (shown on the right, starred in Dragnet, Crime in the Streets, Operation Petticoat and was the voice of Norma Bates in Psycho, Maggie Belle Klaxon on Calvin and the Colonel, and Tara on Space Stars) plays antiques dealer Mrs. Merryweather. Jean Hayworth (wife of Vinton Hayworth) plays George's boss' wife Mrs. Butterworth.

Season 1, Episode 34, "George's Assistant": Maggie Pierce (shown on the left, played Barbara Crabtree on My Mother the Car) plays daughter of Mr. Griffin's friend Gail Sanders. Don Spruance (Dr. Robert Ward on Ben Casey) plays son of the bowling alley owner Alan Merrick. William Beckley (Gerard on Dynasty) plays Alan's friend Jack Chambers.

Season 1, Episode 35, "Hazel's Day": Walter Woolf King (shown on the right, appeared in A Night at the Opera, Swiss Miss, Go West, and The Helen Morgan Story and played various judges on The Virginian) plays prominent Judge Clem Farley. Dub Taylor (see "Number, Please?" above) returns as taxi driver Mitch Brady. Theodore Newton (appeared in The Sphinx, Ace of Aces, Somebody Up There Likes Me, and Friendly Persuasion) plays minister Dr. Carroll.

Season 2, Episode 1, "Hazel's Cousin": Rosemary De Camp (shown on the left, starred in Yankee Doodle Dandy, Rhapsody in Blue, and The Life of Riley and played Peg Riley on The Life of Riley, Margaret MacDonald on The Bob Cummings Show, Aunt Helen on Petticoat Junction, Helen Marie on That Girl, and Grandma Amanda Renfrew on The Partridge Family) plays Hazel's cousin and cosmetics mogul Lady Sybil. Jean Engstrom (see "Hazel's Secret Wish" above) plays her social secretary June Lowell. John Archer (father of Anne Archer, former husband of Marjorie Lord, appeared in White Heat, Ten Thousand Bedrooms, Blue Hawaii, and How to Frame a Figg) plays diplomat John Lucious. Harold Gould (Bowman Chamberlain on The Long Hot Summer, Harry Danton on The Feather and Father Gang, Martin Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rhoda, Jonah Foot on Foot in the Door, Ben Sprague on Spencer, and Miles Webber on The Golden Girls) plays TV interviewer Mr. Prior.

Season 2, Episode 2, "Rosie's Contract": Robby the Robot (shown on the right, the most recognizable robot in film history, appeared in Forbidden Planet, The Invisible Boy, Gremlins, and Earth Girls Are Easy and played Mildred on The Banana Splits Adventure Hour) plays Hazel's dream-sequence robot replacement.

Season 2, Episode 3, "We've Been So Happy Till Now": Jonathan Hole (shown on the left, played Orville Monroe on The Andy Griffith Show) plays milkman Fulton Davis. Steven Geray (appeared in Phantom of the Opera (1943), Spellbound, Gilda, All About Eve, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and played Dr. Herman ver Hagen on The Danny Thomas Show) plays violinist Zoltan.

Season 2, Episode 4, "How to Lure an Epicure": Alan Hewitt (shown on the right, starred in That Touch of Mink, Days of Wine and Roses, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, and The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and played Det. Bill Brennan on My Favorite Martian) plays restaurant guidebook author Mr. Templeton. Peter Mamakos (Jean Lafitte on The Adventures of Jim Bowie) plays restaurant owner Mr. Donetti. Patricia Michon (wife of director Fred M.Wilcox) plays waitress Maria. Florence Sundstrom (appeared in The Rose Tattoo, Bachelor in Paradise, and Pacific Heights and played Belle Dudley on The Life of Riley) plays Sunshine Girl maid Flo.

Season 2, Episode 5, "Barney Hatfield, Where Are You?": Irwin Charone (appeared in The Thrill of It All, Cactus Flower, and The Strongest Man in the World) plays Barney's boss Oliver Cranston. Corinne Cole (Playboy Playmate and wife of director George Sidney, appeared in Arson for Hire, The Swinger, Murderer's Row, Who's Minding the Mint?, and The Party) plays exotic dancer Boo Boo Bedeaux. Darlene Fields (appeared in The Snow Creature, The Man Is Armed, Spook Chasers, and Gunsight Ridge) plays exotic dancer Kitty. Jamie Farr (shown on the left, played Maxwell Klinger on M*A*S*H and After MASH) plays a coffeeshop counterman. Cyril Delevanti (Lucious Coin on Jefferson Drum) plays a nightclub manager.

Season 2, Episode 7, "Hazel's Tax Deduction": Viola Harris (wife of actor Robert H. Harris, appeared in High School Hellcats, Whiffs, Deconstructing Harry, and Sex and the City 2 and played Selma Hanen on One Life to Live) plays Mr. Griffin's intended fiance Mrs. Grace Fowler. Maurice Manson (shown on the right, played Frederick Timberlake on Dennis the Menace, later played Josh Egan on Hazel, and Hank Pinkham on General Hospital) plays tax examiner Mr. Floyd. Robert Cornthwaite (Professor Windish on Get Smart and Howard Buss on Picket Fences) plays his assistant Mr. Perkins.

Season 2, Episode 8, "Mr. B on the Bench": Willis Bouchey (shown on the left, played Mayor Terwilliger on The Great Gildersleeve, Springer on Pete and Gladys, and the judge 23 times on Perry Mason) plays retired judge Arnold Winters. Florence Sundstrom (see "How to Lure an Epicure" above) returns as Sunshine Girl maid Flo.

Season 2, Episode 9, "License to Wed": Johnny Washbrook (shown on the near right, played Ken McLaughlin on My Friend Flicka) plays Hazel's nephew Eddie. Davey Davison (shown on the far right, played Virginia Lewis on Days of Our Lives and Nurse Esther on General Hospital) plays George's niece Nancy Thompson.

Season 2, Episode 10, "Genie With the Light Brown Lamp": Virginia Gregg (see "Heat Wave" above) plays Harold's math teacher Miss Tilcy. Paul Smith (shown on the left, played George Howell on The Gertrude Berg Show, Capt. Martin on No Time for Sergeants, Harley Trent on Mr. Terrific, and Ron Harvey on The Doris Day Show) plays truck driver Harrison. Frederic Downs (see "The Investment Club" above) returns as George's sponging cousin Charlie Parkins.

Season 2, Episode 11, "The Natural Athlete": Bing Russell (shown on the right, father of Kurt Russell, played Deputy Clem Foster on Bonanza) plays bowling alley clerk Alex. Bill Zuckert (Arthur Bradwell on Mr. Novak and Chief Segal on Captain Nice) plays bowling instructor Jack Ballard.

Season 2, Episode 12, "New Man in Town": Robert Lowery (shown on the left, starred in Criminal Investigator, Revenge of the Zombies, The Navy Way, The Mummy's Ghost, and They Made Me a Killer and played Big Tim Champion on Circus Boy and Buss Courtney on Pistols 'n' Petticoats) plays Argentinean chauffeur Pablo Rivera. Dub Taylor (see "Number, Please?" above) returns as taxi driver Mitch Brady. Florence Sundstrom (see "How to Lure an Epicure" above) returns as Sunshine Girl maid Flo.

Season 2, Episode 13, "Herbert for Hire": Eleanor Audley (shown on the right, played Mother Eunice Douglas on Green Acres and Mrs. Vincent on My Three Sons) plays wealthy Griffin stockholder Mrs. Totter. Joan Tompkins (see "Hazel and the Gardener" above) plays Mr. Griffin's secretary Miss Adams. Maida Severn (Mrs. Andrews on General Hospital) plays the Thompsons' maid Roberta Crawford.

Season 2, Episode 14, "Hazel and the Lovebirds": Johnny Washbrook (see "License to Wed" above) returns as Hazel's nephew Eddie. Davey Davison (see "License to Wed" above) returns as George's niece Nancy Thompson. Robert Hogan (shown on the left, played Gilly Gillespie on The Young Marrieds, Rev. Tom Winter on Peyton Place, Asst. DA Stephens on Bright Promise, Scott Banning on Days of Our Lives, Sheriff Paul Tate on The Manhunter, Sgt. Ted Coppersmith on Richie Brockelman, Private Eye, Lt. Cmdr. Haller on Operation Petticoat, Nathan Welsh on Secrets of Midland Heights, Greg Stemple on Alice, Vince McKinnon on Another World, and L.J. McDermott on As the World Turns) plays service station attendant Richard Donovan. Susan Silo (Rusty on Harry's Girls, Janet Pierce on Valentine's Day, and a prolific voice actor on shows such as The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang, James Bond, Jr., and Where's Waldo?) plays the Thompsons' Italian maid Gabriella Valentini.