A - F / G - Z

Girl with the Upside-Down Eyes, The - Because of her unusual looking eyes, British actress Glynis Johns was billed as "The Girl with the Upside-Down Eyes" early in her career. Ms. Johns starred in the television sitcoms GLYNIS/CBS/1963 as Glynis Granville, a novelist and amateur detective; and COMING OF AGE/CBS/1988-89 where she played Trudie Pepper, a senior citizen living with her husband in an Arizona retirement community.   

Gracie Allen Eyes - Although you'd never know it from the B/W episodes of THE GEORGE BURNS & GRACIE ALLEN SHOW/CBS/1950‑58, the series co-star Gracie Allen had the distinction of owning one blue eye and one brown eye.     

Great Stone Face, The - Reacting rather than acting, Robert Stack's performances as FBI agent Eliot Ness on the crime drama THE UNTOUCHABLES/ABC/1959-63 earned him the nickname "The Great Stone Face." His performances were likened to statuary. He later starred on the successful UNSOLVED MYSTERIES/NBC/1988+ that focused on dramatic recreations of such topics as missing persons, and unsolved mysteries. Ed Sullivan, a deadpan journalist-turned-host of the successful Sunday night variety show THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW/CBS/1948-71 was also called "The Great Stone Face" & "The Old Stone Face" by reviewers.   

Johnny Carson's Ears - On the 2/25/86 broadcast of THE TONIGHT  SHOW, host Johnny Carson read a letter on the air which lamented "Johnny, I love you, but why do you always make fun of Prince Charles' ears...Have you seen YOURS lately?" To take advantage of the moment, Ed McMahon measured Johnny's ear size with a pair of calipers. The results? Right ear: 3 and 1/2 inches; Left ear: 3 inches. Closing out this historic occasion Johnny concluded "Tomorrow night...measuring OTHER organs of the body!" 

Joyce Wrigley's Head Plate - On the TV series THE ADVENTURES OF PETE AND PETE/NIK/1993-96 Pete Wrigley's mom Joyce (Judy Grafe) has a metal plate in her head. An X-ray image of the metal plate can be seen during the show's opening credits. The metal was implanted into Joyce's head after an accident as a child. On a romantic note: Joyce met her husband-to-be Don Wrigley (Hardy Rawls) when his metal detector was set off while searching for buried treasure on the beach. On occasion, Mom's metal head plate acts as a radio antennae and picks up local broadcasts.  

  

Meathead - Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) called his unemployed son-in-law Mike Stivic (Rob Reiner) a "meathead" on a regular basis on the sitcom ALL IN THE FAMILY/CBS/1971-83. Mike stayed with his in-laws while going to college. The cramped quarters and the volatile tempers of both Mike and Archie often put them at odds with each other resulting in Archie calling Mike a "Meathead" which was once explained to mean "dead from the neck up." Archie once commented to his wife (Jean Stapleton) "We lost a daughter, Edith, but we gained a meathead." Archie also called Meathead a "Knucklehead!" During the 1982-83 season Mike Stivic divorced his wife, and ran off to a commune with a flower child, thus fulfilling Archie's opinion of him. In high school Archie was also called Meathead. TRIVIA NOTE: The son-in-law counterpart on the British sitcom TILL DEATH US DO PART/BBC/1966-75 that inspired ALL IN THE FAMILY was referred to as a "git."  See also - "Shoebootie"

Ol' Blue Eyes - None other than the popular Italian-American singer, actor Francis "Frank" Albert Sinatra often called by his showbiz nickname "Ol' Blues Eyes." Discovered on a 1937 radio broadcast of MAJOR BOWES ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR, Frank Sinatra jumped from radio to the new medium of television in the early 1950s with a musical variety show THE FRANK SINATRA SHOW/CBS/1950-52. Winning an Oscar® for From Here To Eternity (1953) gave Sinatra a new career as an actor. He sang "Love & Marriage" (a major hit record for him) during a musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's play "Our Town" on an episode of the NBC anthology PRODUCER'S SHOWCASE in 1955. Years later, this song was the theme song for the sitcom MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN/FOX/1987-97. Ol' Blue Eyes returned to television for a short-lived variety drama THE FRANK SINATRA SHOW/ABC/1957-58. His daughter Nancy Sinatra made her professional debut on this program on November 1, 1957. During the 1950s and 1960s Frank Sinatra guest starred on a number variety series including CLUB OASIS, THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR, HOLLYWOOD PALACE, and MAX LIEBMAN PRESENTS. Sinatra was a regular on NBC's DEAN MARTIN PRESENTS in 1968 and in 1973 he appeared on a NBC Special entitled "Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back." He made a few rare television appearances including the NBC TV-movie Contract on Cherry Street (1977) about a New York police officer involved in an assassination conspiracy; the (2/25/87) episode of the CBS detective drama MAGNUM, P.I. as Michael Doheny, a tough, retired New York Cop investigating an unsolved murder; a cameo appearance on a 1989 episode of WHO'S THE BOSS on the ABC Network; and on ABC's Sinatra: 80 Years My Way on December 14, 1995. Ol' Blue Eyes has also been called King of the Rat Pack, Chairman of the Board, Frankie-Boy, The Pope, The Leader, The Swooner, The Voice, and The Dago. After 50 films and 200 albums Frank Sinatra died on May 14, 1998 at the age of 82. See also - "The Rat Pack"      

Old Redhead, The - Nickname of Arthur Godfrey, a folksy, easygoing red-haired radio personality (he had his own CBS radio show from 1933-1972) who hosted a number of successful TV programs in the 1950s and 1960s including TALENT SCOUTS/CBS/1948-66; ARTHUR GODFREY AND HIS FRIENDS/CBS/1949-57; ARTHUR GODFREY AND HIS UKULELE/CBS/1950; ARTHUR GODFREY TIME/CBS/1952-59; and THE ARTHUR GODFREY SHOW/CBS/1958-59; CANDID CAMERA/CBS/1960-61; and YOUR ALL-AMERICAN COLLEGE SHOW/SYN/1968-70. After years of health problems (broken pelvis, hip, and lung cancer) Godfrey died in 1983. 

Old Stone Face, The  See  "The Great Stone Face"  

Plastic Eyes - If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, enter professional oculist Dr. O. Robert Levy, one of only 150 craftsmen in the world who designs and implants lifelike plastic eyeballs. His clientele, over 30,000 in his career, included the one and only (and I do mean this sincerely) Sammy Davis, Jr. Dr. Levy, who received his B.S. degree from the Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton, California, fashions plastic eyeballs made from Methyl Methacrylate, an acrylic also used in the manufacture of dentures. His eyeballs, meticulously realistic down to the finest details, (i.e., veins and clear plastic sheets to simulate the cornea) can average $800‑$1000 an eyeball. His theatrical work included making weird contact lenses for the 1950s sci-fi movie X-The Man with X-ray Eyes (1963) starring Ray Milland and designing the bugged-eyed peepers for the adorable little alien in the Steven Spielberg movie E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). 

Puddin' Head - The nickname of Army Colonel Sherman Potter (Harry Morgan) on the military comedy M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83. He was dubbed "Puddin' Head" by his wife Mildred Potter who lived stateside while Sherman ran a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital near the front lines of the Korean War.   

Schnozzola - The showbiz nickname of James "Jimmy" Francis Durante, a popular Italian-American comedian with the big nose ("Schnozzola") who starred on this popular comedy variety program set in a small nightclub called Club Durant. At the end of each weekly performance, Jimmy paused to say "And Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are" and then slowly exit offstage following a pathway made from overhead spot lights. Mrs. Calabash was Jimmy's first wife. Jimmy Durante also appeared as a regular on the musical/variety shows ALL STAR REVUE/NBC/1950-53; BUICK CIRCUS HOUR/NBC/1952-53; THE COLGATE COMEDY HOUR/NBC/1953-54; TEXACO STAR THEATER/NBC/1954-55; and JIMMY DURANTE PRESENTS THE LENNON SISTERS/ABC/1969-70. He suffered a stroke in 1972 (leaving him wheelchair bound) and died in 1980. 

Sizzle Lips - The pet name for Richard "Richie" Cunningham (Ron Howard) given to him by his high school sweetheart Lori Beth Allen (Lynda Goodfriend) on the 1950s based sitcom HAPPY DAYS/ABC/1974-84. During the 1980 season, Richie joined the Army, shipped off to Greenland and after a lengthy correspondence with Lori Beth, married her via a long distance phone hookup. Before the demise of the series "Sizzle Lips" was the proud father of a baby boy (Richie, Jr.) with one more on the way. 

Squidhead - Dave Thomas, comedy veteran of SCTV NETWORK 90/NBC/1981-83 and THE DAVE THOMAS COMEDY SHOW/CBS/1990 was called "Squidhead" by his childhood schoolmates because he happened to have a head (7 3/4 XL) disproportionate to his body. As he said on the 6/18/90 segment of THE ARSENIO HALL SHOW his body was just a convenient vehicle for taking his head from place to place.     

Toothy - First name of frontier man on the western adventure SUGARFOOT/ABC/1957-60. Toothy (Jack Elam) was described as "kinda spooky looking, always smilin'...a man with a face people distrust." One of Toothy's friends was a law student Tom Brewster (Will Hutchins) who got Toothy acquitted from a murder charge.