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Dagmar - The nickname of Virginia Ruth Egnor (Her acting name was Jennie
Lewis), a statuesque blonde bombshell who was a regular on the talk variety show
BROADWAY OPEN HOUSE/NBC/1950-51. Program host Jerry Lester renamed Virginia
"Dagmar" for her walk on parts which featured humorous poetry readings done in
deadpan. Reportedly, just before the June 14, 1950 broadcast of the program,
Jerry Lester told the five-foot, eight and a half-inch Jennie Lewis "You just
sit there next to the orchestra and look dumb. Your name is Dagmar." One evening
in 1951 while performing, Dagmar's strapless gown slipped off her bosomy body,
exposing her private parts. She later starred on DAGMAR'S CANTEEN/NBC/1952 where
she repeated her hilarious tributes to literature by reading "original" silly
plays to an audience of military servicemen. See also -
SEX, LOVE & NAUGHTY BITS:"Voluptua"
Dame Edna - Celebrity pseudonym for Australian comedian Barry Humphries, who was
popular down-under and in England for his female impersonation of a character
called Dame Edna Everage who wore flamboyant glasses, jewelry and lavender wigs.
Her (or should I say his) interview style was akin to Arsenio Hall (fun &
informal). In the fall of 1991, this outrageous female impersonator starred in
his own NBC specials entitled "Dame Edna's Hollywood," which featured a number
of bawdy conversation with Hollywood celebrities including Burt Reynolds, Mel
Gibson, Bea Arthur, Barry Manilow, Cesar Romero, Larry Hagman, Sean Young, Jack
Palance and Cher. A January 1993 special "Edna Time" on the Fox network starred
Roseanne and Tom Arnold, Luke Perry and Supermodel Kathy Ireland. On the
4/15/2002 episode "Love is All Around" on the legal dramedy ALLY MCBEAL/FOX/1997-2002,
Humphries reprised his persona as Dame Edna to play a character named Claire
Otoms, a rich (and butt ugly women) who is advised by her lawyers to get a
pre-nuptial agreement before she gets married. See also -
"The Hag of Haute Couture"
Dancin' Homer See -
DANCE & DANCING
Dancing Bandit, The See -
DANCE & DANCING
Dancing Doctor, The See - DANCE & DANCING
"Dating Capital of the World" - Hollywood, California was billed as "The Dating
Capital of the World" when it hosted the game show THE DATING GAME/ABC/1965-73
and THE NEW DATING GAME/SYN/1973 & 1977-80 emceed by Jim Lange and later by
Elaine Joyce on the 1986 version and Jeff MacGregor on THE ALL NEW DATING GAME
in 1988. See also - CITIES & TOWNS:"Hollywood"
David Letterman Pseudonym's - Once a top ten list on the LATE SHOW WITH DAVID
LETTERMAN/CBS/1993+ revealed nicknames that guest stars have given talk show
host David Letterman over the years. Dave's pseudonym's included Weasel Boy
(Heather Locklear); Nurse Dave (George Clooney); Bonehead (Cybill Shepherd);
Lucky (John Travolta); David Friggin' Letterman (Rosie O'Donnell); Lou (Mary
Tyler Moore); Monkey Boy (John Goodman); Gump (Siskel & Ebert); Liberal Media
Bubblehead (Senator Bob Dole); and Cabin Boy (Helen Hunt).
Dago Red - The nickname of Father John Francis Patrick Mulcahy, the chaplain
stationed at the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in Korea in the 1950s on
the military sitcom M*A*S*H/CBS/1972-83. The “Dago Red” moniker was used
frequently in the book [written by Richard Hooker] and the 1970 Robert Altman
film that inspired the series by was only used in a few early episodes.
Deep Throat - The cover name of a secretive government agent on the fantasy
drama X-FILES/FOX/1993-2002. FBI Agent Fox Mulder crusaded to uncover the truth
about alien visitations on Earth. His hunt for the truth caught the attention of
a world-weary government official known as Deep Throat (Jerry Hardin), who
supplied Mulder with highly sensitive materials. Deep Throat once advised Mulder
to "Keep your friends close, but keep you enemies closer."(Don Corleone quote
from The Godfather). When agent Mulder was kidnapped by rouge agents, Deep
Throat procured the remains of an alien fetus from a high security laboratory as
a bargaining chip to save Murder's life. Unfortunately, while exchanging the
alien artifact, Deep Throat was shot in the chest. His dying words were
"Trust...Trust no one." (Episode No.23 "The Erlenmeyer Flask"). He was replaced
by X (Steven Williams) who later was slain by Syndicate henchmen but not before
writing the letters SRSG in his blood (Episode No.73 "Herrenvolk"). Both Deep
Throat and X worked for the Cigarette-Smoking Man. TRIVIA NOTE: Deep Throat was
also the name of the adult X-rated film starring Linda Lovelace as a woman with
a clitoris in her throat. The movie later inspired the nickname of the informant
who leaked the Pentagon Papers to the Washington Post (upon which the X-FILES
agent was named). See also - TOBACCO PRODUCTS:"The Cigarette-Smoking Man"
Diet Coke Hunk, The - In the 1990s, the handsome actor Lucky Vanous, (a.k.a.
"The Diet Coke Hunk") starred in the "Diet Coke Break Commercial" about a bunch
of women looking out of an office window during their work break at a slender
yet muscular construction worker, who had just taken off his shirt. As the
sweaty laborer refreshed himself with a nice cool Diet Coke, the bug-eyed women
staring down from their window perch filled their imaginations with all sorts of
fantasies. At break's end, the women seemingly fulfilled, moved away from the
window but not before saying "Same time Tomorrow?" to their voyeuristic
colleagues. Lucky Vanous, who set all the women's heart's a flutter later
starred in his own work-out video entitled The Ultimate Fat-Burning System. In
1994 Psychology Today displayed Lucky Vanous on their front cover sporting the
words "From Pecs To Sex" and an inside story about "The Beefcaking of America"
that explored changing gender roles which shifted the spotlight to include men's
bodies. In 1997. Lucky Vanous got the role of bad guy Matt Dunning, the
deceptively charming contractor on FOX's primetime soap PACIFIC PALISADES.
TRIVIA NOTE: Diet Coke soda was introduced to the public on July 8, 1982.
Coca-Cola is consumed 448 million times a day in 160 countries. See also
- "The Coca-Cola Girl"
Digger - The nickname of the friendly mortician, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John
Brown) who was a regular on the sitcom THE LIFE OF RILEY/NBC/1949-58. Using
occupational puns, "Digger" the smiling undertaker greeted his friend Riley by
saying "You're looking fine, Riley, very natural" and then closed each
conversation with "Well, guess I'll be shoveling off...." The name "Digger" was
also used prominently in the prime time soap DALLAS/CBS/1978-91 in reference to
the father of wealthy executive, Cliff Barnes (Ken Kercheval). Willard "Digger"
Barnes (David Wayne/Keenan Wynn) was a partner with Jock Ewing (Jim Davis) in
their early days of wildcatting for oil and was cheated out of his shares of the
company profits by the Ewings, a fact that his son, Cliff never forgot.
Dime Lady, The - Nickname of actress Candice Bergen earned while commercial
spokesperson for Sprint Telephone Company which advertised their "Dime-a-Minute"
promotions during the 1990s. The TV spots followed a reluctant Candice Bergen as
she tried to elude the many fans who were continually asking her "Is it true..."
questions concerning Sprint's inexpensive Dime-a-Minute phone rates. Eventually
she took to dressing in disguises to hide from her adoring public. On the final
first-run episode of her comedy MURPHY BROWN/CBS/1988-98 Murphy's son Avery uses
his mother's Sprint card to track down their friend Eldin Bernecky the painter
(Robert Pastorelli), to let him know his mother had cancer. Eldin was living in
Spain in a tiny peasant village at the base of the Pyrenees. As Eldin reunites
with Murphy, Avery approaches and says "Do you know you could call anywhere in
the world on Sunday for only a dime." Murphy replies "Yeah, I knew that, Honey.
Now why don't you go set another place at the table."
Dimples See - "Angel-face"
Ding-a-Ling Sisters - Four gorgeous but ditzy dancers featured during the
1970-73 seasons of the musical variety program THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW/NBC/1965-74.
The Ding-a-Ling Sisters were originally part of the larger all-female dance
troupe called the Goldiggers who also danced on the program from 1967-71.
Dingbat - On the sitcom ALL IN THE FAMILY/CBS/1971-83, the blue-collar bigot
Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) insultingly referred to his dimwitted, yet
sensitive wife, Edith (Jean Stapleton) as a Dingbat whenever she expressed an
opinion on anything. Archie once inquired "How long does it take for one dingbat
to go twenty feet for one beer?" According to the dictionary, a dingbat is an
"eccentric, silly or empty-headed person." TRIVIA NOTE: The wife counterpart on
the British sitcom TILL DEATH US DO PART/BBC/1966-75 that inspired ALL IN THE
FAMILY was referred to as a "Silly old moo."
Dinghy - Waitress Vera Louise Gorman (Beth Howland) was called "Dinghy"
(referring to her lack of intelligence) by her boisterous boss Melvyn Sharples
(Vic Tayback), the owner of Mel's roadside diner on the sitcom
ALICE/CBS/1976-85. Once Mel explained to a former Navy buddy the reason why he
called Vera "Dinghy" Simply, he was the Captain of his ship and every ship has a
"dinghy" (a dinghy being a small boat, rowboat carried on a warship, yacht or
motor cruiser).
Dippy - College nickname of architect Wilbur Post (Alan Young) on the sitcom
MISTER ED/SYN/CBS/1961-66. When Wilbur attended college he was a member of the
wrestling and debating teams. He earned the sorry nickname of "Dippy" when he
carried water for the football team. See also -
- "Weebie"
Dishonest John See - "The World's Greatest Liar"
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