Jack Gilford Ruined EVERYTHING and I DO mean EVERYTHING He Was In

He certainly ruined my shower.

What a gross posting, Op. You a disgruntled relative or something?

[quote]Don't lie and say he didn't, because selling Cracker Jack isn't a career.

And selling Lay's Potato Chips IS?

He bought me a pineapple!

I mostly agree, OP.

THE LOVE BOAT is in reruns 24/7 on streaming platforms like PLUTO, and it is a treasure trove for pop culture oddities like Jack Gilford, the Landers sisters, Jayne Meadows, Shecky Green. Instantly recognizable to those of us who grew up in the 70s, but why, exactly? Better known from commercials, guest spots, and game shows than for anything else. Apparently, Gilford had legit theatre credits, but you'd never know it to watch him.

Mostly, Gilford and company played themselves (or their "type"), over and over again.

"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

Don't forget Andy Warhol and Lillian Gish, r5.

He was terrific in "Cocoon".

From the Wikipedia page:

[quote] Gilford is buried in the Yiddish theater section of Flushing, New York's Mount Hebron Cemetery

How do you get top billing there?

He always wanted me to be happy!

Don’t know much of him other than his appearance on Golden Girls and that was terrible.

Always thought Sophia Petrillo could have done better

Yes, THANK YOU, I hated this guy throughout childhood. Thoroughly irritating man.

When Nick at Nite was first a thing, there were articles about what a genius Gilford was for doing his impression of pea soup on "Taxi." I thought, okay, fine, show me the genius, maybe I've been wrong about him my entire life.

Nope. It made me hate him more.

Mediocre and one-note......I can ALMOST watch him in FORUM, but nothing else. His "genius" is non-existent.

But other than that........

Omg this guy has been my irrational celebrity hatred for years. His goofy face and corny delivery were insufferable.

He was fabulous!

I am happy to admit I loved him. He seemed kind & warm. Sort of the anti datalounge.

Is he dead?

George Gobel would like a word, OP!

No, Rose (R18), he’s just resting.

He was a lovely comic actor.

[quote]How do you get top billing there?

Buy early.

I agree with OP and R5.

I have a neighbor who behaves like Jack Gilford. It's always a slog, an obstacle, a grind when I have to interact with him.

Why in the world did he bother changing his name to about the most Anglo-Saxon name you could have, when he couldn't have looked more Jewish?

He was a cute old man character. This thread is ruining my day.

R9 Actually, the cemetery he should have aspired to is the one Harry Houdini is buried in, Machpelah in Glendale, Queens.

Agreed. This man always bugged me. Even worse was Burt Mustin who was in every 1960s sitcom. But I remember him most as the man whose father was shot by Jesse James, Bobby’s hero on the Brady Bunch. Maudlin storyline, and Burr must have been 100 years old by then. He should have retired from acting many decades before.

Burt Mustin is the bomb. What a bunch of killjoys here today.

Burt Mustin was hot.

He was good as Alex's estranged father on Taxi. The pea soup coming to a slow boil bit always killed me.

He was wonderful in the replacement cast of "The Sunshine Boys" on Broadway. His comic genius may not have translated to movies and television, but he was fucking magic on the stage.

His wife Madeline used to win the Ernest Borgnine lookalike contest in the West Village every year. She thought it was a hoot.

And not incidentally, she and Gilford were targeted by HUAC during the McCarthy era (named by Jerome Robbins no less) and went for years having to scrape together a living for their kids. Not exactly chuckle-worthy, but worthy of attention and respect.

Louis Guss and Philip Leeds were other similar character actors who popped up in every sitcom. Loveable old men who looked like elderly pugs.

Also William Duell who appeared as the old man in the last revival of "Forum", stealing the scene everytime he ran across the stage indicating how many times he had run around the seven hills of Rome. The last time, his character was out of breath, and he just left his fingers at the audience, getting the biggest applause of the night.

I thought he was quite good in Save the Tiger (apparently the Academy thought so too as her a Supporting Actor nomination for it).

His wife was a very cute Ernest Borgnine

Red Hat lady^^ Cute character.

He was great in Save the Tiger, which earned him an oscar nomination.

He was also good on Golden Girls, which earned him an Emmy nomination. He earned double emmy noms that year, also for drama guest actor for Thirtysomething.

And he was in the original Cabaret.

Not true, op.

I hate JG but I hated Stiller and Meara much, much more. And those two were truly on everything!

You can't hate Anne Meara.

That's just a rule of the DL.

Jack Lemmon in Save the Toiguh!

He also played the silent king in "Once Upon a Mattress" on stage and I believe the first two TV versions.

OP, are you sure you don't hate him because he was a liberal activist?

R39...That is a great movie! One of my cable channels show it pretty often. Yes...Jack Gilford with Thelma Ritter as his wife. Pretty raw movie..

My sources tell me that Jerry Stiller was a lovely man, R41. Anne Meara was.... difficult. She was fired from both RHODA and ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE, which suggests some of the stories are true.

Yes, in the 70s the two of them were on EVERYTHING when you flipped a channel.

And more than that, they're both responsible for unleashing the living horror that is son and heir Ben Stiller upon us.

Ben was pretty funny for a time.

[quote]She was fired from both RHODA and ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE, which suggests some of the stories are true.

Never heard of her being fired from anything.

I got to know Anne Meara and Ben Stiller in the 90's. Honestly, two of the sweetest people I've ever met. R40 is a scourge!

OP has proved the DL is mainly about pointless bitchery.

Thank you, OP! Finally someone with the courage to speak truth to power.

He was one of those character actors who needs to be placed precisely in a role. If that occurs, it's wonderful and no one else would fit it as well.

Next thing you know, OP will complain about Charles Lane.

Stiller & Meara were wonderful to my mom. Really lively people.

Was he one of the old people in the bed in Willy Wonka?

He wouldn't have gotten that [italic]Golden Girls[/italic] role if he hadn't been on [italic]Soap[/italic] first.

What a stupid fucking thread.

He gave good head. Just sayin.

I always skip his Golden Girls episodes.

This is DL and I can't believe no one has mentioned his one episode of "Mama's Family"!

"We tried to play Pin the Tail On the Donkey, but we couldn't get the nurse to bend over."

R24 Yes, his face says 'Jacob Aaron Gellman'!

His cracker jack is not goodish like the poppycock cashew

[quote]Gilford is buried in the Yiddish theater section of Flushing, New York's Mount Hebron Cemetery How do you get top billing there?

That's where Streisand will be buried (I know . . . Flushing). Her mother is already there. I have a feeling she will INSIST on top billing.

There is no way Streisand will be buried in Flushing, Queens.

Where is Barba's father? She might well want to be near him, wherever he might have landed?

A friend's daughter is a nurse in the hospital when Anne Meara spent months before she died. Jerry was there many hours a day.

[quote]Where is Barba's father?

I the same cemetery in Flushing.

It was Sunday the day we met. And Sunday I can’t forget. He was single and I was single and it was only a moment ago.

My goodness. I had no idea that Jack Gilford stirred up such violent emotions in the gay community.

You never know.

I know. I only remember him because he was brought up in this thread with his photo. I didn't even know his name. He was never seared in my mind..lol.

If she has her own mall, you know she has her own cemetery.

So, there’s a crypt room in the mall?

Yes, at the back of the Body Shoppe.

OP is an anti-Semite.

Whadda you want When you gotta eat somethin’ And it’s gotta be sweet And it’s gotta be a lot And you gotta have it now Whadda you want…

Lip-smackin’, whip-crackin’, paddy-whackin’, knickin’-knackin’, silver-rackin’, scoundrel-whackin’, cracker-jackin’ Cracker Jack

Whadda you get When you open the top And look inside And smack your lips And turn it over and spill it out Whadda you get…

Lip-smackin’, whip-crackin’, paddy-whackin’, knickin’-knackin’, silver-rackin’, scoundrel-whackin’, cracker-jackin’ Cracker Jack

Candy-coated popcorn, peanuts, and a prize That’s what you get in Cracker Jack

He threw himself at my Aunt Gert, got her kicked out of her nursing home and conned her out of her social security.

[quote] Yes, his face says 'Jacob Aaron Gellman'!

Does Charles Lane's face say 'Charles Gerstle Levison'?

[quote]Where is Barba's father?

I don't think they ever mentioned his parents on "SVU."

OP this is how you appear to the world with your ignorant complaints about Jack Gilford

We thought this was hilarious as kids. We listened to it all the time.

No, R61, his face says 'Yankel Gellman'!

Why is this film full of geriatrics and nonagenarians?

It's Schlomo Gellman if it's anything.

[quote]OP is an anti-Semite.

Liar, I use their luggage all the tiime.

[quote]He threw himself at my Aunt Gert, got her kicked out of her nursing home and conned her out of her social security.

It's her fault for investing in his shitty remote doorbell ringer.

Dorothy Zbornak got to see him nekkid! Yum.

I've only see him in the film of Forum and on stage in NNN and The Supporting Cast. Always very likeable and a pleasure to see. Never ruined anything that I know of and an I Hate Jack Gilford thread rates as one of the most bizarre on DL.

Charles Lane ruined The Lucy Show AND Petticoat Junction - and that's some accomplishment.

Jack and Madeline weren't blacklisted for nothing, they were Commie sympathizers.

they should have fried.

R89 but given that they were communist sympathizers should their careers have been ruined? I'm asking that as a serious question, I'm not being confrontational. Should communist sympathizers be considered like Nazi sympathizers? I believe Lillian Hellman was a Stalinist to the end of her life denying his horrific life as a monster.

R91, that is a nice bit of disingenuity.

A Communist is different than a Stalinist.

You may disagree with Communism but it does not stigmatize any specific identity group.

But you knew that....

No my question was genuine.

Herr OP, I am.... OHHHHH-VUH-VHELMED!

Was he Louis Mayer in Mommie Dearest?

You're a stupid gash, R89.

R95 That was Howard da Silva.

Or Elia Kazan.

Only on Datalounge do we hear someone openly advocating (to a bunch of gay people no less!) the blacklisting of lefties!

This is not the Republican convention! That does not fly here!

He was a meeskite!

BETTER DEAD THAN RED!

Ginger Rogers, a pile of bones.

Ginger Rogers passed?

Everything but the bar on lady's night

Poppycock.