December 6, 2024 • 40 mins
Meet SHERRY ALBERONI, who recalls voicing Alexandra on Josie and the Pussycats, and her roles on Super Friends, The Monkees, The Three Worlds of Gulliver, the Mickey Mouse Club and more.
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Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, we love Hanna
Barbera. Welcome to the fantastic world
of Hanna and Barbera, a celebration of Bill, Hannah,
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Joe, Barbera and the thousands of people, past and present who
have shared in their entertainment tradition.
And now your host, Greg Airbar. Thank you, Chris Anthony.
Welcome to the fantastic world of Hannah and Barbera.
I'm Greg Airbar, author of Hannah Barbera, the recorded
history now available and now with us is one of our all time
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favorite television actor personalities, character voices
in some of the greatest shows, including some of the best Hanna
Barbera series. Probably nearest and dearest to
us is she was the voice of Alexandra on Josie and the
Pussycats, but so much more Mickey Mouse Club.
Jerry Alberoni is our guest today.
(02:00):
Welcome to the show. Thank you SO much.
Thank you. It's pleasure to talk.
To you, Jerry and I have actually known each other for
quite a while because there wereMusketeer events quite often at
Walt Disney World in Florida andit was an extraordinary
experience when all of you got together.
Do you guys still see each otheron occasion?
We do Kubby and I have done shows on some of the Disney
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ships, you know the cruise line.I see Sharon when she's in town,
I see Bobby and Tommy and that'sreally about it.
And just because you know you were a 2 little kid who could do
a time step didn't mean that that was what you were going to
do the rest of your life. So not everybody stayed in the
business. So those are the ones that I see
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and talk to the most. But everybody's fine.
I have these great pictures of Cher that she sent me the other
day, and she's gone cute and sweet.
So there was a good crowd. It's funny because it was like a
high school class and some of the kids in your class you
really liked. Some of them you didn't like,
(03:07):
some, you know, you sort of liked.
For the most part, everybody gotalong great.
We all had the one thing in common.
We were all musical and loved tosing and dance.
I remember I was the littlest. I was the youngest.
I was only 8 years old and I wasn't the greatest dancer at
the time. I was hired as an actress
because I had done a lot of TV commercials and TV shows.
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I remember Darlene and Bobby being so good and so nice to me
and they take me aside and, you know, help me with a dance step.
It was a lot of fun. And then we all went to school
together in these little red trailers that they had just
outside of the stage. We had two trailers and we were
in two groups and we had to do 3hours a day of schooling.
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And we, you couldn't just go in and do all of your filming and
or all of your schoolwork. It was all broken up into time
slots we had to kind of stick with.
And we had wonderful teachers. It was just a lot of fun.
An awful lot of I was talking tosomeone yesterday and I said,
you know what? It was magical.
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It really, really was. And I hear that when I call over
and talk to somebody at the parkor something, they say, you
know, have a magical day. When I first heard that, I
thought, oh, well, that's kind of silly.
But you know what, I love it. It was the whole thing was
magical. I'm just really proud and happy
that I I had that opportunity. That's the thing about Disney
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that is very unique. When I was there, there were
trials and tribulations just like you, people you liked more
than others, situations and problems and challenges.
But by and large, you knew you were part of something very,
very special when you'd go in that park.
And it's like, I get to be part of this.
And it was part of the magic. Yeah.
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And in my case, I was writing copy for ads, and the only
challenge I had was running out of adjectives to describe
things. And it was much more than just a
workplace. It was something that you felt.
And a lot of people to this day also, I feel very close to that,
like family. I mean very, very much.
(05:17):
Lorraine Santoli was at Disney and she had publicist and to
this day we're best friends. Yeah, and Lorraine was part of
the original Disneyland marketing, and she's written
about Mickey Mouse Club and stuff, so.
Yeah. And so you were nine when you
did Mickey Mouse Club, but you'dbeen performing since you were
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three. Yeah, about 3 1/2, four years
old. And that was just, you know,
cute little baby stuff and modeling outfits and things.
Then when I got a little bit older, I would go on auditions.
My brother and I had an agent and the agent came to our
dancing school one day and they were always looking for kids and
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new young talent. And they came to our dancing
school and said to my mom, your kids are so cute, would you like
me to be their agent and put them in movies and TV and stuff?
And my mom said, well, let me talk to him and see what they
want to do. And we both said, oh, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I said, but I'm not getting
in that box. I thought I had to get in the TV
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set. And that's the oddest countries,
I thought. So we started going on
interviews and auditions. And my brother worked more than
I did. I was shuffling little, but he
worked a lot. He was a drummer and a a dancer,
a tap dancer. And he was great.
He was such a good dancer. And he in 19, mid 1955, called
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my mom and said, you know, have the kids ever seen the Mickey
Mouse Club? And she said, oh, yeah, that's
her favorite show. And he told her, he said, well,
they're looking for new Mouseketeers for the second
season. They're replacing some of the
old, older kids. So my mom said, oh, OK.
And the agent said Roy's a good age.
He was 2 1/2 years older than I was.
But Sherry's still a little young.
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So my mom took my brother Roy toBurbank the next day.
It was such a long, long drive because my mother didn't drive
and so my dad would have to drive us all the way from
Westchester, which is by the LA International Airport.
At the time, it was just the LA airport.
And I think, you know, 2 airlines flew out of there all
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the way down Sepulveda Blvd. to Ventura Blvd. to the studio.
So they went to this audition that that Walt Disney was
having. Plus he went all over the
country. He he lived to 5000 kids.
My brother auditioned and Walt said, Roy, you know, you're
really, you know, you're a greatdancer and a great drummer.
But we already have Cubby. Do you play any other
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instruments or do anything else?And Roy said no, but I have a
little sister who can play the trumpet and do a tap dance at
the same time. So the Walt started laughing and
he told my mom I got to see this.
So my mom took me the next day and oh, I got the job.
Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse presents The Mickey Mouse Club
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brought to. You. 5.
Days a week. Monday through Friday.
And featuring the Mouseketeers. And so they had refreshed the
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group of Mouseketeers at a certain point.
So was it to 5657 when you started on the show 50?
7 right? Yeah.
And also Don Grady came in at that time.
He did. He did, yeah.
He was a great kid and I later played his girlfriend on my 3
Subs. Yes.
Robbie, let's go. Ruth Mavis.
(09:00):
Please, I guess I'm just not as understanding as you thought I
was. There's just one girl too many
around here. That's really cool too.
Is that you? You played a lot of girlfriends
to a lot of teen idol types in the 60s, Peterson.
Is girlfriend. Hi, Meredith.
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Hello. Mind if I eat my lunch here?
It's school property. I can hardly stop you, G.
Meredith, you're acting awful strange.
You got a cold or something? And how would you expect me to
behave, Jeffrey? Uh oh.
When girls start calling you, Jeffrey, you're in trouble.
What have I done? Only rejected me.
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What does that mean? It means that you treated me
over the telephone as if I was some pest that was chasing you.
G Meredith, how did you ever getan idea like that?
I wouldn't call. No, Just because.
And goodbye. A charming conversation.
Well, my older sister was listening, and I was nervous.
I was thrilled to hear your voice.
I'm not sure I can believe that,G Meredith, you've got too
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honest around our house. Since you've called, we've
talked about nothing but your party.
Really. For sure.
My older sister Mary is even more excited than I am.
And Davy Jones. And Davy Jones.
And the what? A great kid he was.
Where your dad didn't like Davy and all that.
It was that. Oh, yes, yes.
Right. Pardon me miss, I'm from the TV
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pool taking service. I was wondering what TV program
are you watching? I'm not watching any TV program.
You know. I don't watch television until
the evening. OK, I'll be back later.
Will you tell your mother I likeroast beef and Yorkshire
pudding? We're waiting for you.
I'll. Be right in my father.
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He's very authoritarian. Nobody's perfect.
But after Mickey Mouse Club, there were other series.
Welcome to Mickey Mouse from Luke Costello bought my contract
because he was looking for a little girl to play his adopted
daughter in the last film he wasmaking with Bud Abbott and it
was called Dance With Me Henry. OK, kids, everybody out.
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That goes for you too, Bootsy. Do I have?
To Oh, sweetie pie, this is your21st trip around Bootsy.
Let's start all over again. You wanted to take a trip to
Africa on the Choo Choo, so you went back to Kiddieland when you
should have been in bed. Yes, please.
I guess that's about the size ofit.
Then you saw Mr. Henry. And Mr. Slick?
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And two other men. Now one of them shot the other.
I see. Bootsy, can you describe the man
who did the shooting? Yes Sir, he was about 8 feet
high and had on me faced like a tiger.
Now I want you to be very honestand think carefully.
Have you ever been in a spaceship?
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Oh, of course. Lots of times.
Been to Mars too I presume? Only once.
I went to Howard Roach Studios and we filmed Dance with the
Henry and then from there over to Columbia for the Edwyn
series. And I played Edwyn's
granddaughter. Yeah.
Goodbye, darling. Here's your lunch money.
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And remember eating an ice creamcone in the sun.
It's not a hot lunch. I know.
Goodbye. That was a year's show and the
net got very sick and I think about some of the legends that I
worked with. What a blessing.
And then from there, Columbia sent me and my mom to Spain and
we filmed The Three World of Gulliver, starring Kerwin
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Matthews. If I played Glumbo Clich, the
giant girl who suck her braid down the ferret hole and rested
Gulliver. Gulliver, Elizabeth, where are
you? Bundle clich?
Hurry over here. There you are.
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Where's Gulliver? Down here.
Ever run away again? Thank you for saving.
But why did you run away? We didn't run away.
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Someday when you're grown up. I I mean when you become an
adult, you'll understand. You could have been killed.
Dear Glumbleclitch, we're sorry we won't do it again.
I love you both so much, but youmust do what I say.
You must behave, or the king won't let me stay with you in
the castle. I have to take you back.
Right now, the Queen is terriblyworried.
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That was just a wonderful, wonderful experience.
And we filmed in England and in Spain.
And then from there we came backhome and at 59 I did a movie
with Ernest Borgnine, another great legend called Pay or Die.
I just started doing shows, likeI said, The Donna Reed Show, My
Three Sons, Tom Ewell Show. Stalactite STALACTITE stalactite
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hemoglobin HEM. Debbie, can't you make your?
Homework a little more intimate between yourself.
And the book. I was just going over my
spelling words for the state spelling bee.
A beautiful iron straight for the pimp.
Will it clear the trap? It does.
He's on phenomenal. Phenomenal.
That's a touchy PHEMOMIE. What comes next?
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A polite. Request from your father to
rehearse someplace else, dear. But Daddy, the winner of the
contest, gets a trip to Washington.
Washington. Oh, no, Washington.
He didn't think it. He did I.
Missed it? Four Seasons of that George
Goble show you all these names from the past, the Carroll
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Fanning Show, Danny Thomas Show,make room for Granddaddy, the
farmer's daughter, Doby Gillis, the real Mccoys.
Because every TV show that was on, you know, whenever they
needed a little girl, I got the part.
It seemed I was real blessed. I it's funny, I'm sitting here
in my room and I'm looking at all of my mom and I took all my
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scripts and we had them leather and dated.
I've got the Josie scripts and just all the different shows and
movies. I'm so glad we did that because
I've got them now for posterity.I was very, very lucky.
And my mom had told me when I was a little girl, she said, no,
Sherry, they're going to go on an audition.
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You know what an audition is? And I said, yes, I did.
She said, now you have to remember, if you get this job,
it's only for one reason. It's because God wants you to
have this job. It's not that you're cuter or
smarter or more talented than the other little girls.
It's just that God wants to havethis job.
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And I always had that in my mind.
And she would say, and if you don't get the job, it's not
because you're not as smart, notas cute, not as talented.
God just has something else planned for you.
So I was raised with that attitude and that thought and
that idea. And I'd never really, you know,
I would go on an audition and I'd hear some little girl being,
you know, mom would grab her andsay, now listen, if you don't
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get this job, we aren't going tobe able to pay the mortgage.
So you better get this job. Put the fear of God into.
Oh, what a thing, what what a thing to put on a child it.
Was it was horrible. It was just horrible to do that
to any kid. And you know, my folks, my dad
brought the bacon home and my mom cooked it.
We were Midwestern family. I didn't pay any of the bills.
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My money was all put away and I didn't get it till I was 21.
I had a very normal childhood and I came home after working at
the studio and I'd have to help mom make dinner and, you know,
help clean up my room and thingslike that.
So I was always so thankful and grateful to my mom that she was
like that. You know, she was from Kentucky
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and she was a down home, very sensible girl.
And she just told me that from the very, very beginning.
So when you were making movies and TV shows, did you like, for
example with the Borg 9 film or with Gulliver, did you go to the
theater as a family and watch it?
Yeah, yeah, sure. Well, we would go to the opening
night, the premiere or something, then sit there and
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watch it. My brother would, you know,
tease me and you know, but. Oh, look, look at you.
Yeah. So, yeah, we did.
I I didn't like the sound of my voice.
I didn't like. Yeah, look at that.
But it all was good, it all turned out.
Fun. Your voice never sounds the way
it sounds in your head, so it kind of throws you.
Exactly. When you were doing the special
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effects in Gulliver, did you even meet June Thorburn, who, by
the way, was in Tom Thumb as well?
Wonderful actress. And The Pickwick Papers and
Kerwin Matthews? I mean, they were on, I guess, a
blue screen in those days. So yeah, I had to focus on
things that weren't there and that kind of stuff.
What were the special effects like?
Well, it. Was really very, very Christine.
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It was the first time I'd done anything like that.
But we were in Barcelona and thefirst time that we met Kerwin,
it was just when he was tied down with the post, with his
hair in the sand, The Lilliputians tied him down.
That was the first time I met him.
We didn't film together because it's Ray, that Ray Harryhausen.
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Wow, what a genius. We didn't film together and they
would put like, when I'm supposed to be looking at
Gulliver and Elizabeth, they hadthese little dolls which I they
gave me. I still have them.
They have these little dolls that they would put in the spot
and that's who I would talk to. So I had to talk to myself a
lot. It's a great movie.
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TCM runs it a lot, especially when they're doing a tribute to
Harry Hausen and you. You were associated with legends
and geniuses. I mean Walt Disney, Ray
Harryhausen, Hannah and Barbera,Davy Jones.
Yeah, you're right. I was.
I was very, very fortunate. I wish I was doing that now with
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those guys because the questionsI would ask them, I would have
learned so much from them. Yeah, but I was very, very
blessed to be with a lot of great stars and learn from them.
When you look at any of those things now, does it seem like a
different person or do you remember what happened that day
and what sandwiches you have? You know, it's funny, Irish.
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And that means I have one heck of a memory.
I don't forget. I don't forget the good.
I don't forget the bad and I canlook at something and remember
that I could just see it in my eyes.
You know, I can close my eyes right now and I can see
Gulliver. I can see my mom and I walking
up to him on the beach. I remember.
I remember everything, you know,just those things that stuck
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with me. Oh, sure.
Yeah. And also being attached to the
Monkeys, which was, aside from The Beatles, one of the biggest
things in the 60s. And there you were at the
beginning. Was it just another, you know,
you're going over to Columbia todo this kind of thing or was do
you have a following just for that?
Yes, I do. And I'm sitting here looking at
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a picture of Davey and I laughing.
I mean, everybody loved the monkeys.
They were so cute, so funny. Davey, of course, was my
favorite. I think there's people that were
just, you know, great Monkeys fans that were just great.
They wouldn't miss the show. And that's with a lot of Dobie
Gillis fans. Dobie Gillis is another show
that is held in very high esteemfor its writing and its cast.
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Everybody who came from that went on to so many other things
or were veterans. I just watched a film last night
with Frank Phelan in it. He was in like 3 million.
Movies. So at that point, were you still
doing on camera or did you decide to go into voice over?
How did you make that transition?
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But. Whenever an on camera came up,
you know, I would do that. It just would depend if I could
do both. But the way the cartoons and all
came up, I got married in 1971 to a poor medical student.
And so, you know, I continued working.
And when they see the Pussycats on this show, when they were
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going to do the cartoon show, I was called to Hannah Barbara to
do it. And I got that.
And then three years later, my daughter Casey, she was born
three years after we got marriedthat I couldn't do on camera.
I started doing the voice overs and I was grateful, you know,
like got offered those parts because I would have hated it.
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You worked every day for the, you know, all these years and
then suddenly you can't. So yeah, I did Josie and then
Chelsea and the Pussycats in outer space and they played
Wendy. That's one of the Super twins.
Yeah, that was Super Friends. The original Super Friends.
The original Wonder twins, Wendyand Marvin.
Exactly. With one of the greatest humans
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in the entire world, Frank Welker.
And I'd like to make them. Disappear.
Marvin, don't let their nastiness make you nasty.
Well, I don't mean to hurt them,I just like to see the last of
them. You will as soon as the Super
friends find us. I'm beginning to doubt that
anyone could ever find us. Wonder dog could.
He's like 1 great Bloodhound. He's like half Bloodhound with
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one great allergy. Frank welcome.
He was. He was at 50 ducks singing.
It was God Bless America and I would always say to him.
Frank, you know, do. The ducks do the ducks and he
would do them and I'd say I'd dojust 49 ducks and he would, you
know, just tweak it and then we'd laugh and see that he could
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do that. He was just, we worked a lot
together. We did a Toyota commercial and
we'd gone to college together. Yeah.
He was a just a great, great guy.
And of course, Casey. Casey and Shannon Farnan, Olin
Soule, Danny Dark, all those great, great voices.
And I'll tell you, Josie was my very first cartoon series and it
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broke me in to that wonderful world of Hanna Barbera.
It was one of the nicest, loveliest studios.
First of all, it was beautiful, clean and nice.
And everybody, everybody was so friendly and so kind and it was
a breeze because an hour show would take an hour.
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You know, nobody was a, you know, silly kid that would, you
know, mess up with Josie. Everybody was a professional.
Everybody knew what they were doing.
And we'd go in and in and out inan hour.
We learned from day one that time is money and you don't mess
around. And just because some of us are
kids, there's an awful lot of people here who are adults that
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were supporting a family. You know, they valued their
time. So it was great.
Kevin Barbera was the epitome ofa wonderful, perfect place to
work. And let's talk a little bit
about your Co stars there because you had Janet Waldo as
Josie. She was just a doll, one of the
most down to earth, nicest people ever.
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And then you had Jerry Dexter, who had done quite a bit and was
in radio, as well as Alan and then Barbara Perriot.
As Valerie, Yes, I saw her at a autograph signing event.
Yeah, she was adult. Very nice gal.
Alexander was a breakthrough character in a lot of ways
because she brought attitude to Saturday morning.
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She was the Comic Relief, she was the aggressor, she was the
pro tag. She was all of those things.
And it it, it made it different than any other show.
Yes, you can say, oh, it's sort of like Johnny Quest.
It's sort of like everything on TV is sort of like something,
but then you got Alexander, who was the first person to speak up
to the villains and face off with them and call them creeps
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and that's. Right.
I will fly your ship. You will not interfere.
Oh yeah, that's what you think, you big stack of tin cans.
Alexander, take it easy. Oh boy, just you wait, I'll show
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you you king size trash can. Captain Grego, this is Pilot
009. I am being annoyed.
You sure are, Buster. I remember that there was some
group of moms that were kind of complaining about Saturday
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morning cartoons. The savings were violent and so
they kind of toned down my dialogue so.
But it was still funny. I mean, one of the ones that
stands out is when Alexander cutthe sweetness because Josie was
the lead and the sweet person and your character wanted Alan.
So you had that Archie kind of conflict, the Veronica sort of
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thing. There's a scene where Alan says.
Well, I'm not a star, Josie, butyou?
Sure, make me twinkle. And then Alexander goes.
Brother, how corny can you get? Oh yeah, that was fun because
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kids love the idea. That's why scooby-doo has lasted
as well. Kids love that what might
frighten them is sort of diffused by the characters
making kind of fools of the ghosts and the and the sci-fi
master minds. And on Josie, there was that
feeling. It was a little like the monkeys
too, because the monkeys would occasionally have mastermind
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take over the world kind of characters, and it made fun of
them and made you laugh at your viewers.
Irreverence, you know, but not so much other than Alexander.
Not so mean, but just laughing at ourselves.
Alexander was always hoisted on her own petard, you know?
She would spin around on a phonograph or she'd fall in the
water every time she tried to dosomething.
(27:30):
So unlike some shows that are aimed at young people where
there's a little bit too much attitude and, and we were real
careful when our kids were growing up, there were some
shows that we like for them to watch and somewhere the kids
just didn't have, they had no respect at all for adults.
But on a show like Josie, Alexandra never got away with
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it, really. No, no, she always, you know,
wound up kind of the loser. Yeah.
Yeah, and and looked ridiculous and and that kind of thing.
But she also propelled the storybecause sometimes she would push
the button. You shouldn't push and twist the
lever. You shouldn't twist.
So it was it was just, they're still showing those.
They're right now on me TV tunes.
(28:11):
They're still running. What?
They called me. TV The TV tunes began in late
July, and Josie is on it now. It's part of the lineup.
They play so beautifully, they really do.
Yeah, I love it that you know, all of this such the go to guy
for any kind of information about the cartoons.
It's great. Well, I just, I really do like
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them a lot and they make me laugh and I love the music and
the outer space ones were fun too.
What the networks had to do sometimes, and what Hanna
Barbera had to do was they had to change the format a little
bit so that they could promote it.
Otherwise they'd only add a handful of episodes, and that
would be maybe 6:00 or 8:00. But here they could make another
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1516 Seventeen album and give you guys something else to do.
And of course, Alexander got to be Doctor Smith, sending
everybody lost in space. And Speaking of lost in Space,
you did Hanna Barbera's pilot for a Lost in Space series that
didn't happen. I'm assuming it was a pilot for
the Saturday Superstar movie. Also on board is Dina
(29:17):
Carmichael, geologist. You know, link The surface
temperatures on this planet are hundreds of degrees hotter than
anything we experience on Earth.Therefore, no life as we know it
could survive. The other passenger aboard the
Jupiter 2. Is Doctor Zachary Smith.
Well, bear in mind that Miss Carmichael is a geologist, a
field which is known for the tunnel vision of its
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practitioners. Save me, save me, Migios.
They're coming right at us. I'm assuming they couldn't get
permission to use all the characters except for Doctor
Smith and the robot, so they just created new characters for
(30:00):
Lost in Space. But there you were on that show
and so many others. And then, of course, you worked
with Mark Hamill on Jeannie. You were the girlfriend on that
show, yes? Yes, that's true.
Can you believe that guy? I taught him everything he
knows. And now my success has gone to
his. Head.
I always thought Henry was attractive, he just needed
confidence. Well, he's got plenty of it now.
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Corey, Lisa, There's no need. For you to wait in line for a
date. Henry, I wasn't going to.
I'm. Putting you down for tomorrow.
Night for a whole hour. Sorry, Henry.
Thanks, but no thanks, Huh? I'm busy tomorrow.
We've mentioned this several times on the show.
You all work together like a radio program, all the actors at
the same time. Yes, we did.
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We would be in a line one side of the microphone and there'd be
a glass window where they directsat and just say your line.
Everybody work together. Well.
I'm looking at this and I've gotPartridge Family and the call
time was 9:00 AM and then the new Scooby-doo movie.
Yeah. Oh, I'm so glad we saved these
(31:06):
ABC superstar. Movie that's lost in space in
space. Yeah, the Roman holidays.
Oh, yeah, that's right. If you were the daughter of Mr.
Evictus. Yeah, I was just watching Norman
Holidays. That's a very little.
Yeah, it was. It's on DVD.
And what a cast for Kosher was Pamela and Ferdin.
Let's see. Shirley Mitchell from the Great
(31:27):
Gildersleeve. She was Laurie the wife and Dave
Willick was the dad. Then Stanley Livingston, who you
had met on My Three Sons was wasHappy Holiday.
Mr. Evictus was Dom de Louise Snobia.
He or it is here. My daughter's snobia.
Oh, I didn't get your. Name.
The moniker is smoothiest. For a smoothiest, you sure got a
(31:51):
lot of wrinkles. Those are just laugh lines.
You're bringing back so many memories.
And then in this case of Partridge Family, the plan may
have been that there was going to be Elroy and Judy, sort of a
teenage version. But because the Brady kids did
so well, they like, oh, let's just license the Partridge
Family. So they threw the Partridges
(32:13):
into 22,000 AD. This is television.
Susan Day did a few of them, right?
But then you came in and played Laurie.
Self appointed. Chaperones have just chased
away. My date.
For the Harvest Top next week. Come on.
Lori, you'll get. Another date.
You bet I will. You love you.
(32:35):
You're taking me. No way, sis.
I'm taking Judy. I've been trying to get a date
with her for weeks. And I got a date with Sandy.
Tough. You broke my date, you can break
yours. Laurie's right, unless she gets
another date for the harvest hop, you both got to take her.
Oh boy. So then after that you'd raise
(32:58):
the family and occasionally would do appearances for the
Musketeers. Yeah, I like did a couple of
movies and I did a play with Patty Andrews Victory Canteen.
Oh yes. And then we lived out in
Hacienda Heights and it was really difficult to work and to
raise a baby by Casey. It was just very, very
(33:20):
difficult. And I loved it.
I loved, you know, all my years working and I would do little
things and, you know, thank goodness.
Mouseketeer shows. And it was funny.
We were doing a parade out thereat Disneyland and we got down
there by the Hub and the parade stopped and some guy looked up
that as he was out in the audience and he looked up that
(33:42):
as and he said the original Mouseketeers.
I thought you guys were all dead.
And we went from your hey, you know, hi everybody.
He took the air out of our bubble.
But again, then we started doingthe shows and we did them every
summer. We would do what was it, 6 shows
(34:03):
a day? Yeah.
And they were half hour shows and we had like 16 costume
changes and thank God for Velcro.
And those were great fun. Great, great, great fun.
And then you did occasional TV specials, too?
Reunion specials? Yes.
We did. Karen.
Cubby, Karen. Money.
(34:29):
Sherry. Tommy.
Darlene. Bobby.
And then? We're the Musketeers, we want to
say. Hello SO.
Proudly put on your Musketeers. It's time to watch the
(34:52):
Musketeers. It was real fun.
And you know, you get your feet wet again and it's like, Oh
yeah, that was really fun to do.And it's funny, 'cause we all
remember the words, all the songs and all the dance steps
and all. I would be remiss tremendously
if I didn't ask you about Annette.
Oh. Yes, Annette.
(35:13):
Annette was so sweet, so kind, so normal.
She was just as pretty on the inside as she was on the
outside. She was funny.
She was very quiet. She was very quiet girl, you
know, But she would say things under her breath and make us all
laugh. She was very, very, very good.
(35:34):
She had a very sly sense of humor because she was
interviewed about her albums once and she said I did Italian
net, I did dance, Annette and I did Hawaiian nette.
And she said, what is the deal here?
We're going to do Bath, Annette and Bayonette, she says.
I made 12 albums and I don't sing.
That's what we loved about her is that she was not pretentious
(35:55):
about what her limitations were.She did have talent and she was
very endearing, but she was never pre possessed about it,
no. She wasn't.
You're right. Yeah.
And then what a compliment that is to her.
She was a great girl. It was very tough for all of us
when she passed. It was not easy it.
(36:15):
Wasn't it wasn't easy at all? Yes.
And she's been such a good person would have the illness
that she had and create a foundation instead of just
wallowing in self pity. Right.
Right now, she wasn't the type that would do that.
She would try to help other people.
And yeah, she was a good girl. Now you've also done quite a bit
(36:36):
of humanitarian work as well. Yeah, I'm a Catholic and, you
know, pretty active in the church.
And my husband and I have built a couple of churches, St.
Timothys and Laguna Niguel and High School, Santa Margarita
Catholic High and Rancho Santa Margarita.
And I was president of the Lung Association.
(36:58):
My husband was a lung doctor, a pulmonologist, was president of
the auxiliary, the Women's auxiliary for a while and things
like that, which is to give back.
And, you know, our daughter Casey was pretty sick for a long
time. Well, not terribly long, but she
was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma.
And we were told don't buy Christmas presents because she
(37:20):
won't be here. And you know, we just did a lot
of praying and got real involvedwith that and with her, her
schooling and all. And she's turning 50 years old
next week. Can't believe I have a 50 year
old kid. And then I have my daughter
Kelly. She's 48.
And then the heck with the kids.I have grandchildren.
(37:44):
I have 4 most perfect, most beautiful, most brilliant
grandchildren in the entire world.
I'm sure all grandmothers say that about their kids.
They live very close to us and it's just wonderful.
Growing up, did they see your films and shows and cartoons and
comments? Yeah, they did.
They did. They would watch them and they'd
(38:05):
they'd laugh and then mimic me. Yeah, they thought that was fun.
Well, Speaking of Catholics, I do love the Flying Nun and I
love the stuff you've done. I think a lot of people do.
I'm so proud to have known you for a long time and forever.
Forever, Yeah. On the depths of the courthouse
(38:27):
was it at? Magic Kingdom, Yeah, and.
I remember, you know, several times just pick up a
conversation to just start talking, and that's 100 years
ago. Yeah, Yeah.
It does seem like that. Those are great, great years.
Those are tremendous years and you're a part of a lot of
people's memories. And very important to point out
(38:48):
too, that I'm sure there are young people still discovering
the stuff that you've been in too.
But it's funny, I get an awful lot of even to this day, a lot
of fan mail, which is surprising.
You know, people would remember and they'll tell me, oh, I saw
you on this show. And there are a lot of them are
kids. You know, I saw this show and I
saw that and I liked doing this and, you know, can I have an
(39:11):
autograph and have a picture? It just, it warms my heart.
It's just a wonderful, wonderfulfeeling that people remember.
They remember and they also discover it anew and, and share
it with their children and grandchildren.
And sometimes they just come upon these things and go, this
is cool, this is fun. I want to, I want to see this
(39:31):
and see more of it. So you have given us a lot of
joy and. Oh, thank you, Greg.
I'm very, very grateful. Thank you so much for being part
of our fantastic. Little world.
Well, my pleasure and anything for you.
Thank you and thank you all so much, so much for listening, so
much for your kind words, subscribing and continuing to
(39:53):
listen. And I'm very, very grateful.
And until next time, bye bye. We hope you enjoyed the
fantastic world of Hannah and Barbera with Greg Airbar.
Please join us again and Many thanks for listening.
Ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages, we love Hanna
Barbera. Welcome to the fantastic world
of Hanna and Barbera, a celebration of Bill, Hannah,
(01:14):
Joe, Barbera and the thousands of people, past and present who
have shared in their entertainment tradition.
And now your host, Greg Airbar. Thank you, Chris Anthony.
Welcome to the fantastic world of Hannah and Barbera.
I'm Greg Airbar, author of Hannah Barbera, the recorded
history now available and now with us is one of our all time
(01:38):
favorite television actor personalities, character voices
in some of the greatest shows, including some of the best Hanna
Barbera series. Probably nearest and dearest to
us is she was the voice of Alexandra on Josie and the
Pussycats, but so much more Mickey Mouse Club.
Jerry Alberoni is our guest today.
(02:00):
Welcome to the show. Thank you SO much.
Thank you. It's pleasure to talk.
To you, Jerry and I have actually known each other for
quite a while because there wereMusketeer events quite often at
Walt Disney World in Florida andit was an extraordinary
experience when all of you got together.
Do you guys still see each otheron occasion?
We do Kubby and I have done shows on some of the Disney
(02:24):
ships, you know the cruise line.I see Sharon when she's in town,
I see Bobby and Tommy and that'sreally about it.
And just because you know you were a 2 little kid who could do
a time step didn't mean that that was what you were going to
do the rest of your life. So not everybody stayed in the
business. So those are the ones that I see
(02:47):
and talk to the most. But everybody's fine.
I have these great pictures of Cher that she sent me the other
day, and she's gone cute and sweet.
So there was a good crowd. It's funny because it was like a
high school class and some of the kids in your class you
really liked. Some of them you didn't like,
(03:07):
some, you know, you sort of liked.
For the most part, everybody gotalong great.
We all had the one thing in common.
We were all musical and loved tosing and dance.
I remember I was the littlest. I was the youngest.
I was only 8 years old and I wasn't the greatest dancer at
the time. I was hired as an actress
because I had done a lot of TV commercials and TV shows.
(03:31):
I remember Darlene and Bobby being so good and so nice to me
and they take me aside and, you know, help me with a dance step.
It was a lot of fun. And then we all went to school
together in these little red trailers that they had just
outside of the stage. We had two trailers and we were
in two groups and we had to do 3hours a day of schooling.
(03:52):
And we, you couldn't just go in and do all of your filming and
or all of your schoolwork. It was all broken up into time
slots we had to kind of stick with.
And we had wonderful teachers. It was just a lot of fun.
An awful lot of I was talking tosomeone yesterday and I said,
you know what? It was magical.
(04:14):
It really, really was. And I hear that when I call over
and talk to somebody at the parkor something, they say, you
know, have a magical day. When I first heard that, I
thought, oh, well, that's kind of silly.
But you know what, I love it. It was the whole thing was
magical. I'm just really proud and happy
that I I had that opportunity. That's the thing about Disney
(04:35):
that is very unique. When I was there, there were
trials and tribulations just like you, people you liked more
than others, situations and problems and challenges.
But by and large, you knew you were part of something very,
very special when you'd go in that park.
And it's like, I get to be part of this.
And it was part of the magic. Yeah.
(04:57):
And in my case, I was writing copy for ads, and the only
challenge I had was running out of adjectives to describe
things. And it was much more than just a
workplace. It was something that you felt.
And a lot of people to this day also, I feel very close to that,
like family. I mean very, very much.
(05:17):
Lorraine Santoli was at Disney and she had publicist and to
this day we're best friends. Yeah, and Lorraine was part of
the original Disneyland marketing, and she's written
about Mickey Mouse Club and stuff, so.
Yeah. And so you were nine when you
did Mickey Mouse Club, but you'dbeen performing since you were
(05:37):
three. Yeah, about 3 1/2, four years
old. And that was just, you know,
cute little baby stuff and modeling outfits and things.
Then when I got a little bit older, I would go on auditions.
My brother and I had an agent and the agent came to our
dancing school one day and they were always looking for kids and
(05:59):
new young talent. And they came to our dancing
school and said to my mom, your kids are so cute, would you like
me to be their agent and put them in movies and TV and stuff?
And my mom said, well, let me talk to him and see what they
want to do. And we both said, oh, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And I said, but I'm not getting
in that box. I thought I had to get in the TV
(06:20):
set. And that's the oddest countries,
I thought. So we started going on
interviews and auditions. And my brother worked more than
I did. I was shuffling little, but he
worked a lot. He was a drummer and a a dancer,
a tap dancer. And he was great.
He was such a good dancer. And he in 19, mid 1955, called
(06:43):
my mom and said, you know, have the kids ever seen the Mickey
Mouse Club? And she said, oh, yeah, that's
her favorite show. And he told her, he said, well,
they're looking for new Mouseketeers for the second
season. They're replacing some of the
old, older kids. So my mom said, oh, OK.
And the agent said Roy's a good age.
He was 2 1/2 years older than I was.
But Sherry's still a little young.
(07:04):
So my mom took my brother Roy toBurbank the next day.
It was such a long, long drive because my mother didn't drive
and so my dad would have to drive us all the way from
Westchester, which is by the LA International Airport.
At the time, it was just the LA airport.
And I think, you know, 2 airlines flew out of there all
(07:25):
the way down Sepulveda Blvd. to Ventura Blvd. to the studio.
So they went to this audition that that Walt Disney was
having. Plus he went all over the
country. He he lived to 5000 kids.
My brother auditioned and Walt said, Roy, you know, you're
really, you know, you're a greatdancer and a great drummer.
But we already have Cubby. Do you play any other
(07:48):
instruments or do anything else?And Roy said no, but I have a
little sister who can play the trumpet and do a tap dance at
the same time. So the Walt started laughing and
he told my mom I got to see this.
So my mom took me the next day and oh, I got the job.
Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse presents The Mickey Mouse Club
(08:13):
brought to. You. 5.
Days a week. Monday through Friday.
And featuring the Mouseketeers. And so they had refreshed the
(08:38):
group of Mouseketeers at a certain point.
So was it to 5657 when you started on the show 50?
7 right? Yeah.
And also Don Grady came in at that time.
He did. He did, yeah.
He was a great kid and I later played his girlfriend on my 3
Subs. Yes.
Robbie, let's go. Ruth Mavis.
(09:00):
Please, I guess I'm just not as understanding as you thought I
was. There's just one girl too many
around here. That's really cool too.
Is that you? You played a lot of girlfriends
to a lot of teen idol types in the 60s, Peterson.
Is girlfriend. Hi, Meredith.
(09:21):
Hello. Mind if I eat my lunch here?
It's school property. I can hardly stop you, G.
Meredith, you're acting awful strange.
You got a cold or something? And how would you expect me to
behave, Jeffrey? Uh oh.
When girls start calling you, Jeffrey, you're in trouble.
What have I done? Only rejected me.
(09:41):
What does that mean? It means that you treated me
over the telephone as if I was some pest that was chasing you.
G Meredith, how did you ever getan idea like that?
I wouldn't call. No, Just because.
And goodbye. A charming conversation.
Well, my older sister was listening, and I was nervous.
I was thrilled to hear your voice.
I'm not sure I can believe that,G Meredith, you've got too
(10:04):
honest around our house. Since you've called, we've
talked about nothing but your party.
Really. For sure.
My older sister Mary is even more excited than I am.
And Davy Jones. And Davy Jones.
And the what? A great kid he was.
Where your dad didn't like Davy and all that.
It was that. Oh, yes, yes.
Right. Pardon me miss, I'm from the TV
(10:26):
pool taking service. I was wondering what TV program
are you watching? I'm not watching any TV program.
You know. I don't watch television until
the evening. OK, I'll be back later.
Will you tell your mother I likeroast beef and Yorkshire
pudding? We're waiting for you.
I'll. Be right in my father.
(10:48):
He's very authoritarian. Nobody's perfect.
But after Mickey Mouse Club, there were other series.
Welcome to Mickey Mouse from Luke Costello bought my contract
because he was looking for a little girl to play his adopted
daughter in the last film he wasmaking with Bud Abbott and it
was called Dance With Me Henry. OK, kids, everybody out.
(11:13):
That goes for you too, Bootsy. Do I have?
To Oh, sweetie pie, this is your21st trip around Bootsy.
Let's start all over again. You wanted to take a trip to
Africa on the Choo Choo, so you went back to Kiddieland when you
should have been in bed. Yes, please.
I guess that's about the size ofit.
Then you saw Mr. Henry. And Mr. Slick?
(11:36):
And two other men. Now one of them shot the other.
I see. Bootsy, can you describe the man
who did the shooting? Yes Sir, he was about 8 feet
high and had on me faced like a tiger.
Now I want you to be very honestand think carefully.
Have you ever been in a spaceship?
(11:58):
Oh, of course. Lots of times.
Been to Mars too I presume? Only once.
I went to Howard Roach Studios and we filmed Dance with the
Henry and then from there over to Columbia for the Edwyn
series. And I played Edwyn's
granddaughter. Yeah.
Goodbye, darling. Here's your lunch money.
(12:20):
And remember eating an ice creamcone in the sun.
It's not a hot lunch. I know.
Goodbye. That was a year's show and the
net got very sick and I think about some of the legends that I
worked with. What a blessing.
And then from there, Columbia sent me and my mom to Spain and
we filmed The Three World of Gulliver, starring Kerwin
(12:42):
Matthews. If I played Glumbo Clich, the
giant girl who suck her braid down the ferret hole and rested
Gulliver. Gulliver, Elizabeth, where are
you? Bundle clich?
Hurry over here. There you are.
(13:06):
Where's Gulliver? Down here.
Ever run away again? Thank you for saving.
But why did you run away? We didn't run away.
(13:27):
Someday when you're grown up. I I mean when you become an
adult, you'll understand. You could have been killed.
Dear Glumbleclitch, we're sorry we won't do it again.
I love you both so much, but youmust do what I say.
You must behave, or the king won't let me stay with you in
the castle. I have to take you back.
Right now, the Queen is terriblyworried.
(13:49):
That was just a wonderful, wonderful experience.
And we filmed in England and in Spain.
And then from there we came backhome and at 59 I did a movie
with Ernest Borgnine, another great legend called Pay or Die.
I just started doing shows, likeI said, The Donna Reed Show, My
Three Sons, Tom Ewell Show. Stalactite STALACTITE stalactite
(14:19):
hemoglobin HEM. Debbie, can't you make your?
Homework a little more intimate between yourself.
And the book. I was just going over my
spelling words for the state spelling bee.
A beautiful iron straight for the pimp.
Will it clear the trap? It does.
He's on phenomenal. Phenomenal.
That's a touchy PHEMOMIE. What comes next?
(14:47):
A polite. Request from your father to
rehearse someplace else, dear. But Daddy, the winner of the
contest, gets a trip to Washington.
Washington. Oh, no, Washington.
He didn't think it. He did I.
Missed it? Four Seasons of that George
Goble show you all these names from the past, the Carroll
(15:10):
Fanning Show, Danny Thomas Show,make room for Granddaddy, the
farmer's daughter, Doby Gillis, the real Mccoys.
Because every TV show that was on, you know, whenever they
needed a little girl, I got the part.
It seemed I was real blessed. I it's funny, I'm sitting here
in my room and I'm looking at all of my mom and I took all my
(15:32):
scripts and we had them leather and dated.
I've got the Josie scripts and just all the different shows and
movies. I'm so glad we did that because
I've got them now for posterity.I was very, very lucky.
And my mom had told me when I was a little girl, she said, no,
Sherry, they're going to go on an audition.
(15:52):
You know what an audition is? And I said, yes, I did.
She said, now you have to remember, if you get this job,
it's only for one reason. It's because God wants you to
have this job. It's not that you're cuter or
smarter or more talented than the other little girls.
It's just that God wants to havethis job.
(16:13):
And I always had that in my mind.
And she would say, and if you don't get the job, it's not
because you're not as smart, notas cute, not as talented.
God just has something else planned for you.
So I was raised with that attitude and that thought and
that idea. And I'd never really, you know,
I would go on an audition and I'd hear some little girl being,
you know, mom would grab her andsay, now listen, if you don't
(16:35):
get this job, we aren't going tobe able to pay the mortgage.
So you better get this job. Put the fear of God into.
Oh, what a thing, what what a thing to put on a child it.
Was it was horrible. It was just horrible to do that
to any kid. And you know, my folks, my dad
brought the bacon home and my mom cooked it.
We were Midwestern family. I didn't pay any of the bills.
(16:57):
My money was all put away and I didn't get it till I was 21.
I had a very normal childhood and I came home after working at
the studio and I'd have to help mom make dinner and, you know,
help clean up my room and thingslike that.
So I was always so thankful and grateful to my mom that she was
like that. You know, she was from Kentucky
(17:18):
and she was a down home, very sensible girl.
And she just told me that from the very, very beginning.
So when you were making movies and TV shows, did you like, for
example with the Borg 9 film or with Gulliver, did you go to the
theater as a family and watch it?
Yeah, yeah, sure. Well, we would go to the opening
night, the premiere or something, then sit there and
(17:38):
watch it. My brother would, you know,
tease me and you know, but. Oh, look, look at you.
Yeah. So, yeah, we did.
I I didn't like the sound of my voice.
I didn't like. Yeah, look at that.
But it all was good, it all turned out.
Fun. Your voice never sounds the way
it sounds in your head, so it kind of throws you.
Exactly. When you were doing the special
(17:58):
effects in Gulliver, did you even meet June Thorburn, who, by
the way, was in Tom Thumb as well?
Wonderful actress. And The Pickwick Papers and
Kerwin Matthews? I mean, they were on, I guess, a
blue screen in those days. So yeah, I had to focus on
things that weren't there and that kind of stuff.
What were the special effects like?
Well, it. Was really very, very Christine.
(18:19):
It was the first time I'd done anything like that.
But we were in Barcelona and thefirst time that we met Kerwin,
it was just when he was tied down with the post, with his
hair in the sand, The Lilliputians tied him down.
That was the first time I met him.
We didn't film together because it's Ray, that Ray Harryhausen.
(18:40):
Wow, what a genius. We didn't film together and they
would put like, when I'm supposed to be looking at
Gulliver and Elizabeth, they hadthese little dolls which I they
gave me. I still have them.
They have these little dolls that they would put in the spot
and that's who I would talk to. So I had to talk to myself a
lot. It's a great movie.
(19:02):
TCM runs it a lot, especially when they're doing a tribute to
Harry Hausen and you. You were associated with legends
and geniuses. I mean Walt Disney, Ray
Harryhausen, Hannah and Barbera,Davy Jones.
Yeah, you're right. I was.
I was very, very fortunate. I wish I was doing that now with
(19:24):
those guys because the questionsI would ask them, I would have
learned so much from them. Yeah, but I was very, very
blessed to be with a lot of great stars and learn from them.
When you look at any of those things now, does it seem like a
different person or do you remember what happened that day
and what sandwiches you have? You know, it's funny, Irish.
(19:45):
And that means I have one heck of a memory.
I don't forget. I don't forget the good.
I don't forget the bad and I canlook at something and remember
that I could just see it in my eyes.
You know, I can close my eyes right now and I can see
Gulliver. I can see my mom and I walking
up to him on the beach. I remember.
I remember everything, you know,just those things that stuck
(20:07):
with me. Oh, sure.
Yeah. And also being attached to the
Monkeys, which was, aside from The Beatles, one of the biggest
things in the 60s. And there you were at the
beginning. Was it just another, you know,
you're going over to Columbia todo this kind of thing or was do
you have a following just for that?
Yes, I do. And I'm sitting here looking at
(20:28):
a picture of Davey and I laughing.
I mean, everybody loved the monkeys.
They were so cute, so funny. Davey, of course, was my
favorite. I think there's people that were
just, you know, great Monkeys fans that were just great.
They wouldn't miss the show. And that's with a lot of Dobie
Gillis fans. Dobie Gillis is another show
that is held in very high esteemfor its writing and its cast.
(20:51):
Everybody who came from that went on to so many other things
or were veterans. I just watched a film last night
with Frank Phelan in it. He was in like 3 million.
Movies. So at that point, were you still
doing on camera or did you decide to go into voice over?
How did you make that transition?
(21:12):
But. Whenever an on camera came up,
you know, I would do that. It just would depend if I could
do both. But the way the cartoons and all
came up, I got married in 1971 to a poor medical student.
And so, you know, I continued working.
And when they see the Pussycats on this show, when they were
(21:34):
going to do the cartoon show, I was called to Hannah Barbara to
do it. And I got that.
And then three years later, my daughter Casey, she was born
three years after we got marriedthat I couldn't do on camera.
I started doing the voice overs and I was grateful, you know,
like got offered those parts because I would have hated it.
(21:55):
You worked every day for the, you know, all these years and
then suddenly you can't. So yeah, I did Josie and then
Chelsea and the Pussycats in outer space and they played
Wendy. That's one of the Super twins.
Yeah, that was Super Friends. The original Super Friends.
The original Wonder twins, Wendyand Marvin.
Exactly. With one of the greatest humans
(22:18):
in the entire world, Frank Welker.
And I'd like to make them. Disappear.
Marvin, don't let their nastiness make you nasty.
Well, I don't mean to hurt them,I just like to see the last of
them. You will as soon as the Super
friends find us. I'm beginning to doubt that
anyone could ever find us. Wonder dog could.
He's like 1 great Bloodhound. He's like half Bloodhound with
(22:42):
one great allergy. Frank welcome.
He was. He was at 50 ducks singing.
It was God Bless America and I would always say to him.
Frank, you know, do. The ducks do the ducks and he
would do them and I'd say I'd dojust 49 ducks and he would, you
know, just tweak it and then we'd laugh and see that he could
(23:04):
do that. He was just, we worked a lot
together. We did a Toyota commercial and
we'd gone to college together. Yeah.
He was a just a great, great guy.
And of course, Casey. Casey and Shannon Farnan, Olin
Soule, Danny Dark, all those great, great voices.
And I'll tell you, Josie was my very first cartoon series and it
(23:27):
broke me in to that wonderful world of Hanna Barbera.
It was one of the nicest, loveliest studios.
First of all, it was beautiful, clean and nice.
And everybody, everybody was so friendly and so kind and it was
a breeze because an hour show would take an hour.
(23:48):
You know, nobody was a, you know, silly kid that would, you
know, mess up with Josie. Everybody was a professional.
Everybody knew what they were doing.
And we'd go in and in and out inan hour.
We learned from day one that time is money and you don't mess
around. And just because some of us are
kids, there's an awful lot of people here who are adults that
(24:09):
were supporting a family. You know, they valued their
time. So it was great.
Kevin Barbera was the epitome ofa wonderful, perfect place to
work. And let's talk a little bit
about your Co stars there because you had Janet Waldo as
Josie. She was just a doll, one of the
most down to earth, nicest people ever.
(24:31):
And then you had Jerry Dexter, who had done quite a bit and was
in radio, as well as Alan and then Barbara Perriot.
As Valerie, Yes, I saw her at a autograph signing event.
Yeah, she was adult. Very nice gal.
Alexander was a breakthrough character in a lot of ways
because she brought attitude to Saturday morning.
(24:57):
She was the Comic Relief, she was the aggressor, she was the
pro tag. She was all of those things.
And it it, it made it different than any other show.
Yes, you can say, oh, it's sort of like Johnny Quest.
It's sort of like everything on TV is sort of like something,
but then you got Alexander, who was the first person to speak up
to the villains and face off with them and call them creeps
(25:19):
and that's. Right.
I will fly your ship. You will not interfere.
Oh yeah, that's what you think, you big stack of tin cans.
Alexander, take it easy. Oh boy, just you wait, I'll show
(25:40):
you you king size trash can. Captain Grego, this is Pilot
009. I am being annoyed.
You sure are, Buster. I remember that there was some
group of moms that were kind of complaining about Saturday
(26:03):
morning cartoons. The savings were violent and so
they kind of toned down my dialogue so.
But it was still funny. I mean, one of the ones that
stands out is when Alexander cutthe sweetness because Josie was
the lead and the sweet person and your character wanted Alan.
So you had that Archie kind of conflict, the Veronica sort of
(26:25):
thing. There's a scene where Alan says.
Well, I'm not a star, Josie, butyou?
Sure, make me twinkle. And then Alexander goes.
Brother, how corny can you get? Oh yeah, that was fun because
(26:45):
kids love the idea. That's why scooby-doo has lasted
as well. Kids love that what might
frighten them is sort of diffused by the characters
making kind of fools of the ghosts and the and the sci-fi
master minds. And on Josie, there was that
feeling. It was a little like the monkeys
too, because the monkeys would occasionally have mastermind
(27:07):
take over the world kind of characters, and it made fun of
them and made you laugh at your viewers.
Irreverence, you know, but not so much other than Alexander.
Not so mean, but just laughing at ourselves.
Alexander was always hoisted on her own petard, you know?
She would spin around on a phonograph or she'd fall in the
water every time she tried to dosomething.
(27:30):
So unlike some shows that are aimed at young people where
there's a little bit too much attitude and, and we were real
careful when our kids were growing up, there were some
shows that we like for them to watch and somewhere the kids
just didn't have, they had no respect at all for adults.
But on a show like Josie, Alexandra never got away with
(27:51):
it, really. No, no, she always, you know,
wound up kind of the loser. Yeah.
Yeah, and and looked ridiculous and and that kind of thing.
But she also propelled the storybecause sometimes she would push
the button. You shouldn't push and twist the
lever. You shouldn't twist.
So it was it was just, they're still showing those.
They're right now on me TV tunes.
(28:11):
They're still running. What?
They called me. TV The TV tunes began in late
July, and Josie is on it now. It's part of the lineup.
They play so beautifully, they really do.
Yeah, I love it that you know, all of this such the go to guy
for any kind of information about the cartoons.
It's great. Well, I just, I really do like
(28:33):
them a lot and they make me laugh and I love the music and
the outer space ones were fun too.
What the networks had to do sometimes, and what Hanna
Barbera had to do was they had to change the format a little
bit so that they could promote it.
Otherwise they'd only add a handful of episodes, and that
would be maybe 6:00 or 8:00. But here they could make another
(28:54):
1516 Seventeen album and give you guys something else to do.
And of course, Alexander got to be Doctor Smith, sending
everybody lost in space. And Speaking of lost in Space,
you did Hanna Barbera's pilot for a Lost in Space series that
didn't happen. I'm assuming it was a pilot for
the Saturday Superstar movie. Also on board is Dina
(29:17):
Carmichael, geologist. You know, link The surface
temperatures on this planet are hundreds of degrees hotter than
anything we experience on Earth.Therefore, no life as we know it
could survive. The other passenger aboard the
Jupiter 2. Is Doctor Zachary Smith.
Well, bear in mind that Miss Carmichael is a geologist, a
field which is known for the tunnel vision of its
(29:39):
practitioners. Save me, save me, Migios.
They're coming right at us. I'm assuming they couldn't get
permission to use all the characters except for Doctor
Smith and the robot, so they just created new characters for
(30:00):
Lost in Space. But there you were on that show
and so many others. And then, of course, you worked
with Mark Hamill on Jeannie. You were the girlfriend on that
show, yes? Yes, that's true.
Can you believe that guy? I taught him everything he
knows. And now my success has gone to
his. Head.
I always thought Henry was attractive, he just needed
confidence. Well, he's got plenty of it now.
(30:22):
Corey, Lisa, There's no need. For you to wait in line for a
date. Henry, I wasn't going to.
I'm. Putting you down for tomorrow.
Night for a whole hour. Sorry, Henry.
Thanks, but no thanks, Huh? I'm busy tomorrow.
We've mentioned this several times on the show.
You all work together like a radio program, all the actors at
the same time. Yes, we did.
(30:44):
We would be in a line one side of the microphone and there'd be
a glass window where they directsat and just say your line.
Everybody work together. Well.
I'm looking at this and I've gotPartridge Family and the call
time was 9:00 AM and then the new Scooby-doo movie.
Yeah. Oh, I'm so glad we saved these
(31:06):
ABC superstar. Movie that's lost in space in
space. Yeah, the Roman holidays.
Oh, yeah, that's right. If you were the daughter of Mr.
Evictus. Yeah, I was just watching Norman
Holidays. That's a very little.
Yeah, it was. It's on DVD.
And what a cast for Kosher was Pamela and Ferdin.
Let's see. Shirley Mitchell from the Great
(31:27):
Gildersleeve. She was Laurie the wife and Dave
Willick was the dad. Then Stanley Livingston, who you
had met on My Three Sons was wasHappy Holiday.
Mr. Evictus was Dom de Louise Snobia.
He or it is here. My daughter's snobia.
Oh, I didn't get your. Name.
The moniker is smoothiest. For a smoothiest, you sure got a
(31:51):
lot of wrinkles. Those are just laugh lines.
You're bringing back so many memories.
And then in this case of Partridge Family, the plan may
have been that there was going to be Elroy and Judy, sort of a
teenage version. But because the Brady kids did
so well, they like, oh, let's just license the Partridge
Family. So they threw the Partridges
(32:13):
into 22,000 AD. This is television.
Susan Day did a few of them, right?
But then you came in and played Laurie.
Self appointed. Chaperones have just chased
away. My date.
For the Harvest Top next week. Come on.
Lori, you'll get. Another date.
You bet I will. You love you.
(32:35):
You're taking me. No way, sis.
I'm taking Judy. I've been trying to get a date
with her for weeks. And I got a date with Sandy.
Tough. You broke my date, you can break
yours. Laurie's right, unless she gets
another date for the harvest hop, you both got to take her.
Oh boy. So then after that you'd raise
(32:58):
the family and occasionally would do appearances for the
Musketeers. Yeah, I like did a couple of
movies and I did a play with Patty Andrews Victory Canteen.
Oh yes. And then we lived out in
Hacienda Heights and it was really difficult to work and to
raise a baby by Casey. It was just very, very
(33:20):
difficult. And I loved it.
I loved, you know, all my years working and I would do little
things and, you know, thank goodness.
Mouseketeer shows. And it was funny.
We were doing a parade out thereat Disneyland and we got down
there by the Hub and the parade stopped and some guy looked up
that as he was out in the audience and he looked up that
(33:42):
as and he said the original Mouseketeers.
I thought you guys were all dead.
And we went from your hey, you know, hi everybody.
He took the air out of our bubble.
But again, then we started doingthe shows and we did them every
summer. We would do what was it, 6 shows
(34:03):
a day? Yeah.
And they were half hour shows and we had like 16 costume
changes and thank God for Velcro.
And those were great fun. Great, great, great fun.
And then you did occasional TV specials, too?
Reunion specials? Yes.
We did. Karen.
Cubby, Karen. Money.
(34:29):
Sherry. Tommy.
Darlene. Bobby.
And then? We're the Musketeers, we want to
say. Hello SO.
Proudly put on your Musketeers. It's time to watch the
(34:52):
Musketeers. It was real fun.
And you know, you get your feet wet again and it's like, Oh
yeah, that was really fun to do.And it's funny, 'cause we all
remember the words, all the songs and all the dance steps
and all. I would be remiss tremendously
if I didn't ask you about Annette.
Oh. Yes, Annette.
(35:13):
Annette was so sweet, so kind, so normal.
She was just as pretty on the inside as she was on the
outside. She was funny.
She was very quiet. She was very quiet girl, you
know, But she would say things under her breath and make us all
laugh. She was very, very, very good.
(35:34):
She had a very sly sense of humor because she was
interviewed about her albums once and she said I did Italian
net, I did dance, Annette and I did Hawaiian nette.
And she said, what is the deal here?
We're going to do Bath, Annette and Bayonette, she says.
I made 12 albums and I don't sing.
That's what we loved about her is that she was not pretentious
(35:55):
about what her limitations were.She did have talent and she was
very endearing, but she was never pre possessed about it,
no. She wasn't.
You're right. Yeah.
And then what a compliment that is to her.
She was a great girl. It was very tough for all of us
when she passed. It was not easy it.
(36:15):
Wasn't it wasn't easy at all? Yes.
And she's been such a good person would have the illness
that she had and create a foundation instead of just
wallowing in self pity. Right.
Right now, she wasn't the type that would do that.
She would try to help other people.
And yeah, she was a good girl. Now you've also done quite a bit
(36:36):
of humanitarian work as well. Yeah, I'm a Catholic and, you
know, pretty active in the church.
And my husband and I have built a couple of churches, St.
Timothys and Laguna Niguel and High School, Santa Margarita
Catholic High and Rancho Santa Margarita.
And I was president of the Lung Association.
(36:58):
My husband was a lung doctor, a pulmonologist, was president of
the auxiliary, the Women's auxiliary for a while and things
like that, which is to give back.
And, you know, our daughter Casey was pretty sick for a long
time. Well, not terribly long, but she
was diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma.
And we were told don't buy Christmas presents because she
(37:20):
won't be here. And you know, we just did a lot
of praying and got real involvedwith that and with her, her
schooling and all. And she's turning 50 years old
next week. Can't believe I have a 50 year
old kid. And then I have my daughter
Kelly. She's 48.
And then the heck with the kids.I have grandchildren.
(37:44):
I have 4 most perfect, most beautiful, most brilliant
grandchildren in the entire world.
I'm sure all grandmothers say that about their kids.
They live very close to us and it's just wonderful.
Growing up, did they see your films and shows and cartoons and
comments? Yeah, they did.
They did. They would watch them and they'd
(38:05):
they'd laugh and then mimic me. Yeah, they thought that was fun.
Well, Speaking of Catholics, I do love the Flying Nun and I
love the stuff you've done. I think a lot of people do.
I'm so proud to have known you for a long time and forever.
Forever, Yeah. On the depths of the courthouse
(38:27):
was it at? Magic Kingdom, Yeah, and.
I remember, you know, several times just pick up a
conversation to just start talking, and that's 100 years
ago. Yeah, Yeah.
It does seem like that. Those are great, great years.
Those are tremendous years and you're a part of a lot of
people's memories. And very important to point out
(38:48):
too, that I'm sure there are young people still discovering
the stuff that you've been in too.
But it's funny, I get an awful lot of even to this day, a lot
of fan mail, which is surprising.
You know, people would remember and they'll tell me, oh, I saw
you on this show. And there are a lot of them are
kids. You know, I saw this show and I
saw that and I liked doing this and, you know, can I have an
(39:11):
autograph and have a picture? It just, it warms my heart.
It's just a wonderful, wonderfulfeeling that people remember.
They remember and they also discover it anew and, and share
it with their children and grandchildren.
And sometimes they just come upon these things and go, this
is cool, this is fun. I want to, I want to see this
(39:31):
and see more of it. So you have given us a lot of
joy and. Oh, thank you, Greg.
I'm very, very grateful. Thank you so much for being part
of our fantastic. Little world.
Well, my pleasure and anything for you.
Thank you and thank you all so much, so much for listening, so
much for your kind words, subscribing and continuing to
(39:53):
listen. And I'm very, very grateful.
And until next time, bye bye. We hope you enjoyed the
fantastic world of Hannah and Barbera with Greg Airbar.
Please join us again and Many thanks for listening.
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