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The trailer for the new movie Julie & Julia brings back fond memories. Julia Child was the first voice impression I perfected as a teenager. My kids have no idea who she was. At the same time, they know who Billy Mays was and I didn’t until his recent death made the news. That caused me to think about the celebrities my generation shared and of whom those of you under 35 probably have no experience. It didn’t take long to think of a half-dozen people who achieved television fame in the 60s, 70s, and 80s even though they weren’t actors or singers.
1. Euell Gibbons
Say the name Euell Gibbons and people of a certain age will tell you that many parts of a pine tree are edible. Born in 1911, Gibbons helped his family through the Depression by gathering wild foods. As an adult, he traveled the country, trying out various jobs and homes and always foraged for food growing wild. His first book, “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” became a classic. Gibbons was regarded with respect by the natural food movement. His appearances on TV shows and in commercials made him a household name, and the subject of jokes and parodies. Gibbons died in 1975 at age 64.
2. Clara Peller
Many Baby Boomers who wouldn’t recognize the name Clara Peller will know who she is as soon as they hear her say, “Where’s the Beef?” The Wendy’s ad campaign that began in 1984 made Peller a star. She was 80 years old before she began her acting career. “Where’s the Beef?” became a nationwide catch phrase, and Peller appeared on talk shows, other commercials, and even in a couple of movies using the phrase (or something close to it) for comedic purposes. Peller died in 1987 at age 85.
3. Justin Wilson
Louisiana native Justin Wilson made a career of telling Cajun stories and jokes, but his biggest fame came from cooking shows he did for PBS. Wilson’s Cajun idioms and delivery as well as the stories he told while cooking kept the audience glued to their sets, waiting to hear the catchphrase “I gar-on-teee!” Wilson was 87 when he died in 2001. See a clip of Wilson in action.
4. Dr. Ruth Westheimer
Dr. Ruth make sex easier to talk about. Before Dr. Ruth, no one said “penis” in public, and we weren’t all that sure how to pronounce “vagina” because even our sex education teachers used euphemisms. Her radio show Sexually Speaking took off in 1980 and led to a syndicated show and then television. The 4′7″ sex therapist with the cute accent reminded us of our grandmothers, which made hearing her advice even more fun. What a lot of people didn’t know was that her life before becoming a sex icon was even more amazing. Dr. Ruth was born in Germany in 1928 and was sent to an orphanage to escape the Nazis. Both her parents died in concentration camps. She emigrated to Palestine at age 17 and lived in a kibbutz. She joined the Haganah and served as a sniper in the Israeli War of Independence in 1948. Ruth Siegel, as she was named then, was wounded by an exploding shell and spent months in recovery. Her formal education began in 1950, which led to several degrees and a career as a sex educator and television personality. Dr. Ruth is still active at age 81.
5. Marlin Perkins
Marlin Perkins hosted the nature show Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom from 1963 to 1985. He was a respected zoologist and zoo curator, and had accompanied Sir Edmund Hilary on a 1960 Himalayan expedition to find the yeti. Perkins’ more than two decades in the national spotlight made him a spokesman for the conservation movement, and he helped popularize the idea of protecting endangered species. As the years went by, Perkins handed more and more of the fieldwork for the show off to co-host Jim Fowler, which led to affectionate parody and running jokes. The show itself was unpredictable, with the animals sometimes upstaging the hosts. Perkins died in 1986 at the age of 81.
6. Bob Ross
Bob Ross is one bygone celebrity that mental_floss readers are familiar with, whether or not they ever saw him in his heyday. He was the host of The Joy of Painting on PBS from 1983 to 1994. He always completed a painting in the alloted half-hour or less, impressing everyone with his speed and confidence. Ross used the wet-on-wet oil painting technique, where layers of paint could be partially mixed and shaded because all the painting was done before any paint was allowed to dry. He described his landscapes as happy places, and encouraged viewers to lift their spirits through painting. Ross died in 1995 at age 52. You can still buy painting kits and supplies through his website.
7. Julia Child
Julia Child was America’s first celebrity chef. She was born in 1912 and served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in World War II handling classified communications. After the war, Child went to cooking school in France, where she teamed up with two other chefs to open a school of their own and published Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 1961. Her first TV show premiered in 1963. Child had several series on PBS up through the 1990s, drawing an audience who wanted to cook for the joy and pleasure of it. They also loved the chef with her inimitable voice and laid-back personality. Child died in 2004, two days before her 92nd birthday. Her kitchen is now a part of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, and can be seen in this interactive site. You can watch Child cook and listen to her marvelous delivery in several videos.
Comments (43)
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This is a great article! In return, I’m going to put a happy little bush right in the corner here…
…there, that looks great.
I remember an episode where Julia was cutting up a slab of beef. As she prepped the soon to be cut meat on the table, she voiced, “Ok, for this, you’re going to need a sharp, fast knife.” I was young, and i took the comment literally, blasting joke after joke about a knife running a 50m dash, dodging the cops, or what would happen if a knife ran with scissors. My grandmother who was watching the show couldn’t stop laughing. It was a great day.
posted by Steven on 8-13-2009 at 8:37 am
TV celebrities that my parents loved? What a curious choice of a headline this is.
posted by Mike on 8-13-2009 at 9:21 am
Yeah when I read my “you parents liked”, I thought, Jack Benny, Ed Sullivan, Jack Par, George Burns. I liked all the people in the post. Reality check: I guess I’m getting older than I realize.
posted by Alan on 8-13-2009 at 9:28 am
Indeed, what a bizarre headline. I’m 30 years old. If I had children, which I do not, they would be too young to use a computer, much less visit Mental Floss.
posted by alice on 8-13-2009 at 9:30 am
So… I am my parents?
posted by Hyacinth on 8-13-2009 at 9:32 am
@Alan, that’s what I thought, too. I’m 26, and spent many a Saturday with PBS, watching Bob Ross paint (I LOVED when he made pine trees with just a swish, swish, swish back and forth).
Best Family Guy opening is when Peter is painting with Bob Ross, and Bob Ross says, “If you tell anyone that that bush is there, I will come into your house and cut you,” followed by the reveal that Peter has been painting the Family Ties intro. Brilliant.
posted by Amy on 8-13-2009 at 9:32 am
Bob Ross made for great hangover viewing when I was in college ;)
posted by Debi on 8-13-2009 at 9:34 am
I read a bio of Marlon Perkins a few years ago and discovered that the guy was pretty much a rock star in animal protection/conservation world. Read the article again… he climbed the himalayas looking for yetis! Marlon Perkins could kick Chuck Norris’ @ss!
posted by TBV on 8-13-2009 at 9:47 am
Before Bob Ross was Bill Alexander – he also painted “mighty trees.” Check him out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0umr1SE2M8M
posted by Serena on 8-13-2009 at 10:00 am
I agree–this list contains all the people I grew up with…and I’m 38, One missing is Wilford Brimley for Quaker Oats. Of course, I can still see him selling products for, “Diabeetus.”
posted by Helenann on 8-13-2009 at 10:14 am
Showing my age. From the headline I looked forward to stories about Debbie Drake, Mark Wilson and the loverly Nonnie Darnell. I wonder if anyone other than me even remembers them.
posted by harold on 8-13-2009 at 10:15 am
And to think the article’s author is much older than I am makes the headline even more bizarre.
posted by Mike on 8-13-2009 at 10:17 am
Don’t feel too old, I’m 22 and I remember Bob Ross very clearly. I remember joking about him in 7th grade algebra class with a boy I had a crush on. Bob Ross was awesome!
posted by BioloBri on 8-13-2009 at 10:17 am
Is it weird that Betty White might be more popular now than she was as a Golden Girl or even before? Otherwise, i could have seen her making this list.
Speaking of these stars, what about Lancelot Link? Everyone loved the 007-like chimp with a wife that behaved like a mix of Fran Drescher and Estelle Harris (George Castanza’s mother in Seinfeld).
posted by Steven on 8-13-2009 at 10:26 am
For those of you who didn’t know who Debbie Drake was, here’s a link from TIME in 1961. I remember her a few years after this. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,872347,00.html
BTW, thanks Steven for mentioning Betty White. Along with Harry Morgan, she was on network television for over 20 years before they did the role for which they are most remembered. I treasure them both.
posted by harold on 8-13-2009 at 10:34 am
Honestly, I’m glad to see that there are at least 15 readers here who are more than twentysomething! No, I wouldn’t expect my children to remember anything from the 90s, much less before that, but I am old enough to have a child in his/her 30s.
posted by Miss Cellania on 8-13-2009 at 10:58 am
The comment about Betty White made me think of some of the game show celebrities that as I child, I didn’t know what made them famous at the time. How about an article on a few of them, like Charles Nelson Riley, Brett Sommers, Kitty Carlisle, etc.?
posted by TC on 8-13-2009 at 11:07 am
I watched all but a couple of these as a child (I am soon to be 43 yrs old). I do not remember Euell Gibbons and never really watched Julia Child…but all the others; so totally from my childhood. I loved watching Bob Ross, since I am an artist at heart.
posted by Lady D on 8-13-2009 at 11:31 am
Well after reading the other comments, I don’t feel quite so bad anymore! I also adored Bob Ross’ “happy little trees” and I’m 30 years old. I was also jokingly called “Maynard” by an aunt because I used to say “Where’s the beef?” all the time. Growing up in Louisiana too, you couldn’t miss Justin Wilson’s “I gar-on-tee!” Awesome!
posted by Jennifer on 8-13-2009 at 11:33 am
I loved Justin Wilson! And would watch him with my grandmom (I’m 30) almost every day on PBS. My favorite was his “shicken and on-yuns!”
posted by Amy on 8-13-2009 at 12:39 pm
I met Justin Wilson at a book signing many years ago. He flirted with me, telling me I was a ‘vary preddy lady’… And I’m not, really.. I was just dressed nicely. (As opposed to my usual jeans).
posted by Vickey on 8-13-2009 at 12:50 pm
Dr. Ruth was a sniper? That’s one of the best factoids I’ve heard since I learned Julia Child was a spy.
Also, I’m 24 and know a lot of these names.
posted by Kate on 8-13-2009 at 1:33 pm
When I was 11, my parents thought I looked just like Jimmy Boyd, a child “star” featured in a TV show that also starred Betty White. They took me to the TV studio in the hopes of meeting Jimmy and getting a picture with him. He was unavailable. As a consolation, we were allowed to meet Betty White, who was most charming and patient with us. The point of this ramble? That was 58 years ago and she’s still going strong.
posted by Old Geezer on 8-13-2009 at 1:50 pm
I was really surprised to see Bob Ross on this list…the PBS station my parents have still show him regularly, and his “Happy Little Trees” still get referenced by my friends when we get together. A lot of Saturday afternoons were spent watching him paint. This may surprise some mental_floss readers, but Bob Ross remains popular enough that a Wii game and DS game were being developed at one point so that gamers could paint with him (although it was later cancelled, I understand).
The one that made me smile on here was Justin Wilson, however. I used to always love watching him measure teaspoons in his hand, then pouring the last one into a teaspoon measuring spoon to prove that he really could measure that exactly without the spoon.
And just for the numbers, I’m 26.
posted by Amauriel on 8-13-2009 at 2:40 pm
Well there ya go. I didn’t know Bob Ross was still on, in reruns of course. I guess I should watch more TV!
posted by Miss Cellania on 8-13-2009 at 2:43 pm
I immediately thought of Mason Reese and Rodney Allen Rippy. Remember them? Two boys who appeared in almost every commercial requiring a kid in the 70s.
posted by Walter R. on 8-13-2009 at 2:57 pm
Bob Ross once painted with a baby squirrel in his pocket. That was cool. He is still on in the afternoon on our PBS station. My kids (22 and 25)used to come home from high school and watch him.
posted by Elizabeth on 8-13-2009 at 2:58 pm
At 24, I’ve got personal memories of many of them, but to back up the article’s title, my dad regularly says, “I gar-on-tee!” ala Justin Wilson.
posted by Fruppi on 8-13-2009 at 2:58 pm
I’m another person in the “under-35″ category and the only person I don’t really remember is Euell Gibbons. I loved watching Justin Wilson with my dad.
posted by Caryn on 8-13-2009 at 3:17 pm
Am I the only one bothered by TBV’s comment about Marlon Perkins kicking Mr. Norris’s @ss? I mean seriously!
A few facts, in case you forgot who Chuck Norris is:
1. If you have five dollars and Chuck Norris has five dollars, Chuck Norris has more money than you.
2. There is no ‘ctrl’ button on Chuck Norris’s computer. Chuck Norris is always in control.
3. Apple pays Chuck Norris 99 cents every time he listens to a song.
4. Chuck Norris can sneeze with his eyes open.
5. Chuck Norris can eat just one Lay’s potato chip.
6. Chuck Norris is suing Myspace for taking the name of what he calls everything around you.
7. Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
8. Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.
posted by Pablo on 8-13-2009 at 3:24 pm
Does anyone else remember Letterman doodling on a show in ‘95 or ‘96? He referenced Bob Ross (without knowing what his name was) and kept adding birds in the sky, mimicking Ross…
anyway, they went to commercial and when they came back Dave had a pretty sombre tone and announced Ross’ real name and that he had actually passed away recently (and offered his condolences and apologies to Ross’ family).
can ANYONE back me up?? haha
posted by Amitcdn on 8-13-2009 at 3:53 pm
I’m in my mid-30s and I remember most of these names (minus Euell Gibbons)! I was expecting Lilias (from “Lilias, Yoga, and You”), and Martin Yan of “Yan Can Cook” fame. Ah, the joys of watching PBS in the early 80s.
Also, I thought that the whole resurgence of Bob Ross and his “Happy Trees” was because the term is supposedly used for a certain weed that makes you happy!
posted by Steve from San Diego on 8-13-2009 at 4:30 pm
I remember watching Bob Ross! My grandmother actually went to some painting classes he gave before he passed. I’m 25 by the way. I always wondered about “I gar-on-teee!” and now I know. Also Dr. Ruth used to have a TV show on some women’s network that would air late at night, and I’m sure that was within the last 10 years.
posted by Nicole on 8-13-2009 at 4:33 pm
Hmm… perhaps you should run a survey and find out the average age of your readers. That’s a bit of trivia that I was sure you would have already had a handle on, being a trivia web site, and all. I’m 49. Those are “my” celebrities. Although my parents would probably know who most of these people are, if they were still living!
And you left out Jack LaLaine (sorry if spelling is wrong)
posted by Pam on 8-13-2009 at 6:41 pm
Steve, Martin Yan is still around. He has a show on the new PBS Create channel. Martin Yan’s China, or something like that. He travels to China, samples local cusine and comes back to the studio to do his version of it.
reCaptcha – snuffles Doctors
posted by Pam on 8-13-2009 at 6:47 pm
Didn’t Bob Ross always add in Happy Little Clouds too? Or maybe it was just Happy Little Trees? I always watched him, right after lunch, every Saturday growing up.
posted by Sarah on 8-13-2009 at 6:47 pm
Gee, I quit reading Mental_Floss because all the quizzes were directed at young people. Euell Gibbons: Ever eat a pine tree? Many parts are edible. And I remember Betty White in “Life with Elizabeth”, when Jim Backus was her husband. BTW, my oldest just turned 50. But I was 17 when she was born (really).
posted by Barbwire on 8-13-2009 at 8:00 pm
i remember my mom watching Bob Ross when I was, like, six,seven.
posted by Sara in AL on 8-13-2009 at 8:02 pm
Great, now I have the Mutual of Omaha jingle stuck in my head:
Mutual
Of Omaha
is people,
you can count on when the going’s rough…
And apparently I too am my parents, as I know all those folks. I used to LOVE staying up to watch Wild Kingdom (came on at 7:30 I think; my bedtime as a young-un), and I think I actually own “Stalking the Wild Asparagus” although I’m not sure why. I’ve even tried a Bob Ross type painting.
posted by Alli on 8-14-2009 at 12:30 am
As a T.V. chef I always liked Graham Kerr the galloping gormet.
posted by bob on 8-14-2009 at 6:05 am
I love love love Justin Wilson. I grew up watching him with my Daddy. I always thought the ” a little wine for Justin” part was classic. My Daddy was also a Euell Gibbons fan. I never saw anything he was in.
posted by QuincyK on 8-14-2009 at 11:07 am
Dr. Ruth has been elevated to a person of interest for me since reading this article, because that’s way freakin’ awesome!
I assume that Mutual of Omaha guy is the one my dad told me about one of the many times I wasn’t really listening…
posted by Savannah on 8-14-2009 at 7:59 pm
If I remember correctly, Euell Gibbons said, “Ever eat a pinecone? Many parts are edible.”.
“Ever eat a pine tree? Ever lick a river?” was from a SNL parody of his commercials.
posted by marybeth on 8-14-2009 at 9:09 pm