Saturday, August 25, 2012

Neil Armstrong (1930-2012) & William Windom (1924-2012)

While the sports headlines speak of the embarassment visited upon Lance Armstrong, another American hero named Armstrong has left us.

Neil Armstrong passed away earlier today at 82, his place in American history secure as the first man to walk on the moon in July 1969. His statement, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind!", has become as iconic as Armstrong himself.

And we're finally catching up with one Hollywood obituary. Character actor William Windom, who starred in The Farmer's Daughter (1963-6) and My World & Welcome to It (1969-70), then began landing guest parts on series such as Night Gallery before settling back into series television as Seth Hazlett on Murder, She Wrote in the 80's, passed away on August 16.

Furryisthenewedgy uploaded this NBC promo for My World from 1969:



Rest in peace, gentlemen.

3 comments:

magicdog said...

A great loss indeed!

Armstrong and his contemporaries were American heroes and true inspirations! How many people can say they went to space, much less walked on the moon as Armstrong did? As I understand it, when he landed on the lunar surface, he yelled "Yabba Dabba Doo" !

I also remember seeing footage with him singing, "I was strolling through the park one day, in the merry, merry month of May..." .


Sorry to hear of Windom's passing. I remember him best from his work on Murder She Wrote, even thoguh he'd done a ton of work before that. He had great chemistry with ANgela Landsbury, and I wondered if his character wasn't trying to actively court Jessica Fletcher.

The clip from "My World & Welcome To It", seemed amusing but I think it would have been better suited as a film rather than a regular series. In some ways it seems like a blend of shows that followed like "Dave's World", "Herman's Head" and "Dream On". Definitely ahead of its time.

magicdog said...

Addendum:

I got through watching a full episode of "My World & Welcome To It", and darn if this show isn't sharp, witty and funny! Not to mention the premise (it was a Christmas episode) was very relevant even 40+ years later!

Definitely a well done show that deserved more love from the networks. I think Thurber was the Mark Twain of the 20th century!

hobbyfan said...

I think it was one of Sheldon Leonard's last sales to NBC. Decent show.