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THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN Autographs

THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN is my favorite Don Knotts movie and one of my all-time favorites. There is something about horror and comedy that mix well together. When Don Knotts left TAGS, he had a movie contract with Universal Studios. Of the movies, he made THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN had a very Mayberry feel to it. There is little wonder since some 20 TAGS alumni were in the movie.

When Don Knotts received the script, he knew there was a problem and called his old friend Andy Griffith. Andy read the script and agreed it needed rewriting even though it had been penned by TAGS writers James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum. With the improvements made by Griffith, they were able to begin the film. The director was Alan Rafkin, who had directed over 25 TAGS episodes.

The main credited cast is given below, along with others. I have not included every non-speaking extra IMDB says was in the movie. The uncredited ones I list below had a notable part in the movie or a speaking role. At the end are "extras" who also appeared on The Andy Griffith Show. There are 20 people in the credits of the movie. Of those, eight also appeared on TAGS. The first ten listed appear in both the opening and closing credits.

When a ** appears after the name, that means an exemplar is requested.

[CREDITED CAST]

Don Knotts ...Luther Heggs
Joan Staley ...Alma Parker
Liam Redmond ...Kelsey
Dick Sargent ...George Beckett
Skip Homeier ...Ollie Weaver
Reta Shaw ...Mrs. Halycon Maxwell
Lurene Tuttle ... Mrs. Natalie Miller
Phil Ober ... Nicholas Simmons
Harry Hickox... Police Chief Art Fuller
Charles Lane ... Plaintiff's Attorney Whitlow
Jesslyn Fax ... Mrs. Hutchinson **
Nydia Westman ... Mrs. Cobb
George Chandler ... Judge Harley Nast
Robert Cornthwaite ... Defense Attorney Springer
James Begg ... Police Officer Herkie **
Sandra Gould ... Loretta Pine
James Millhollin ... Mr. Milo Maxwell
Cliff Norton ... Charlie the Bailiff
Ellen Corby Miss Neva Tremaine
Jim Boles ... Billy Ray Fox

[UNCREDITED ROLES]

Hope Summers ... Susanna Blush
Hal Smith ... Calver Weems
J. Edward McKinley ... Mayor Preston
Al Checco ... Gaylord Patie witness for the defense
Burt Mustin ... Mr. Deligondo
Lee Krieger ... Lester the process server
Eddie Quillan ... Elevator operator
Bern Hoffman ... Big man friend of Billy Ray Fox
Adair Jameson ... Eileen secretary to Mr. Maxwell.
Dick Wilson ... Band leader at picnic
Harry Hines ... Bum at the picnic "I'm Rotary."
Jimmie Horan ... Observer on the street
Herbie Faye ... Man sitting at Alma's table in Cafe
Everett Greenbaum ... Voice yelling "Attaboy Luther" **
Lillian Field ... Edna June Weems **
Joan Granville ... Waitress **
Ella Edwards [Ella Raino] ... Cafe Cashier **
Teddy Quinn ... Boy getting Luther's autograph **
Ruth Thom ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Maxine Semon ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Dorothy Keller ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Florence Lake ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Margaret Wheeler ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Dorothy Love ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Ceil Cabot ... Psychic Occult Society Member **
Phil Arnold ... Jury Foreman **
Michael Jeffers ... Spectator at trial

Tags: Burt, Don, Joan, Knotts, Mustin, Ober, Phil, Staley

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 12, 2022 at 5:29pm

You are correct Christopher he was in one of the 1990 Columbo episodes "Uneasy Lies the Crown." I only vaguely recall that episode because I only saw those when they first ran. I do not think I ever got the dvds of the later series. I met Gary Conway a couple years ago he was "killed" by Donald Plesance in my second favorite Columbo. My favorite is the Ruth Gordon one.

Permalink Reply by CJCollector on November 12, 2022 at 5:32pm

Yes Gary "Land Of The Giants" Conway. I believe it was a Sunday night series that aired at 7PM on ABC. I still watch it on METV.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 9, 2022 at 6:09am

SKIP HOMEIER (1930-2017) started as a child actor in the 1940s. Fans of the original Star Trek series will recognize him as "Dr. Sevrin" in "The Way to Eden" episode. He previously did an episode of Star Trek titled "Patterns of Force." In the 1950s, he appeared on many television shows, mostly in dramatic roles. By 1960 he had given his television show, the short-lived police drama Dan Raven. Homeier played Lt. Dan Raven. He had notable performances in The Addams Family (with Don Rickles), The Outer Limits , and many others. Homeier plays the somewhat disagreeable Ollie Weaver the nemesis of Don Knotts's character.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 9, 2022 at 7:00am

SKIP HOMEIER signed as "G. V. Homeier" his name was George Vincent. Many thanks to DWSMcGraph for sharing this for this study.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 9, 2022 at 9:36am

SKIP HOMEIER, his Star Trek collector's card signed late in his life.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 23, 2022 at 4:08pm

The vintage green index card was from the John "Jon" Verzi collection.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 10, 2022 at 4:55am

RETA SHAW (1912-1982) was a wonderful character actress who often played tough domineering women. She was in such movies as Mary Poppins. She is best known on television in shows such as I Dream of Jeannie, The Lucy Show, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, The Odd Couple, and two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show. Her last role was in Disney's Escape to Witch Mountain. She had four appearances on Bewitched as Aunt Hagatha and two as Bertha. She portrayed Mrs. Halycon Maxwell the leader of the Psychic and Occult Society and the majority stockholder in her husband's bank. She is a scarce and popular autograph among collectors. Her first big role was "Aunt Lil" on the Wally Cox television show Mr. Peepers from 1953-1955. This is an especially nice one early in her career when she had her breakthrough role in the Broadway play "Picnic." It was signed on the reverse by Eileen Heckart, another actress from the play. Shaw reprised her role in the 1955 movie PICNIC.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 10, 2022 at 9:05am

RETA SHAW with Harry Hickox (Chief Fuller) outside the haunted Simmons mansion.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 23, 2022 at 4:14pm

RETA SHAW here is a link to a discussion I started in 2017 about an autographed photograph selling .

RETA SHAW Autographed Photograph Sells for Remarkable Price! - Auto...

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on November 10, 2022 at 12:03pm

LURENE TUTTLE (1907-1986) was a delightful character actress who appeared in movies and television from the 1930s until she died in 1986. She was in such diverse television shows as The Twilight Zone, The Munsters, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Leave it to Beaver, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, Alice, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Wagon Train, Gunsmoke, Little House on the Praire and many others. She was, of course, in two episodes of TAGS. On the big screen, she could be seen in everything from PSYCHO to MR. BLANDINGS BUILDS HIS DREAM HOUSE with Cary Grant. Playing against type, she was the star of the 1960 MA BARKER'S KILLER BROOD, as the title character, the machine gun-toting Mama. In the GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN Tuttle plays the motherly landlady of Don Knotts.

Permalink Reply by Scott Paul on December 8, 2022 at 8:14am

LURENE TUTTLE this is an 8x10 color photograph from what was originally Ron Johnson's collection.