We are an eBay affiliate and may be compensated for clicks on links that result in purchases.

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 alums were in the movie. The movie has become a Halloween classic. It is a good, clean comedy that can be enjoyed by young and old.

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. Griffith did not take any writing credit and was helping his friend.  One of his suggestions was to have the "Attaboy Luther" become a catchphrase used more than once. 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 film 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.  

In the comments below, you will find exemplars of every credited performer in the movie, with the exception of Jim Begg. Ones from Worthpoint are not mine and are cropped. Those are being shown for educational purposes. They are, for the most part, from the John Verzi collection.  

 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
Burt Mustin ... Mr. Deligondo
Al Checco ... Gaylord Patie witness for the defense
Lee Krieger ... Lester the process server
Teddy Quinn ... Boy getting Luther's autograph
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
Lillian Field ... Edna June Weems **
Everett Greenbaum ... Voice yelling "Attaboy Luther"  **
Joan Granville ... Waitress  **
Ella Edwards [Ella Raino] ... Cafe Cashier  **
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

Views: 1177

Replies to This Discussion

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.

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.

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.  

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

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

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

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. 

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

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...

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.

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

What a great actress.   She played the baby-sitter in a Munsters episode.  And , of course, Bufford Pusser's "mom" in Walking Tall. 

RSS

© 2024   Created by Steve Cyrkin, Admin.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Privacy Policy  |  Terms of Service