The One Thing I Hate About the Emmy’s

It never seems to fail.  I watch the Oscar’s and Emmy’s and inevitably  someone who I admired more then others has passed away and I didn’t know it.

Each time I find my jaw dropping and saying out loud, “oh no! not…”    And this year was no different.   I hate that in the midst of honoring actors that have given us joy with their talents and all the smiles …there always seems to have to be sad news.  Especially, when it “hits home” .

I am speaking of Harry Carey Jr. 

As a kid I grew up on television and in the early years of television was the almighty western.   Not only the regular shows like Roy Rogers or The Lone Ranger, but plenty of Western Movies….. especially John Ford Westerns , many who starred John Wayne.

John Ford had a group of actors he used for nearly all of his westerns… one such actor was Harry Carey Jr.

Fast forward a number of years and along comes The Mickey Mouse Club.  One of the mini series they aired for the mouseketeers was a little show called “Spin and Marty”  about a poor boy and a rich boy both sent to a camp that had horses and riding.  The head of the camp was none other than Harry Carey Jr.!  Boy how I loved that little series!  I was in love with the “poor little rich kid” called Marty, played by David Stollery.  Spin was played by Tim Considine. 

So while living in California and helping out at autograph shows..who shows up but Spin and Marty!!  OMG! When they said they would be back for the next show in 6 months I immediately called SAG (Screen Actors Guild) and got an address to write to Harry Carey Jr and sent him the photo’s I had taken of David and Tim and to let him know about the show in case it would interest him…  Well he wrote me back!   And he showed up at the next autograph show and was reunited with David and Tim.

He had his lovely wife Marilyn with him and we talked quite a bit.  He was very happy that I let him know about “the boys”.

(wow I had hair back then!)

I also bought the little book that Harry wrote called: Company of Heroes. 

(When Harry Carey, Sr., died in 1947, director John Ford cast Carey's twenty-six-year-old son, Harry, Jr., in the role of The Abilene Kid in 3 Godfathers. Ford and the elder Carey had filmed an earlier version of the story, and Ford dedicated the Technicolor remake to his memory.
Company of Heroes is the story of the making of that film, as well as the eight subsequent Ford classics. In it, Harry Carey, Jr., casts a remarkably observant eye on the process of filming Westerns by one of the true masters of the form. From She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and Wagonmaster to The Searchers and Cheyenne Autumn, he shows the care, tedium, challenge, and exhilaration of movie-making at its highest level. Carey's portrayal of John Ford at work is the most intimate ever written. He also gives us insightful and original portraits of the men and women who were part of Ford's vision of America: John Wayne, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Victor McLaglen, and Ben Johnson.
Funny, insightful, and brutally honest, Company of Heroes is a rip-roaring good read that presents the remarkable life story of Harry Carey, Jr., and his many fine performances.)

I enjoyed the book so much that when I finished it I dropped it off for DeForest to read, who loved it even more since Harry described what San Fernando Valley and surrounding area was like back when he was making westerns also.

Inside are a number of photo’s of a young Harry Carey Jr with John Wayne and the likes of the John Ford stable or actors.

I am sorry I didn’t know when he passed away instead of learning it on the Emmy’s.. but either way I will miss him and I am glad I had the opportunity to meet Harry and his wife and to spend just a little quality time getting to know him.

If you missed the part where they list (some) who passed since the last Emmy’s here is the list that they showed last night.

David Frost
Dennis Farina
Annette Funicello
Eydie Gorme
Dale Robertson
Larry Hagman
Leslie Frankenheimer (set decorator)
Conrad Bain
Maxine Stuart
Lee Thompson Young
Preston Davis (television executive)
Alan Kirschenbaum (writer, producer)
James Loper (ATAS executive director)
Lou Myers
Milo O'Shea
Fran Bascom (casting director)
Lois Smith (publicist)
Roger Ebert
Emily Squires (director, writer)
Bonnie Dore (producer)
Eileen Brennan
Bonnie Franklin
Russell Means
Milt Hoffman (producer)
Jack Shea (director, producer)
Jeanne Cooper
Allan Arbus
Henry Bromell (writer, producer, director, "Homeland")
David Connell
Charles Durning
Richard Matheson
Harry Carey Jr.
Ken Venturi
Pat Summerall
Steve Sabol
Alex Karras
Jack Klugman
Jenni Rivera
Eddie Michaels (publicist)
Michael Ansara
Charles Lisanby (art director)
Fay Kanin (writer, producer)
Emanuel Steward (sportscaster)
Ray Dolby (electronics pioneer)
Julie Harris
Deborah Raffin
Patti Page
Andy Williams