Danny Thomas Show: Cast Photo - Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries

You should be a very happy woman-you're beautiful, you got a nice home, three great kids, a husband that adores you. That oughta be enough for any gal.

--Danny Williams to his wife, Kathy

The Danny Thomas Show ( aka Make Room For Daddy), one of the longest family sitcoms of all time ran from September 1953 until September 1964 on ABC and CBS.

One of the few situation comedies to last more than a decade, Make Room For Daddy ( as it was originally called), starred Danny Thonas, a nightclub singer and comedian whose first major exposure on television had been as one of the hosts of NBC's All Star Review. His nightclub routine was a flop on tv, as a result of which he blasted the new medium as being suitable " only for idiots" and vowed never to return. But return he did in 1953 with one of the longest running family comedies of the 1950's and 1960's.

Make Room For Daddy was a reflection of Danny's own life as an entertainer and the problem's created by his frequent absences from his children. The title came from a phrase used in the real life Thomas household; whenever Danny returned home from a tour, his children had to shift bedrooms to " make room for Daddy." In the series, Danny played nightclub entertainer Danny Williams, a sometimes loud but ultimately soft hearted lord of the household who was constantly being upstaged by his bratty but lovable kids. The kids were at the outset, 6 year old Rusty ( Rusty Hamer), and 11 year old Terry ( Sherry Jackson). Jean Hagen played Danny's loving wife Margaret.

A number of major changes took place as the show matured. In 1956, Jean Hagen quit. Instead of replacing her, Danny had her written out of the show as having died ( Margaret Williams was the first sitcom character to ever be killed off a sitcom). In the fall of 1956 the title of the show was changed to The Danny Thomas Show. During the 1956-1957 season, Danny courted many eligible women-with frequent assistance from the kids. In the spring of 1957, Marjorie Lord was introduced as Kathy O'Hara, a widowed nurse who came to take care of Rusty when he contracted the measles. She fell in love with Danny and he eventually proposed to her. The wedding did not take place on the show, but when the program returned in the fall of 1957 ( now on CBS), Danny and Kathy were just returning from their honeymoon and little Linda ( Angela Cartwright), Kathy's daughter by a previous marriage( her name had been Patty before then and was then played by Lelani Sorenson), had joined the Williams household.

Sherry Jackson left the cast in 1958. At first the character she played Terry was supposed to be away at school but in 1959, a new actress assumed the role. Terry then had a season long courtship with a young nighclub performer named Pat Hannigan ( Pat Harrington, Jr), whom she eventually married. Terry then left the household for good.

A number of other youngsters also passed through the series including Gina (Annette Funicello), a foreign exchange student living in the Williams home. Piccola Pupa, a young Italian singer discovered by Danny was also seen in a few episodes.Other regulars included a succession of Danny's agents, the first played by Horace McMahon, later ones by Jesse White-who simultaneously was appearing as the agent on Private Secretary-and Sheldon Leonard( Leonard was the real life producer of The Danny Thomas Show and had appeared in 1953 episodes as Danny's masseur). Benny (Ben Lessy), was Danny's original accompanist; Louise( Louise Beavers and later Amanda Randolph), the family housekeeper; and Charley Halper ( Sid Melton), the owner of the Copa Club where Danny Williams frequently performed. Charley's wife Bunny played by Pat Carroll also appeared occasionally.

No doubt the most memorable regular was Hans Conried in the role of Uncle Tonoose, eccentric patriarch of the Williams family. Conried had previously been seen in several guest roles on the show, including those of ne're do well Uncle Carl , Uncle Oscar and visiting Derek Campbell and he turned up as Tonoose as early as 1956. The role was perfect and he continued to appear in it periodically for the rest of the series run. Others who made guest appearances were songwriter Harry Ruby as himself, Bill Dana as Jose Jiminez, the elevator operator and many top names from the entertainment world including Jack Benny, Dean Martin, Bob Hope, Milton Berle, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Jimmy Durante, Shirley Jones, Tony Bennett, and even Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz as Lucy and Ricky Ricardo ( Lucy and Desi's Desilu Productions produced the show).

One episode turned out to be the pilot for The Andy Griffith Show in which Danny found himself under arrest for speeding in the town of Mayberry N.C., when he was on vacation with his family. Also such guests as Bill Dana and Joey Bishop got their own shows after appearances on The Danny Thomas Show. Bill Dana reprised his role of Jose Jininez from The Steve Allen Show and NBC gave him his own show in 1963 and it lasted until 1965. Joey Bishop got The Joey Bishop Show which lasted on NBC and later CBS and ran from 1961 -1965.

Ultimately a weary Danny Thomas, by now he had entered the ranks of the showbiz beloved, working tirelessly for a personal cause, St. Jude's Hospital for children in Memphis-decided to call it quits and the show ended in 1964. The Danny Thomas Show was syndicated under it's original title Make Room For Daddy. The early seasons with Jean Hagen have not been offered for syndication ( and haven't been seen nationally since the early 1960's). Also the episodes from the 10th season dealing with the Williams European vacation are not in the syndicated package.

Many of the principals were reunited in 2 specials aired in 1967 and 1969. By now son Rusty, newly graduated from college had married the daughter of his army colonel. In 1970 the crew reappeared in a new sitcom, Make Room For Grandaddy which lasted just one season

One sad note was the fate of child actor Rusty Hamer who had played Rusty. After the cancellation of Make Room For Grandaddy, he had a hard time finding work and his life quickly fell apart. He spiraled into deep depression, alcohol and poverty that led to an increasingly violent and delusional state. He shot himself to death in 1990 at the age of 52, another lost child star who met a sad, untimely end.

An Article From Time Magazine

The Treacle Cutter
Monday, Apr. 21, 1958 Article

"A year ago my show was 137th in the Nielsen ratings," observed TV Comic Danny Thomas last week. "Today it's in the top ten. What can I do after that?" Actually, there were only 118 shows on the networks' evening air last May when Thomas' Make Room for Daddy squatted a miserable eleventh from the bottom, a position to which Thomas had become accustomed in the show's four years on ABC. Today Danny averages some 44 million televiewers, is topped only by the two mighty westerns, Gunsmoke and Tales of Wells Fargo.

In its year on CBS The Danny Thomas Show has benefited from a better time slot (Mon. 9 p.m., E.S.T.) and higher exposure (93 more stations than it had on ABC). But more important in Danny's rise from Nielsen's nowhere is that CBS's Danny has quit striving for gags that were foreign to its situations or strained for premises to justify its jokes. Says Thomas: "Comedy just for comedy's sake is barking up the wrong cliche. Comedy has to come out of the situation to have any staying power."

Two Worlds. Thomas' TV self is Danny Williams, nightclub funnyman, father of two and harassed battler for his patriarchal rights. Says Thomas candidly: "The show is one cliche after another. Family life is that way. When we're corny, we don't let it get too far. We use what I call treacle cutters. For instance, the boy gets sore and runs away from home and tries to enroll himself in the orphan asylum as Elvis Earp. I find him and I take him in my arms and we make up and we talk about how we're going to go out and get doubledeck hamburgers and big malted milks and then we'll go to the movies and then we'll have a soda. And then I say, 'And then we'll go home and I'll break every bone in your body.' That's the treacle cutter."

His TV role as a show-business type permits Thomas the best of two possible worlds—the homy and the glamorous. Such notables as Bob Hope, Dean Martin and Hans Conried have dropped in on the noisy confusion of Danny Williams' family, promptly found themselves entangled in its small wars. Hope stirred Father Danny to unworthy jealousy by offering to appear in a benefit show that Danny planned to star in (at show's end, Danny properly repented his pettiness). Crooner Martin was hauled in to make the point that bobby-soxers "collect" crushes, and crushes are not to be confused with true love.

"Your Sorrow Unmasked." Born 44 years ago as Amos Joseph Alphonsus Jacobs, Danny Thomas was the fifth of ten children of a Lebanese immigrant laborer who, back in Toledo, often sold candy to make ends meet. Appropriately, Danny's first taste of show business was as a candy butcher in a burlesque house. Before long, he was onstage, hamming it up in radio and nightclubs. In 1936 he married a Detroit radio singer named Rosemarie Mantell, today has three children of his own.

In the long years that Thomas was away playing the club circuit, his kids thought of him as almost legendary "Uncle Daddy," greeted his infrequent returns with "Make room for Daddy!" Remembers Danny: "Daddy was just a picture on the piano. The clothes I brought to them were all too small by the time I got them there." The last straw came when his daughter wrote a theme in high school ending: "What's so good about tomorrow? . . . My father is away all the time, working so that we'll be secure tomorrow, but by the time he does that we'll be grown up and gone away."

Danny called on a producer, explained his problem, begged him to find something that would keep him at home. The producer, who recognized a televisable situation when he heard one, devised the show on the spot.

Thomas is now a resolute homebody (Beverly Hills and Palm Springs), occupies himself, off-camera, in remodeling his Beverly Hills manse (cost: about $250,000 so far), or puttering with power tools. A Roman Catholic of the Maronite rite, Thomas has devoted much time in recent years to raising money for a children's hospital in Memphis, Tenn. (for incurable patients), already has pledges of $1,300,000 out of a hoped-for $2,000,000.

Danny looks like a weird blend of Napoleon and Fiorello H. LaGuardia, sings as cornily as Al Jolson did, speaks as if he forgot to gargle before keynoting a dockers' meeting. His trademark is his preposterous nose ("If you're going to have a nose, you ought to have a real one"). But the U.S.'s currently favorite tele-comedian, boasting no single towering talent, succeeds as a funnyman mostly because his humor seems to well up from a sizable heart. Or, as Danny Thomas puts it, citing his favorite philosopher, Lebanese Mystic Kahlil (The Prophet) Gibran: "Comedy and tragedy aren't very far apart. Like Gibran says, 'Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.' "

Rusty Hamers' Obituary

Rusty Hamer, Actor, 42

AP
Published: January 20, 1990

Rusty Hamer, a child actor in the television series ''Make Room for Daddy'' in the 1950's and 60's, was found dead of a gunshot wound in his home on Thursday. He was 42 years old.

Mr. Hamer apparently shot himself in the head, the Sheriff's Office said.

On the television series, Mr. Hamer was cast as the son of Danny Thomas, who played a nightclub singer and comedian. In a sequel to the series in 1970-71, ''Make Room for Granddaddy,'' Mr. Hamer played a married medical student.

He is survived by a brother, John, of De Ridder.

Danny Thomas Obituary

Heart attack claims Danny Thomas at 77

February 6, 1991

Los Angeles ( AP)-Emmy Award-winning actor-comedian Danny Thomas, star of the popular television series " Make Room for Daddy" and benefactor of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, died today at the age of 77.

Thomas was pronounced dead earlier today at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center about a half hour after he suffered a heart attack at his Beverly Hills home, said hospital spokesman Ron Wise.

Thomas made a guest appearance on Saturday's episode of the series " Empty Nest" as an aging physician. He appeared to be in good health and recently completed a tour promoting his new book, " Make Room for Danny," said Norman Brokaw, chairman and chief executive officer of the William Morris Agency.

" Its hard to believe. He really wasn't sick," said Brokaw, Thomas' longtime agent.

Comedian Alan King, who said he heard about Danny Thomas when he was growing up in Chicago , said Thomas was " a very warm comedian."

Thomas' daughter, actress Marlo Thomas, is married to talk show host Phil Donahue. She was the star of her own comedy series, " That Girl," which ran from 1966 to 1971.

Thomas once said that good comedy could be summed up as " problems." He explained: " Give them problems the audience can identify with and people will care."

" Make Room for Daddy," renamed " The Danny Thomas Show" after its first three seasons was one of the longest running family comedies, running from 1953 to 1964. Thomas played a nightclub singer and comedian, Danny Williams.

Thomas founded St. Jude Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., im 1962 and regularly made appearances on behalf of the hospital. It is a leading research center dedicated to finding cures for children's cancer and other catastrophic children's diseases.

To see Danny Thomas's grave go to http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2419