Episode Three - Julie with Ken Berry and Jack Cassidy

Forty years ago, September 27, 1972….

Dressed as Carol Burnett’s char lady, carrying a mop and pail, Julie Andrews walks onstage, begins to mop the floor, and then seats herself on the bucket. So begins the third episode of The Julie Andrews Hour. This entrance, of course, was a nod to Julie’s good friend, Carol Burnett.

The opening scene changes as eight male dancers arrive, telling Julie that what she’s doing has “been done.” “That’s Been Done” is an intricate musical sketch of interwoven clips showing Julie, her dancers, historic clips, and comedy bits by Rich Little, who plays everyone from Jack Benny, Johnny Cash and Johnny Carson to Walter Brennan.

The guest stars for Episode Three are actor/song and dance man Ken Berry and Broadway musical actor, Jack Cassidy, who it is said was nominated for as many Tony Awards as anyone in history. The show is a fun and beautiful tribute to the musicals of the 1930s. Watching the show once again today brought a smile to my face. It seems even more wonderful now than it did in 1972.

“It was a beautiful, elegant show,” Ken Berry said recently when speaking of The Julie Andrews Hour. “Julie was a sweetheart to work with.”

Berry was invited to be on the show, partly because of his association with Julie’s good friend, Carol Burnett, whose show he appeared on frequently.

During the first half of the show, Julie and Ken pay tribute to the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films of the 1930s with a compendium sketch of their films. Once Julie and Ken step onto the set of their 1930s story, it’s beautiful music, wonderful dancing, gorgeous costumes and fun, fun, fun! 

As Ken Berry walks across the floor with that Fred Astaire saunter that no one else has duplicated, we are taken by his ability and charm. He and Julie dance beautifully together. The sketch is pure joy. When I commented to Mr. Berry recently on what a wonderful song and dance man he was, he told me some interesting stories about his life.

Born on November 3^rd, 1933 in Moline, Illinois, Berry knew by the time he was twelve years old that he wanted to be a dancer. Those years of his youth were the time of the movie musical. He spent a lot of time watching Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly on the big screen.

While Ken Berry was the all American guy, “a gentleman,” as choreographer Tony Charmoli called him, Jack Cassidy was full of “pranks.” In the second half of the show, Jack Cassidy appears as a very flamboyant Florenz Ziegfeld, the legendary showman of the “Great White Way,” before Broadway was Broadway. 

Julie plays an aspiring performer, and Alice Ghostly appears as the tragic, yet comic widow of a magician. Rich Little also appears as a young George Burns (as well as Jack Benny), trying to get hired by Ziegfeld.

Jack Cassidy was born in Richmond Hill, New York on March 5, 1927. He had a very successful career on Broadway, winning Best Featured Actor for the musical, She Loves Me in 1964. His catalog of work on television and film is tremendous.

Jack Cassidy married Shirley Jones in 1956. In 1972, Shirley and Jack’s son by his first wife, David Cassidy, were working together on the very popular television series, The Partridge Family. Jack and Shirley had three sons together.

Julie Andrews’ musical numbers with Jack Cassidy are classic. Cassidy, with his Broadway energy, style, and over the top characterization make for a great show.

About working with Julie, Ken Berry expressed what a great experience it was, adding. “She was so beautiful. I will never forget working with her.”

Ken Berry and Julie Andrews in a musical number from
the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers tribute.
l. to r. Jerry Trent, Walter Stratton, Wayne Dugger,
Gary Menteer, Ken Berry, Julie, Kate Kahn, Sally Mason,
Jude Von Wormer (courtesy Jerry Trent)

At the conclusion of the show, Julie, Ken and Jack sing a medley of old songs tied together by the more modern, “Just an Old Fashioned Love Song.” I. This medley would make a great addition to an album of Julie Andrews Hour songs.

There are many elements to this show I have not mentioned here, including three beautiful solos by Julie (I adore Tulip Time where Julie is dressed as a Dutch girl and she and the chorus dance in wooden shoes). There is also a great sketch with Alice Ghostly playing a housewife in curlers, who fantasizes about Humphrey Bogart, (played by Rich Little) as her ideal man.

Jack Cassidy would appear on two more Julie Andrews Hour shows. Ken Berry was invited back, but at the time they wanted him, he was not available. “I had a contract and I just couldn’t get out of it,” he said regretfully.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Berry

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Cassidy

ALL PHOTOS HERE FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY.

Coming next – Happy Birthday, Julie!