PR 2006 Apr U2
Media Contact: Paul Looney
Alabama Stage & Screen Hall of Fame
205.391.2277
205.752.3088
205.617.2979 cell
Please Note: Artist Bios Follow
Hall of Fame to Celebrate Inductee Jim Nabors with "Mayberry Variety Show"
Tuscaloosa, Ala. - The Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame, sponsored by Theatre Tuscaloosa and Shelton State Community College, will celebrate Jim Nabors' "Mayberry Roots" on Friday, April 21 with a "Mayberry Variety Show" to be held in the Umphrey Center of Shelton State Community College at 9500 Old Greensboro Road in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
The "Mayberry Variety Show" will kick-off the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame weekend with performances by Ronnie Schell who appeared opposite Nabors as "Duke Slater" in "Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.," Barbara Stuart who played "Miss Bunny," Sgt. Carter's girlfriend in "Gomer Pyle, "
Elizabeth MacRae, Gomer Pyle's girlfriend, "Lou Ann Poovie," Maggie Peterson who played "Charlene Darling" of "The Darling Family" on "The Andy Griffith" show and also appeared in "Gomer Pyle USMC" and David Browning, who has made over 5,000 appearances as "Mayberry Deputy," including appearing at the Grand Ole Opry. The Dillards, who appeared as "The Darlin Family" on many episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show" will also perform as well as tribute artists "Floyd," "Howard T. Sprague," "Otis," "Opie" and others.
"The Mayberry Variety Show" will feature all the performers in a romp as 'Barney' tries to emcee a variety show," said Paul Looney, Executive Director of the Alabama Stage and Screen Hall of Fame. "The evening will include music, comedy sketches, stand-up, mountain music by the Darlings, stories and anecdotes. It is a perfect evening for Mayberry lovers of all ages."
Organized in honor of Jim Nabors' induction into the Hall of Fame on April 22 along with Rick Bernstein, Executive Producer and Senior Vice President of HBO Sports, the Mayberry Variety Show is a major part of a weekend filled with activities honoring the famous Alabamans.
At the formal induction on Saturday evening, April 22, actress and comedian Brett Butler, herself a 2004 Hall of Fame Inductee, will entertain with her standup comedy.
Looney said, "While the Saturday evening event is 'black-tie,' Friday night's variety show is strictly overalls and blue jeans."
Following the Mayberry Variety Show performance, the stars will be available for autographs.
As The Mayberry Confidential, the newsletter of the Mount Airy, North Carolina, Mayberry Festival, says: "Mayberry is that wonderful mindset for each of us where wrongs are righted, the food is all home-cooked, life is simple, the rocking chairs are waiting on the porch and, best of all, people are welcomed and made to feel at home when they visit."
Tickets for the Mayberry Variety Show on April 21 at 7:30 P.M. are $25 each. All seating is general admission and tickets may be purchased by calling the Theatre Tuscaloosa box office at 205/391-2277.
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MAYBERRY VARIETY SHOW
ARTIST BIOS
David Browning
"The Mayberry Deputy", "Abe Lincoln" and "Ebenezer Scrooge" are just a few
of the aliases of David Browning from Bristol, Virginia. As an
impersonator, improvisational master and speaker, Browning uses costuming,
gestures, facial expressions and audience participation to bring out the
flavor of the characters and to provide an atmosphere of good, clean fun. He
provides a bit of Americana, which is worth preserving and celebrating.
"The Mayberry Deputy" is the most noted of his characters and started in
1988 when a friend of Browning hired The Dillards, known to watchers of "The
Andy Griffith Show" as the "Darling boys", to play bluegrass music in
Bristol, Tennessee. Browning, who started out in community theatre, put
together a "Barney Fife" type act based on a sense of recall, since Browning
has seen all the Mayberry shows at one time or another, which made that
first performance a hit. At that time, he discovered that he could make a
statement as David Browning that was not funny at all but the same statement
made in uniform as "The Mayberry Deputy" had audiences falling out of their
seats.
Soon after, Browning was asked by "The Andy Griffith Show" Rerun Watchers
Club (TAGSRWC) to perform at a Mayberry Reunion held at Opryland in
Nashville, Tennessee. TAGSRWC founder, Jim Clark, saw Browning's act and
began mentioning his name across the country. Browning has been embraced as
"The Mayberry Deputy" by small and large groups in 35 states with continued
referrals and request every where he goes.
Maggie Peterson
Margaret Ann "Maggie" Peterson was born in the gentle town of Greeley,
Colorado. She is the fourth child of Arthur E., a general practice doctor,
and Tressa Hill Peterson.
"Music was always a part of our home," Peterson remembers. "When my brother
Jim found an old broken banjo under Daddy's bed in Polk, Nebraska, he
started playing and fell in love with it." The kids soon found their
mother's old ukulele, and soon the seeds of their first band were planted.
Two of Jim's pals, Gordan Ellinger and Don Royer, began to play music with
him regularly. They settled into a Dixieland style, harking back to a
Roaring Twenties sound, with Jim on banjo, Gordon on drums, Don on piano and
Peterson on the stairway. The boys thought she was too young to perform, so
she was left to sing to herself on stairs while the boys practiced in a
nearby room. Finally at age 12, Peterson joined the Group billed as the
Ja-Da Quartet. They traveled in a red pickup truck with Peterson riding in
the back with the instruments.
Around 1954, at a Capitol Records convention, Dick Linke heard Peterson sing
and was impressed with her and encouraged her to look him up if she was ever
in New York. In 1958 she did just that. The group was on the Perry Como Show
and Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom and in 1959 released their album It's the Most
Happy Sound. The boys decided to go back home and Peterson went back for a
while but returned to N.Y. and joined a new group. They traveled for several
years in resort areas such as Las Vegas, Tahoe, Reno, etc. On that tour
Peterson was discovered by The Andy Griffith Show director Bob Sweeney and
producer Aaron Ruben. The rest is history. Maggie Peterson became the
beloved Charlene Darling.
She has appeared on other TV shows such as "Green Acres," "Gomer Pyle,
U.S.M.C.," "The Odd Couple" and more. She has appeared in movies with Andy
Griffith and Don Knotts. She has enjoyed working in Nevada as a location
scout for big screen movies such as "Rain Man," "Casino," "Honeymoon in
Vegas" and others.
Ronnie Schell
Born and Raised in Richmond, California, Ronnie remembers starting his
performing days at eight years old during the family's many late night
parties. "They'd get me out of bed to entertain on the piano at two in the
morning," he laughed.
Always the class clown, Schell was kicked out of school several times for
his outrageous behavior. Despite this comic behavior, his desire was not to
be a performer, but rather to be a professional baseball player. He played
semi-pro baseball before deciding to join the Air Force.
While in the Air Force, he began touring bases in an Air Force variety show.
Schell went on to travel with the Air Force dance band, "The Airmen of
Note," as an emcee and comedian.
When Schell finished his tour of duty he decided he was too old to be a
ballplayer and enrolled in San Francisco State University. There he
developed a comedy routine with a friend which turned into a five month
stint in a San Francisco nightclub called The Purple Onion.
Eventually, he decided he'd rather be on his own, and he spent three years
on tour opening for The Kingston Trio and other numerous singers in Las
Vegas. While performing at the Hacienda his manager called and said they
were looking for someone to play "Gomer's best friend" on a new show
starring Jim Nabors.
Schell got the part of "Duke Slater" on "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C." and his
television career was born. This part lasted until 1969, with a brief break
in 1967, when Schell tried his hand at another show. Schell and Goldie Hawn
starred in their own series, "Good Morning, World," for one season in 1967.
He can still remember telling Goldie that she was never going to make it as
an actress, because she didn't rehearse hard enough. "Three years later she
was accepting an Oscar for 'Cactus Flower' and I was playing the Colony Club
in Omaha," laughs Schell.
His own career has been non-stop and he prides himself that he has never
been out of work more than three weeks over the last 30 years. In addition
to his film and television performances, Schell's voice can be heard in
numerous radio and TV ads for everything from Campbell's Soup to Kemp's Ice
Cream. Ronnie's voice can also be heard on numerous cartoon series for
Hanna-Barbara and he has also co-starred voice-wise in the full length
cartoon motion pictures, "Jetsons, The Movie" and "Rover Dangerfield."
His films include: "Fatal Instinct," directed by Carl Reiner and "Revenge of
the Red Baron," with Mickey Rooney and Laraine Newman. Schell also
co-starred in a comedy video with Tim Conway called, "Dorf Goes Fishing."
Besides appearing on "The Andy Griffith Show" and as a regular on "The Jim
Nabor's Hour," Schell's television appearances include co-starring for three
years as Marlo Thomas' agent "Harvey Peck" on ABC's "That Girl" and guest
starring on top rated TV series like "General Hospital," "Yes, Dear" and
"Coach" to name a few.
Ronnie Schell and his wife Janet live in Los Angeles where for years he has
served as the honorary mayor of Encino, California.
Barbara Stuart
Barbara Stuart attended drama school at the "Schuster-Martin School of
Drama" in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded by Tyrone Power's aunt and then studied
in NYC with Uta Hagen and Stella Adler. In between shows, she modeled to pay
for acting classes. Her first big break was a national tour of "Lunatics and
Lovers" with Zero Mostel. This led to her first television series, playing
"Bessie" in "The Great Gildersleeve" based on the classic radio show,
"Fibber McGee and Molly".
Stuart went on to do several other television series. She's particularly
fond of three of them. "The Queen and I" with Larry Storch was the
forerunner of "The Loveboat." Our Family Honor" with Eli Wallach was an 80's
mafia series in which she played the wife of the Godfather. However, her
favorite television experience was on "Gomer Pyle" playing "Miss Bunny,"
Sgt. Carter's girlfriend.
She guest-starred on scores of other television shows including: "The
Twilight Zone," "Perry Mason," "Rawhide," "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The
Andy Griffith Show," "Batman," "T.H.E. Cat," "Kung Fu," "Starsky and Hutch,"
"Trapper John, M.D.," "Taxi," "Quincy," "Three's Company," "New Love,
American Style," "L.A. Law," and "Nash Bridges". She also acted in such
films as, "Airplane," "Dreamer," "Hellfighters" with John Wayne, "Marines"
and "Let's Go" directed by Raoul Walsh. One of her favorite roles was
playing Tom Hanks' mother-in-law in "Bachelor Party".
She was married for many years to the actor, writer, and artist Dick
Gautier. Her pride and joy is a dollhouse he built for her which started her
interest in miniatures. She has three step-children.
Elizabeth MacRae
Actress Elizabeth MacRae appeared in several motion pictures and on many
television shows in the course of her acting career. Her movie roles include
appearances in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation," as well as parts
in "For Love or Money," "The Incredible Mr. Limpet," "Everything's Ducky"
and others. On television, for three seasons, she played Gomer Pyle's
girlfriend, Lou Ann Poovie, on "Gomer Pyle, USMC," and, for another three
seasons, she played Festus's girlfriend April on "Gunsmoke." She had guest
starring or co-starring roles on more than 50 television series, including
"Barnaby Jones," "Kojak," "Mannix," "The Fugitive," "Dr. Kildare," "Andy
Griffith," "I Dream of Jeannie," "77 Sunset Strip," "Surf Side 6" and
numerous other shows.
MacRae studied acting in New York City with Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof
Studio and at the Art Student's League. MacRae was born in Columbia, South
Carolina, and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She was educated at
the Holton Arms School in Washington, D.C.
The Dillards
Most people fondly remember the somber-faced, Bluegrass pickin', Darling
Brothers on the Andy Griffith Show. Rodney Dillard said, "I didn't want to
do the Andy Griffith Show, I was very much against it. I didn't want to do
the stereotypical hillbilly role, with pointed hats and no shoes and be
remembered for that. I'm glad we did the show though. We had fun and people
liked the Darlings. They (the Andy Griffith cast and crew) were real nice
people, never any yelling or fighting, everyone got along. Andy would hold
up production when we were on to pick with us."
When asked about the continued popularity of the show Rodney says, "I think
it's because of the gentle way everyone deals with each other. The way Andy
interacted with his son. We'd all like to believe that there is a Mayberry
out there somewhere."
The Dillards have much more to their credit than the Andy Griffith Show. In
addition to a long list of musical acclaim, they have influenced the likes
of the Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. They've played with such
greats as Elton John, Bob Dylan and Arlo Guthrie to name a few.