Also, on the subject of guest stars, can someone who saw TMS in it's first run fill me in on something: Were alot of the stars A-listers at the time? There are alot of names that are still around, but alot of the guest stars are only vaguely familiar and I have to google them.
Hmmm...I'm really not sure who the first breakout guest star on TMS was, Pepper, but I can give you a quick rundown on the stars in that first season, and what they were best known for when they did the show.
Jim Nabors - actor and singer; appeared on
The Andy Griffith Show and his own sitcom,
Gomer Pyle.
Sandy Duncan - stage, film and TV actress; appeared in Neil Simon's
The Star-Spangled Girl and the Disney flick
The Million Dollar Duck. Later she replaced fellow first-season guest Valerie Harper on the sitcom
Valerie's Family, renamed
The Hogan Family when Sandy came aboard. The show featured a young Jason Bateman.
Rita Moreno - Oscar, Emmy and Tony-Award winning actress who played Anita in the film version of
West Side Story, and was one of the regulars on
The Electric Company.
Ruth Buzzi - at the time, Buzzi was known as a Broadway actress, but she made her mark on pop culture as a regular on
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, a late 60s/early 70s sketch comedy show that featured then-unknowns such as Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin.
Joel Grey - Tony and Oscar-winning actor and singer, who appeared in the original Broadway version of
Cabaret (1966) as the Emcee, and reprised the role in the 1972 movie. In 1987, he played the role again in a revival of the show. Grey has appeared in film, and several other Broadway shows including
George M! (based on the life of Broadway legend George M. Cohan--the same figure played by James Cagney in the classic film
Yankee Doodle Dandy) and the 1996 Broadway revival of
Chicago.
Paul Williams - singer, composer and actor, Paul of course wrote tunes for
The Muppet Movie and
The Muppet Christmas Carol. When he appeared on the show, he had released several albums and had many of his songs covered by other artists, including "Old Fashioned Love Song" by Three Dog Night. Paul wrote several hits for the Carpenters, and appeared in films such as
The Loved One, Phantom of the Paradise and one of the last (if not
the last) sequels to
Planet of the Apes. Was also a regular on game shows.
Lena Horne - legendary singer whose career dates back to the 1930s.
Peter Ustinov - a supurb award-winning actor and playwright (among many other talents), Ustinov was one of the biggest guest stars of the first season.
Florence Henderson - Carol Brady, of course. But also a singer, actress and commercial spokesperson. Appeared in many musicals, including revivals of several Rodgers and Hammerstein classics.
Valerie Harper - sitcom star from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," whose character got her own spinoff, "Rhoda."
Candice Bergen - daughter of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, by '76, Candice was an established actress, playwright and photographer. She had recently appeared in
The Wind and the Lion prior to her TMS gig. Later headed her own sitcom, "Murphy Brown."
Bruce Forsyth - popular British entertainer who had been in the business almost 40 years by the time he did TMS, and he's still active today. Host of several popular game shows over the years, and was awarded the TV Times Male TV Personality of the Year Award four years in a row. Was also awarded the Greatest U.K. Game Show Host of All Time twice, and has other awards, including an O.B.E. The London Palladium has a bronze bust of Bruce.
Harvey Korman - comic actor whose most notable film role at the time was probably
Blazing Saddles. A regular on
The Carol Burnett Show.
Charles Aznavour - popular French singer and actor; appeared in the leading role in Francois Truffaut's
Shoot the Piano Player.
Ben Vereen - another award-winning actor and singer, Ben appeared in such musicals as
Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar (as Judas) and originated the role of the Player in
Pippin.
Vincent Price - stage and screen actor, who often played leading men before becoming a horror icon in the 1950s, with films such as
House of Wax, The Fly, The House on Haunted Hill, House of Usher, The Pit and the Pendulum, Theatre of Blood, The Abominable Dr. Phibes and more. Price was also a noted gourmet, and author of several cookbooks; he was also a serious collector of art, and shared his knowledge with the public through lectures and advice in magazines. Possibly season 1's biggest guest star, with almost 100 films to his credit.
Twiggy - iconic British model from the 1960s; broke into film with Ken Russell's musical
The Boy Friend.
Phyllis Diller - legendary stand-up comic, still active today; discovered by Bob Hope, whom she appeared with on stage and in film. Made many TV appearances.
Ethel Merman - Broadway belter, who starred in the original productions of
Anything Goes and
Gypsy, among others.
Connie Stevens - actress and singer from the 1950s/1960s.
Avery Schreiber - comedian, part of the comedy team Burns and Schreiber. The "Burns" is Jack Burns, head writer for the first season of the show.
Juliet Prowse - dancer and entertainer; work in film includes Elvis Presley's first post-Army flick,
G.I. Blues.
Kaye Ballard - actress and singer; a familiar face on sitcoms and game shows.
Mummenschanz - mime group.
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