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Thursday, April 7, 2016

Friends of the Famous - F



Flipper, deemed the famous aquatic version of Lassie, was actually played by three different dolphins and filmed according to their varied talents such as close-up shots, athleticism and stunts. Incredibly cognizant, the dolphins enjoyed watching themselves when the popular Flipper TV show screened on air. All three dolphins lived with their friend and trainer Milton Santini, in the Florida Keys at a location now known as the Dolphin Research Center.

Fred, the avian hero and friend of Baretta in the undercover detective show (late seventies) starring Robert Blake, charmed the producers with his vast vocabulary when they were looking for more of a raven-type sidekick than a virtuoso cockatoo. Though he had a stunt-double for many of the flying scenes and was notorious for vicious bites, Fred won a PATSY award in both 1976 and 1977 and lived to be about seventy years old.

Redneck spoofing star of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Jeff Foxworthy doesn’t consider himself overly religious, but aside from Sunday Morning Worship he leads a Bible study group for homeless guys every Tuesday morning. What started out years ago as a group of about fifteen hopeful soul-seekers, now numbers over one hundred regular visitors.  Meanwhile, the Foxworthy family has had many pets, including dogs, cats and hamsters. He has but one bit of advice on cats and that is that because “they only throw up at night, right before you fall asleep,” you should always wear your slippers in the morning!




Succeeding the sitting president upon his sudden demise, Willard Fillmore became the 13th president of the United States in 1850; at which point his entire cabinet offered their resignations. Nonetheless, the last president (to date) not affiliated with either the Republican or Democratic parties, managed to serve out the remaining three years of his predecessor’s term during the height of the ongoing slavery crisis and facilitate the finalizing of the much- debated passing of the Compromise Act of 1850; a major concession by both parties.  Perhaps in reference to the debate or simply wry humor, Fillmore named his two ponies Mason and Dixon.


Have you ever met a dolphin, or named a pet after an event or personal persuasion? Do your pets ever get the sneaky sickies?

8 comments:

  1. Hi, dear Diedre!

    It's an amazing piece of trivia that the dolphins that appeared in the TV series Flipper actually enjoyed watching their performances on the show. I watched Baretta regularly. I already knew Robert Blake from his prominent role in the Our Gang series of short films in the late 30s and early 40s which played in syndication as The Little Rascals during my youth in the 50s and 60s. Having owned a parrot, I can testify that the bite of a large bird is not a pleasant experience. I can also relate to Jeff Foxworthy's advice about wearing slippers first thing in the morning because, invariably, a pet dog or cat will leave a messy surprise on the floor overnight. I once owned a Yorkshire Terrier. My real name being Tom (Thomas), Mrs. Shady #1 and I decided to name it after the popular baked product. We named our Yorkie "Thomas' English Muffin."

    Thank you, dear friend Diedre!

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    1. My friend, you never fail to dazzle me with your infinite knowledge of all things interesting;-) I must be a martian to not have known Robert Blake played in Our gang!
      I've never been bitten, but I do deem birds a bit untrustworthy - especially large ones. I love that some birds can talk and wonder how they feel about it, if it benefits them in any way other than enchanting humans.
      Thomas' English Muffin - I love it! I like the muffins too, but only with peanut butter;-)
      I'm glad you came by, dear Shady:-)

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  2. I suppose I could have used Flipper on my post today. Oh well, to late now.
    The closest thing I've ever had to a pet were two goldfish. They probably lived for about a month or two. I named them Kang and Kruge, which happens to be the name of two Klingons in Star Trek.

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    1. No worries, Jeffrey:-) I think your memorable choices garnered more interest;-)
      I had a couple of angel fish for a short time before they disappeared. None of the cats ever fessed up, so I guess we'll never know;-)
      Those pesky klingons were always trying to take over the Enterprise, weren't they?

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  3. I can see why animals are scene stealers, we love them so.
    Wouldn't it be nice to not have political parties. I am dreading the television ads for the general election. I may not watch television for awhile.

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    1. "Scene stealers", I like that:-) Honestly, Ann I don't know which is worse, the mud-slinging candidates or the clamoring media. I've drastically altered my news intake because of it. Thank goodness for METV, huh?

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  4. What a great theme. Lots of interesting tidbits.
    Suz from Stormy’s Sidekicks!
    Suzi's Ice Box Art

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