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Sid Melton

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Sid Melton
Melton as Charlie Halper in The Danny Thomas Show (1963)
Born
Sidney Meltzer[1]

(1917-05-22)May 22, 1917
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 2, 2011(2011-11-02) (aged 94)
Burbank, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1939–2001

Sidney Meltzer (May 22, 1917 – November 2, 2011), known professionally as Sid Melton, was an American actor.[2] He played the roles of incompetent carpenter Alf Monroe in the CBS sitcom Green Acres and Uncle Charlie Halper, proprietor of the Copa Club, in The Danny Thomas Show and its spin-offs.[2][1] He appeared in about 140 film and television projects in a career that spanned nearly 60 years. Among his most famous films were Lost Continent with Cesar Romero, The Steel Helmet with Gene Evans and Robert Hutton, The Lemon Drop Kid with Bob Hope, and Lady Sings The Blues with Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams. He was a regular on The Danny Thomas Show and Green Acres, and appeared in flashback on several episodes of The Golden Girls as Salvadore Petrillo, the long-dead husband of Sophia (played by Estelle Getty)[1] and father of Dorothy (played by Beatrice Arthur).[3]

Early life and family

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Sidney Meltzer[1][4] was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. His father was Isidor Meltzer, a Yiddish theater comedian.[1] His brother Lewis Meltzer became a screenwriter.[4] Sid was known for his short stature, 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m).[2]

Career

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Sid Melton made his stage debut in a 1939 touring production of See My Lawyer. Sid's brother Lewis was a screenplay writer in Hollywood and had connections "in the industry," which led to Sid being cast as Fingers in Shadow of the Thin Man.[4] During World War II, Melton entertained American soldiers overseas.[4] Sid met screenwriter Aubrey Wisberg, who arranged for him to have a part in his Treasure of Monte Cristo for Robert Lippert.[5] This was his first film after signing his first Hollywood contract with Lippert Pictures in 1949. The studio churned out low-budget films, most of them made in less than a week, and Melton was the comic relief in dozens of them, including Mask of the Dragon and Lost Continent.[4]

Other movies included On the Town, The Geisha Boy, The Tunnel of Love, and Blondie Goes to College. He appeared in three Lippert Pictures, Hi-Jacked,Lost Continent and Radar Secret Service, later featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, whose hosts gave Melton the nickname "Monkey Boy" due to his comedy relief antics. He directed the exploitation movie Bad Girls Do Cry.

Melton appeared three times as Harry Cooper in the 1955–56 sitcom It's Always Jan. In the late 1950s, he played several small roles in the popular Desilu show The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour as a construction worker who comes into the room through the window to ask for Milton Berle's autograph for his children. He starred in another episode in which he plays a bellboy for a hotel in Nome, Alaska that Lucy and the gang are staying at.[2] He played Captain Midnight's sidekick, Ichabod "Icky" Mudd ("That's Mudd, with two D's"), in Captain Midnight, an early 1950s Saturday morning children's show.[1] Until the end of his life, old fans would greet him on the street with his signature introductory gag line, "Mudd with two D's."[2] Other television credits include Dragnet, The Silent Service, and M Squad. Sid appeared in S6 E9 of The Andy Griffith Show (The Hollywood Party) as a publicity agent for Ruta Lee’s character Darlene Mason. He appeared in four episodes of the final two seasons of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. as Friendly Freddy, an unsuccessful con-artist who bilks Gomer and Sgt. Carter, among others, but always gets caught, sometimes several times in the same episode. He had guest roles on Adventures of Superman, I Dream of Jeannie and The Dick Van Dyke Show; in the last he played deli owner Bert Monker, who is in love with Sally Rogers (played by Rose Marie). In 1956 Melton appeared in an uncredited role as Shorty on the TV western Cheyenne in the episode "The Last Train West."

Melton appeared in a humorous 1966 television commercial as a truck driver carrying new American Motors automobiles.[6]

Personal life and death

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Melton was married in the 1940s, but the marriage was annulled.[2] Melton died from pneumonia on November 2, 2011, aged 94, at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California.[1]

Selected filmography

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Passings: Sid Melton, Leonard Stone, Liz Anderson, Thomas McNeeley Jr., George Rountree". Los Angeles Times. November 4, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2020 – via latimes.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Vitello, Paul (November 6, 2011). "Sid Melton, Comic Actor of Film and TV, Dies at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Sid Melton at IMDb accessed February 20, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Melton, Sid. "Lost and Fond Memories: Sid Melton recalls the making of 'Lost Continent'". bmonster.com. Interviewed by Tom Weaver. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  5. ^ Weaver, Tom (January 10, 2014). A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers. McFarland. p. 118. ISBN 9780786458318.
  6. ^ "AMC Commercial - Sid Melton (Ralph Monroe on 'Green Acres') Plays a Truck Driver". Archived from the original on December 13, 2021 – via YouTube.
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