This Day in Humor with Mike Durrett


1863: Ladies and gentlemen, Thomas Crapper bestowed the flushing toilet on a pedestal to a grateful public.

Born 1931: Charles Nelson Reilly, comic actor, best remembered for nine seasons as a panelist on "The Match Game." He won a Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for 1962's "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and was nominated for the Best Featured Actor prize in the original "Hello, Dolly!" production with Carol Channing (1964).

Born 1934: Rip Taylor, outrageous, confetti-tossing comedian, TV talk and variety program regular, who hosted Chuck Barris' "The $1.98 Beauty Show" (1978-80).

Born 1938: Billy Gray, prolific '40s and '50s child actor, who became famous as James "Bud" Anderson, Jr. on the "Father Knows Best" sitcom (1954-60).

Born 1943: Richard Moll, character actor, known as Bailiff Nostradamus "Bull" Shannon on TV's "Night Court" (1984-92).

1957: The first Frisbee flying disc toy was tossed out by Wham-O.

Born 1961: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, comic actress, "Saturday Night Live" regular (1982-85) and "Seinfeld's" Elaine (1990-98).

Died 1962:  TV comedy pioneer Ernie Kovacs lost his life in a Los Angeles, CA, automobile accident.

1966: The "Bewitched" sitcom detoured into parenting when Samantha and Darrin Stephens had a baby. Her name: Tabitha.

Copyright ©2003 Mike Durrett. All rights reserved.