TV Trivia
by Michael Karol
& Craig Hamrick

A Song in Their Hearts
By Michael Karol
Originally posted 10.30.03

Sometimes it's not enough to star in a sitcom, make lots of money, and gain worldwide recognition. Sometimes, a star really wants to...sing for his or her supper. Unfortunately, many stars don't have the vocal chops to make it as lounge lizards. But their efforts are always at the very least fun, interesting, and mesmerizing (often for the wrong reasons). Herewith, in no particular order: my top picks for sitcom stars who have ventured into this uncharted territory (pun intended; these records rarely sold in great quantity).

William Frawley: Sings The Old Ones, 1958
This kind of makes sense; the I Love Lucy and My Three Sons co-star was a Broadway musical and comedy star long before his sitcom and movie successes -- and a vaudeville hoofer before that. His singing voice (at least way back when) could range anywhere from alto to bass. The gruffness in his voice actually adds character to Frawley's singing. He can also be heard on several movie soundtracks from the 1930s and 1940s.

Bonnie Franklin: Applause, Original Broadway Cast Album: "Broadway Baby"
Franklin won a Tony for her performance in this musical adaptation of the classic film All About Eve. It starred the famous diva Lauren Bacall.

Jay North: Look Who's Singing!, 1958
TV's Dennis the Menace was but 7 years old (!) when he cut this LP, which included the single "Animal Fair/Little Boy Blues."

Candy Moore: "It's Your Turn Now/Living Stone" (single), 1965
The agreeable blonde juvenile actress who played Lucille Ball's daughter on The Lucy Show (1962-65) and Jeff Stone (Paul Peterson)'s girlfriend on The Donna Reed Show (1964-66), tried to cash in on her TV stardom with this single, but it fizzled...as did her post-sitcom career.

Shelley Fabares: "Johnny Angel," 1962
Sitcom star Fabares (The Donna Reed Show, One Day at a Time, Coach) struck gold with her romantic lament "Johnny Angel" in 1962. The monster hit paved the way for her to return to the recording studio many times. Her output included four pop albums and one unusual effort, a studio recording of the soundtrack to Bye Bye Birdie.

Jeff Conaway, Jeff Conaway, 1980
You probably know him from Taxi on TV and the film Grease. The latter success (he also performs on the best-selling soundtrack) is what probably gave some music exec the bright idea to have Conaway sing alone on an album.

Adrienne Barbeau, Grease, Original Broadway Cast Album, 1972
Before Grease became a stage and film phenonmenon, it was just a small, fun off-Broadway musical, and Barbeau, better known for her stint as Maude's daughter on TV, got her start as bad-girl Betty Rizzo.

Don Grady, Home Grown (as Don Agrati), 1973
The hunky middle son of My Three Sons pursued a recording career after the show ended in 1971, and he now works as a composer in Hollywood. He also made a dozen or so singles in "teen idol" mode from 1964-68.

Gale Storm, I Hear You Knockin', 1955 (and many others)
One of the few sitcom stars who legitimately had a successful recording career, Storm (My Little Margie, Oh! Susannah) logged six top-ten Billboard hits from 1955-1960. All told, she recorded 22 singles and seven albums, plus a Gale Storm Hits collection that came out in 1987, almost thirty years after her last single. Talk about staying power!

Cindy Williams & Penny Marshall, Laverne & Shirley Sing, 1979
The popularity of their hit show undoubtedly spurred this trip to the recording studio for an album of oldies (singles included "Chapel of Love" and "Da Doo Run Run.")

The Munsters Cast, At Home with the Munsters, 1964
There was a time when producers would throw anyone form a hit TV series into the recording studio. Exhibit #1: this unusual recording featuring solos by Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Pat Priest, and Butch Patrick (What? No Grampa?). For Exhibit #2, see the next entry:

The Beverly Hillbillies Cast, The Beverly Hillbillies, 1968
This immensely popular show's stars ended up on a 1968 album, which, for kitsch value, was unstoppable -- so much so it was re-issued in 1993. Song-and-dance man Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett) had his own solo album out in 1965, called Howdy!, also capitalizing on his Hillbillies success, though Ebsen can be found on a handful of movie musical soundtracks from the 1930s though the 1960s as well, including a single from Disney's popular TV show Davy Crockett in the mid 1950s

Charles Nelson Reilly, Hello, Dolly! Original Broadway cast album. 1964
This comedian (remembered for the sitcom The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and his many hillarious game show appearances) was and is a legitimate stage actor, whose first big hit was in the supporting role of clerk Cornelius in the mega-hit Dolly. He's also featured on the original cast albums for Parade, Skyscraper, and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (for which he won the Tony award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1962).

Barbara Eden, Miss Barbara Eden, 1967
Eden recorded this album at the height of I Dream of Jeannie fame. Though several singles were released featuring her pleasant voice, none took off.

Lucille Ball, Mame (soundtrack) , 1974; Wildcat (original Broadway cast album), 1960
TV's queen of comedy was not known for her singing voice, and she was dubbed for most of her film musicals. One unfortunate exception was her final film, Mame, in which Ball gamely croaks out the Jerry Herman score. She fares better on her one and only Broadway effort, 1960's Wildcat, in which her voice, not quite ravaged by time and cigarettes as it was 25 years later, is clear and her sincerity obvious, as she belts out "Hey, Look Me Over" and others.

Michael Karol has written several books about Lucille Ball: Lucy A to Z, The Lucille Ball Encyclopedia, published in 2008 in a revised, expanded 4th Edition, with exclusive pictures, and The ABC Movie of the Week Companion, also revised and updated in 2008. A date gone wrong sparked his vampire/ mystery novel Kiss Me, Kill Me and its prequel, Sleep Well With Others. All are currently available on Amazon.com. Visit his website for more information.