Barbara 'Babs' Riley: It's just not fair! In 1907, a penniless farmer named Ruben Shipp discovered gold while plowing his field. The dead matter to the living. It has to do with the gift of language. People will say, "I'd like something simple and inexpensive," and I want to say, "Well, over here we have simplicity; over here we have cheap." Chester A. Riley: What do you mean the baby announcements? On any given day, it's up for grabs. It's not always the same thing, and for everyone it's different. Jim Gillis: They put you to sleep. You can read in history books about the way a funeral procession was laid out -- which civic group, which ecclesiastical group, which fraternal group, which family group -- how everybody was lined up, so that as people walked in, there was this rise and fall of relationship and grief, and people know this, that good, orderly direction that was assumed by this process, this ritual. Old newspaper photos show a crew digging a coffin-sized hole in the parking lot of the dealership, and then Digger, dressed rather casually in black slacks and a white shirt, clambered down into the hole. Unknown. And I have found that, whether I'm walking in the door with a stretcher and one of my own to help carry their dead out, or if I'm going to the hospital to visit a sick relative or friend, or if I show up for a funeral at another place, you know, at a distance, they thank you for that. What are you doin' here in the park?Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. Riley is overjoyed by his unexpected "step up," unaware that Babs asked Burt to offer him the job, and that he did so without his father's knowledge. So we learn to live with it. He would have probably had a difficult way of managing some of the changes that we see nowadays. Isn't that awful? . And why do the rituals of a funeral matter? Many customers have had positive experiences ordering from them, and their customer service has been praised for keeping buyers updated on order status. Well, if it's such a gift, why did it cost you 25 dollars? She means other kinds of trouble. And so I think of widowed people who must go through that when they're folding a sweater or cleaning out a drawer or looking for the power drill that their husband used to use to fix this drawer or that one -- these little mundane reminders that life is changed utterly and yet utterly the same. Stevenson's ne'er-do-well son Burt, meanwhile, is cornered at the picnic by a thug named Norman, who demands that he repay a $25,000 gambling debt. Still, as every grieving person knows, we have to reinvent the wheel in which we are now orphaned. One of my favorite characters from classic radio is Digby Digger ODell, the friendly undertaker portrayed by John Brown in THE LIFE OF RILEY. When my father died, I was not prepared to put him in the ground then. During a burial in California, a sudden earthquake caved in the sides of his "apartment" and he had to be rescued. So this pilgrimage, this journey that we go on, replicates in many ways other journeys that we see in life, from infancy to toddlerhood, from toddlerhood to teenagers to adulthood, the journeys we take in life in our heart, in the life of our mind, the life of our spirit. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. His frequent exclamation of indignation became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s: "What a revoltin' development this is!" The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." Buried alive? And I'm, along with the next guy, as interested in those cartoons as everyone else is. Chester A. Riley: No. Though other friends may fail you, I shall be the last to let you down.". One option is organic fertilizer made from chicken manure, which can be found at Menard's for a reasonable price of $10.99 per 25-pound bag. Yeah, it's a mystery. That they do it for themselves I think is very important. It then went into syndicated reruns. Chester A. Riley: Yeah! Although Hollywood Reporter announced in January and February 1949 that the film would have its premiere in March 1949 in Cincinnati, no definite information about the premiere was found. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. It seems "Digger O'Dell" was a "friendly undertaker" character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesn't explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. Chester A. Riley: You know, it's funny. And for those who are unchurched or unfamiliar in any tradition that gives them sort of the framework for this, a funeral home is still a safe place to talk about matters mortuary and matters of mortality. I mean, it's uncomfortable, and I don't know what to say any more than the next guy, and I don't do strawberry rhubarb pie. Do you hear that, Peg? Most say, "No, go ahead and take care of that." Whether we consign our dead to scavenger birds, as they do in Tibet, or to the sea, as they do when the sea is around them, or the tree, as our Native Americans did, it doesn't make any difference. Could have been man/wife or brother/sister. "My helpers had me out in minutes, thank heavens," he told reporters. And somebody else is pressing somebody's clothes. [Riley is talking on the phone with the hospital's maternity ward]. to "how come? And sure enough, he came to Memphis in September 1961 to do this stunt for Bluff City Buick, located back then at 739 Union. She just cant help being money hungry.. [1] (Marx would get his own series Blue Ribbon Town instead.) I do not care but that they do it honorably. Once Riley declares to Stevenson that he does not want the promotion, Babs realizes she is free and runs into Jeff's waiting arms. And when we talk about "the procession," what is the meaning of that? Jim Gillis: Are you kiddin'? The Life of Riley is an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. The till still rings. This is a sign to me that they don't care, that heaven is not having to worry about these things, so I'm determined not to worry about them either. What age were you when you really seriously thought you might become a funeral director, and how much of your dad's influence was a part of that decision? When the film opened in New York at the Loew's Criterion theater in April 1949, Bosley Crowther, film critic for The New York Times turned his nose up at it writing, "As one whom domestic expediency occasionally compels to bear with the Friday night bull-bellowing of one Chester A. Riley on the radio, this reviewer can state with fair authority that no artistic advantage has been gained by making this same Mr. Riley and his family apparent on the screen." At weddings people are forever weeping at what is supposed to be a joyous event. Digger O'Dell Buried For Good This Time. Dr. Beamish: Not now, I'm afraid. 461. Peg Riley: Well, of all the revolting ideas! Banners asked customers and anyone driving past the Buick showroom on Union Avenue, "HOW LONG CAN HE STAY BURIED ALIVE?" And a narrative is nothing other than a journey. On the day of Babs's wedding, which is to take place at the Stevenson mansion, Riley becomes annoyed and hurt when Gillis, his best friend and co-worker, snubs him because he is sure that Riley "sold" his daughter to get the promotion. Why would he leave his wife? Chester A. Riley: Do I have a hole in my neck? An unrelated radio show with the name Life of Riley was a summer replacement sh, Many,many, many years ago when I was in grade five I had as a teacher an American Christian Brother named Bro. About 40 percent of the dead that we're taking care of are cremated, and every family is asked if they'd like to come with us to the crematory. Chester A. Riley: The baby announcements? Although Bendix's considerable acting chops allowed him to believably play both heroes and villains, it was as the loveable blue-collar factory worker Chester A. Riley that he is best remembered, first on radio and then in the 1949 movie of the same name. "The Life of Riley" The Billboard Magazine Dec 6, 1947
As Bluff City Buick customers watched, Digger ODell (left) prepared to enter the worlds smallest apartment, where he planned to stay at least 57 days. Junior Riley: Why don't you wet a piece of confetti and drown your brain? William Bendix is heard as Riley, along with co-stars Paula Winslowe, John Brown, Tommy Cook, and Barbara Eilerplus series creator Irving Brecher . Chester A. Riley: "Babs Riley Featured in Annual School Follies". "You have to have helpers 24 hours a day.". And does the rise in cremation in America parallel changes in demographics? It's that white-knuckled, socially enforced celebration [where] oftentimes the dead are absent from it, because that would be too compelling; that would be too much of a challenge. Dwarf Mr Snow, Fred's Tie Dye, Saucy Mary, Sweet Scarlet, Kangaroo Paw Green, Idaho Gem and Banana Toes are just a few of the varieties one gardener is growing in a 4x8 bed of "bulletproof" tomatoes. And it was over, oftentimes, the most mundane of circumstances. What we have missed, however, in cremation in this culture is all the powerful metaphoric values provided by fire, its elemental worth. While we would all agree that death is never funny, this show had an usual character in it by the name of Digby "Digger". Riley's catch phrase in the series and the film was "what a revolting development this turned out to be." My, you're looking fine today; very natural" and leave stage with ""Cheerio, I'd better be shoveling off", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_of_Riley. And that's very seductive, because, I mean, it's human-to-human contact. I was watching [author and cultural commentator] Christopher Hitchens the other day. Digger: Every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way. Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. And are you a cremation or a burial man? 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