6/24 - James Drury

James Drury - "The Virginian"

JAMES DRURY, the one true 'Virginian' by who all others are measured, is the star of the first 90-minute color western TV series, ‘The Virginian’, which aired from 1962-1971. ‘The Virginian’ is the third longest running western series in the history of television. The television series was adapted from the 1902 Owen Wister western novel, 'The Virginian, A Horseman of the Plains'. Like the novel, the lead character was never given a name other than the Virginian. James Drury used that to his advantage in creating a mysterious air surrounding the Shiloh ranch foreman. "Nobody knows the name of my character," James Drury says, "not even me."  THE VIRGINIAN western TV series is currently being shown on Encore Western Channel weekdays at 4:30 PM EST and PST. Check your Time Zone for viewing time in your area. The first and second season is officially released on DVD. Mr. Drury is currently on tour to many festivals and events around the country. Check our Appearance Schedule for dates when you will have the opportunity to meet James Drury, the Virginian, get autographed photos and The Virginian DVDs.

6/17-Lee Meriwether

Lee Meriwether
Progressing from Miss San Francisco to Miss California, LA-born brunette beauty Lee Meriwether recited a monologue written by Irish playright John Millington Synge and won the 1955 Miss America contest. Lee's first television job was as Dave Garroway's "girl Friday" on NBC's The Today Show. She played small parts on such prime time TV series as Leave It to Beaver and Sergeant Bilko before securing her first recurring role on the 1960 daytime drama Clear Horizons. Subsequent series-TV assignments included Dr. Ann McGregor on Irwin Allen's 1966 sci-fier The Time Tunnel, the star's homespun housewife on 1971's The New Andy Griffith Show, and a regular panelist on the syndicated 1974 edition of Masquerade Party. Lee played The Catwoman in the 1966 theatrical feature Batman (she also appeared on the TV series of the same name, but not in the same part). While in the 1968 cinematic wallow Legend of Lylah Clare she essayed one of her favorite screen parts: a vituperative lesbian who beats the snot out of Kim Novak. Her best-known role was as Betty Jones, daughter-in-law and general factotum of folksy detective Buddy Ebsen, on the long running (1975-82) TV series Barnaby Jones. More recently, Meriwether exhibited a heretofore underexploited gift for broad comedy in the role of the ghoulish Lily Munster on the syndicated 1988 "retro" sitcom The New Munsters. For many years, Lee Meriwether was married to actor Frank Aletter. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

6/10 - Vicki Lawrence

Vicki Lawrence - Entertainer

Multi-talented Vicki Lawrence was born in Inglewood, California where she excelled in dancing and singing, was a cheerleader and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by her graduating class.   From 1965 to 1967 Vicki sang with the Young Americans musical group and, also, appeared in the feature film "The Young Americans" which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.   During her senior year of high school Vicki sent Carol Burnett a letter which included a local newspaper article mentioning their resemblance. Vicki invited Ms. Burnett to the local fire department’s "Miss Fireball Contest" in which she was performing. Ms. Burnett, looking for an actress to play her kid sister on her new variety series, contacted Vicki and made arrangements to come to the event. The rest is television history. "The Carol Burnett Show" premiered in the fall of 1967; the same year Vicki entered UCLA to study Theater Arts. She spent eleven years with Carol, earning one Emmy Award and five Emmy nominations. In 1995 Simon and Schuster published her story. Her autobiography is entitled "Vicki!: The True Life Adventures of Miss Fireball".   In 1968, Vicki went to Viet Nam to visit the U.S. troops with Johnny Grant. Several years later, in 1973, Vicki received a gold record as a recording artist for he international hit single "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia".  After the Burnett show ended, Vicki went on to star in her own TV series, "Mama’s Family" with Ken Berry, Dorothy Lyman, Beverly Archer, and Allan Kayser. The last original episode was made in January of 1990, completing five years of first-run syndication. The show still can be seen daily throughout most of the country.  Vicki was the honorary head of the D.A.R.E. program in Long Beach, California for two years while her kids were still young and in school. Around that time she and her husband also became members of the Long Beach Police Officer’s Association that raises money to protect the widows and families of slain police officers. Her efforts to protect women’s rights were recognized in 1988 when Vicki was the first woman to be honored as "Person of the Year" by the Coalition of Labor Union Women. Shortly thereafter, Vicki became one of the few successful, female game show hosts when she took on the daytime network-version of "Win, Lose or Draw".