What we have here is an episode of You Bet Your Life with Groucho Marx and it aired May 26, 1960. Obviously, it's of interest because of Groucho but it also features another wonderful, talented person…and one of the nicest men I ever had the honor of knowing.
In the course of the half-hour, two teams of contestants play the game. The second team — which enters at 8:50 if you want to fast-forward to them — includes a gentleman I loved very much…Daws Butler. Daws was, of course, one of the great cartoon voice actors of all time and this video shows him performing just a few of his many characters. He was also a very wise, very compassionate man who cared passionately about creativity and good acting and young talent.
His encouragement and approval meant the world, not only to me but to other writers and to the dozens and dozens of young actors who passed through his workshop. How many people do you ever meet in this world who are unanimously loved and respected by those who know him? Daws was.
The producers of You Bet Your Life paired him with a woman he'd never met before because, I guess, they figured she'd be a funny guest but since she wouldn't know any of the answers, had to play alongside someone who would. Also, I'm sure someone thought there was a joke in teaming the tall lady with the short guy. Daws was very short, making it all the more remarkable when those big, big voices came out of him.
I miss that guy. There are hundreds and hundreds of cartoons on which you can hear him be someone else but it makes me smile to see Daws being Daws. You might enjoy watching his segment…and then he and the lady come back at the end to play for the Big Money…