Last evening, the San Fernando Valley Chapter of The American Diabetes Association presented the Shirley Kayne Community Service Award to broadcasting legend Gary Owens. I know because my friend Carolyn and I were there to see it, attending a very nice dinner filled with folks from the A.D.A. (mostly doctors) and Gary's friends (mostly comedians). Among the latter were Jonathan Winters, Stan Freberg, Thom Sharp, Fred Willard, Shelley Berman, and Mr. Owens' Laugh-In constituents — Jo Anne Worley, Arte Johnson, Jack Riley, Alan Sues, Henry Gibson and George Schlatter. The stuffed chicken breast we were served seemed a little questionable but since the place was full of doctors, I figured it was safe to eat.
Mr. Winters was introduced and interviewed as a famous doctor, and it was wonderful to see him Jonathan in his natural habitat: Winging it, making up odd and brilliant answers to questions with no idea where he's going. It doesn't get any better than that.
I'm not exactly certain what Gary did to merit this award but I have no doubt he did plenty. Gary has always been so generous with his time it's hard to believe how many hours per week he spends in front of a microphone doing his radio show, recording promo announcements, voicing cartoons, etc. Still, whenever anyone calls with a worthy cause (or even an unworthy one), he's there. A fine, giving gentleman.
Speaking of honors: I forgot to mention that last Friday, some of the same folks gathered for a luncheon as the Pacific Pioneer Broadcasters staged a delightful salute of Joanne Worley. The dais included Hal Kanter, Peter Marshall, Tom Kennedy, Alan Sues, Billy Barnes, Mitzi McCall & Charlie Brill, Henry Gibson, Gary Owens, Jackie Joseph, George Schlatter, Fred Willard and Marcia Wallace, and in the audience one could spot Ruth Buzzi, Lily Tomlin, June Foray, Sally Struthers and many other familiar folks. I made a mental note at the time to remember certain funny lines so I could quote them here…and if I'd written this on Friday, I'd probably have remembered them long enough to do this.