Last night, I posted this item with a photo from a new book about Chevy Chase. The photo, taken allegedly at a 1989 fund-raising event, identified a man with Chevy Chase as Marty Feldman. I asked, "What is wrong with this picture?"
As over 200 of you so far have noted, it is not Marty Feldman in the photo. It is Marty Ingels. It would have been difficult for Marty Feldman to show up at a 1989 fund-raising event since he died in 1982. (He was killed by the famed cartoonist Sergio Aragonés but that's another story.)
Of the 200, about 75 missed the headline on my posting and seemed to think I didn't know that was Marty Ingels. Of course I know it's Marty Ingels, who is probably best known for, in no particular order: Being married to Shirley Jones, appearing on The Dick Van Dyke Show, voicing the cartoon character of Pac-Man, appearing at various Hollywood-related functions, and starring in the 1962 situation comedy, I'm Dickens, He's Fenster. He was Fenster.
That was a very funny series which, alas, has not been rerun much. A DVD release is said to be imminent but I've yet to see an official announcement. When it does come out, you may be pleasantly surprised as to how good it was. I saw one recently…and while a lot of my once-favorite shows wither against the Test o' Time, this one did not disappoint at all. I still think someone is missing a big opportunity by not starting The Largely-Forgotten Sitcom Channel and programming shows like that and He and She and Car 54 and Captain Nice and The Governor and J.J. and The Danny Thomas Show. (I'm told that some of the major companies have tied up the rights to enough of those shows to prevent an independent from doing this. What I don't know is why those major companies don't do it. Yes, the demographics might skew old…but there's a place on cable for that. The folks who make Rascal Scooters have to advertise somewhere.)
Above are the covers to the two issues Dell Comics put out of I'm Dickens, He's Fenster in funnybook form. If I had more time, I would have photoshopped Marty Feldman into one of them.