Bonino (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Bonino is an ethnic situation comedy
television series starring Ezio Pinza
(1892-1957) as an Italian-American opera singer trying to rear his six children after the death of their mother. The program aired on NBC
from September 12 to December 26, 1953
.
Pinza's character is named Babbo Bonino. Character actress
Mary Wickes
(1910-1995) portrayed Martha the housekeeper, a role which she filled over the years in numerous other series. The actors portraying the children were Conrad Janis
(born 1928) as eldest son Edward, Lenka Peterson (born 1925) as older daughter Doris, Chet Allen
(1939-1984) as Jerry; Oliver Andes as Carlo, Gaye Huston as Fancesca, and Van Dyke Parks
(born 1943) as Andrew, the youngest. Allen had earlier appeared as Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti
's Amahl and the Night Visitors
on NBC's Hallmark Hall of Fame
in 1951-1952. Parks, who grew up in Lake Charles
, Louisiana
, became a rock-music
producer and composer who cowrote with Brian Wilson
the Beach Boys' hits "Heroes and Villains" and "Surf's Up".Mike Kellin
(1922-1983), who was cast the following year in Celeste Holm
's short-lived CBS
sitcom Honestly, Celeste!
, appeared in the role of Rusty.
David Opatoshu
(1918-1996), portrayed Walter Rogers, Babbo's agent, who tries to convince him to return to singing. As each episode unfolds, Bonino realizes that his children are more independent than he thought. Pinza sang in each episode.Anthony Eisley
(1925-2003), later of ABC
's detective
series Hawaiian Eye
, guest starred in Bonino as John Clinton.
Bonino aired at 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturday before Ted Mack
's The Original Amateur Hour. Its principal competition was The Jackie Gleason Show
on CBS.
There was also an Ezio Pinza Show on NBC in 1952 which alternated at the 8 p.m. Friday slot with The RCA Victor Show with Dennis Day, subsequently renamed The Dennis Day Show
in the 1953-1954 season.
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
television series starring Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza
Ezio Pinza was an Italian basso opera singer with a rich, smooth and sonorous voice. He spent 22 seasons at New York's Metropolitan Opera, appearing in more than 750 performances of 50 operas...
(1892-1957) as an Italian-American opera singer trying to rear his six children after the death of their mother. The program aired on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from September 12 to December 26, 1953
1953 in television
The year 1953 in television involved some significant events.Below is a list of television-related events in 1953.-Events:*January 19 – 68% of all US television sets were tuned in to I Love Lucy to watch Lucy give birth to little Ricky....
.
Pinza's character is named Babbo Bonino. Character actress
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes
Mary Wickes was an American film and television actress.-Career:Wickes was born as Mary Isabelle Wickenhauser in St. Louis, Missouri, of German Irish Protestant extraction. She graduated at the age of eighteen with a degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, where she...
(1910-1995) portrayed Martha the housekeeper, a role which she filled over the years in numerous other series. The actors portraying the children were Conrad Janis
Conrad Janis
Conrad Janis is an American jazz musician and also a theatre, film, and television actor. In the fall of 1953, he played eldest son Edward in the Ezio Pinza situation comedy Bonino on NBC...
(born 1928) as eldest son Edward, Lenka Peterson (born 1925) as older daughter Doris, Chet Allen
Chet Allen
Chet Allen was an American child actor of the 1950s known for his role as Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, the first opera written for television, which he made with the NBC Opera Theatre....
(1939-1984) as Jerry; Oliver Andes as Carlo, Gaye Huston as Fancesca, and Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
(born 1943) as Andrew, the youngest. Allen had earlier appeared as Amahl in Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular...
's Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors
Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
on NBC's Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
in 1951-1952. Parks, who grew up in Lake Charles
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Lake Charles is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Located in Calcasieu Parish, a major cultural, industrial, and educational center in the southwest region of the state, and one of the most important in...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, became a rock-music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
producer and composer who cowrote with Brian Wilson
Brian Wilson
Brian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
the Beach Boys' hits "Heroes and Villains" and "Surf's Up".Mike Kellin
Mike Kellin
-Early life:Kellin was born Myron Kellin in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Sophia and Samuel Kellin, Russian Jewish immigrants. He was educated at Boston University and Trinity College...
(1922-1983), who was cast the following year in Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm
Celeste Holm is an American stage, film, and television actress, known for her Academy Award-winning performance in Gentleman's Agreement , as well as for her Oscar-nominated performances in Come to the Stable and All About Eve...
's short-lived CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
sitcom Honestly, Celeste!
Honestly, Celeste!
Honestly, Celeste! is an eight-episode 1954 CBS situation comedy starring Celeste Holm as Celeste Anders, a 37-year-old college journalism professor from Minnesota who accepts a reporter’s position on the staff of the fictitious New York Express newspaper.-Synopsis:In the series premiere, Celeste...
, appeared in the role of Rusty.
David Opatoshu
David Opatoshu
David Opatoshu was an American film, stage and television actor. He was born as David Opatovsky in New York City, where he was reared and educated. His father was the Yiddish writer, Joseph Opatoshu.-Television:...
(1918-1996), portrayed Walter Rogers, Babbo's agent, who tries to convince him to return to singing. As each episode unfolds, Bonino realizes that his children are more independent than he thought. Pinza sang in each episode.Anthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley
Anthony Eisley was born Frederick Glendinning Eisley in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, whose father was a general sales manager for a large corporation. Father of Amanda Eisley, Jonathan Eisley, Nan R...
(1925-2003), later of ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
series Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye
Hawaiian Eye is an American television series that ran from October 1959 to September 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company television network.-Premise:...
, guest starred in Bonino as John Clinton.
Bonino aired at 9 p.m. Eastern on Saturday before Ted Mack
Ted Mack
Ted Mack may refer to:*Ted Mack , Edward Mack, Australian politician*Ted Mack , born William Edward Maguiness, American television host...
's The Original Amateur Hour. Its principal competition was The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show
The Jackie Gleason Show is the name of a series of popular American network television shows that starred Jackie Gleason, which ran from 1952 to 1970.-Cavalcade of Stars:...
on CBS.
There was also an Ezio Pinza Show on NBC in 1952 which alternated at the 8 p.m. Friday slot with The RCA Victor Show with Dennis Day, subsequently renamed The Dennis Day Show
The Dennis Day Show
The Dennis Day Show was a half-hour 1953–1954 NBC comedy/variety show starring Irish singer and radio and television personality Dennis Day , whose career otherwise was rooted as a supporting cast member of the long-running The Jack Benny Program on CBS and later NBC.From 1952 to 1953, Day hosted...
in the 1953-1954 season.