The Adventures of Tugboat Annie
Encyclopedia
The Adventures of Tugboat Annie is a 1957 Canadian-filmed television series starring Minerva Urecal
as Annie Brennan, the role originated by Marie Dressler
in the 1932 screen classic Tugboat Annie
.
Urecal was the fourth actress to portray Tugboat Annie; the others were Dressler, Marjorie Rambeau
in Tugboat Annie Sails Again
(1940), and Jane Darwell in Captain Tugboat Annie
(1945).
Norman Reilly Raine's stories of the salty tugboat captain Annie Brennan, a character based on the life of Thea Foss
,, first appeared in prose form in the weekly US journal Saturday Evening Post in the late 1920s. She was soon developed into a movie character, being depicted in three films (Tugboat Annie
, 1933; Tugboat Annie Sails Again
, 1940; and Captain Tugboat Annie
, 1945), each time portrayed by a different actress.
Finally, in 1954, a television series was commissioned by the independent American production company, TPA. The pilot took two whole years to complete and cost a then record $129,000. Elsa Lanchester
, Jay C. Flippen
, and Chill Wills
were all in line for major roles at one point or another at this early stage. The series was filmed in Toronto
harbor and was first shown in Canada, having attracted ratings well enough to interest American television stations. What had succeeded in Canada proved a disappointment in the United States, where the viewing audiences had presumably become accustomed to greater sophistication than the simplistic humor of this series.
Former opera singer Minerva Urecal and Walter Sande
were the main stars, she as the widowed captain of the tugboat "Narcissus", he as the captain of the "Salamander." The two veteran actors with appropriately weather-beaten faces carried on an arch-rivalry in the series, trading insults, and battling each other through thirty-nine episodes, all of which thereafter crossed the Atlantic for consumption by ITV viewers.
Minerva Urecal
Minerva Urecal was an American actressBorn as Minerva Holzer, Urecal was originally a radio and stage performer. She made her film debut in 1933...
as Annie Brennan, the role originated by Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler was a Canadian-American actress and Depression-era film star. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1930-31 in Min and Bill.-Early life and stage career:...
in the 1932 screen classic Tugboat Annie
Tugboat Annie
For the 1957 syndicated television series, see The Adventures of Tugboat Annie.Tugboat Annie is a 1933 movie starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat...
.
Urecal was the fourth actress to portray Tugboat Annie; the others were Dressler, Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Rambeau was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:Rambeau was born in San Francisco, California to Marcel Rambeau and Lilian Garlinda Kindelberger. Her parents split up when she was a girl. She and her mother went to Nome, Alaska where young Marjorie dressed as a boy, sang and...
in Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Tugboat Annie Sails Again was a 1940 sequel to the classic 1933 film Tugboat Annie. Marjorie Rambeau takes over the late Marie Dressler's role, and the supporting cast includes Alan Hale, Jane Wyman, and Ronald Reagan...
(1940), and Jane Darwell in Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Tugboat Annie is a 1945 second sequel to the classic Tugboat Annie , this time starring Jane Darwell as Annie and Edgar Kennedy as Horatio Bullwinkle. The movie was directed by Phil Rosen....
(1945).
Norman Reilly Raine's stories of the salty tugboat captain Annie Brennan, a character based on the life of Thea Foss
Thea Foss
Thea Christiansen Foss was the founder of Foss Maritime, the largest tugboat company in the western United States...
,, first appeared in prose form in the weekly US journal Saturday Evening Post in the late 1920s. She was soon developed into a movie character, being depicted in three films (Tugboat Annie
Tugboat Annie
For the 1957 syndicated television series, see The Adventures of Tugboat Annie.Tugboat Annie is a 1933 movie starring Marie Dressler and Wallace Beery as a comically quarrelsome middle-aged couple who operate a tugboat...
, 1933; Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Tugboat Annie Sails Again
Tugboat Annie Sails Again was a 1940 sequel to the classic 1933 film Tugboat Annie. Marjorie Rambeau takes over the late Marie Dressler's role, and the supporting cast includes Alan Hale, Jane Wyman, and Ronald Reagan...
, 1940; and Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Tugboat Annie
Captain Tugboat Annie is a 1945 second sequel to the classic Tugboat Annie , this time starring Jane Darwell as Annie and Edgar Kennedy as Horatio Bullwinkle. The movie was directed by Phil Rosen....
, 1945), each time portrayed by a different actress.
Finally, in 1954, a television series was commissioned by the independent American production company, TPA. The pilot took two whole years to complete and cost a then record $129,000. Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Lanchester
Elsa Sullivan Lanchester was an English-American character actress with a long career in theatre, film and television....
, Jay C. Flippen
Jay C. Flippen
Jay C. Flippen is an American character actor who often played police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s/'50s....
, and Chill Wills
Chill Wills
Chill Theodore Wills was an American film actor, and a singer in the Avalon Boys Quartet.-Biography:Wills was born in Seagoville, Texas in 1902. He was a performer from early childhood, forming and leading the Avalon Boys singing group in the 1930s...
were all in line for major roles at one point or another at this early stage. The series was filmed in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
harbor and was first shown in Canada, having attracted ratings well enough to interest American television stations. What had succeeded in Canada proved a disappointment in the United States, where the viewing audiences had presumably become accustomed to greater sophistication than the simplistic humor of this series.
Former opera singer Minerva Urecal and Walter Sande
Walter Sande
Walter Sande was an American actor, notable for film roles including Paul Revere in Walt Disney's Johnny Tremain....
were the main stars, she as the widowed captain of the tugboat "Narcissus", he as the captain of the "Salamander." The two veteran actors with appropriately weather-beaten faces carried on an arch-rivalry in the series, trading insults, and battling each other through thirty-nine episodes, all of which thereafter crossed the Atlantic for consumption by ITV viewers.