The Danny Thomas Show
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The Danny Thomas Show (also known as Make Room for Daddy for the first three seasons) was a comedy television series starring Danny Thomas, Jean Hagen, Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson and Louise Beavers. It ran from 1953 to 1965. Thomas played Danny Williams, a successful comedian and nightclub entertainer. Hagen was his wife Margaret, Hamer their son Rusty, and Jackson their daughter Terry. Beavers played the maid Louise. In 1955, Beavers was replaced in the role by Amanda Randolph.
In 1956 Jean Hagen quit the show, and the producers had her character written out as having died. The following season, Thomas's character dated several women, with the help of his children. At the end of the season, he met widowed Kathy O'Hara, played by Marjorie Lord, who had a young daughter, Linda, played by Angela Cartwright. No wedding was ever shown, but when the show returned in 1957, with the new title, Danny and Kathy were married, and Linda was adopted by Danny.
Hans Conried had frequent guest appearances as Danny's Lebanese "Uncle Tonoose". Other frequent guests included Bill Dana, Annette Funicello, Pat Harrington Jr., Sheldon Leonard (the show's producer) and Thomas protegee Italian teenaged singer Piccola Pupa.
In 1958 the character of Terry was written out as she was supposedly away at school. The character returned in the following year, recast with actress Penny Parker. She, too, was written out when the character married and left the show.
The show ended in 1965, but Danny Thomas, Marjorie Lord, Angela Cartwright, Rusty Hamer, Sherry Jackson, and Hans Conreid returned in 1970 in the show Danny Thomas in Make Room for Grandaddy. The character of Terry had supposedly left her son, 6-year-old Michael, played by Michael Hughes, in the care of his grandparents while she and her soldier husband were stationed overseas. New characters were played by Stanley Myron Handelman and former football player Roosevelt Grier. The show only lasted a single season.
The Danny Thomas Show is also notable as having been the vehicle by which The Andy Griffith Show spun off. The character of Andy Taylor appeared in an episode in which Danny Williams was caught for speeding in the small fictional town of Mayberry, North Carolina.