Poppo

The other morning I turn on the TV. It's 5:30AM and 'Dobie Gillis' is on. And there's William Shallert, who I first saw as a kid playing 'Poppo' on the Patty Duke show. I always dig 'The Patty Duke Show'. It was a real tribute to early 60's teenage American life. 'Patty digs the rock 'n roll', the theme song said.

Later that night, I see Shallert again on a new TV movie, Stephen King's 'Bag of Bones'. A 45 year time warp!

I must admit, it's nice to see Shallert still around. A lot of the folks I grew up watching in movies and TV and musicians, too, seem to have died on me or vanished.

I Googled Shallert and he's 89, which kinda surprised me. I thought he'd be older!

One of the things I remember about him was that as a kid, I would scan the TV Guide and more than once saw that 'William Shallert' was guest starring on some show. So I would tune in expecting to see Captain Kirk. And then I'd go, 'Oh it's Poppo!' I no longer have that problem as I have figured out the difference between Shallert and Shatner, but HEY, I was just a kid!