Robert Dow Jellison"Illinois, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP79-2YNK : Sat Mar 09 16:08:44 UTC 2024), Entry for Robert Dow Jellison and National Broadcasting Co, 16 October 1940. (August 21, 1908 – April 21, 1980) was an American character actor of radio, stage and screen, most often seen in comic roles, the best known being Bobby the Bellboy in ''

I Love Lucy ''I Love Lucy'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from October 15, 1951, to May 6, 1957, with a total of 180 half-hour episodes spanning six seasons. The series starred Lucille Ball and her husband Desi Arnaz, along with Vivian ...

''.Edwards, Elizabeth (2001).
I love Lucy : Celebrating Fifty Years of Love and Laughter : The Official 50th Anniversary Tribute
'. Philadelphia, PA: Running Press. p. 275. . "Robert Jellison (regular extra; recurring as Bobby, the Beverly Palms Hotel bellboy)" See lso: *Andrews, Bart (1985).
The 'I Love Lucy' Book
'. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. pp. 321, 324, 326, 387. . He was the uncle of voice actor Bill Ratner.Baker, Joan (2005).
Secrets of Voice-Over Success: Top Voice-Over Artists Reveal How They Did It
'. Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications. p. 96. .Ratner, Bill (March 9, 2015)
"Bobby Jellison in Life of Riley 1949"
YouTube. "My uncle Bobby plays the nosey neighbor in this scene from a 1949 TV episode of The Life of Riley starring Jackie Gleason. Bobby is best known for playing Bobby the Bellboy in I Love Lucy."

Early life and career

Born in

Des Moines, Iowa Des Moines is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Iowa, most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is the county seat of Polk County, Iowa, Polk County with parts extending into Warren County, Iowa, Wa ...

, Jellison was born into a musical family, the son of singer/choir director James Otto Jellison and singer and pianist Zella Blanche Dow. Interviewed in 1953, Jellison recalled making his professional debut at age 3 as part of his parents'

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

act, working the

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Basic science and some introduction to ...

and Chautauqua circuits. By no later than 1918, Des Moines audiences had become well acquainted with the then 9-year-old Robert—aka "Bobby" or "Master Robert"—Jellison, actor and "sweet voiced boy soprano." In January 1920, jellison's performance as Tom Tucker, the midshipmite in

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

's ''

H.M.S. Pinafore ''H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on 25 May 1878, and ran for 571 performances, w ...

'', was singled out for praise by the ''

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa, United States. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cab ...

. By the fall of 1923, the family had relocated to

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, where his father became affiliated with radio station WCCO. Subsequent conversations with staff dramatist Marjorie Ellis McGrady led to Bob's employment at the station, initially as a sound effects man, and later as an actor. One of Jellison's best known radio roles is Enor in '' Lone Journey''. Other shows on which he appeared include ''

Author's Playhouse ''Author's Playhouse'' is an anthology radio drama series created by Wynn Wright, that aired on Mutual in 1940–1941,Terrace, Vincent (1999). ''Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . p. 31 ...

'' and ''

Hot Copy ''Hot Copy'' is an American old-time radio mystery drama. It was broadcast on NBC from October 4, 1941, until September 26, 1942, and on NBC-Blue from July 18, 1943, until November 19, 1944. It was also carried on stations in Canada. Format The ...

'',"'Fun Fountain' Returning to the Airwaves Tonight"
''The Cincinnati Enquirer''. October 4, 1942. Sec. 3 p. 3. as well as '' The Sealtest Village Store''. On the television series ''

'', he appeared as a milkman in an episode of the first season and as Bobby the bellboy in six episodes of the fourth season. He also appeared as a bellboy named Henry in an episode of ''

The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour ''The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour'' is a collection of thirteen black-and-white one-hour specials airing occasionally from 1957 to 1960 (as opposed to the thirty-minute regular series, ''I Love Lucy''). The first five were shown as specials during t ...

''. Other television credits include ''

Meet Millie ''Meet Millie'', a situation comedy about a wisecracking Manhattan secretary from Brooklyn, made a transition from radio to television in the early 1950s. In the live television version, Mom and Millie were living in Jackson Heights, Queens. Th ...

'' and '' Life with Luigi'', while two films reportedly "enlivened yhis comic antics" are

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

's ''

Too Young to Kiss ''Too Young to Kiss'' (also ''All Too Young'') is a 1951 American comedy film from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Van Johnson and June Allyson. The film, in which the 34-year-old Allyson's Cynthia Potter masquerades as a 14-year-old child prodigy ...

'' and the

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Kei ...

short subject ''Newlyweds Take a Chance''. Another, the 1962

George Roy Hill George Roy Hill (December 20, 1921 – December 27, 2002) was an American actor and film director. His films include ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' (1969) and ''The Sting'' (1973), both starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford; both fil ...

Isobel Lennart Isobel Lennart (May 18, 1915 – January 25, 1971) was an American screenwriter and playwright. She is best known for writing the book for the Broadway theatre, Broadway musical ''Funny Girl (musical), Funny Girl'' which premiered in 1964, althou ...

screen adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

' '' Period of Adjustment'', features veteran character actors Jellison,

Ransom Sherman Ransom M. Sherman (October 15, 1898 - November 26, 1985) was an American actor, radio and television personality and writer. He was an actor, known for the films '' Are You with It?'' (1948) and '' Winter Meeting'' (1948) and the television serie ...

, Artie Lewis,

Norman Leavitt Norman Turner Leavitt (December 1, 1913 – December 11, 2005) was an American film and television actor. Life and career Leavitt was born in Lansing, Michigan. He began his stage career in 1935, appearing as a wedding guest in the Broa ...

, Lee Krieger, and Herbert Vigran as a sextet of

off-key Off-key is musical content that is not at the expected frequency or pitch period, either with respect to some absolute reference frequency, or in a ratiometric sense (i.e. through removal of exactly one degree of freedom, such as the frequency of ...

Christmas carolers.

Personal life and death

Jellison married at least four times. From August 1937 until at least October 1940, he was the husband of Eleanor Dye West. His marriages to Evelyn M. Houlihan and Louise E. Hutton each ended via divorce (in 1942 and 1954, respectively)."Divorce Suits Filed"
''The Los Angeles Times''. May 19, 1954. Pt. II, p. 12. On April 21, 1980, Jellison died of liver disease at St. John's Hospital in

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

, California. Survived by his wife, his body was cremated.Ratner, Bill (Aug 18, 2017)
"Bobby the Bellboy: The Archiving of an I Love Lucy Bit Part Player"
YouTube.

References

External links

*
Robert Jellison Filmography
at

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

Bob Jellison
at Old Time Radio Researchers
Bobby the Bellboy: The Archiving of an I Love Lucy Bit Part Player
at YouTube
Bobby Jellison in Life of Riley 1949
at YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Jellison, Bob 1908 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male film actors American male radio actors American male television actors Male actors from Iowa University of Iowa alumni