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Ezra Stone (born Ezra Chaim Feinstone; December 2, 1917 – March 3, 1994) was an American actor and director who had a long career on the stage, in films, radio, and television, mostly as a director. His most notable role as an actor was that of the awkwardly mischievous teenager Henry Aldrich in the radio comedy hit ''
The Aldrich Family ''The Aldrich Family'', a popular radio teenage situation comedy (July 2, 1939 – April 19, 1953), was also presented in films, television and comic books. In the radio series' opening exchange, awkward teen Henry's mother called, "Hen-''reeeee ...
'' for most of its fourteen-year run.


Biography


Early years

The son of Mr. and Mrs. Sol Feinstone, Stone was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. His father was a chemistry professor. Stone attended Temple University's Oak Lane Country Day School and later studied acting at the
American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ar ...
.


Career

Stone debuted on radio in Philadelphia when he was 7 years old, doing what he referred to as "that horrible thing called 'recitations' ... It might have been ''The Raven'' or ''The Spartans to the Gladiators'' ... very heavy stuff." Stone began his professional career on stage in the mid-1930s, when he was first tapped to play Henry Aldrich in the Clifford Goldsmith play, '' What a Life''. Goldsmith then brought Henry and his family to sketches for popular radio series featuring singers
Rudy Vallee Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch pol ...
and
Kate Smith Kathryn Elizabeth Smith (May 1, 1907 – June 17, 1986) was an American contralto. Referred to as The First Lady of Radio, Smith is well known for her renditions of Irving Berlin's " God Bless America" & " When The Moon Comes Over The Mounta ...
, before the sketches' popularity moved
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
to give Goldsmith a chance to develop a full half-hour comedy as a summer replacement for
Jack Benny Jack Benny (born Benjamin Kubelsky, February 14, 1894 – December 26, 1974) was an American entertainer who evolved from a modest success playing violin on the vaudeville circuit to one of the leading entertainers of the twentieth century with ...
in 1938.


''The Aldrich Family''

By 1939, ''The Aldrich Family'' had become a hit series in its own right; Katherine Raht's (as mother Alice Aldrich) opening shout ("Hen-''reeeeeee!'' Hennnnn-ry Aldrich!") and Stone's warbling reply ("Coming, Mother!"), fashioned at first by Kate Smith's director Bob Welsh, became the show's instant trademarks. House Jameson played stern but affectionate father Sam Aldrich. In one way, the show and its star were deceptive, according to radio historian Gerald Nachman: like
Fanny Brice Fania Borach (October 29, 1891 – May 29, 1951), known professionally as Fanny Brice or Fannie Brice, was an American comedienne, illustrated song model, singer, and theater and film actress who made many stage, radio, and film appearances. ...
, who played five- or six-year-old
Baby Snooks ''The Baby Snooks Show'' was an American radio program starring comedian and ''Ziegfeld Follies'' alumna Fanny Brice as a mischievous young girl who was 40 years younger than the actress who played her when she first went on the air. The series b ...
for over two decades, Ezra Stone didn't exactly resemble a clumsy teenager, either.
Ezra Stone . . . a dark-eyed Jewish kid . . . looked nothing at all like a gawky all-American boy next door in the studio audience's minds. Recalls (Jackie) Kelk (who played Henry's buddy Homer), "It was a big shock to people who came to see the show in the studio, because I looked more the (Henry Aldrich) part; I was slight and skinny. Ezra was this fat little man in a vest who smoked cigars. (From "Valued Families," in ''Raised on Radio''. (Pantheon Books, 1998.)
But Nachman also noted ''The Aldrich Family'', for better or worse, "set the tone" for many situation comedies to be, even if it was somewhat derivative of the
Andy Hardy Andrew "Andy" Hardy is a fictional character best known for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer series of 16 films in which he was played by Mickey Rooney. The films were released from 1937 to 1946, except for a final one made in 1958 in an unsuccessful at ...
formula of girls, grades, and growing pains. Popularity aside, ''The Aldrich Family'' itself, Nachman continued,
. . . was hopelessly bland, neither quite zany nor lifelike, and Henry's teenage girl problems and peccadilloes, heard on tape today, lack the charm, spice, or whimsy of rival shows like '' Junior Miss'' or ''
Meet Corliss Archer ''Meet Corliss Archer'' is an American radio program from radio's Golden Age that ran from January 7, 1943, to September 30, 1956. Although it was CBS's answer to NBC's ''A Date with Judy'', it was also broadcast by NBC in 1948 as a summer repla ...
''---possibly because the young female is more complex than the male.
Whether or not he really resembled his character, Stone played Henry until 1942. During his military service, Henry was played by
Norman Tokar Norman Tokar (November 25, 1919 – April 6, 1979) was an American director, actor and occasionally writer and producer of serial television and feature films, who directed many of the early episodes of '' Leave it to Beaver'', and found his g ...
(one of the show's writers, and the eventual lead director for television's '' Leave It to Beaver'', a show influenced to some degree by ''The Aldrich Family''),
Dickie Jones Richard Percy Jones (February 25, 1927 – July 7, 2014), known as Dick Jones or Dickie Jones, was an American actor and singer who achieved success as a child performer and as a young adult, especially in B-Westerns. In 1938, he played Artimer ...
(1943–44), and Raymond Ives (1944–45). Stone then returned to the role after the war and stayed until 1952, when Bobby Ellis took the role for the show's final radio season.


Television

When his acting life with ''The Aldrich Family'' ended, Stone turned primarily to directing on stage and in television---ironically, his first television directing assignment was the television version of ''The Aldrich Family'' in 1952. From there he went on to direct for numerous shows, including ''
I Married Joan ''I Married Joan'' is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from 1952 to 1955. It starred actress Joan Davis as the manic, scatterbrained wife of a mild-mannered community judge ( Jim Backus). Synopsis The show, whose syndicated o ...
'', '' Bachelor Father'', ''
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre ''Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre'' is an American anthology series, sponsored by Chrysler Corporation, which ran on NBC from 1963 through 1967. The show was hosted by Bob Hope, but it had a variety of formats, including musical, dramatic ...
'', ''
Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a full-length novel called '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with another ...
'', ''
The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anothe ...
'', ''
Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel '' The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series ...
'', ''
Julia Julia is usually a feminine given name. It is a Latinate feminine form of the name Julio and Julius. (For further details on etymology, see the Wiktionary entry "Julius".) The given name ''Julia'' had been in use throughout Late Antiquity (e ...
'', and ''
Love, American Style ''Love, American Style'' is an anthology comedy television series that aired on ABC from 1969 to 1974. The series was produced by Paramount Television. During the 1971–72 and 1972–73 seasons, it was a part of ABC's Friday primetime lineup ...
''. By 1969, he was estimated to have directed 300-400 televisions programs. Stone also played numerous small roles in film and television, such as the role of a film director in the episode "Show Biz" in Season 2 of the television series ''
Emergency! ''Emergency!'' is an American action-adventure medical drama A medical drama is a television show or film in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television) ...
''. In 1976, he appeared in a television special, ''The Good Old Days of Radio'', in which he and several vintage radio stars---including
Art Linkletter Arthur Gordon Linkletter (born Gordon Arthur Kelly or Arthur Gordon Kelly; sources differ; July 17, 1912 – May 26, 2010) was a Canadian-born American radio and television personality. He was the host of '' House Party'', which ran on CBS radio ...
, Eddie Anderson (Rochester on ''
The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televi ...
''), Jim Jordan ('' Fibber McGee & Molly''),
Dennis Day Dennis Day (born Owen Patrick Eugene McNulty; May 21, 1916 – June 22, 1988) was an American actor, comedian, and singer. He was of Irish descent. Early life Day was born and raised in the Throggs Neck section of the Bronx, New York City, the ...
,
George Fenneman George Watt Fenneman (November 10, 1919 – May 29, 1997) was an American radio and television announcer. Fenneman is best remembered as the show announcer and straight man on Groucho Marx's '' You Bet Your Life''. Marx, said of Fenneman in 1976, ...
( Groucho Marx's sidekick for ''
You Bet Your Life ''You Bet Your Life'' is an American comedy Game show, quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. Th ...
''), and
Edgar Bergen Edgar John Bergen (born Edgar John Berggren; February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American ventriloquist, actor, comedian, vaudevillian and radio performer, best known for his proficiency in ventriloquism and his characters C ...
---discussed highlights of their radio careers.


Stage

Stone's debut on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
came in ''Treasure Island''. His other Broadway acting credits include ''O Evening Star'', ''January Thaw'', ''Tom Sawyer'', ''Brother Rat'', ''Horse Fever'', ''The Alchemist'', ''She Stoops to Conquer'', and ''
This Is The Army ''This Is the Army'' is a 1943 American wartime musical comedy film produced by Hal B. Wallis and Jack L. Warner, and directed by Michael Curtiz Michael Curtiz ( ; born Manó Kaminer; since 1905 Mihály Kertész; hu, Kertész Mihály ...
''. His directing credits included ''Curtains Up!'', ''Me and Molly'', and ''At War With the Army''. Stone was a founding member of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival.


Producing

Over 18 years, Stone produced 200 films for motivational and training use by IBM. In 1961, he produced the television series '' The Hathaways''. In 1963 Stone directed the filming of a joint project between IBM, NIH, and M. D. Anderson Hospital's Department of Experimental Anesthesiology. The project was developing a monitoring system for a patient undergoing surgery. The main objectives were to keep the anesthesiologist informed of the patient's vital signs and to detect the patient's tendency toward shock. In one scene a computer technician played the role of a patient in surgery while an IBM representative played the role of surgeon, holding a scalpel over the patient's bare midsection. During the filming, the technician asked Stone to tell the cameraman "end of scene" instead of "cut", fearing the IBM rep might get carried away. The comment did get quite a laugh and Stone later passed the story on to Hedda Hopper who added it to her newspaper column. The name of the technician was Loren Block who was attending U of H while working full-time at the hospital.


Military service

Stone was a member of the Army's Special Services unit during World War II.


Personal life and death

Ezra Stone and his actress wife Sara Seegar were married for 48 years until her death in 1990. They resided in
Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...
. Four years after Seegar's death, Stone was fatally injured in a car accident near Perth Amboy,
New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...
, at age 76. His ashes were interred, along with those of his wife, at Washington Crossing National Cemetery in Newtown, Pennsylvania, in 2013. The Stones had a son, Joseph, and a daughter, Francine.


Recognition

Stone has a star at 1634 Vine Street in the Radio section of the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
. It was dedicated on February 8, 1960.


Filmography


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stone, Ezra 1917 births 1994 deaths People from New Bedford, Massachusetts Male actors from Massachusetts American male film actors American male radio actors American male child actors American male stage actors American male television actors American television directors Road incident deaths in New Jersey Jewish American male actors 20th-century American male actors Film directors from Massachusetts 20th-century American Jews