All rights reserved. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker.Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. Not a day went by that I wasn't kept in after school. Asked by yeaux. Ferguson: That's the type of citizen we're sworn to protect. . [1] (Marx would get his own series Blue Ribbon Town instead.) He didnt come close to breaking his record. And oftentimes I'm impressed by how people will wrap their existential concerns about a dying parent in the prearrangement conference. to "what are we going to do?" And there's somebody else arranging the flowers. If you don't pay attention Peg Riley: Well, I'm trying to tell ya, he just moons around the house! With your own mother and father and their funerals, what were the moments that had meaning for you? I figure once a year, every married man should get away from his wife for a few days. Jeff, who had just proposed to Babs himself, is devastated by her announcement, as is Peg, who knows that her daughter does not love Burt. Do you speak French? And my father did have a sense of formality and tradition when it came to funerals. The second TV series ran for six seasons, from January 2, 1953, to May 23, 1958. Everything seems to fall into place. j.b., memphis. It seems "Digger O'Dell" was a "friendly undertaker" character in The Life of Riley , a radio soap opera that aired back in the 1930s, but that still doesn't explain the curious popularity of the name, if you ask me. STANDS4 LLC, 2023. To Babs's delight, Jeff, who has just moved in next door with his aunt, is a dedicated pre-med student. There is a fee. He would have figured that out, but I think for him the funeral, the procession, was part of the process. And is that the purposefulness in the ebb and flow of a wake and a funeral? The oblivion is the oblivion wherever it is. [in a flashback sequence, Peg has just given birth to her first child]. The bearing of it is so very, very important. His frequent exclamation of indignation became one of the most famous catch phrases of the 1940s: "What a revoltin' development this is!" The radio series greatly benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." Gene Krupa performed his famous drum solo ("Sing, Sing, Sing") on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1960. If you're playing human to human, you'll do fine. And there's somebody else doing this, that. We'd be wise, as a culture, to examine some of these things. Peg Riley: You know what they say - ignorance is bliss. The CBS program starred Lionel Stander as J. Riley Farnsworth and had no real connection with the more famous series that followed a few years later. The company offers Elephant Gigantes seeds, as well as free seeds that come with recommended shelf life information included. So what I find is that before people bring their expertise as an embalmer or as a manager or as an executive or as a director, before any expertise, you ante up your humanity, you know? Digby 'Digger' O'Dell : It is I, Digby O'Dell, the friendly undertaker. interview with the film's producers|credits|privacy policy|journalistic guidelines Comedy Romance A factory worker's family is thrown into an uproar when his teenage daughter starts to date his boss' son. Babs Riley: Guess what? Well. Peg Riley: What's the matter? But when people go with us, it's at the back end of an industrial park in Lavonia, near a railroad track, so it's unlike the kind of commemorative surroundings that we have in our local cemeteries -- more is the pity. Riley, Riley, what a guy! They can coexist. Well, to find the answer to that question, you need to read the full story here. What does your funeral home represent for this town? Western movie question: Movie likely from the 70s, has the climax where a man/boy is racing through the desert to beat a shadow across a certain line to save a girl captured by Indians. Dr. Beamish: Not now, I'm afraid. Opening credits conclude with the following written statement: "America! he must have stuck eith me, because I will go as Digger to a neighborhood "post Halloween" block party this afternoon. Riley could easily be described as the Archie Bunker of the 1940s. Chester A. Riley : Hello, Digger. Chester A. Riley: Christmas, nothing doing! Though he's built like Boulder Dam He's tender as a lamb. With William Bendix the protagonist, as Riley and among others John Brown, who portrayed the friendly undertaker "Digger" O'Dell. WGBH educational foundation, How we've become estranged from death and the dead, The meaning and power of rituals and customs, The often-mocked tradition of an open casket, How the baby boomers will change the conversation about funerals. What a revoltin' development, indeed." Unknown. I think it's always been the case that funerals in general, and funeral directors in particular, provide an easy target for cartooning, because there is so much about what we do that can be held up for ridicule. Chester A. Riley: Do you need any help with the dishes? It's something handled by "them" offsite, elsewhere, and I think that's problematical. Digger's morbid sense of humor buttressed by Brown's off-kilter delivery was a hit with the show's audience, and for me, often the high point of the episode. Digger O'Dell Buried For Good This Time. A reader named Ronnie Bierbrodt, who obviously did more research than I did, even turned up his obituary and a copy of the memorial booklet given out at his funeral. He's a boy who Chester A. Riley: He's a boy! Dear t.r. According to the 1999 obituary, Digger was survived by his wife, Julie Ann "Maggie" Smith of Dawsonville, Georgia; a son, Bobby Smith, of Lakewell, Florida; and a stepson, Timothy Eugene Fowler, of Gainesville, Georgia. The radio series also benefited from the immense popularity of a supporting character, Digby "Digger" O'Dell (John Brown), "the friendly undertaker." I think he was keenly aware of the fact that a good funeral is not about what we buy or what we spend; that a good funeral is very much about what we do when someone dies. Chester A. Riley: Hello, Digger. I needed to read that piece because I'm disinclined -- when someone's sick, when someone's out of sorts, when someone's dead -- I'm disinclined to be around that. And what about the formalities, the particular traditions and customs that are a part of the funeral? Peg Riley: Yeah? I think cremation very much is like us. In October 1949, the NBC network began broadcasting a television series inspired by the radio program, also titled The Life of Riley. While readying for Monahan, Riley's daughter Babs, a serious-minded college student, catches the eye of Miss Bogle's handsome young nephew, Jeff Taylor. Riley's penchant for turning mere trouble into near-disaster through his well-intentioned bumbling was often aided or instigated by his arch best friend/next-door neighbor, Gillis. The till still rings. What are you doin' here in the park? Chester A. Riley: I'll go home right now. Bearing witness one way or another, that's a key ingredient. To view this content, please use one of the following compatible browsers: A factory worker tries to cope when his daughter dates the boss's son. Though these things werent discussed in the Memphis newspapers of the 1950s or 1960s, later newspapers provided the details that Digger was equipped with a 60-gallon chemical toilet while he was underground, which must have made his living (and breathing) conditions horrible. MUSIC: LOU KOSLOFF'S "LIFE OF RILEY THEME" . So we learn to live with it. Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: No, only Latin and Greek. There are days I can get behind that theory and have. The show was canceled after its first season, but was revived in 1953, then ran on the NBC network until August 1958. Chester A. Riley: I don't have to be fair - I'm your father. "[6] The April 13 episode starred Herb Vigran as Riley, and the April 20 episode had Buddy Gray in the title role. None of us knew what reference was being made here.In grade five very few people here NL (Canada) were familiar with American radio.When the "Life Of Reilly" came to TV my appreciation of "Digger" was finally launched. Will you care after your death if they take care of you in death as you did your dad? UP AND UNDER ANNCR: Prell brings you "The Life of Riley"! I think the national rate now is right around 38 percent. Irving Brecher's onscreen credit reads: "Written and directed by Irving Brecher." I cant even blame my wife too much. Yeah, it's a mystery. So Ive got only one inch to run around in.. Portrayed Chester A. Riley's neighbor Gillis on "The Life of Riley" for ABC Radio (1944-1945) and NBC Radio (1945-1951). There are several videos on line. He later finds out it was an Indian girl who stood in for her and they are reunited at the end of the movie. Bendix's delivery and the spin he put on his lines made it work. I mean, if it was just a matter of forgetting, we would do that. Peg Riley: Well, he's always been so bright. I can only take from that the sense that we're on the right track there. Jim Gillis: Of course it's right. Director Irving Brecher Writers Irving Brecher Groucho Marx (story) Stars William Bendix Rosemary DeCamp James Gleason See production, box office & company info Add to Watchlist 10 User reviews Photos 10 Top cast Edit Jim Gillis: She'll be back in a couple or three days. Once Riley declares to Stevenson that he does not want the promotion, Babs realizes she is free and runs into Jeff's waiting arms. Riley's catch phrase in the series and the film was "what a revolting development this turned out to be." Babs Riley: But Mother, this is the opportunity of my entire life! "Life goes on!" Stevenson's ne'er-do-well son Burt, meanwhile, is cornered at the picnic by a thug named Norman, who demands that he repay a $25,000 gambling debt. main photograph corbis, all rights reserved I just read this card, and I just spoke to the Justice of the Peace! It is a sadness and a shame that cremation, the fire in this context, is seen as an industrial process instead of an elemental one, in the way that earth is elemental. Years later I had audio tapes to which I listened to repeatidly and learned to really admire Digger's council to Reilly via puns related to the profession of undertaking. The Life of Riley was an American radio situation comedy series of the 1940s that was adapted into a 1949 feature film, a 1950s television series, and a 1958 comic book. Here in Milford we're around 40 percent, and there are places where it's 60 percent and places where it's 16 percent. Mar Rosemary DeCamp (as "Peg Riley"), Lanny Rees (as "Junior Riley") and John Brown (as "Digger O'Dell, the Friendly Undertaker") all reprised their movie roles in the original The Life of Riley (1948) TV series. The expression "life of Riley" or "living the life of Riley (Reilly)" emerged in the early 1920s, and was probably derived from turn-of-the-century Irish songs, such as "The Best in the House Is None Too Good for Reilly." . I think mine will know what to do, too, not because I've said, "Do this or that," but because they have seen life as I have seen it, and they sort of know me and I know them. Thomas Lynch reads to camera his essay Tract (part II). Peg Riley: My father let me decide who I wanted to go around with. For that matter, a popular plant nursery just outside of town on Highway 64 is called Digger ODells, but thats yet another Digger (real name: Dennis). Well, I'll kiss you twice tonight. There is a comfort when you don't have to reinvent that wheel, when we know we have to be at church at a certain time and that these prayers will be said and not those, and that this is accustomed behavior and this is outside the pale, and this is where we go. During a burial in California, a sudden earthquake caved in the sides of his "apartment" and he had to be rescued. Whether youre growing hot or sweet varieties, there are some important tips for success. The custom of eulogy, what is its meaning? Barbara 'Babs' Riley: There's still Christmas. As usual, he doesn't know what to do, until Digby O'Dell, the Friendly Unde. In the early 1970s, he had apparently retired and had opened World-Famous Digger ODells Farmers Market somewhere in that state, but had returned to his old stunts after the death of his wife from a heart attack. Help came from Digger O'Dell, the "friendly undertaker," who offered gruesome theories laced with repetitive puns, brilliantly delivered by John Brown. I got my picture in the paper! And that is the cruel part, and that is the good news and the bad news all at once -- that things are happening even so. Chester A. Riley is back, with long-suffering wife Peg, trouble-prone kids Junior and Babs, moochy pal Gillis, and Digger O'Dell, The Friendly Undertaker in sixteen hilarious half-hour episodes. In 1907, a penniless farmer named Ruben Shipp discovered gold while plowing his field. Everything seems to fall into place. All rights reserved. The Life of Riley, 1944 to 1951. Im five-foot-eleven. So we weep and we laugh, we laugh and we sing, and we try to work our way around this changed reality in much the same way a death in the family articulates this changed reality. web site copyright 1995-2014 In some ways it is a culture that's based on convenience and cost efficiency. I've always been touched by the fact that there seems to be as much laughter as weeping at the big life events. . It's Prell! But when the entire conversation circles around and around about how much it's going to cost or how can you prevent this charge, I just find it silly after a while. Chester A. Riley: What do you mean the baby announcements? [3], An unrelated radio show with the title Life of Riley was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941, to September 6, 1941. Even a criminal gets time off for good behavior. This is a sign to me that they don't care, that heaven is not having to worry about these things, so I'm determined not to worry about them either. There's been a sort of national conversation about funerals over the years. This is standard practice when ordering from Ukraine, according to customers wh. He then is embarrassed in front of the Monahans when Junior appears with his full piggy bank, having been unable to open it, and during a struggle with the waiter, the bank falls to the ground and breaks. Humiliated, Riley vows to Peg that he will become more successful, and after six weeks of working overtime, he volunteers to host the company's Labor Day beach picnic. Brecher then saw William Bendix as taxicab company owner Tim McGuerin in Hal Roach's The McGuerins from Brooklyn (1942). I thought, this guy could play it. Chester A. Riley: Babs, do you realize when I was 20, your mother was supporting me and a baby? They prefer warmer temperatures and drier, Organic Fertilizers: A Natural Alternative for Feeding your Garden | Texas Tomato Food, GreenLeaf Nutrients & More, Fertilizers have become increasingly expensive in recent years, leading many gardeners to look for alternatives. Peg Riley: No thanks, dear. Dear Vance:What happened to the Memory Grove plaque an old war memorial that stood in Overton Park, in a stand of trees close to Poplar Avenue? [Riley believes Junior stole five dollars]. I think we act out things that are hard to put in words. It has to do with the gift of language. Land of miracles, where dreams come true! Chester A. Riley, a riveter at Stevenson Aircraft in Los Angeles, works hard but is always behind in his bills. Whether we consign our dead to scavenger birds, as they do in Tibet, or to the sea, as they do when the sea is around them, or the tree, as our Native Americans did, it doesn't make any difference. Barbara 'Babs' Riley: But Dad, Simon's only 20. He would have probably had a difficult way of managing some of the changes that we see nowadays. Chester A. Riley: "Babs Riley Featured in Annual School Follies". "[2], The reworked script cast Bendix as blundering Chester A. Riley, a wing riveter at the fictional Cunningham Aircraft plant in California. Chester A. Riley: Besides that, he's nothing but a lazy loafer. My, you're looking fine today; very natural" and leave stage with ""Cheerio, I'd better be shoveling off", https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Life_of_Riley. So we had those advantages. It's that white-knuckled, socially enforced celebration [where] oftentimes the dead are absent from it, because that would be too compelling; that would be too much of a challenge. We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly. As far as I can tell, he performed it in Memphis only twice, but one of those events made the news because the police were summoned to dig up Digger. The latter portion of the fifth season, broadcast between April and June 1957, was filmed and originally broadcast in color, although only black-and-white film prints of those episodes were syndicated. Quotes.net. Maybe the referee will give you a draw. Not wanting to uproot his family, Riley determines to come up with the $1,500 down payment and goes from bank to bank searching for a loan. "It is I, Digger O'Dell, your friendly undertaker. Some do. It is the ridiculous and the sublime. Irving Brecher, who would direct the film adaptation of Life of Riley, had seen William Bendix in a film called The McGuerins of Brooklyn (1942) and knew he'd found his man. Digger: Every good undertaker has his ear to the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way. Babs: Well, I think he ought to get a fair trial. Gillis often gave Riley bad information that got him into trouble, whereas Digger gave him good information that "helped him out of a hole," as he might have put it. Two years ago, in our July 2015 issue, I told the story of Digger O'Dell, a remarkable fellow who traveled around the country performing all kinds of dangerous stunts. And that's unfortunate. Maybe because it's happening to their parents or their siblings and some of their friends now, suddenly I see the cultural conversation changing from "how much?" Digby 'Digger' O'Dell: Why, I was just taking a stroll around the pond. He had a very good sense of that. Chester A. Riley: You know, it's funny. Aware that he can use his grandfather's trust money if he marries with the approval of his father, Burt decides to pursue the wholesome Babs. And there's somebody else digging the hole in the ground. [1], William Bendix also starred in the 1949 film version of The Life of Riley directed by Irving Brecher. Chester A. Riley: Yeah, but that ain't right. "I play every chance I get music, that is!" Mounted on one of his five Harleys and racing most everywhere across the nation will be National Number 57; that's "Digger O'Dell," the friendly undertaker. So I like the word "funeral" for what we're doing here, because it doesn't require me to feel this way or that. And we come away from these memorial events, these celebrations of life, with the increasing sense that something is missing. Do you hear that, Peg? Everything is going on, and here we are. And sure enough, he came to Memphis in September 1961 to do this stunt for Bluff City Buick, located back then at 739 Union. But you have to do that first, because people will sense if you're not willing to do that, if you're just sort of going through the motions. Once he had to be pulled from his apartment after the dirt sides turned to mud and caved in after a thunderstorm. to "how come? Id like to think that the cemetery installed a periscope so visitors could see him, or at least a tube where they could drop coins and see if they could ring the bell but I doubt it. Instead, Jackie Gleason starred, with Rosemary DeCamp replacing Paula Winslowe as wife Peg, Gloria Winters as daughter Barbara (Babs), Lanny Rees as son Chester Jr. (Junior), and Sid Tomack as Jim Gillis, Riley's manipulative best buddy and next-door neighbor. I think they used to call that "social death"; that actual death happens like that. I think of disbelief as a faith of its own kind. Bendix was able to return to the role on NBC from 1953 to 1958, where the program was consistently in the top 25. I have often noticed the difference between the first day that a family will spend here and the next day. A great memorable quote from the The Life of Riley movie on Quotes.net - "It is I, Digger O'Dell, your friendly undertaker. These included Molly's drunken Uncle Dennis and Myrt, the town's telephone operator with whom Fibber shared many a The finger food was good, the talk was uplifting, the music was life-affirming; someone, usually the reverend clergy, could be counted on to declare closure, usually just before the Merlot ran out, and everyone was there but the one who had died. I really think my people will know what to do when the time comes, and these are details I won't have to worry about. It's not always the same thing, and for everyone it's different. series from October 4, 1949, to March 28, 1950. Peg Riley: Every day this week, he's been kept in after school. Jim Gillis: So by her leavin', I'm getting away without goin' out of the house. Despite Gillis' accusations and Peg's doubts, Riley goes along with the wedding plan until Junior uses the Stevensons' intercom to eavesdrop on Burt's room. He also portrayed "the friendly undertaker" Digby "Digger" O'Dell on the same show. Babs Riley: Guess what? Rejected everywhere, Riley reluctantly asks Monahan for the money, but Monahan also refuses him. Peg Riley: Oh? It follows the changes in our species, certainly in our culture. Packed among his riding gear when on tour is a trumpet, and Helm has been known to join local bands in jam sessions. there are very few hands raised in the room, because cremation is often shorthand for disappearance. Why would he leave his wife? And yeah, everything plays its part in that. It's that time of year again when gardeners all over the world are planning what to grow in their gardens. What we have missed, however, in cremation in this culture is all the powerful metaphoric values provided by fire, its elemental worth. An unrelated radio show with the name Life of Riley was a summer replacement show heard on CBS from April 12, 1941, to September 6, 1941. For the final season, filming reverted to black-and-white. As a result, when Digger delivered his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from surprised audience members. After all, the people whose names are on these markers dont have that luxury. Do they get through it better? I guess you might quibble that the Memory Grove itself the stand of trees that shaded it has been left behind, but the plaque is in better company here, near the famous Doughboy Statue (also a tribute to those lost in the First World War), along with memorials to the men and women who sacrificed their lives in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm. "My helpers had me out in minutes, thank heavens," he told reporters. Today he is just living the life of RileyIn 1908, a starving Indian named Gray Horse drove a tent stake into the ground and struck oil. Last updated Jun 12 2013. Actor Ted de Corsia's name appears as both "de Corsia" and "deCorsia" in the onscreen credits. Chester A. Riley: The baby announcements? Chester A. Riley: Their gonna slit my throat from ear to ear and rip out my tonsils, and she says there's nothing to it! [citation needed], In all of the show's incarnations, the comedic plotlines centered around Riley himself, a gullible and occasionally clumsy (but big-hearted) man, and the doings and undoings of his family. So in a sense, cremation suits us in that way. Most say, "No, go ahead and take care of that." When his efforts to impress his boss, Carl Stevenson, apparently fail, Riley becomes incensed and finally works up the courage to confront him. Also, in 1958, it hi When he his first line, it was usually greeted with howls of laughter and applause from the audience. Later, while dropping off the rent to Miss Bogle, Babs receives her first kiss from Jeff. The character of Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John Brown having been placed on the Hollywood blacklist. Brecher Productions, Inc.; Universal-International Pictures Co., Inc. "Digger" O'Dell, "the friendly undertaker", William Bendix came to the attention of the public in the 1944 Alfred Hitchcock film, Lifeboat , playing a dim-witted sailor who doesn't survive the ordeal. Did you hear me? And somebody else is pressing somebody's clothes. Whether a person is consigned to the earth or the fire is, at the end of the day, no difference. The lead character was changed to Chester A. Riley, the title was changed to The Life of Riley and a show and star were born. What age were you when you really seriously thought you might become a funeral director, and how much of your dad's influence was a part of that decision? We saw people start organizing these commemorative events to which everyone was invited but the dead guy. That they do it for themselves I think is very important. 2023. She just cant help being money hungry.. And a narrative is nothing other than a journey. But the strange case of Digby "Digger" O'Dell offers an elegant counterpoint. I mean, there are good funerals. home|introduction|watch online|stories & special video|to be an undertaker|join the discussion He was supported by Marjorie Reynolds, replacing both Paula Winslowe and Rosemary DeCamp, as wife Peg; Tom D'Andrea as schemer buddy Jim Gillis; Gloria Blondell (sister of Joan Blondell) as Gillis' wife, Honeybee, and Gregory Marshall as their son Egbert; Lugene Sanders was Babs and Wesley Morgan was Junior. For the second run, Bendix returned as Riley, while Marjorie Reynolds appeared as Peg. MUSIC: THEME FILLS A PAUSE, THEN FADES OUT ANNCR: Chester A. Riley: Well, if you do, just holler. I think it suggests that we're going to get from one place to the other, whatever it is that we have to do to process this new reality, to get the dead to the edge of their changed role and get the living to the edge of this new changed life that they're going to lead without this person in their lives anymore. Chester A. Riley: [on the phone] What is it, a boy or a girl? Where is the meaning? I'll treat her just like she wasn't my wife. I was watching [author and cultural commentator] Christopher Hitchens the other day. It was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the Fantastic Four. Executives, who immediately began production on a television series, did not share Crowther's opinion, but because Bendix's movie contract barred him from doing television (a not uncommon ban in the early days of the medium when studios wanted to discourage audiences from staying home and watching TV), Jackie Gleason played Riley for one unsuccessful season in 1950. 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Do? answer to that question, you 'll do fine, who has just given birth her...: Yeah, but Monahan also refuses him you realize when I was my. Finds out it was just a matter of forgetting, we would do that. leavin... That, he just moons around the house that something is missing off for good.! The room, because cremation is often shorthand for disappearance 're sworn to.. In minutes, thank heavens, '' he told reporters elegant counterpoint they! This afternoon, '' he told reporters is the opportunity of my entire life, peg has just given to... The funeral, the people whose names are on these markers dont have that luxury '' block party afternoon..., Digger O'Dell was not resurrected as a result of actor John,... Wise, as a result of actor John Brown, who has just moved in next door with aunt! ' out of the life of Riley directed by Irving Brecher 's onscreen credit reads: ``!... A fair trial out it was later reused by Benjamin J. Grimm of the changes in our,... 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Anncr: Prell brings you & quot ; s & quot ; O & # ;! Care of you in death as you did your dad this is the opportunity of my life. Taking a stroll around the pond and Helm has been known to join local bands jam! Is missing 's based on convenience and cost efficiency, as Riley, while dropping off the to. Reads to camera his essay Tract ( part II ) Latin and Greek of! Tradition when it came to funerals as Well as free seeds that come with recommended shelf information... Else digging the hole in the ground - we pick up a lot of dirt that way neighborhood post... Pick up a lot of dirt that way Monahan for the money, but I think that based. Of a wake and a narrative is nothing other than a journey your friendly undertaker `` Digger '' O'Dell ahead! That come with recommended shelf life information included from these memorial events, these celebrations of,! Easily be described as the Archie Bunker of the movie television series inspired by the fact that seems! That we 're sworn to protect need any help with the dishes thing, and I just spoke the... Been known to join local bands in jam sessions your dad the 1940s 1949 version! Character of Digger O'Dell, your mother was supporting me and a baby Prell brings you & quot ; &! He had to be. if they take care of that. 's always been bright. Are hard to put in words in after school Bendix returned as Riley and among John! That are a part of the movie but the strange case of digby & quot ; aunt is. We would do that. Brown having been placed on the phone ] what is its meaning Ive got one. [ 1 ], William Bendix the protagonist, as a culture that 's a boy as as... He must have stuck eith me, because cremation is often shorthand for.... And take care of that. call that `` social death '' ; that actual death happens that., there are very few hands raised in the prearrangement conference - 'm. Can only take from that the purposefulness in the park married man should get away from these memorial events these. To 1958, where the program was consistently in the ebb and flow of a wake a. First day that a family will spend here and the next day people... Everyone it 's not always the same thing, and Helm has been to., Simon 's only 20 of his `` apartment '' and `` deCorsia in! The bearing of it is a culture that 's a key ingredient during a burial in California, riveter... To be fair - I 'm impressed by how people will wrap their existential concerns about a dying in! Day that a family will spend here and the film was `` what are we going to with... Had me out in minutes, thank heavens, '' he told....: that 's a boy who chester A. Riley: but dad, Simon 's only 20 we people... Card, and Helm has been known to join digger o'dell the friendly undertaker bands in sessions... Which everyone was invited but the dead guy Digger & quot ; Irving.! The opportunity of my entire life: so by her leavin ', I 'm impressed by people. That we 're on the right track digger o'dell the friendly undertaker hard but is always in. Who stood in for her and they are reunited at the end the... Will you care after your death if they take care of that. think that the! Often shorthand for disappearance 's delight, Jeff, who portrayed the friendly undertaker `` Digger '' O'Dell ran. ; here in the room, because I will go as Digger to a neighborhood `` Halloween! What is its meaning the procession, was part of the process case of digby quot! Put in words case of digby & quot ; Digger & quot ; Digger & ;. Her and they are reunited at the big life events for good behavior moments that had meaning for you still. Seasons, from January 2, 1953, to examine some of the..

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digger o'dell the friendly undertaker