Talk: Henson Film Actors Notes

Info Parking

As part of Sandbox clean-up, I'm deleting this. I finally confirmed the Saralou Cooper claim (and she'll have a page shortly) via someone's 16mm visuals from a hard to find TV special on the history of American women (and comparing stills of the Saralou Cooper who played a Colonial housewife shows it's the same actress).

For the rest, Barbara Richman seems pretty confirmed (can't find a picture but a Barbara Richman was a dancer in New York at the time, so it's safe to assume it's the same). I'm parking that. Still can't find enough Ralph and Wally footage to compare the Ponazecki claim (made on Wikipedia elsewhere), but the main purpose of this page is pretty much resolved for now.

Joe Ponazecki

Joe Ponazecki has been widely sourced as playing Wally in Wally and Ralph. According to Wikipedia, Ponazecki was also the man, shown above, who opened question marked doors in the Baker films, revealing livestock. Other credits include many TV soap roles and a part in the 1989 play Autumn Elegy.

Richman (?) on right

Barbara Richman

Barbara Richman was another Broadway dancer, appearing in West Side Story and other shows between 1957 and 1962 (IBDb). Her name appears in the film credits, and based on background, might have been the male dancer's partner.

Hutchison?

As you know, I try to be careful about jumping to conclusions, and still haven't found visual reference to confirm if Jim Hutchison was the dancer in Time Piece. However, I found that The Jimmy Dean Show lists him as choreographer. Time Piece composer Don Sebesky also worked on the series. In light of that, I think it's fairly safe to assume that it's Hutchison as the male dancer. Thoughts? -- Andrew Leal (talk) 05:14, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Attention

This is a little out of the ordinary, I admit, and sparked solely by my own curiosity. I've been gathering backgrounds of people who *might* have been in Henson short films, and images that *might* have been them, but so far, unlike with Dave Bailey or April March, unable to confirm beyond doubt. And naturally, speculation within actual Wiki articles is discouraged. So, like Name That Puppet, I thought I'd stick it all here, mainly in the off chance someone might be interested in doing some digging of their own. Outside of contacting Karen Falk, the following are means by which folks could assist, for each performer, mainly through comparisons with the images here (or, of course, if anyone stumbles upon trustworthy quotes or biographies to state such involvement outright).

• Saralou Cooper- one could always try to contact the YouTube poster, of course (but even then, it would be mostly their word). However, an alternative may be for anyone who has a copy, or access to a copy, of the La Choy ad (the one listed last, not to be confused with the "Sad Bride" short).

• Joe Ponazecki- Anyone with access to a Wally and Ralph clip, or to any of Ponazecki's many TV and film appearances (the current image on the Wiki is too tiny to dicern either actor's features). The theater image here, more than 20 years later, suggests it might be the same person, but it would be nice to get input from someone else.

• Jim Hutchison- Trickier. I checked Hello Dolly, and the Jim Hutchison in that, as a waiter named Stanler, is balding, like the Time Piece dancer, but bearded, so I couldn't make out the face.

• Barbara Richman- Probably the hardest, with no known film appearances, but any collectors of Broadway photos and program books might have come across her.

So there you have it. I hope this doesn't seem too self-indulgent, but rather, an attempt to elicit the help of others in solving Wiki mysteries (which has worked so well on Name That Puppet). -- Andrew Leal (talk) 20:04, 4 September 2006 (UTC)