Conference noted::equitation

    If anyone works at LKG, I have a series of cartons concerning Mr. Ed
    posted outside my office (of course any comic strip with a horse, is
    sent over to my office!)
    I'm in LKG2, 2nd floor opposite the Booth Bay conference room.
    
    I'm really glad Nickoldeon airs Mr. Ed but unfortunately I don't get
    cable out where I live. Sometimes I catch it elsewhere.
    
    I recently saw a couple of episodes, one where Carol is going out to
    get a job because the phone bill was Soooo high and Wilbur complained.
    It's extremely interesting to watch this series and see how the women
    are portrayed  (and their roles). 
    If I remember, I think my favorite episode is when Mr. Ed falls in love
    with this "cute little filly" - I think she was over at a park stable.
    
    The interesting thing I've always wanted to ask the directors is,
    - where's Mr. Ed's paddock
    - Doesn't Mr. Ed make a huge mess in his stall since there's no
    shavings!!!!!!!
    
    I guess they always had someone hanging around to make sure accidents
    didn't happen.
    				Cindy
    

    re:1
    Cindy,
    
    The episode that you were talking about when Ed falls in love with
    a "cute little filly" is one of my favorite episodes too!  She is
    a pinto, and Ed has to compete for her affections against another
    horse, and when she chooses the other horse over Mr Ed, Ed gets
    really bummed out and makes up a song called "The Empty Feedbag
    Blues"....I thought it was a riot.
    
    Another funny episode is when Ed frees all these birds from a zoo
    and hides them in Wilbur's neighbors house...did anyone ever seen
    it??
    
    Lynne :-)

    When I was seven I lived half a mile away from Mr. Ed.  I was always
    getting yelled at for being in the guy's yard, but I thought for
    sure if I spent enough time there I'd eventually hear him talk!
    
    Kathy

    RE:894.3
    
    Did you live near the "real" Mr. Ed????  Tell all!!! :-)

    
    What ever happened to Mr Ed anyway?  Is it true "he" was a mare?
    
    -John

    re. 6 - I goofed something up when I tried to enter it - here goes
    again.
    
    I lived in North Hollywood and everyone out there said he was the
    "real" Mr. Ed. There were quite a few actors/actresses with homes
    within a few miles of us (though I never actually saw the people),
    so I think it was true.
    
    He was kept behind a chain link fence that surrounded the man's
    house.  There was another horse (bay I think) that did not like
    us - he'd chase us everytime we came into the yard (so did the man).
    
    I don't know if "he" was really a mare - I was only 7 and didn't
    pay attention to those sorts of things.  I'll ask my brother, though,
    maybe he'll remember.

    I love it....Mr Ed was a palomino and passed away in 1973.
    
    Was this "real Mr Ed" a palomino???
    
    Lynne ;^)

    Re.9
    
    Sounds wild...we all would like to know some of the Mr Ed Trivia
    :-)
    
    Lynne

    re. .8  Yes, he was a palomino

    re.11  I think it is a riot that you lived near him...it must have
    been a trip.  I used to love him when I was young, but never realized
    he was a wise cracker until a few years back when I used to put
    the show on the air every night.  That is when I became a die hard
    fan.  Sometimes I would be laughing so hard that I would loose
    concentration which is a big no no when you are a master control
    technician for a TV station :-)  When I used to sign the station
    off at night at 3:00 a. m. I used to go down to the film library
    and come back with a handful of cassettes and watch them one by
    one.  I saw the very first episode for the first time when Wilbur
    finds out the Mr Ed actually talks!!  I am so glad that Nick at
    Night shows it at a reasonable time.
    
    Lynne :-)

   Here is the info on Mr.Ed as printed in the book "Animal Superstars"
   by John Javna.

   [I edited the text a bit for readability. The page format had boxes
   and doesn't translate well to terminals. The text is from the book
   but appears in a different order.]
   
   'Hello, I'm Mr.Ed'. 

   In its first decade, TV had lots of chatty cartoon characters--but it 
   wasn't until 1960 that a real 'talking' animal finally appeared. It 
   was Mr. Ed, a wiseguy palomino who spoke only to his owner, nerdy 
   architect Wilbur Post. 'Mr. Ed' was conceived as a TV version of the 
   _Francis the Talking Mule_ movie series. Francis' director, Arthur 
   Lubin, thought 'Ed' was a sure smash, but to his amazement, neither 
   sponsors, TV networks, or even the proposed star, Alan Young, wanted 
   anything to do with it. For eight years Lubin tried to get it off the 
   ground; then in 1960, the finally convinced the Studebaker car company 
   to syndicate it. Naturally, Mr. Ed became an instant folk hero.

   Mr. Ed originally appeared as a character in a magazine short story.
   He not only talked, but got drunk.

   Ed's trainer, Les Hilton, was one of the greats. (He also trained Francis
   the Mule and TV's Flicka.) He was always somewhere on the set, just out 
   of camera range, directing Ed with hand signals. 

   Ed's best stunts: He could write notes, dial a telephone, pick up coins,
   and unlatch a barn door. Whenever Mr.Ed was bored, he'd cross his hind
   legs and yawn.  The crew always knew what kind of day they were in for
   with Ed. If he came out of his trailer with his tail up in the air, he
   was in a good mood. If he felt bad, he'd tuck his tail in, stand still
   and wheeze.

   The secret of how he 'talked': Ed's halter had a nylon fish line which
   ran to his mouth. Whenever Ed was supposed to talk, Hilton pulled the
   string and Ed began to move his lips, trying to dislodge it. Ed's voice
   was provided by Alan 'Rocky' Lane, a cowboy film star of the 30s and
   40s. [Photograph of Rocky and his own horse, Black Jack.]

   Ed was an actor's actor. He could usually do complicated scenes in just
   one take -- better than the human performers he worked with.

   When the show started, Alan Young, who'd never been on a horse before,
   tried to ride Mr. Ed every morning so they'd get to know each other.
   But Ed was inexplicably nasty. Why? It turned out that Alan was riding 
   Ed too soon after his morning training sessions; Ed was tired and just
   wanted to be left alone! The rides were switched to the afternoon, and 
   the two stars became good friends. Connie Hines, [who played Wilbur's
   wife, Carol] on the other hand, got along beautifully with the star
   from the outset. 'He loves to have me whisper in his ear.' she confided
   to reporters.

   Mr. Ed had a chance to meet lots of celebbrities in his time. Once he 
   had to get tough with Clint Eastwood. Another time he ran away to live
   with Zsa Zsa Gabor. 

   The show ran from 1960 to 1965. There were a total of 143 half hour 
   episodes of 'Mr. Ed', mostly on CBS-tv. After the show went off the 
   air, Ed toured the country making personal appearances for 15 years.
   Filmways Studios purchased Ed in 1959 for $1500. Comedian George 
   Burns financed the original 'Mr. Ed' pilot film.
   
   Mr Ed was a Golden Palomino named Bamboo Harvester. His sire is Chief
   Tongaoxie, also a palomino, and his dam was an Arabian named Zetna.
   Ed's grandfather, 'The Harvester', used to lead the Rose Bowl parade.
   Vital Statistics: 
          Weight: 1100 lbs
          Height: 15 hands
          Daily Diet: 20 lbs of hay, washed down with a gallon of sweet tea.
          Born: 1954
          Died: 1979    
    
   [There are also a few pictures of Ed and his co-stars, with captions.]

   Hope you enjoyed this bit of Mr.Ed trivia!   
   
   Other equines in the book are: Flicka, Fury, The Black Stallion,
   National Velvet, Trigger, Tony, Silver and Francis the Mule.

    Thank you - very interesting horse trivia.  Lets hear more!
    

    That was fantastic info for all "Ed Heads"....Yes!...lets have another
    encore!!!
    
    
    Lynne!

    I loved Mr. Ed, too.  But I think my all time childhood favorite
    tv horse was Fury.  I don't think I ever missed a Saturday morning
    episode.
    
    I think my horses must have heard of Fury also.  A couple of years
    ago at Christmas WROR's Joe and Andy sponsored a fund raiser that
    featured the stars of early tv shows like Fury, My Little Margie,
    and a bunch of others.  As part of the promotion they would play
    the theme music from the program.  I'll never forget the first
    morning they played the Fury introduction.  Remember how it goes?
    A man's voice is talking about the wild black stallion that no man
    can tame.  But the love of the big black horse for the boy Joey
    overcomes his fear of man.  Anyway, after all that goop you hear
    the boys voice call "Fury!"  And the horse answers.  I have five
    horses and every single one of them stopped chewing and stood 
    absolutely silent for a second.  Then, starting with the stallion,
    they all answered the horse on the radio.  And every time after
    that that they heard Fury on the radio, they all answered.  I never
    knew how gullible horses are.
    
    gwen
    
    

    The following information is taken (sans official okee-dokees) 
    from the book "Animal Superstars" by John Javna. 

    Fury

    Fury might well be the most famous  horse in acting history. Most
    of us rememberhim from his mid-50's Saturday morning TV series
    ("The story of a horse and the boy who loved him.") But by the time
    he became a television hero he was already one of Hollywood's most
    respected animal actors. It was 'Gypsy Colt', a 1954 film adaptation
    of 'Lassie, Come Home' (featuring a horse instead of a dog), that
    earned him permanent star status--after that, every role--like his
    impressive scenes in 'Giant' (1956)--added to his reputation. He
    finished his career with the longest-running solo performance of
    any horse in television, winning three PATSYs [equivalent of the
    Academy Award, but for animals) along the way.
     
    "I've never known an animal like Fury," said Fury's trainer, Ralph
    McCutcheon. "All of us have known animals who are smart, but what
    makes Fury different is an amazing aptitude. We rehearse a new bit
    twice and are ready for a take." An example: One scene in a movie
    called for Fury to chase someone and "kick a package out of his
    hand without hurting him". Fury did it perfectly after only two
    rehearsals. Fury also had a huge repertoire of tricks. He played
    dead, limped, lay down, smiled, untied knots with his mouth, 
    "fetched", knelt down, allowed himself to be chased, opened doors
    with his mouth, poked his head into windows, and more.

    Fury's first screen role was as Black Beauty. The film flopped,
    but Fury was recognized as an emerging talent. By the time he got
    the lead role in the TV series nine years later, Fury was already
    a star. And he expected to get paid like one. Fury not only got
    more money then the human stars of the show ($1500 per episode)
    but also got 5% of the show's profits while they got flat weekly
    salaries. By the time he retired, Fury ranked second only to Lassie
    in net earnings by an animal actor.

    Fury was ridden by some of Hollywood's biggest stars, including
    Elizabeth Taylor, Clark Gable and Joan Crawford. At the end of 
    each episode ofthe TV series, the three main cast members would 
    get together, have a little chat, and all chuckle along with Fury.
    "That", said human co-star Peter Graves, "is when I learned to
    laugh without feeling like it." But Graves didn't resent the fact
    that Fury made more money than he did. "[Fury] was the real star,"
    he explained, "without the horse, I wouldn't have made the money
    I made".

    Vital Statistics:
        Breed: Amercian Saddlebred
        Sex: Male (never bred)
        Name: Highland Dale
        Origin: Born and raised on a Missouri farm. Purchased by Ralph
                McCutcheon when he was 18 months old.
        Debut: At age 26 months, in a film. 11 years old when the TV
               series started
        Born: 1944
        Died: 1973 (age 29)
        
    Screen Credits
    1946 : 'Black Beauty'(film) co-stars: Richard Denning, Mona Freeman
    1954 : 'Gypsy Colt'(film) co-stars: Donna Corcoran, Ward Bond
    1956 : 'Giant'(film) co-stars: Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean
    1955-1960: 'Fury' (TV series). 114 episodes. co-stars: Peter Graves,
               William Fawcett, Bobby Diamond

    Thank you!  I never knew all that stuff about Fury.  And I
    NEVER would have guess that he was a Saddlebred!
    
    I'm going to print this out and take it home to read to my
    horses.  It's time they all went out and got jobs.
    
    gwen
    

    Fury sounds beautiful!  Unfortunately I don't remember him..before
    my time ;-).  Do any of the stations air him now???
    
    Lynne S.

    re. .13
    
    If Mr. Ed's dad use to lead the Rose bowl parade, it pretty much
    confirms that it was the real one I lived next to.  Bus Carson,
    the person who owns(owned) all the palominos in the Rose Bowl, lived
    three houses (though he had a ranch) away from me.  I use to sit
    there and watch him train.  I swear he had hundreds of horses, though
    I was young so it might have just seemed that way.