| Hy Averback | |
|---|---|
 Television/film director and actor Hy Averback appeared as Charlie Appleby in the Season 3 episode of "I Love Lucy" titled "Baby Pictures". | |
| Vital information | |
| Gender: | Male |
| Birthname: | Hyman J. Averback |
| Born: | October 21, 1920 |
| Birthplace: | Minneapolis], Minnesota, U.S. |
| Died | October 14, 1997 (aged 76) |
| Deathplace: | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation/ Career: |
Actor Television and film director |
| Family and Personal information | |
| Spouse(s): | Dorothy Averback (1926-2006) |
| Character/Show information | |
| Appeared on/ involved with: |
I Love Lucy |
| Episodes appeared in: | "Baby Pictures" in Season 3 |
| Appears as: | Charlie Appleby |
Hy Averback (October 21, 1920 – October 14, 1997) was a radio, television, and film actor who eventually became a producer and director. He appeared in the role of Charlie Appleby in Season 3 of I Love Lucy in the episode "Baby Pictures" before being replaced in the role by George O'Hanlon.
Career[]
Born Hyman J. Averback in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Averback co-produced the popular 1960s situation comedy F Troop and supplied the voice over the loudspeaker heard on the television series M*A*S*H; He also directed 20 episodes for the long-running, Emmy Award-winning series, from 1972-82.
Radio[]
Averback was an announcer in Hollywood before World War II.[1] During the War, as part of the Armed Forces Radio Service, he entertained troops in the Pacific with his program of comedy and music, where he created the character of Tokyo Mose, a lampoon of Japan's Tokyo Rose. In the post-War years, he became the announcer for Bob Hope and Jack Paar on NBC and also announced for other NBC radio shows, The Sealtest Village Store and Let's Talk Hollywood.
Television work[]
Doing comedy on early television, he appeared on The Saturday Night Revue (1953–54), Tonight (1955) and NBC Comedy Hour (1956). He was a series regular as Mr. Romero on the Eve Arden situation comedy Our Miss Brooks and also appeared in CBS-TV's I Love Lucy and other 1950s comedies, having moving into directing at the end of that decade. He directed ABC-TV's The Real McCoys, the Walter Brennan sitcom which was created and produced by Irving Pincus ABC and later CBS from 1957 to 1963. Later, Averback shared directing duties with Richard Crenna on The Real McCoys. Crenna had also been a cast member with Averback on Our Miss Brooks. Averback also directed for The Dick Powell Show (1961–63), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964–68), The Flying Nun (1967–70), Columbo (1971), McCloud (1971), M*A*S*H (1972), Quark (1978), Matt Houston (1982–83), The Four Seasons (1984) and the miniseries Pearl (1978). For CBS, he produced Mrs. G. Goes to College (aka The Gertrude Berg Show) in the 1961-1962 season.
He co-produced the popular 1960s sitcom F Troop and supplied the voice over the loudspeaker heard on the television series M*A*S*H. An often quoted live radio blooper in the early days was that a tongue-tied announcer tried to introduce him on a show sponsored by Eversharp razor blades. What came out was, "And here's Hy Aversharp for Everback! -- er, I mean, here's Hy Averback for Eversharp!" (Possibly urban legend, but often taken as a true event.)
Films[]
Hy's film credits include directing Chamber of Horrors (1966), Where Were You When the Lights Went Out? (1968), I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (1968), The Great Bank Robbery (1969), and Suppose They Gave A War and Nobody Came (1969) as well as the reunion TV-movie The New Maverick (1978) with James Garner and Jack Kelly.
Death[]
Averback died in Los Angeles, California after going through cardiac surgery.[2]
