Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

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TerryTerrell
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Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby TerryTerrell » February 8th, 2020, 1:20 pm


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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Christopher1979 » February 8th, 2020, 3:15 pm

Heard it earlier today. 91 and got hit by two cars. What a shame..... sad way to leave this world...
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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Bill Mullins » February 8th, 2020, 7:44 pm

Orson Bean worked professionally as a magician in the late 1940s and early 1950s, initially under his birth name "Dallas Burrows".

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AJM
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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby AJM » February 9th, 2020, 8:53 am

His birth name was Dallas Burrows and he changed his name to Orson Bean? Why bother?

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Bill Mullins » February 9th, 2020, 1:07 pm

When he was a stand-up comedian, he would get more laughs when he was introduced as "Orson Bean" than as "Dallas Burrows".

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Jackpot » February 9th, 2020, 1:22 pm

"In an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1974, Bean recounted the source of his new name. He credited its origin to a piano player named Val at "Hurley's Log Cabin", a restaurant and nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts, where he had once performed. According to Bean, every evening before he went on stage at the nightclub, Val would suggest to him a silly name to use when introducing himself to the audience. One night, for example, the piano player suggested "Roger Duck", but the young comedian got very few laughs after using that name in his performance. On another night, however, the musician suggested "Orson Bean", and the comedian received a great response from the audience, a reaction so favorable that it resulted in a job offer that same evening from a local theatrical booking agent."

His name at birth, Dallas Frederick Burrows, probably would not have helped him get on The Tonight Show among other places.

Orson Bean's tale reminds us that we can learn a great deal from our audiences if we will listen to them.
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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehicles and passes away

Postby Scott Wells » February 10th, 2020, 12:54 pm

Orson talks about his name change, magic, comedy and other stories on the podcast I recorded with him in 2017. You can listen to it here, plus get links to a couple of his videos and candid photos taken during our chat: https://www.themagicwordpodcast.com/sco ... orson-bean
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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Brad Jeffers » February 10th, 2020, 5:20 pm

I thought Orson Bean would make the "In Memoriam" segment on last night's Oscar's, but apparently his death was too recent for inclusion.
Robert Conrad, who died Saturday, was also left out.

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Joe Lyons » February 10th, 2020, 5:42 pm

Brad Jeffers wrote:Robert Conrad, who died Saturday

Damn

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby AJM » February 12th, 2020, 3:39 pm

Nope - still don’t see how Orson Bean is a funnier name than Dallas Burrows.

Now Dick Van Dyke - that’s a funny name.
Funnier than his cockney accent if truth be told.

Rip Torn, that’s a good one too.

Now if I fitted carpets I’d change my name to Walter Wall.

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Leo Garet » February 13th, 2020, 5:58 am

Or if you were a painter and decorator, Matt Finish.

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby AJM » February 13th, 2020, 6:28 am

:lol:

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 13th, 2020, 1:54 pm

The Oscar segment honors film actors, not TV actors. Conrad's career was almost entirely in television, except for a few pedestrian films.
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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Joe Lyons » February 13th, 2020, 2:08 pm

Richard Kaufman wrote:The Oscar segment honors film actors, not TV actors. Conrad's career was almost entirely in television, except for a few pedestrian films.

No, I remember them memorializing TV actors also.

From Rolling Stone magazine: "The Academy includes an annual In Memoriam segment on the Oscars telecast, paying tribute to film and television stars, directors, producers, writers, cinematographers, artists, designers, and other notable Hollywood figures who have passed away over the last year."

Perhaps he'll be in next years segment.

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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Zig Zagger » February 22nd, 2020, 3:49 am

Jackpot wrote:"In an interview on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1974, Bean recounted the source of his new name. He credited its origin to a piano player named Val at "Hurley's Log Cabin", a restaurant and nightclub in Boston, Massachusetts, where he had once performed. According to Bean, every evening before he went on stage at the nightclub, Val would suggest to him a silly name to use when introducing himself to the audience. One night, for example, the piano player suggested "Roger Duck", but the young comedian got very few laughs after using that name in his performance. On another night, however, the musician suggested "Orson Bean", and the comedian received a great response from the audience, a reaction so favorable that it resulted in a job offer that same evening from a local theatrical booking agent."

His name at birth, Dallas Frederick Burrows, probably would not have helped him get on The Tonight Show among other places.

Orson Bean's tale reminds us that we can learn a great deal from our audiences if we will listen to them.

While reading Bart Whaley's monumental biography of Orson Welles, I have just come across this bit:

"(...) Burrows would become a pro magician and comedy star under the stage name of 'Orson Bean', which the piano player at the night spot he was playing suggested--Bean because, like the Boston bean, it sounded absurd, Orson because it sounded pompous."

Whaley's source was his telephone interview with Bean in 1992. Incidentally, at age 17, Orson Bean happened to attend the opening night of Orson Welles's magic and musical extravaganza, "Around the World in Eighty Days", in Boston, and found it filled with "wonderful stuff."
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Re: Orson Bean hit by 2 vehivles and passes away

Postby Bill Mullins » May 13th, 2020, 7:11 pm

I just ran across an interesting (for me, at least) appearance by Orson Bean in Help! magazine (Help! was a magazine that Harvey Kurtzman ran after he left Mad magazine.)


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