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Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985 to July 8, 1990. The series is based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty. [2]
- It Was Based on A Novel.
- The Novel Led to Three Successful Movies.
- Those Movies Led to Three Unsuccessful TV Pilots.
- Christopher Hewett Had Already Played A TV Butler.
- Taping Was Halted When Hewett Injured His testicles.
- Bob Uecker called Brewers Games While Doing The Show.
- Hewett Was Hired For Being “Imposing.”
- Hewett Hated Gum.
- Uecker Liked to Antagonize Hewett.
- They Had A Polite Feud with Sledge Hammer!
Amazon Not many 1980s sitcoms took inspiration from novels, but Mr. Belvedere was an exception. Kentucky-based author Gwen Davenport wrote Belvedere in 1947: The title character was a chuffed English writer who becomes a nurse and babysitterfor an American family in order to gather research for a book.
The film industry wasted virtually no time adapting Davenport’s quirky novel for the big screen. Sitting Pretty was released in 1948, with Clifton Webb in the leading role. The movie was successful enough to be followed by two sequels in 1949 and 1951: Mr. Belvedere Goes to College, which co-starred Shirley Temple, and Mr. Belvedere Rings the Bell,...
Belvedere’s charms weren’t lost on television producers, who tried to adapt the novel three separate times between 1956 and 1965. Only the 1985 pilot from producers Jeff Stein and Frank Dungan (Barney Miller) made it to air.
Past, Tense Before being cast as Mr. Belvedere, Christopher Hewett popped up on American television in 1983 as another butler: Lawrence, a replacement for the departing Hervé Villechaize, on Fantasy Island. The roles were not necessarily foremost on his mind: In 1986, he describedhis typecasting as a house servant to be a “terrible bondage.”
Stein told Maclean's that an urban legend about Hewett injuring his own testicles by sitting on them—necessitating that the production shut down for an entire week—happens to be true. “He fell backwards riding in a convertible in the Hollywood Christmas Parade,” Stein said, causing trauma to his genitalia. Another version of the story toldby Adam S...
Bob Uecker’s role as sportswriter and sportscaster George Owens was not a tremendous stretch. After a brief tenure as a backup catcher in the majors, Uecker’s full-time gig was announcing for the Milwaukee Brewers, a role that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig allowed him to continue while doing Mr. Belvedere. Uecker would get flown in Friday nights for g...
ABC According to Uecker, the 6-foot, 3-inch, 280 pound Hewett was cast in the title role because he towered over his fellow actors. “He could be imposing,” the actortold the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in 2014. Another performer up for the role was smaller, he said, and “didn’t look like someone who could tell me what to do.” Hewett, a trained stage...
According to actress Ilene Graff, Hewett’s first order of business at the start of taping was to declare that no one chew any gum. Ever. “He announced his first day, ‘No gum chewing,’” she told Peoplein 2000. “He’s so big and has such an imposing voice, nobody dreamed of contradicting him.”
Shout! Factory While the actors appeared to get along, Uecker said he found Hewett to be such a proper English gentleman off-camera that he enjoyed getting on his nerves. “I always used to tell him bad things about the queen that would upset him,” Uecker toldYahoo! in 2008. “I’d make up stuff … it was fun.”
Although jokes about Mr. Belvedere’s antiquated Very Special Episodes and life lessons are common now, it turns out the show wasn’t immune to getting picked on while it was still being broadcast. Producers ofSledge Hammer!, the cult mid-1980s sitcom spoof about a renegade cop, enjoyed targeting the show, which acted as Hammer’s lead-in on Friday ni...
The show about the larger than life nanny in America would air no more. Mr. Belvedere, the character in series by the same name based on Gwen Davenport’s novel, “Belvedere,” had inscribed his last journal entry. “Mr. Belvedere” lived on in syndication, even aired previously unviewed episodes, but for fans it was the end of an era.
Mr. Belvedere: Created by Frank Dungan, Jeff Stein. With Christopher Hewett, Ilene Graff, Rob Stone, Tracy Wells. The humourous adventures of an English housekeeper working for an American family.
- (5K)
- 1985-03-15
- Comedy, Family
- 30
Mr. Belvedere is an ABC network sitcom series developed by Frank Dungan & Jeff Stein, starring Christopher Hewitt in the title role. It is based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel "Belvedere" (which was later adapted into the 1948 film "Sitting...
- 3 min
Discover the talented and diverse cast of Mr. Belvedere, the hit TV show about a British housekeeper working for an American family. Get show information and more on our website!
Mr. Belvedere (TV Series 1985–1990) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
