Gordon MacRae

This interview with Gordon MacRae, in the celebrities' room at NBC, followed Gordon and daughter Meredith's joint appearance on The Match Game.

THE INTERVIEW

We all got comfortable and Gordon talked about how he and Meredith enjoyed the game show circuit when in New York. Gordon and wife Sheila had been a popular duo on TV until their divorce, after twenty-five years, in 1967.

Gordon had followed in his parents' footsteps (father, a singer; mother, a musician), and became a child conductor at the age of four. Meredith had taken the same track when she became an extra in her Dad's By the Light of the Silvery Moon at age seven, then The Gordon MacRae Show, and finally summer stock, at which time she quit school. She referred to herself as a semi-regular on What's My Line?

Gordon brought up the fact that his daughter never used her parents' names to get ahead. Meredith chimed in and said it was a mixed blessing to possess some of her parents' skills, but a lot of pressure to live up to the expectations that came with it.

I then pursued with Gordon his first two really big roles, as the lead in movie versions of Oklahoma and Carousel, with co-star Shirley Jones. We then moved on to her other co-lead, Doris Day, who he called "a bit of a tomboy".

Along the way, Gordon hosted The Colgate Comedy Hour. He did impressions, and gave us excellent renditions of James Cagney, Frank Fontaine and Joe E. Lewis.

I asked about Meredith's role in TV's Petticoat Junction. She responded that she was in her sixth year; she also played a frequent role on My Three Sons.

Gordon introduced us to Meredith's fiancée, Greg Mullavey. Greg suggested that our audience see his latest film, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice.