Princess Summerfall Winterspring

[Graybeard]

Someone sent me a trivia quiz with the question, "What was the name of the Native-American Princess puppet on the old Howdy Doody Show?" I knew the answer and also knew that Princess Summerfall Winterspring was NOT a puppet but was played by a young actress.

Remembering that Bob Keeshan of Capt. Kangaroo fame once played Clarabell The Clown on the show I wondered if that young actress might have gone on to some fame also.

Her name was Judy Tyler and went from that TV gig to Broadway getting the starring role in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, "Pipe Dream". She was nominated for a Tony award for it.

From there it was off to Hollywood and she was cast as the love interest for Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock.

But tragedy ended her life when she and her husband were killed in an auto crash soon after she finished that film. Judy Tyler was just 24.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. interesting.

sad. died too soon.

[LeftinOH]

2. Tragic. Pretty young lady, too:

[murielm99]

3. That was one of the first TV shows I watched.

We got our first TV when I was six.

When Howdy Doody was going off the air, I was beginning to get to old for the show. But I watched the last show, sensing somehow that it was historic.

Clarabelle kept running around, telling everyone that he had a secret. It turned out that he was going to talk to us. That was his secret.

At the very last minute, there was a close up of Clarabelle's face. He whispered into the camera, "Goodbye, kids."

I never forgot that.