Wednesday, April 8, 2009

TVXOHOF, 04-2009-B: HOOVER DAMNED

During the 10th anniversary for the TV Crossover Hall of Fame, we're inducting somebody each week, with a theme for each of the four weeks in the month.

The League of Themselves

As Seen On TV

The Tooniverse

On Location

So, this being the second week of April, I thought it apt to choose a historical figure who was depicted as being quite foolish by the end of his career: J. Edgar Hoover, Grand Poobah of the FBI from its inception until his death.

Here's a list of actors who've portrayed Hoover on television:

Ned Beatty

. . . "Robert Kennedy & His Times" (1985)
Ernest Borgnine
. . . Blood Feud (1983)
Jordan Charney
. . . Revenge of Al Capone, The (1989)
Broderick Crawford
. . . 'Saturday Night Live' (1977)
[Crawford also played the role in a movie that had been released by the time he hosted SNL The transcript for that sketch can be found here.]
Richard Dysart
. . . Marilyn & Bobby: Her Final Affair (1993)
Vincent Gardenia
. . . "Kennedy" (1983)
Pat Hingle
. . . Citizen Cohn (1992)
Ken James
. . . "Man Called Intrepid, A" (1979)
Tom McBeath
. . . Sins of the Father (2002)
Logan Ramsey
. . . "Blind Ambition" (1979)
Raymond Serra
. . . Concealed Enemies (1984)
Dolph Sweet
. . . "King" (1978) {(#1.1)}
. . . "King" (1978) {(#1.2)}
. . . "King" (1978) {(#1.3)}
Aron Tager
. . . Mr. Rock 'n' Roll: The Alan Freed Story (1999)
Wayne Tippit
. . . "Dark Skies" (1996) {The Warren Omission (#1.12)}
. . . "Dark Skies" (1996) {We Shall Overcome (#1.9)}
Jack Warden
. . . Hoover vs. the Kennedys: The Second Civil War (1987)
Treat Williams
. . . J. Edgar Hoover (1987)
Harris Yulin
. . . F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One, The (1974)

But for a really foolish portrait of J. Edgar Hoover as seen on TV, you have to travel into the Tooniverse, for some newsreel footage culled from 'The Critic':
BCnU!
Toby O'B

J. Edgar Hoover:
"Blackmailing me is like trying to bribe Howard Hughes!"
'Saturday Night Live'

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