Three Absent Friends

It's been a crowded departure lounge of late, so today The Grandstander salutes three Absent Friends.  The tributes will be shorter than usual, sorry to say.

Ned Beatty

1937-2021

I have often written about character actors in this space, and I usually end up by saying that while Stars are Stars, you can't make movies and television without great character actors, and Ned Beatty, who died last week at the age of 83 was the quintessential character actor. With 165 credits in both television and feature films stretching over almost fifty years, Beatty was certainly ubiquitous.  What I didn't realize until reading his obits was that his very first acting credit was probably the role for which he was most famous, that of the weekend adventurer who was raped by backwoodsmen in 1972's "Deliverance."  He was also nominated for an Academy Award in 1977 for his role in "Network."  Comedy, drama...he could do it all.  

I wonder if he ever got tired of people coming up to him and saying "Squeal like pig."

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Clarence Williams III

1939-2021

Clarence Williams III, he of the luxurious Afro and cool shades, died last week at the age of 81.  He is know most famously for his 123 episodes of "The Mod Squad" from 1968-73, but he, too, is another actor who never really stopped working, accumulating 99 credits right up to the current date.  I can remember going to see a movie in 1999 called "The General's Daughter."  It was based on a thriller novel that I had read and it starred John Travolta, but when watching it I had one of those "who is that guy?" moments seeing one of the actors, and it turned out to be Clarence Williams III, who I had not seen in probably twenty years.  I remember thinking "I just saw a movie that starred Vinnie Barbarino and Linc Hayes."  Williams also had a featured role in the feature film "Lee Daniels' The Butler" a few years back.

For better or worse, though he will be most remembered for starring with Michael Cole and Peggy Lipton in "The Mod Squad", the show with perhaps the greatest 1970's-era tagline ever....

The Mod Squad

"One White, One Black, One Blonde"

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Jim "Mudcat" Grant

1935-2021

By any measure, Jim Grant had a memorable major league career, made more so, no doubt, due to his colorful nickname. (It is interesting to note that when you look for his page on baseball-reference.com, "Jim Grant" will not take you there.  You have to type in "Mudcat Grant.") in fourteen seasons from 1958-71, he pitched for seven different team, including a stint with the Pirates in 1970-71.

He had a career record of 145-119, including a 21 win season for the AL pennant winning Twins.  He was the first Black pitcher to win twenty games in a season in the American League.  He pitched in three games in the 1965 World Series, going 2-1, losing in a Game Seven to the great Sandy Koufax.  No shame in that.

I will always remember Mudcat, though, for his role as a color commentator on Cleveland Indians broadcasts during the mid-Seventies, during a time when we lived in Cleveland.  Part of Grant's charm was the fact that he never lost his down home southern accent, and on one broadcast, when an injured player was being walked off the field, Jim noted that "It appears that he pulled his pictorial muscle."  

How could you not love a guy like that?

RIP Ned Beatty, Clarence Williams III, and Jim "Mudcat" Grant