THE FAMOUS ADVENTURES OF MR. MAGOO

JIM BACKUS - "MR. MAGOO"

"The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo" was an animated series hosted by Jim Backus as the voice of "Mr. Magoo", running from 19 September 1964 until 24 April 1965. "Mr. Magoo" would present and act in various stories from literature and included fantasy, horror and science fiction genre. From IMDB: Animated series featuring Jim Backus's Mr. Magoo character in half-hour adaptations of classic stories for children. Praised by both critics and educators, and well-remembered by fans, the program won a prestigious George Foster Peabody award in 1965. For the second half of its only season, NBC moved this TV series to Saturday evenings at 8:30pm EST, opposite Gilligan's Island on CBS. Because of this, Jim Backus as Mr. Magoo was pitted against Jim Backus as Thurston Howell III. This remains one of the very rare cases in U.S. TV history in which an actor was regularly scheduled against himself on two U.S. TV networks. During its run, it screened 26 episodes: A Midsummer Night's Dream Captain Kidd Cyrano de Bergerac Dick Tracy and the Mob Doctor Frankenstein Don Quixote de la Mancha: Part 1 Don Quixote de la Mancha: Part 2 Gunga Din King Arthur Little Snow White: Part 1 Little Snow White: Part 2 Moby Dick Noah's Ark Paul Revere Rip Van Winkle Robin Hood: Part 1 Robin Hood: Part 2 Robin Hood: Part 3 Robin Hood: Part 4 Sherlock Holmes The Count of Monte Cristo The Three Musketeers: Part 1 The Three Musketeers: Part 2 Treasure Island: Part 1 Treasure Island: Part 2 William Tell JIM BACKUS Jim Backus (from IMDB) was born James Gilmore Backus on 25 February 1913 in Cleveland, Ohio. He was one of the few actors to do it all: radio, Broadway, movies, television and cartoons. After attending preparatory school in his hometown Cleveland, Backus enrolled at the American Academy of Dramatic Art, to ply his trade. While waiting for parts, he did radio and became friends with such future notables as Garson Kanin and Keenan Wynn. Backus stuck it out and soon was doing motion pictures in addition to radio. He was typecast in roles as "rich types" but broke the mold when he portrayed James Dean's father in the classic Rebel Without a Cause (1955). With his career in full swing, Backus also tackled two roles that he would be best known for, Mr. Magoo in cartoons and Thurston Howell III in Gilligan's Island (1964). After the series' run ended, he continued doing guest spots on television and movies, before passing away on 3 July 1989. Below is the opening for the series: "The Famous Adventures of Mister Magoo" - Opening from The Professor's Scary Clips on Vimeo.

LINKS

Internet Movie Data Base "The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo"

Wikipedia "The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo"

Internet Movie Data Base "Jim Backus"

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