Laverne & Shirley - "Lightning Man" - 2:30 pm Thursday, December 11 on WNYW Catchy Comedy

Phil Foster (Actor) .. Frank DeFazio

Born: March 29, 1914
Died: July 08, 1985
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States

Trivia: American actor Phil Foster started out as a stand-up comedian when he was quite young. Most of his early routines were slapstick, and the material was drawn from his life growing up in a Brooklyn neighborhood. After working the nightclub circuit through the 1940s, Foster began appearing on television variety shows such as Ed Sullivan. In the 1970s, he became a regular on Laverne and Shirley. Beginning in 1954, he made infrequent journeys into feature films. Foster made his final feature film, Sno-Line in 1985.

Eddie Mekka (Actor) .. Carmine Ragusa

Born: June 14, 1952
Died: November 27, 2021
Birthplace: Worcester, Massachusetts, United States

Trivia: Began pursuing musical theater as a senior in high school because of a girl he liked. Studied opera at the Boston Conservatory of Music. Quit school to perform at Chateau DeVilles dinner theaters. Worked as a dance and voice teacher; also drove a cab and sold candy at Radio City Music Hall. Made his Broadway debut in The Lieutenant in 1975. Appeared opposite his Laverne & Shirley costar Cindy Williams in a touring production of Grease in 2000.

Murphy Dunne (Actor) .. Del Diamond

Born: June 22, 1942
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois

Warren Berlinger (Actor) .. Henshaw

Born: August 31, 1937
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States

Trivia: Trained at New York's Professional Children's School, Warren Berlinger made his first stage appearance at the age of 11. At 17, Berlinger was showered with critical praise for his performance in the 1955 Broadway production A Roomful of Roses, in which he appeared with his future wife, actress Betty Lou Keim. Both Berlinger and Keim repeated their roles in the 1956 film version of Roses, retitled Teen-age Rebel. In 1958, he won a Theatre World Award for his performance in Blue Denim, again re-creating his role in the 1959 film adaptation. He scored a huge hit in the 1963 London production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, essaying his favorite role, J. Pierpont Finch. In films, Berlinger's stock-in-trade has been the portrayal of plump, good-natured schmoes; he was still conveying this image into the 1980s and 1990s in films like The World According to Garp (1982) and Hero (1992). On television, he played the lead in the "Kilroy" episodes of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color(1965) and had regular roles on The Joey Bishop Show (1961), as Joey's brother Larry, The Funny Side (1971), A Touch of Grace (1973), Operation Petticoat (1977) and Small and Frye (1983). Distantly related to comedian Milton Berle, Warren Berlinger appeared with "Uncle Miltie" in the 1975 feature Lepke.

Laverne & Shirley: Lightning Man

2:30 pm - 3:00 pm, Thursday, December 11 on WNYW Catchy Comedy (5.5)

Lightning Man

Season 7, Episode 20