Talented Tuesday - David Doyle

David Fitzgerald Doyle
December 1, 1929 -
February 26, 1997

Actor David Doyle was my third cousin. We share the same great great grandparents, William D. Kelly and Mary Casey. His great grandmother, Mary Kelly, was married to railroad contractor and banker, John Fitzgerald, whom I've written about numerous times on this blog.

David was one of Hollywood's most recognizable character actors, perhaps best known as John Bosley on Charlie's Angels.

As a youth, David appeared on the Lincoln stage in community theater productions.

David's early career was focused on the stage. Broadway credits include I Was Dancing (1964) at the Lyceum Theatre and Here's Love by Meredith Willson (The Music Man) at the Shubert Theatre in 1963. His "big break" came when he replaced Walter Matthau in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter in 1956.


His television career began with some uncredited appearances on programs such as 77 Sunset Strip. By the mid 1960s, David was showing up on Naked City, Car 54 Where Are You?, The Defenders, The Patty Duke Show, That Girl, and then on to Hawaii Five-O, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Banacek, Love American Style, All in the Family, Kojak, Sanford and Son, Barney Miller, Ellery Queen, Police Story, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Murder She Wrote and Hart to Hart, among the more recognizable shows in a long list of credits.

In the 1960s, David appeared with his old buddy and former Nebraskan, Johnny Carson, on The Tonight Show. The phone call network would begin whenever word got out that David was going to be on with Carson. And they always told stories about growing up in Nebraska.

David's first regular TV series with a recurring supporting role was when he portrayed Walt Fitzgerald in 24 episodes of Bridget Loves Bernie during the 1972-73 season. It wasn't too much of a stretch for David to play a Catholic with the name Fitzgerald! We always got a kick out of that. That was one of the underlying themes of the show - his Catholic daughter, played by Meredith Baxter, was married to a Jewish man played by David Birney. The couple later married in real life.

In 1976 came the role that David is probably best remembered for - that of John Bosley on Charlie's Angels. The Angels were hot and, of course, there was that poster of Farrah that showed up everywhere. David appeared in 100 episodes of the show.

During 1986-87, David played attorney Ted Holmes on the ABC afternoon drama, General Hospital. Again, this was not much of a stretch as David's father, L.R. "Lum" Doyle was an attorney as is his brother, John R. "Dugie" Doyle. His paternal grandfather, T.J. Doyle, was also an attorney. David had also planned to become an attorney until the acting bug bit him. David ranked sixth in the state on his law school entrance exam.

David also made the round of TV game shows including Password, Super Password, Hollywood Squares, and the Match Game.

David's film credits include some movies you've probably seen: Capricorn One, Coogan's Bluff, and Paper Lion, as well as several others.

His last work was as the voice of Grandpa Lou Pickles in Rugrats.

David was one of those fortunate actors who always worked. If not in television, there was a film, stage production or dinner theater. Because of being a character actor, David was always employed.

It's fun researching David because there is such a wealth of newspaper articles about him from his entire career. It's especially fun to read those about his early stage appearances in Lincoln. When he went on to New York City, there would be snippets about his latest role in the society column. And whenever he came back home, that made news.

I met cousin David only one time, in 1980 when he was back in Lincoln for a fundraiser.

Meeting my cousin in Lincoln, Nebraska, 1980

Presenting David with the Greenwood history book

After explaining our common ancestry to David (in 25 words or less), I gave him a copy of the book on the Centennial History of Greenwood, Nebraska, where our ancestors settled. I always wondered if he took time to read it. I'd bookmarked the pages about our family. The biggest kick I got from meeting David was when he said to me, in that amazing raspy booming voice of his, "Hi, Cuz!"

David died of a heart attack on February 26, 1997 in Los Angeles. He was survived by his widow, Ann Nathan Doyle, whom he met while doing a revival of South Pacific, and a daughter, Leah, from his first marriage. His first wife, Rachel, died from injuries in a fall from a stairway in 1968.

I think David will not only be remembered as the sidekick to the Angels, but as a dedicated, hard-working professional actor who always maintained his Midwestern values.

Sentimental Sunday - Those Kodak Moments

This weekend I've begun the task of removing my photographs from those horrendous "magnetic" photo albums. I remember when those came out and were all the rage. Who knew then that they would turn out to be a terrible option for preserving photographs?

Removing the photographs has been a rather tedious task and I'm only going through a couple albums each day. That results in hundreds of photographs! Those of us who are baby boomers and younger grew up with cameras. Our friends and family took photographs of everything. That was all before video cameras and YouTube. Now, just about everyone has a camera - and video - with them 24/7, so it's easier than ever before to capture a special moment.

As genealogists, imagine our excitement if we had discovered this many photographs of our family and ancestors from say, before 1930? Were there more photographs that were thrown away? Why did so few survive? Are there photographs of our family in the hands of the descendants of their friends from the turn of the century (the 20th, not the 21st!).

As I look at the thousands of my own personal photographs this weekend, it becomes quite overwhelming. Questions face me about my own personal photograph archive: Do I keep all of them? Which ones should I scan? Will I attempt to rewrite my history by shredding photographs of former friends or toxic relationships? Will I keep photographs that elicit a bad memory? Even if the photographs are gone, those memories are still stored away in my brain somewhere.

I've just been through an album from the 1970s. If a stranger were to look through that album and try to create a story of my life, it would probably indicate that I was quite the party animal. Nothing is probably further from the truth. During that decade I was working hard, both at my day job and starting a magazine publishing business with a colleague (it didn't last!). I was also doing quite a bit of freelance writing on the side. Those stories are not represented in my photo album.

Hard at Work in 1977

I've included the photo above since it's one of the few that I have of myself on the job. Other photos are social events and vacations. Take a look to my left. That's a rotary dial telephone! You don't find many of those around any more. There's no computer to be seen anywhere! On the other hand, some things never change. Thirty-three years later, I still have my To Do list propped up in front of me.

What I've been enjoying about going through these photo albums is looking in the background of the photos - noticing the furniture and wall decor that were sold at garage sales. Some even have a little bit of significance in my family history.

1980
Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln

This was in a series of photographs taken when I was about to audition for a job of host of "PM Magazine" in Omaha. That was probably one of the most disastrous moments of my journalism career - when I realized once and for all that I was better off behind the camera instead of in front of it. There's nothing like a cattle call audition to weed out the people who couldn't cut it in show biz. I'm still surprised I stuck it out and didn't walk out before my 30 seconds in front of the camera. Fortunately, my tape was not included in the "gag reel" that ran on the six o'clock news that night.

I digress - what does the photo have to do with my family history? See the parking garage directly behind me? For many years, one of the houses that stood there was 415 South 15th Street, Lincoln, Nebraska. My great grand aunt, Nellie Kelly Rector, lived there for years and various members of the Kelly and Fitzgerald families came and went through that residence over the years. It then became the home of Lum and Ruth Fitzgerald Doyle, whose son I'll be writing about on this blog on Tuesday. I'm sure you'll recognize him! I have been looking for some vintage photographs of the house and believe that I actually discovered one in my own collection - a photograph of what was then 15th Street - before it became Centennial Mall. I have several photographs that I took from the top of the State Capitol. It's not a great photo, but it's the only one I've found so far. I shall keep looking.

Family Heirlooms in Everyday Life 

This photo was taken at a wedding shower I cohosted for a coworker. On the left, in the china hutch, is the teapot that belonged to my great grandmother. It always sat on display at my grandmother Kelly's home, then it was passed along to my Mom, and then on to me. The other family heirloom in this photo is the pedestal cake plate my friend is holding. That, too, was passed down through the family and I've used it often for cakes or other pastries.

So, if you're still with me after this little trip down memory lane, I'm curious to hear what YOU are doing with your collection of contemporary photos from your lifetime. Are you keeping everything? Are you tossing out the bad, blurry or unflattering photos? Are you tossing out the photos of the ex? What kind of photographic history will you be leaving behind for future generations? What photographs will survive? Please share your comments below. I look forward to reading about how others are dealing with the avalanche of images we have created in our lifetime.

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Cousin David Doyle

Actor David Doyle (1929 - 1997), known for Charlie's Angels, Bridget Loves Bernie and a host of other film, television and theater roles















David Fitzgerald Doyle and I are both descended from William D Kelly and Mary Casey. They are the great-great grandparents to both of us, making David and me third cousins. I met David once during the height of the Charlie's Angels show on tv. It was great to hear him say in that gravelly voice of his, "Hi, Cuz!"

Not so wordless, but that's okay!

Nellie Kelly Rector - Mrs. Ode E Rector of Lincoln, Nebraska

Below is the only photograph I have of my great-grandfather's sister, Nellie Kelly Rector. Also in the photo is my great grandfather, Daniel Kelly.



Nellie Kelly was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa in April 1871, daughter of William D. Kelly and Mary Casey Kelly. She was the youngest child in the family. She was married to Odin Ellis Rector, known mainly as Ode E. Rector. He was a Lincoln druggist for many years. As far as I can determine from my research, the couple had no children.

For many years, the Rectors lived at 415 South 15th Street in Lincoln, Nebraska. At different times, the home was occupied by Nellie's sister, Mary Kelly Fitzgerald, widow of John Fitzgerald. Later on, it would be the home of Mary and John's granddaughter, Ruth Fitzgerald and her husband, L. R. "Lum" Doyle. The home was demolished at least 30 years ago to make way for one of the parking garages for the Nebraska State Office Building. The sychronicity of the fact that I park in that garage every work day is not lost on me!

Mary Ruth Fitzgerald Doyle

Here's another image from my family history archives. This is Mary Ruth Fitzgerald Doyle, around the time of her engagement to Lewis R. "Lum" Doyle. Known as Ruth, she was the granddaughter of John Fitzgerald and Mary Kelly Fitzgerald and the mother of three children, including the late actor, David Doyle of "Charlie's Angels" fame.