This month I thought I’d write about the guy in the photo with me. Yep, you guessed it. It’s Billy Gray who played “Bud” from the popular TV show “Father Knows Best.” It ran from 1954-1960.
Along with Billy, it starred Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue and Lauren Chapin.
I was lucky enough to have done one Father Knows Best episode called “The Spelling Bee.”
In it, Lauren, who played the youngest child on the show and I are in a spelling bee contest. For those interested, you can watch the episode by going on YouTube: Father Knows Best, The Spelling Bee.
I admit that I hadn’t seen it in many years, so I decided to watch it. I must say it brought back fond memories, along with getting a little emotional, as Lauren and I have been friends ever since that time.
She is now 80 and we still talk on the phone a lot. Her friendship is one of the things that I most cherish.
I had the opportunity to see Billy Gray recently in Missouri at an autograph show. It was fun to reminisce about that episode so long ago.
I must admit that I didn’t recognize him at first. He is now 87 years old and yes, the years do catch up with us.
Billy was a wonderful child actor and can also be remembered as the little boy in the movie The Day The Earth Stood Still back in 1951. He was also in The Seven Little Foys along with many other films.
In 1959 he was nominated for a prime time Emmy for best supporting actor in Father Knows Best.
Something not everyone is aware of: He was also a very successful inventor! He invented the F1 guitar pick along with other things.
In the ‘70s through the ‘90s, as well as being an inventor, Billy also became a competitive motor racer.
He’s now mostly retired but lately has been enjoying doing various autograph shows around the country.
It was a wonderful surprise to see him after all these years and fun to catch up. Another really nice person indeed.
Until next time, remember to be the kind of person you’d like others to be.
