Not our Uncle Sam, but distant ‘Cousin Sam’

You probably never have heard of Sam Edwards.

But you might have heard him.

Or seen him.

On the big screen, he toiled in the background. His voice is stuck somewhere inside your head.

If you are a centenarian, and have lived in Macon your entire life, he might even have been your neighbor.

But that would have been a long, long time ago. And you would be very, very old.

Sam Edwards was born in Macon in 1915. When he died 16 years ago this month, one newspaper story referred to him as an “everyman” actor. The New York Times obituary called him a “ubiquitous” character actor, whose television and film credits include 152 movies and TV shows and an impressive body of work in radio.

In the spirit of this Fourth of July weekend, he might not have been Uncle Sam but we might go ahead and claim him as a distant cousin Sam.

He often played the invisible character you might not notice – a convict, a parking lot attendant or service station owner. He was a bellboy on “I Love Lucy,’’ a bartender in “The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,’’ a radio dispatcher in “The Absent Minded Professor,’’ a laborer in “Hello, Dolly,” a tourist on “Lassie” and a ticket clerk in “The Postman Always Rings Twice.’’

There was no file on him at the Washington Memorial Library, where I do a lot of my research. Most of my information came from the official web biography written by his stepson, Bill. And, of course, imdb.com (Internet Movie Database), one of my favorite websites.

He appeared on the first-ever episode of Dragnet in 1951 and had a part on the soap opera, “One Man’s Family,’’ the longest-running, uninterrupted (1932-59) radio serial in history.

In his career, Edwards played characters in TV westerns (“Gunsmoke,’’ “How the West Was Won,’’ “Death Valley Days” and “The Virginian’’) and dramas (“The Streets of San Francisco,’’ “Perry Mason,’’ “Barnaby Jones,’’ “McCloud,’’ “Mission: Impossible,’’ “Hawaii Five-O’’ and “Wonder Woman.’’)

He was the town banker on “Little House on the Prairie,” a show I used to watch religiously because I had been a Michael Landon fan since he was Little Joe Cartwright on “Bonanza.”

Edwards was good for a laugh, too, appearing in a hall of fame of comedies from “The Andy Griffith Show” to “I Love Lucy,’’ “Happy Days,’’ “Petticoat Junction,’’ “Gomer Pyle,’’ “The Red Skelton Show” and “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

Had it not been for a contract issue, he might have been cast as Oliver Wendall Douglas on “Green Acres,” a role that went to Eddie Albert.

My introduction to Edwards came when I learned he was the voice of the adult Thumper, the rabbit on the Disney classic “Bambi.’’ (Peter Behn played the young Thumper and Tim Davis provided the adolescent voice.) He also did work on “The Flintstones’’ as well as the voices of “Tigger” and “Owl” on the “Winnie the Pooh” Disney Storyteller record series.

His Macon connection was brief, but noteworthy. His family moved away before he reached school age. It was a similar story line to that of a more famous Macon-born actor, Melvyn Douglas, who won Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in “Hud” (1963) and “Being There” (1979). Douglas lived in Macon until he was 4 years old. His father was a music professor at Wesleyan, and the family had a house on College Street.

Edwards came from a show business family. His mother, Edna, was a dancer on the vaudeville circuit with her mother. She also was a leading lady for cowboy actor Tom Mix of the silent film era.

In 1910, she married Samuel John Park, of Indiana, who also was an actor. They were wed in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. (Yes, the same town as the famous groundhog.)

She formed the “Edna Park Players’’ and they moved to Macon, where Sam was born. When his parents divorced a year later, Edna remarried Macon resident Charles Ladson ”Jack” Edwards. Sam was named after his father but eventually took his stepfather’s last name.

Sam made his stage debut as a baby. His mother held him in her arms for a scene in the play “Tess of the Storm Country.’’

The family left Macon for Florida, then Texas and California. In the 1930s, Edwards and his brother did a radio show, the “Adventures of Sonny and Buddy,’’ written by their mother. It was about two boys who run away to join a traveling medicine show. It became the first drama series recorded at RCA Victor Studios in Hollywood and one of first radio serials to be syndicated. He later was on a radio show called “The Edwards Family” with his parents, sister and brother.

During World War II, Edwards became part of the Army’s entertainment corps and performed for the troops of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and George Patton in Africa, Italy and India.

After the war, he returned to radio in the role of teen Dexter on the popular “Meet Corliss Archer.” He played opposite Janet Waldo, who later was the voice of Judy Jetson on the cartoon series, “The Jetsons.’’

Maybe one day you will find yourself as a contestant on “Jeopardy!’’ The final category will be Disney Classics. As luck would have it, the question will be: “Sam Edwards, who provided the voice for Thumper in “Bambi” was born in what city?

Remember, you must pose your answer in the form of a question.

“What is Macon, Georgia.”

You can thank me for it later.

Even if you don’t make it on the game show, you can amaze your friends and family with your knowledge of our distant Cousin Sam.

Kinfolk? No. But consider him part of the family.

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism at Stratford Academy in Macon. His column appears on Sundays in The Telegraph.