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Barney Miller is a comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village that ran from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker. Noam Pitlik directed the majority of the episodes.

Captain Miller tries to remain sane while leading the 12th Precinct’s detectives crochety, nearing-retirement Jewish-American Philip K. Fish, naive but goodhearted Polish-American Stanley “Wojo” Wojciehowicz, ambitious, arrogant African-American Ronald Nathan Harris, philosophical, wisecracking Japanese-American Nick Yemana, and Puerto Rican Chano Amanguale. He also has to deal with his unapologetically old-school superior, Chief Inspector Frank Luger, and diminutive (and obsequious) Officer Carl Levitt, who passive-aggressively badgers Miller constantly about being promoted to detective. Amanguale was replaced by intellectual Arthur P. Dietrich from the third season on.

The show’s focus was split between the detectives’ interactions with each other and with the suspects and witnesses they detained, processed, and interviewed. Some typical conflicts and long running plotlines included Miller’s frustration with red tape and paperwork, his constant efforts to maintain peace, order, and discipline, and his numerous failed attempts to get a promotion; Harris’s preoccupation with outside interests, mainly his novel, and his inability to remain focused on his police work; Fish’s incontinence and reluctance to retire; Wojciehowicz’s impulsive behavior and love life; Luger’s nostalgia for the old days with partners Foster, Kleiner and Brown; Levitt’s (eventually successful) quest to become a detective; the rivalry between the precinct’s resident intellectuals, Harris and Dietrich and continually – but reliably – bad coffee.

In addition to Barney’s wife Liz (played by Barbara Barrie), recurring characters included Barney’s son David (Michael Tessier) and daughter Rachel (Anne Wyndham). After two seasons, Barney’s family was largely written out of the show, although Ms. Barrie would continue to make very occasional guest appearances for the remainder of the series run. Ms. Wyndham also reprised her role in one later episode. Read more on Wikipedia.

Ruth Elizabeth “Bette” Davis (April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television and theatre. Noted for her willingness to play unsympathetic characters, she was highly regarded for her performances in a range of film genres; from contemporary crime melodramas to historical and period films and occasional comedies, though her greatest successes were her roles in romantic dramas.

After appearing in Broadway plays, Davis moved to Hollywood in 1930, but her early films for Universal Studios were unsuccessful. She joined Warner Bros. in 1932 and established her career with several critically acclaimed performances. In 1937, she attempted to free herself from her contract and although she lost a well-publicized legal case, it marked the beginning of the most successful period of her career. Until the late 1940s, she was one of American cinema’s most celebrated leading ladies, known for her forceful and intense style. Davis gained a reputation as a perfectionist who could be highly combative, and her confrontations with studio executives, film directors and costars were often reported. Her forthright manner, clipped vocal style and ubiquitous cigarette contributed to a public persona which has often been imitated and satirized.

Davis was the co-founder of the Hollywood Canteen, and was the first female president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She was the first woman to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Her career went through several periods of eclipse, and she admitted that her success had often been at the expense of her personal relationships. Married four times, she was once widowed and thrice divorced, and raised her children as a single parent. Her final years were marred by a long period of ill health, but she continued acting until shortly before her death from breast cancer, with more than 100 film, television and theater roles to her credit. In 1999, Davis was placed second, behind Katharine Hepburn, on the American Film Institute’s list of the greatest female stars of all time.

Ruth Elizabeth Davis, known from early childhood as “Betty”, was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the daughter of Ruth (“Ruthie”) Augusta (née Favor), and Harlow Morrell Davis, a patent attorney; her sister Barbara (“Bobby”) was born October 25, 1909. The family was Protestant, of English, French, and Welsh ancestry. In 1915, Davis’s parents separated and Betty and Bobby attended a Spartan boarding school called Crestalban in Lanesborough, which is located in the Berkshires. In 1921, Ruth Davis moved to New York City with her daughters, where she worked as a portrait photographer. Betty was inspired to become an actress after seeing Rudolph Valentino in The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921) and Mary Pickford in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921), and changed the spelling of her name to “Bette” after Honoré de Balzac’s La Cousine Bette. She received encouragement from her mother, who had aspired to become an actress. Read more about Betty Davis on Wikipedia.

Esther Rolle

Esther Rolle was best known for her sitcom character as “Florida Evens” in the hit TV 70′s show Good Times. She was one of the rare natural actresses of her time. She was also best known for her character roll in another hit tv show called Maude, with B. Author. Ms. Rolle had come from caribbean immagrant family; and has become Americas best loved actors. Although I loved Ms. Rolle, I hated the fact that she was constantly typecast in rolls featuring a cleaning lady, maid, a poor black mother cleaning, or a owner of a cafe, and she’s the only one doing the chores; as in the movie “Cleopatra Jones”.

Dorothy Dandridge, is practically forgotten about today. She was one of the most talented, black actresses/singer of her time. Halley Berry, has done an outstanding job, in portraying her life story. She looked so much like her, it was really scary. Dandridge began singing in her church’s choir. With the prodding of her mother, a stage and screen actress, she and her sister began to perform as “The Wonder Children” when Dandridge was only age four. The “Wonder Children” toured in the South for five years. After the Depression, Ruby Jean Butler Dandridge, Vivian Dandridge, Dorothy Dandridge, and Geneva Williams (Ruby’s lesbian lover/friend) moved to Hollywood. Check some of her classic DVD’s such as “Carmen Jones“

Remember Cary Grant?? Here are a few clips, from some movies he as done. Enjoy