If you missed last night's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the main story was an interesting one about Mount Everest.  Beginning with the peak first being surmounted by Sir Edmund Hilary and his sherpa guide Tensing Norgay, it has almost turned into a circus, but a very dangerous one.

This was of particular interest to me because back in the 1980s, my dad Ed took a trek into the Himalayas -- it was NOT up Mount Everest, and it was not even any sort of mountain climbing (all of which were the point of the show's report), though more of a strenuous hike with camping.  But even though his trek has zero to do with what John Oliver was addressing, it still leaped out to me because the sherpa guide for my dad's trip was...the renowned Tensing Norgay!  Over the next few decades, my dad always spoke with great love and pride of that trip and great admiration for Tensing.  

A fun, related family-story.  When my dad took his trek, he cleared it first with his cardiologist because the previous year he had had quadruple-bypass surgery.  He was in good-enough health to get the okay -- but the amusing thing is that when he described the upcoming trip to his cardiologist...the doctor became so fascinated by it that he himself signed up for the trip!  So, as my dad always quipped, you're going to take a trek in the Himalayas after having had quadruple heart-bypass surgery, the absolute best way to do it is with your personal cardiologist along.
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We end our gala day of pomp and good cheer with this gem of a song from Steve Goodman about his father, "My Old Man."
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Continuing our celebration o' the day, we have this song, "Dear Old Dad," from the 1961 off-Broadway musical, Smiling, the Boy Fell Dead, a spoof of Horatio Alger-type stories, with music by David Baker, and lyrics by none other than Sheldon Harnick, his first stage show, three years before he teamed up with Jerry Bock for Fiddler on the Roof.  And oddly, two years after he and Bock won the Tony and Pulitzer for Fiddler on the Roof.  (This off-Broadway show had been written earlier, but took a few years to get produced.) 

We start today's folderol with our annual playing of this gem by Harry Ruby, who co-wrote many of the great Marx Brothers songs. 

I'd sing this to my dad every year on Father's Day, and the game was to see how long I could get into the phone conversation before he'd interrupt and almost petulantly say, "The song!!!!"  I usually didn't get very far.  I think the longest may have been two minutes.
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​The guest contestant for the 'Not My Job' segment on the NPR quiz show Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! is actress Kate Mulgrew, best known for her current series, Orange is the New Black, and as Capt. Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager.  Though I'll always remember her for starring in the lamented series, Mrs. Columbo.

In this edition of the Al Franken Podcast, he sits down with Sarah Silverman.  As the site describes, the two "discuss her evolution as a comedian, the hazards of using irony in comedy (the viral death-threat against Sarah from a Florida preacher’s sermon), and the importance of growing as an artist and a person. Alternately edgy and warm and fuzzy, you’ll leave this one smiling."

Over on his wonderful site, my pal Mark Evanier has been writing about voice-actors lately, and briefly mentioned a couple times about Clarency "Ducky" Nash -- who got his nickname for being the voice of 'Donald Duck.'  You can read about some of that here..

It reminded me of when I wrote here, back in 2013, about the time I met Clarence and then posted a video of him as a guest contestant on What's My Line?  He wasn't a "Mystery Guest," though since no one knew his name or what he looked like.  It remains one of my favorite -- if not favorite -- celebrity guest segment on the show.  So, especially for those who also read Mark's website, but also people who have joined these pages during the past six year (or who don't remember the piece...or who might like to see it again...), I figured I'd re-post the story and let you see the charming and great-fun video of what the fellow who played the voice of 'Donald Duck' looks like.  And as the story tells, my recollection is that Clarence Nash was as charming and sweet a fellow as he comes across here.  Also, though I say it in the article, I'll repeat it here -- he clearly LOVED being the voice of 'Donald Duck,' and LOVED bringing utter joy to all the people around him with it.

From July 6, 2013.

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The other day, we had Walt Disney as the Mystery Guest on “What’s My Line?”  It seemed proper then to follow-up with Clarence Nash.

Who is Clarence Nash, I hear you cry?  Clarence Nash’s name is so little known, as his face that he’s not even a Mystery Guest.  Just a guess for the panelists to guess what he does.

What he does is Clarence Nash was the voice of Donald Duck.

I actually once was lucky enough to meet the good fellow.  It was many years ago when I worked for the California Park Service as a Park Aide at Will Rogers State Historic Park.  This one day, I happened to be working at the visitor center, when a group came up and wanted a bunch of the wands that gave the audio tour.  One of the younger women in the group mention that this quiet, little, gray-haired man was the voice of Donald Duck.  We chatted briefly, I gave them their wands, and they wandered off to the first nearby audio stop.

A moment later, a mother arrived with her two little boys, and she wanted audio wands.   As I went to get them, I mentioned, “See that man over there?  He’s Clarence Nash.  The voice of Donald Duck.” 

You never saw a person move so fast, as she grabbed her sons by the hand and whipped them off – zoom – in his direction.  I laughed, went back to work, and then a few seconds later, I heard the voice of Donald Duck making two little kids laugh.  And their mother.

So, time passes.  I keep doing my job, and about 20 minutes later, it was time to rotate and switch assignments.  I was to head to the Ranch House and replace the Park Aide there to give tours.  As I neared the front door, though, something was odd.  There not only weren’t any people wandering around out front, but the little roped-off area inside the house was jammed overflowing with people, spilling out the door.  I couldn’t figure it out.  But as I got near, I did figure it out. 

The people weren’t all jammed together – they’re formed a circle.  And they were all looking in to the center of the circle.  And coming out of the center of that circle, unseen, was the voice of Donald Duck.

Here’s Clarence Nash.  One of the most beloved people no one knows.  Even, as you will see, the panelists of "What's My Line?" 

[Fun Note: One of the topics on Mark's discussion of voice actors is how they are all independent contractors, and that the only one he ever knew who was under full-time contract was Clarence Nash, because Walt Disney used him for many different Donald projects.  And as you'll note in this video, the only clue that host John Daly gives the panelists is that the guest "is salaried."]

The guest contestant on the 'Not My Job' segment of the NPR quiz show, Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! is actor Lance Riddick who plays the concierge on the John Wick series, and in such TV series as The Wire, Lost and Bosch.  The interview with host Peter Sagal is far more thin than most, but it's worthwhile because for someone who largely plays DEEP-voiced, imposing and suave characters, it's bizarre to hear him being giddy, almost to the point of goofy.
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The "Mystery Guest" on this edition of What's My Line? is the wonderful actor Charles Laughton.  The guessing doesn't last all that long, but what makes the segment particular fun is that he stays there a while talking with host John Daley and the panelists.  And fun, too, is hearing him go on and on at the end about how much he loves watching the show every week.

This is the full episode, so you can jump to the appearance at the 12:30 mark.