Smooth John Forsythe starred as Bentley Gregg – a successful and wealthy Hollywood lawyer with an office in the Crescent Building – who becomes guardian to his thirteen-year-old orphaned niece, Kelly (Noreen Corcoran) when her parents are killed in a car accident.
The series ran on CBS from September 1957 to June 1958, on NBC from June 1958 to September 1961, and on ABC from October 1961 to September 1962.
Typical storylines involved Kelly trying to find Uncle Bentley – a ladies’ man – a wife, or his incompetence in teenager management.
Kelly and her friends Ginger (Bernadette Withers) and Howard (Jimmy Boyd) attended Beverly Hills High School and hung out at Bill’s Malt Shop after school.
Howard (Jimmy Boyd) was Kelly’s on-and-off boyfriend from 1957 to 1961.
When the series switched to ABC, Kelly, who had become a beautiful young lady, needed a more sophisticated boyfriend (lanky Howard was immature and lacked Bentley’s polish and finesse).
Warren Dawson (Aaron Kincaid), Bentley’s law partner, became her new love interest.
Asian houseboy Peter Tong (Sammee Tong) inscrutably kept the Gregg mansion at 1163 Rexford Drive in Beverly Hills functioning amid the mayhem.
Peter called Bentley ” Mr Gregg” and Kelly “Niece Kelly”. He attended night school to improve his knowledge of America, and he muttered in Chinese when he got upset.
He had many relatives, and two of them, Grandpa Ling and Cousin Charlie (Victor Sen Yung), appeared often. Peter called Grandpa “a 70-year-old juvenile delinquent”, while Charlie was the schemer of the family and always looking for an easy way to make money.
Sammee Tong died, aged 63, from an intentional barbiturate overdose on 27 October 1964. Tong was a heavy gambler and allegedly owed money to the mafia.
Appearing in regular roles were Joan Vohs, Del Moore, Evelyn Scott, and – at various times – Alice Backus, Shirley Mitchell, Sue Ann Langdon, Jeanne Bal and Sally Mansfield as Bentley’s various pretty secretaries. There was, of course, a lovable shaggy dog (called ‘Jasper’) too.
John Forsythe died of respiratory failure on 1 April 2010 in Santa Ynez, California. He was 92.
Noreen Corcoran died of cardiopulmonary disease on 15 January 2016, aged 72.
Bentley Gregg John Forsythe
Kelly Gregg
Noreen Corcoran
Peter Tong
Sammee Tong
Ginger Farrell/Mitchell
Bernadette Withers
Howard Meecham
Jimmy Boyd
Cal Mitchell
Del Moore
Adelaide Mitchell
Evelyn Scott
Cousin Charlie Fong
Victor Sen Yung
Vickie (Secretary)
Alice Backus
Kitty Devereaux (Secretary)
Shirley Mitchell
Kitty Marsh
Sue Anne Langdon
Suzanne Collins (Secretary)
Jeanne Bal
Connie (Secretary)
Sally Mansfield
Warren Dawson
Aaron Kincaid Grandpa Ling
Beal Wong Louise Farrell
Catherine McLeod Bert Loomis
Whit Bissell Amy Loomis
Florence MacMichael Chuck Forrest
Pat McCaffrie Elaine Meecham
Joan Vohs Charles Burton
Karl Swenson Gloria Gibson
Cheryl Holdridge Lila Gibson
Cheryl Holdridge Steve Gibson
White Bissell Harry
Sid Melton Frank Curtis
Harry Von Zell Blossom Lee
Cherylene Lee Susie
Frances Fong Horace Dawson
David Lewis Myrtle Dawson
Sheila Bromley Peter’s Aunt Rose
Beulah Quo
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Typical storylines involved Kelly trying to find Uncle Bentley – a ladies’ man – a wife, or his incompetence in teenager management.
