Grindle was born in Toledo, Ohio. His parents, Ray and Edna, were a Vaudeville family act performing at the Paramount Theater in Toledo.[1] His brother, Kenny, was a tap dancer in the family act. One day they brought little Johnny up onstage to sing "Sonny Boy" and he was an instant hit. As a teen he performed stand-up comedy in clubs all over Toledo, Detroit, and Canada.
Grindle had been working as a comedian under the name Jerry Gale when he auditioned to present a program for WXYZ-TV based around re-runs of The Three Stooges. Given the role, WXYZ vice president John Pival insisted that he work under the name Johnny Ginger, the name taken from a bottle of Johnny Bull Ginger Beer.[2] Ginger's afternoon show, Curtain Time Theater (which was always pronounced "Thee-A-ter"), entertained kids from 1957 to 1960 on WXYZ-TV Channel 7.[2] The live portions of the show were broadcast all around the television station, with Ginger in his janitor costume of bib-overalls and driving cap. By the early 1960s Johnny adapted a new character inspired by the Jerry Lewis film The Bellboy, that of the head bellboy at the Rocky Plaza Hotel, run by Rocky Granet (the voice of Rube Weiss), and the show became The Johnny Ginger Show.[2] He introduced a new generation of kids to The Three Stooges and even played the part of Billy The Kid in the Stooges last film, The Outlaws Is Coming.[1][2] As a gesture of gratitude, the Stooges used many of the children's hosts who had run their shorts in the cast. He, Ricky the Clown, Jingles, Poop-Deck Paul, Milky the Clown, Rube Weiss, Captain Jolly, Sagebush Shorty and Soupy Sales helped pioneer Detroit television for children in the fifties and sixties. The Johnny Ginger Show was cancelled in 1968.[2] Ginger went on to host Captain Detroit for WKBD-TV.[2]
Johnny left Detroit for Hollywood and appeared on an episode of The Rifleman.[2]
Referencesedit
^ abKiska, Tim & Golick, Ed (2010) Detroit Television, Arcadia Publishing, ISBN978-0-7385-7707-4, p. 52
^ abcdefgCastelnero, Gordon (2006) TV Land: Detroit, The University of Michigan Press, ISBN978-0-472-03124-5, p. 51-62
johnny, ginger, galen, grindle, born, june, 1934, better, known, pioneer, detroit, television, borngalen, grindle, 1934, june, 1934, toledo, ohio, occupation, actor, television, personalitybiography, editgrindle, born, toledo, ohio, parents, edna, were, vaudev. Galen Grindle born June 16 1934 better known as Johnny Ginger was a pioneer of Detroit television Johnny GingerBornGalen Grindle 1934 06 16 June 16 1934 age 89 Toledo Ohio U S Occupation s Actor television personalityBiography editGrindle was born in Toledo Ohio His parents Ray and Edna were a Vaudeville family act performing at the Paramount Theater in Toledo 1 His brother Kenny was a tap dancer in the family act One day they brought little Johnny up onstage to sing Sonny Boy and he was an instant hit As a teen he performed stand up comedy in clubs all over Toledo Detroit and Canada Grindle had been working as a comedian under the name Jerry Gale when he auditioned to present a program for WXYZ TV based around re runs of The Three Stooges Given the role WXYZ vice president John Pival insisted that he work under the name Johnny Ginger the name taken from a bottle of Johnny Bull Ginger Beer 2 Ginger s afternoon show Curtain Time Theater which was always pronounced Thee A ter entertained kids from 1957 to 1960 on WXYZ TV Channel 7 2 The live portions of the show were broadcast all around the television station with Ginger in his janitor costume of bib overalls and driving cap By the early 1960s Johnny adapted a new character inspired by the Jerry Lewis film The Bellboy that of the head bellboy at the Rocky Plaza Hotel run by Rocky Granet the voice of Rube Weiss and the show became The Johnny Ginger Show 2 He introduced a new generation of kids to The Three Stooges and even played the part of Billy The Kid in the Stooges last film The Outlaws Is Coming 1 2 As a gesture of gratitude the Stooges used many of the children s hosts who had run their shorts in the cast He Ricky the Clown Jingles Poop Deck Paul Milky the Clown Rube Weiss Captain Jolly Sagebush Shorty and Soupy Sales helped pioneer Detroit television for children in the fifties and sixties The Johnny Ginger Show was cancelled in 1968 2 Ginger went on to host Captain Detroit for WKBD TV 2 Johnny left Detroit for Hollywood and appeared on an episode of The Rifleman 2 References edit a b Kiska Tim amp Golick Ed 2010 Detroit Television Arcadia Publishing ISBN 978 0 7385 7707 4 p 52 a b c d e f g Castelnero Gordon 2006 TV Land Detroit The University of Michigan Press ISBN 978 0 472 03124 5 p 51 62External links editJohnny Ginger at IMDb nbsp This biographical article related to television in the United States is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Johnny Ginger amp oldid 1213694409, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
