Galen Grindle, better known as Johnny Ginger from WXYZ children's show, dies at the age of 92
He was not on the list.
(
WXYZ) — Galen Grindle, better known as Johnny Ginger, the star of the Johnny Ginger Show on WXYZ in the 1960s, has died at the age of 92. He died in Genoa, Ohio.
That's according to an obituary posted on a funeral website in Ohio. Born June 16, 1934, the obituary says he passed away on Sunday, July 5.
According to the obituary, Grindle began performing on
Toledo at the wage of 17 as part of a comedy duo with Jimmy Nickles.
"The Johnny Ginger Show" launched on WXYZ-TV, and a 1991 report on Channel 7 called Ginger one of the kings of children's TV in Detroit, alongside Soupy Sales and Marv Welch.
"He would get guest roles on The Real McCoys and The
Rifleman, also playing Billy the Kid in the Three Stooges motion picture titled
The Outlaws is Coming. He also appeared in Meet Monica Velour (2010) and
Alleged (2010)," the obituary reads.
His parents, Ray and Edna, were a Vaudeville family act
performing at the Paramount Theater in Toledo. 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.
He worked 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Ginger went on to host
Captain Detroit for WKBD-TV. He left Detroit for Hollywood and appeared on an
episode of The Rifleman.
Actor
Alleged (2010)
Alleged
4.3
'Doc' Robinson
2010
Kim Cattrall in Meet Monica Velour (2010)
Meet Monica Velour
5.8
Bennie Fazio (uncredited)
2010
Tom Ryan in Captain Detroit (1966)
Captain Detroit
TV Series
Captain Detroit (1966-1967)
1966–1971
Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Joe Bolton, Bill Camfield, Joe
DeRita, Hal Fryar, Johnny Ginger, Nancy Kovack, Wayne Mack, Ed T. McDonnell,
Bruce Sedley, Paul Shannon, and Sally Starr in The Outlaws Is Coming (1964)
The Outlaws Is Coming
6.0
Billy the Kid
1964
The only authorized DVD edition of all episodes in Season One.
The Rifleman
8.3
TV Series
Ted
1962
1 episode
Johnny Ginger in The Johnny Ginger Show (1960)
The Johnny Ginger Show
TV Series
Head Bellboy
1960–1966
Johnny Ginger in Curtain Time Theater (1957)
Curtain Time Theater
TV Series
(Host)
1957–1960
Writer
Tom Ryan in Captain Detroit (1966)
Captain Detroit
TV Series
writer (1966-1967)
1966–1971
Johnny Ginger in The Johnny Ginger Show (1960)
The Johnny Ginger Show
TV Series
writer
1960–1966
Self
Be Funny
8.5
Self
2008
Archive Footage
Paul Howard in Hey Moe, Hey Dad! (2015)
Hey Moe, Hey Dad!
8.5
TV Mini Series
Self - Various Characters (archive footage, uncredited)
2015
1 episode
Biography (1987)
Biography
7.7
TV Series
Various (archive footage, uncredited)
1994
1 episode
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