Watch A Late Night Flick, He Was There...
He was known across the country, but it was mostly the West Coast and of course LA where he was "King of the Late Night Movies"...
He was Cal Worthington...and his dog Spot...
He was a real interesting soul...
Cal came from dirt poor roots and amassed a huge auto empire that still is peddling heavy metal today...
Most do not know about all the missions he flew in Europe as a B-17 pilot...
He really wanted to become a pro pilot but ended up taking another route as he began selling used cars and making some good money after he had a gas station that just couldn't make it...
Cal sponsored three hour blocks on afternoon TV in
LA back in the early days of the medium...
then he went the marketing route that had him sponsoring
late night movies all over the LA TV dial...
Here is an actual Cal Worthington commercial from 1979...
Most of what you want to know about Cal is summed up here:
Any fellow who flew and survived 29 bombing missions over Germany
and then went on to sell cars is OK in my book...
You know he is still working the deals up above
as his faithful dog Spot sits by his side...
as his faithful dog Spot sits by his side...
Writer Ken Levine had a wonderful obit about Cal
back when he passed at 92 in 2013...
And in Levine's blog was a very interesting comment from Cal's third wife...
I was just missing him this evening and every once in a while, like to find things on the internet about him. Most of the comments here are mostly true. Some are very funny. I enjoyed Ken's tribute.
What I want to say to anyone reading this, is that there may never be a finer man. He was an upstanding citizen, had very "white-hat" business practices, and truly loved people, his family and his friends. He was dirt poor as a child, cared so much for his mother and brothers and sisters, that he ALWAYS gave every cent he ever made growing up as a young boy and young man, to his mother to help provide for them. He never stopped providing for his family. Cal would always say, his greatest accomplishments are his children and his family.
He was my best friend during our 16 years together. I am very lucky to have had him in my life. We love you "Honey-Pie."