August 20, 1907 Teddy Bergman a.k.a. Alan Reed was born

On this day in 1907, Teddy Bergman a.k.a. Alan Reed was born.

August 20, 1907 Alan Reed was born

On this day in 1907, Alan Reed (aka Teddy Bergman) was born.

August 19: Happy Birthday, Marie Wilson

The secretary was a minor, nearly throwaway character in many a TV sitcom or radio comedy.  Not so with Irma of My Friend Irma, played on the radio by today's birthday girl, Marie Wilson.

Irma was a Midwestern-born stenographer in the employ of a lawyer, Mr. Clyde (played by Alan Reed).  Though, even as the star of the show, Wilson was thrust into the "dumb blonde" role, seen by some as a forerunner of Marilyn Monroe.

She came to the part as a dancer of some Broadway repute, and would go on to play a role in the now-classic The Maltese Falcon.

According to Robert Kistler of the LA Times, the typecasting of Wilson "belied her personal zest for learning and intellectual self-improvement."