A Couple of TV Programs Featuring Bachelor Fathers
by Guy Belleranti
There were a number of television programs that featured single
fathers with children in the 1950’s and 1960’s, however there were also
a couple that featured never married fathers, i.e. Bachelor Fathers. In
both the father was actually an uncle by blood to the child/children.
The earlier of the two series was, appropriately enough, named
Bachelor Father. Airing from 1957 to 1962 this black and white
sitcom starred John Forsythe as Bentley Gregg, a handsome and well-to-do
bachelor attorney living in Beverly Hills.
Bentley is living the good life making lots of money and dating lots of
beautiful women when one day his world is changed forever when his
niece’s parents are killed in an auto accident. The 13 year-old niece,
Kelly (played by Noreen Corcoran), moves in with Bentley. Also in the
household are Bentley’s Chinese manservant Peter Tong (played by Sammee
Tong) and a large dog named Jasper.
Thereafter follows a new style of life for all, as Bentley and Peter
have to deal with raising a teen-ager, and Kelly has to adapt to living
with her uncle.
Four years after Bachelor Father went off the air a second sitcom
featuring a bachelor father hit the airwaves. This program was Family
Affair. Running from 1966 to 1971, this half hour program was in
color and starred Brian Keith as a successful engineering consultant
named Bill Davis.
Bill lived in a posh New York City apartment and had a live-in English
manservant named Mr. (Giles) French (played by Sebastian Cabot).
The two men’s worlds change when Bill’s brother and brother’s wife die
in an accident. However, Bill and Mr. French don’t have to take in only
one orphan – they have to take in three.
Two of the children are two cute-as-a-button six-year old twins
Elizabeth “Buffy” and Jonathan “Jody” played by Anissa Jones and Johnnie
Whitaker respectively. The third is 15-year-old Catherine “Cissy” played
by Kathy Garver.
Like Bachelor Father, Family Affair followed the adjustments
everyone has to make as they live their changed lives together. Cabot’s
Mr. French, a stuffy, well-dressed gentleman’s gentleman doesn’t like
the idea of being reduced to a nanny, but over time he and the children
really fit together. And Uncle Bill is the rock the children need.
The plot lines for both Bachelor Father and Family Affair were usually
kept pretty simple, with little to no controversial material. And while
that may not have made for totally believable viewing, it did provide
family friendly fare, stories that emphasized caring, kindness and love
between family members.
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