Tulane Ed. Conf. 2004: Early Television in New Orl...

From the 51st Annual Tulane Educational Conference - January 31, 2004 Voices of Experience: Early Television & Community Theatre in New Orleans Stocker Fontelieu (Arts & Science'49), an icon in local theater as director, manager and actor for over five decades, shares his reminiscences of various enterprises, productions and personalities. Linda Mintz (Newcomb'55) has been seen on many local stages over a varied career in theatre and musical productions. Her films include Sweet Charity with Melissa Gilbert and Cecily Tyson, Malpractice and Jake Lassiter: Justice on the Bayou. Her television career began as a seamless transition from her radio career with Let's Tell a Story when she was only nineteen. Along with pal Terry Flettrich, she defined the early years of local children's programming, enchanting generations as Romper Room's Miss Linda until she was forty. She reprised her child-friendly persona as recently as two months ago with a TV special, Miss Muffin's Thanksgiving. Her reminiscences include her later television work on the Passionate Poet and Dark Secrets. Ed Nelson (Arts &Science '53/University College 2000) once sat between Walter Pigeon and Victor George on the Screen Actors' Guild board of directors. But in the beginning, he was the first floor director at WDSU when Mel Leavitt was doing news live, Flettrich was doing children's TV, and Tulane had a Peabody Award winning live program called Tulane Close Up, on which Ed also acted. He spent 6 years in local community theatre before heading to Hollywood, when Le Petit & Gallery were the only serious theatres in town. Nelson is a member of the Academy, currently judging tapes for the Awards. Starting off with monster pictures, then westerns for nine years and a soap for five, he has possibly done more television and films - over 1500 television shows and 60 movies - in 45 years in Hollywood, than any other New Orleans Tulanian. Plus he did live theatre during the summer breaks! Bryan Batt (Ar...