{{Short description|American actor, director and composer}} {{use mdy dates|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox person | name = Ronny Graham | image = Ronny Graham nf.jpg | caption = | birth_name = Ronald Montcrief Stringer | birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|8|26|mf=y}} | birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US | death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|1999|7|4|1919|8|26}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, US | years_active = 1959–1999 | occupation = {{hlist|Actor|theater director|composer|writer}} }} '''Ronny Graham''' (August 26, 1919 – July 4, 1999) was an American actor, theater director, composer, lyricist, and writer.
==Life and career== Graham was born '''Ronald Montcrief Stringer''' in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the second of five children born to vaudeville performers Florence (née Sweeney) and Thomas Graham Stringer (a.k.a. Steve Graham).<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/8/Ronny-Graham.html| title=Ronny Graham Biography (1919-)| website=FilmReference}}</ref> Graham, a self-taught jazz pianist, began his career as a nightclub comic with a specialty in wry character monologues for which he provided the musical accompaniment, à la Dwight Fiske. During World War II, Graham served in the Army, where he entertained GIs with a piano trio.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://variety.com/1999/scene/people-news/ronny-graham-1117883018/| title=Ronny Graham| magazine=Variety| date=July 13, 1999| access-date=June 23, 2025}}</ref> He made his Broadway debut in the revue ''New Faces of 1952'', to which he contributed sketches and lyrics and in which he performed. He won a Theatre World Award for his efforts. He later made similar contributions to ''New Faces of 1956'' and ''New Faces of 1962''. He wrote the lyrics for ''Bravo Giovanni'', which garnered him a Tony Award nomination, and directed a string of unsuccessful plays, two of which closed on opening night, in the mid-1960s to early 1970s.<ref name=playbill/>
As a writer, Graham penned seven episodes of ''M*A*S*H'' (and guest starred as Sgt. Gribble in the episode "Your Hit Parade," for which he was program consultant) and nine episodes of ''The Brady Bunch Hour''. He also co-wrote the screenplays for the Mel Brooks films ''To Be or Not to Be'' (1983) and ''Spaceballs'' (1987), appearing onscreen as Sondheim in the former and the Minister in the latter. His other film credits included roles in ''Dirty Little Billy'' (1972), ''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976), ''The World's Greatest Lover'' (1977) and ''History of the World, Part I'' (1981). He had a recurring role on ''Chico and the Man'' and made guest appearances on ''Murder She Wrote'', ''Picket Fences'', and ''Chicago Hope''. He was a frequent guest on ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Graham played the character who dropped the clapperboard repeatedly in a 1969 Alka-Seltzer "Spicy Meatball" advertisement<ref>{{cite web| url=http://triviafrog.com/?p=70 |title=Commercials: Alka Seltzer and Spicy Meatballs| website=Triviafrog| access-date=2014-08-07| archive-date=2014-08-10| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810210025/http://triviafrog.com/?p=70| url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref name=Spicymeatball>{{cite web| title=1969 Alka Seltzer "Spicy Meatball" Commercial| website=YouTube| url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQhwNtY3N2k| access-date=7 March 2015}}</ref> and played the part of "Mr. Dirt" on a series of commercials for Mobil Oil in the 1970s. In 1975–76, Graham was featured in the recurring role of the Reverend Bemis during season 2 of the NBC sitcom ''Chico and the Man''. In 1976 he co-wrote the Paul Lynde Halloween Special along with Bruce Vilanch. In 1996, he appeared as the character Louis Foukold in the screen adaptation of the Jon Robin Baitz play ''The Substance of Fire.''
Graham was married four times, to Jean Spitzbarth (1947–1950), with whom he had one child; actress Ellen Hanley (1951–1963), with whom he had two children; Sigyn Lund (1965–1973), with whom he had two children; and Pamela Gill (1974–1999), to whom he was married when he died of liver disease in Los Angeles.<ref name=playbill>{{cite news| title=Comedian-Writer Ronny Graham, of New Faces, is Dead at 79| url=https://playbill.com/article/comedian-writer-ronny-graham-of-new-faces-is-dead-at-79-com-83023| first=Kenneth| last=Jones| date=July 9, 1999| magazine=Playbill| access-date=June 23, 2025}}</ref>
==Filmography== {{incomplete list|date=March 2018}} *''New Faces of 1952'' (1952) - Ronny *''Dirty Little Billy'' (1972) - Charle Nile *''Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood'' (1976) - Mark Bennett *''The World's Greatest Lover'' (1977) - Director Dorsey *MASH, Season 6, Episode 19, Your Hit Parade (1978) - Sergeant Gribble *''History of the World, Part I'' (1981) - Oedipus - The Roman Empire / Jew #2 - The Spanish Inquisition *''To Be or Not to Be'' (1983) - Sondheim *''Spaceballs'' (1987) - Minister *''Life Stinks'' (1991) - Priest (voice) *''Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993) - Villager *''The Substance of Fire'' (1996) - Louis Foukold
==See also== *Julius Monk
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0334283}} *{{IBDB name}} *{{iobdb name|28092}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, Ronny}} Category:1919 births Category:1999 deaths Category:American male film actors Category:American lyricists Category:American male screenwriters Category:American male stage actors Category:American male television actors Category:American male television writers Category:American television writers Category:American theatre directors Category:Donaldson Award winners Category:Male actors from Philadelphia Category:20th-century American male actors Category:Songwriters from Pennsylvania Category:20th-century American male writers Category:Screenwriters from Pennsylvania Category:20th-century American screenwriters Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:20th-century American songwriters