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New (or maybe not) Mr. Schwump Idea
My first post might be a stupid idea, but does anyone think (Charles) David Forrest could have been Mr. Schwump? I gathered the following from IMDB.com:
- He was the uncredited music mixer for Christmas in Connecticut (1945), where Mr. Schwump apparently appeared briefly.
- He was also the sound engineer for nearly all of the Andy Griffith Show episodes during the first four seasons.
- He would have been 61 years old at the time of My Fair Ernest T. Bass, Mr. Schwump's first appearance.
- After that, he did a lot less sound department work.
As David Forrest's sound engineer career was winding down, Mr. Schwump began appearing. Could he have appeared as Mr. Schwump for fun?
My searches for Schwump / Schwamp & David Forrest didn't return anything, so I'm hoping this hasn't already been ruled out. However, I won't be too surprised if everyone else knows that he looks nothing like Mr. Schwump!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mr. McBeevee on
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Beats me, but you might be on to something. Sounds like a good lead. Very good posibility, now if we could just find a photo of David Forrest. Nice contribution Steve, we need to get Barney on this right away!
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Permalink Reply by Keevy Hazelton on -
Here's a link to Mr. Schwump's appearance in 'Christmas In Connecticut.'
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Permalink Reply by Steve L on
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This doesn't help the David Forrest idea, but I thought it was kind of funny.
If there was any doubt that the 1945 Christmas In Connecticut guy is also Mr. Schwump, look how he's holding his hands in the video's still picture above, and then look at him sitting on the bench with Andy and Barney around 20 years later:
http://images.wikia.com/mayberry/images/7/7e/AndyGriffithShowMrSchw...
Maybe there is a graduation picture out there somewhere with him holding his hands the same way.
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Permalink Reply by Allan "Floyd" Newsome on -
Oh no....this seems like an actual lead to the identity of Mr. Schwamp (a.k.a. Mr. Schwump). Great job, Steve! This is certainly something folks can work on tracking down.
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Permalink Reply by Thelscuz on
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Good noticing! This seems like the best lead we've had since...well, maybe ever. Let's get to work.
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Permalink Reply by Bobby Fleet on
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A sound engineer that doesn't talk. Priceless! Could be a good lead Steve. I found a Charles D. Forrest in the 1930 census on South Gardener Street in L.A., 29 years old w/ wife, year old daughter and servant. He was an electrical engineer.
I'm not sure if this is the same guy, and it's not a very good pic, but does anyone think this could be Mr. Schwump in his early 20's?
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Thank you for the replies. I'm glad it wasn't a ridiculous idea, but I also hope it wouldn't be a big letdown like Howard catching Old Sam.I found him on eBay, but only where they listed a movie's credits and he was involved. Maybe something will show up there in the future.
That 29 year old Charles D. Forrest is sure interesting, but I am really bad at those kind of comparisons. I have a horrible time recognizing people I haven't seen for a while.
Luckily, I haven't had any guys in dark glasses come to the door saying to lay off the Schwump theory!
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Permalink Reply by Hungry Buzzard on
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I think you may be onto something, Steve and Bobby. That picture looks (to my untrained eyes) like it very well could be a young Mr. Schwump. Bobby Fleet's census info also seems to fit the right time line.
Nice catch guys.
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Way to go, guys! I think you're onto something. I found various forms of his name, which I suppose he used at different stages of his career. They are: Dave Forest, David Forest, Charles D. Forrest, Dave Forrest, David Forrest. My source listed his birth date as 9/8/02. He was working on TAGS during 1960-64--as I understand it, all episodes.
His name also appears in many well-known movies, among them MILDRED PIERCE.
Maybe the non-speaking, no-credits nature of Mr. Schwamp had something to do with union regulations? I know nothing about SAG, but thought maybe his being a sound engineer or whatever would preclude his being a credited actor. I think they have to appear so many times with so many speaking parts to be able to join The Screen Actors Guild.
The main thing we need now, it seems to me, is another (later) photo of Charles D. Forrest for comparison with Mr. Schwamp. By the way, I saw him last night on the episode where Sam welcomes his friend from Italy and all the family shows up too, etc. Mr. Schwamp is sitting on the front row when they have the meeting where they sing "Santa Lucia".
At least he wasn't leaning up against the wall in a stag line!
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I think his appearances, mainly are as an extra or background actor. Normally they are not listed in the credits. Look like you have some pretty good leads here!
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I did some more checking and am now about 99 % sure the picture I posted is the same person Steve is referring to. I just don't know if the picture is a young Schwump. What I found about Charles David Forrest is:
He was a student at U of California Berkeley in ealry 20's (senior in 1925), Sigma Delta Chi. (This is where the picture comes from. There are a few others of him.)
Parents were Charles and Gertrude Forrest. His father and maternal grandfather were born in US.
A passport application in 1924 listed him as student at Berkeley with birth date and place consistant with his other records.
Various voting registration records in Burbank, Los Angeles county from 1936 - 1954 show him on National Ave. and employeed as a sound engineer.
Finally, this is the death listing for this individual -
DAVID FORRESTSep 08, 1902Feb 10, 1991Last residence: 91030 (South Pasadena, Los Angeles, CA)I am going to persue getting a copy of his obituary, but by all means if anyone is in that area and can run down to a local library or history center and get it off their microfilm, by all means go for it.
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Good stuff Bobby...hopefully there are some survivors that we could contact to verify his identity and link to TAGS, this is great, hopefull soon a long time mystery can be finally solved!
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