Rusty Hamer

{{Infobox person

| name = Rusty Hamer

| image = Rusty hamer sherry jackson 1955.JPG

| imagesize =

| caption = Hamer and Sherry Jackson in Make Room for Daddy in 1955

| birth_name = Russell Craig Hamer

| birth_date = {{birth date|1947|02|15|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Tenafly, New Jersey, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1990|01|18|1947|02|15|mf=y}}

| death_place = DeRidder, Louisiana, U.S.

| education = Palisades High School

| occupation = Actor

| yearsactive = 1953–1971

}}

Russell Craig "Rusty" Hamer (February 15, 1947 – January 18, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He portrayed Rusty Williams, the wisecracking son of entertainer Danny Williams (Danny Thomas), on the ABC/CBS situation comedy Make Room for Daddy (later retitled The Danny Thomas Show), from 1953 to 1964. He reprised the role in three reunion specials and the sequel series, Make Room for Granddaddy, which aired on ABC from 1970 to 1971.

Early life

Born in Tenafly, New Jersey,{{cite book |editor-last=Mossman |editor-first=Jennifer |title=Almanac of Famous People: Biographies |edition=7 |year=2001 |publisher=Gale Research |location=Detroit |url=https://archive.org/details/almanacoffamousp0000unse/page/844/mode/2up?q=hamer |isbn=978-0-7876-4792-6 |page=844}} Hamer was the youngest of three sons of Arthur Walter John Hamer, Sr., a men's shirt salesman and Dorothy Hamer (née Chretien), a former silent film actress of Maltese heritage.{{cite book |last=Frasier |first=David K. |title=Suicide in the Entertainment Industry: An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3rmJCgAAQBAJ&q=hamer |date=September 11, 2015 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0807-5 |page=131 |url-access=subscription}} He had two elder brothers, John and Walter.{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19650905&id=EWJPAAAAIBAJ&pg=2850,3299145&hl=en |title=Hamer Visits Tourist Spot |last=Whitney |first=Dave |date=September 5, 1965 |newspaper=Ocala Star-Banner |page=25 |access-date=August 9, 2015}} As a child, Hamer was nicknamed "Rusty" as a derivative of his first name Russell, but also because of his red hair and freckles.{{cite book |last=Leszczak |first=Bob |title=From Small Screen to Vinyl: A Guide to Television Stars Who Made Records, 1950-2000 |date=June 25, 2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UpucCQAAQBAJ&q=hamer |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-4422-4274-6 |page=150 |access-date=July 28, 2022 |url-access=subscription}}

Career

Due to his parents' involvement in community theatre productions, Hamer and his brothers also began performing in stage productions. As a toddler, Hamer memorised and recited stories and performed skits for service club luncheons, women's clubs and church groups.{{cite news| title=Rusty Hamer Memorizes 'Danny' Roles at Sight| date=October 5, 1958| newspaper=Waco Tribune-Herald| page=TV3| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106463766/waco-tribune-herald/| access-date=July 28, 2022}}

In 1951, the Hamers moved to Los Angeles where Arthur Hamer worked as representative for a manufacturer of men's sport shirts (Arthur Hamer died eight months after his son was cast in The Danny Thomas Show).{{cite news| title=TV Key Mailbag| date=August 19, 1958| newspaper=The Troy Record| page=6| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106463723/the-troy-record/| access-date=July 28, 2022}}{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19640417&id=PMgtAAAAIBAJ&pg=2980,541096&hl=en| title=Rusty Hamer Is Worried About Obscurity at 17| last=Thomas| first=Bob| date=April 17, 1964| newspaper=Reading Eagle| page=13| access-date=August 9, 2015}}

Shortly after arriving, Hamer's elder brother John was discovered by an agent while performing in a local stage production in which Rusty was also performing. The agent signed both boys to a film contract. The following year, Hamer won his first acting role in the 3-D Western Fort Ti, starring George Montgomery and Joan Vohs.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2457&dat=19900119&id=ubBJAAAAIBAJ&pg=3611,1365998&hl=en| title='Make Room for Daddy' actor, Rusty Hamer| date=January 19, 1990| newspaper=Bangor Daily News| page=8| access-date=March 27, 2015}}

In 1953, entertainer Danny Thomas' secretary saw Hamer in a stage production and was impressed by the child's talent and charm. She suggested that Thomas audition Hamer for a role in his upcoming sitcom Make Room for Daddy. Thomas was also impressed by the 6-year old and cast Hamer as his precocious and quick-witted son, Rusty Williams. Thomas later said of Hamer, "He was the best boy actor I ever saw in my life. He had a great memory...great timing and you could change a line on him at the last minute and he came right back with it."{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1755&dat=19900120&id=6iUhAAAAIBAJ&pg=3192,4864954&hl=en|title=Former Child Actor, Hamer, Dies| date=January 20, 1990| newspaper=Sarasota Herald-Tribune| page=2A| access-date=February 2, 2015}}

Make Room for Daddy debuted on ABC on September 29, 1953, and, while critically acclaimed, garnered poor ratings.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19900706&id=8UlPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5276,1678728&hl=en| title=Update: 'Daddy' cast| date=July 6, 1990| work=The Blade| page=P4| access-date=August 9, 2015| location=Toledo, Ohio}}{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19581219&id=AGtQAAAAIBAJ&pg=7162,4382181&hl=en| title=Danny Thomas Show Points Up Life's Irony| last=Kern| first=Janet| date=December 19, 1958| newspaper=The Milwaukee Sentinel| page=4| access-date=August 9, 2015}} After four seasons, the series moved to CBS where it was re-tooled and retitled The Danny Thomas Show. The retooled version quickly became a hit with audiences and was a Top 15 hit for its remaining seven seasons.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19631022&id=MnUhAAAAIBAJ&pg=2406,5269061&hl=en| title=Danny Thomas Quitting Weekly On TV| last=Thomas| first=Bob| date=October 31, 1963| newspaper=Schenectady Gazette| page=35| access-date=August 9, 2015}}

During the run of The Danny Thomas Show, Hamer attempted to launch a singing career. He first performed a song in a 1956 episode of Danny Thomas entitled "The Talented Kid". In 1959, Hamer released his only single, a "rockaballad" called "Two-of-a-Kind" (with the b side "If Only Mother Would Let Me") written by Wally Gold and Aaron Schroeder, through Mercury Records. The single was a commercial failure and Hamer never released another single.{{cite magazine| date=January 25, 1960| title=Reviews of New Pop Records| magazine=Billboard| page=44| issn=0006-2510| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5x4EAAAAMBAJ&q=rusty+hamer+two+of+a+kind&pg=PA44}}

By late 1963, The Danny Thomas Show had garnered five Primetime Emmy Awards (among other awards) and was still ranked in the Top 10. However, Danny Thomas announced that he had decided to end the show in order to produce and star in other projects.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19791214&id=1MJaAAAAIBAJ&pg=5430,3598141&hl=en| title=Danny Thomas Going Strong At 65| date=December 14, 1979| newspaper=Evening Independent| page=5B| access-date=March 27, 2015| location=St. Petersburg, Florida}}

After the series ended, 17-year-old Hamer enrolled at Palisades High School (later restructured as Palisades Charter High School), but had difficulty adjusting to public school as he was accustomed to being privately tutored on the set.

Shortly before graduating in June 1964, Hamer was interviewed by reporter Bob Thomas and stated that he intended to continue his acting career and hoped to branch out into dramatic roles. Hamer said that he was under consideration for roles in several television series including Mr. Novak, Arrest and Trial and Ben Casey. Hamer also said that he planned to attend college on the advice of Danny Thomas, whom he considered a second father, since his own father had died in 1953.

About a year after The Danny Thomas Show ended, Hamer reprised the role of Rusty Williams in three episodes of The Joey Bishop Show, in which Rusty was a university student staying with the family of Joey Barnes. The show was coincidentally cancelled shortly after Hamer's arrival. Hamer also appeared in the reunion special The Danny Thomas TV Family Reunion, which aired on NBC.{{cite book| last=Terrace| first=Vincent| title=Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010| edition=2| year=2008| publisher=McFarland| isbn=978-0-786-48641-0| pages=644–645}}

On December 27, 1966, Hamer underwent emergency surgery at Santa Monica Emergency Hospital after sustaining a gunshot wound to the abdomen when a gun he was carrying in a shoulder holster slid out, fell to the ground and discharged. Hamer was carrying the gun having just returned from an overnight hunting trip.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1356&dat=19661228&id=iv4jAAAAIBAJ&pg=5746,6838705&hl=en| title=People In the News| date=December 28, 1966| newspaper=Ocala Star-Banner| page=6| access-date=August 9, 2015}} After recovering, he appeared in a second reunion special, "Make More Room For Daddy", that aired during a segment of the NBC anthology series The Danny Thomas Hour, in 1967.

Throughout the mid to late 1960s, Hamer continued to attempt a transition into adult roles and, according to Danny Thomas, enrolled in acting classes, but was unable to land any acting jobs. By the end of the decade, he had grown increasingly bitter and depressed over his waning career.{{cite news| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/106463989/the-morning-call/| title=Andre Is Alive and Well With Wife In Hollywood| last=Beck| first=Marilyn| date=August 27, 1969| newspaper=The Morning Call| page=14| location=Woodland Park, New Jersey| access-date=July 28, 2022}} To support himself, he began working for a messenger service in Los Angeles and later worked as a carpenter's apprentice. Hamer's only non-"Rusty Williams" acting role post-1964 was a guest spot on the CBS sitcom Green Acres that aired in November 1969.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1964&dat=19691128&id=bnUyAAAAIBAJ&pg=5072,4121845&hl=en| title=Mannix Involved In Costa Nostra Family Feud| date=November 29, 1969| newspaper=The Palm Beach Post| page=A6| access-date=August 9, 2015}}

File:Make Room for Granddaddy cast 1970.JPG.]]

In 1969, Hamer again reprised his role as Rusty Williams in a third reunion special, Make Room for Granddaddy. The special aired on CBS on September 14.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=110&dat=19690911&id=65FaAAAAIBAJ&pg=3645,4590960&hl=en| title=Danny Thomas Special Set For Sunday| date=September 12, 1969| newspaper=Ludington Daily News| page=3| access-date=August 9, 2015}} Due to the ratings success of the reunion specials, ABC created a weekly sequel series, also titled Make Room for Granddaddy, for their fall 1970 schedule.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1798&dat=19700813&id=RAwfAAAAIBAJ&pg=4552,2051531&hl=en| title=Danny Will Try Bold Experiment| date=August 14, 1970| newspaper=Sarasota Journal| page=4–C| access-date=March 27, 2015}} The series premiered on September 24, 1970, but failed to catch on with audiences.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1908&dat=19700923&id=qVwfAAAAIBAJ&pg=3357,1060680&hl=en| title=Is There Room for Granddaddy?| last=Thomas| first=Bob| date=September 24, 1970| newspaper=The Nevada Daily Mail| page=2 |access-date=March 27, 2015}} Make Room for Granddaddy was cancelled after one season.{{cite book| last=Leszczak| first=Bob| title=Single Season Sitcoms, 1948-1979: A Complete Guide| publisher=McFarland| date=November 2, 2012| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UvE6snvtSesC&q=hamer| isbn=978-0-7864-6812-6| pages=111–112}} It was Hamer's final acting role.

Later years

In the 1970s, Hamer moved to southwestern Louisiana where he worked on an off-shore oil rig for Exxon and delivered newspapers.{{cite book| last=Largo| first=Michael |title=The Portable Obituary: How the Famous, Rich, and Powerful Really Died| isbn=978-0-0612-3166-7| year=2007| url=https://archive.org/details/portableobituary0000larg/page/120/mode/2up?q=hamer| publisher=HarperCollins| page=121}}{{cite book |last=Kubey |first=Robert William |title=Creating Television: Conversations With the People Behind 50 Years Of American TV |url=https://archive.org/details/creatingtelevisi00kube |url-access=registration |publisher=Lawrence Erlbaum Associates |year=2004 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/creatingtelevisi00kube/page/n401 387] |isbn=978-0-8058-1077-6}} In 1976, he relocated to DeRidder, Louisiana, to be closer to his ailing mother, Dorothy, who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and lived with his elder brother John. After moving to the area, John Hamer had opened a cafe where, in his final years, Rusty Hamer occasionally worked as a short order cook.

In October 1981, Hamer reunited with former co-stars Danny Thomas and Angela Cartwright. The reunion was televised as part of the ABC special What Became Of...?, that aired on October 25.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19811006&id=s1YaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6824,3238498&hl=en| title=Tv family makes room for reunion| date=October 6, 1981| newspaper=The Milwaukee Journal| page=2| access-date=August 9, 2015}}

Death

On the night of January 18, 1990, John Hamer found his brother's body in his trailer home in DeRidder, Louisiana. Hamer had shot himself in the head with a .357 Magnum revolver.{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/20/obituaries/rusty-hamer-actor-42.html| title=Rusty Hamer, Actor, 42| agency=Associated Press| date=January 20, 1990|newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=December 17, 2007|url-access=subscription}}

John Hamer later said he believed that his brother had remained bitter over his inability to transition into acting as an adult. He also said he believed that his brother's chronic and debilitating back pain (for which Hamer refused to seek medical treatment) and their mother's illness had contributed to Hamer's depression. He stated:

He hasn't really been happy since his early 20s. But he didn't show any signs of this happening. It was just all of a sudden. [...] He was a very unhappy, very confused young man. No one does something like that if he isn't confused. I've heard of a lot of child actors who have become unhappy with their lives after they've left the industry.{{cite news| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1665&dat=19900120&id=IfUZAAAAIBAJ&pg=1370,3430529&hl=en| title=Rusty Hamer, 42, Actor| date=January 20, 1990| newspaper=Times-News| page=6| agency=Associated Press| access-date=July 28, 2022| location=Hendersonville, North Carolina}}{{cite news| title=Child television star dies in DeRidder| date=January 19, 1990| newspaper=Minden Press-Herald| page=7A}}

Hamer's body was cremated and no service was held. His ashes were scattered at sea, three miles off Marina del Rey, California, with the ashes of Tommy Rettig in a combined ceremony after the latter's death in 1996.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-DgDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA310 |title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons |edition=3rd |first=Scott |last=Wilson |publisher=McFarland Publishing |date=August 17, 2016 |page=310 |isbn=9780786479924}}

Legacy

On February 8, 1960, Hamer was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television. His star is located at 6323 Hollywood Boulevard.{{cite web |title=Rusty Hamer |work=Hollywood Walk of Fame |url=http://www.walkoffame.com/rusty-hamer |access-date=February 2, 2015}}

Hamer's suicide raised awareness of the potential mental fragility of child performers and inspired fellow former child actor Paul Petersen, formerly of ABC's The Donna Reed Show, to establish the support group A Minor Consideration. The group seeks to improve working conditions for young actors and assists former child entertainers in making the transition from past fame to adult life.{{cite news| url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1993-05-12-9305110285-story.html| title=Former Child Stars Get A Helping Hand| last=Sandack| first=Rick| date=May 12, 1993| newspaper=Orlando Sentinel| agency=Los Angeles Times Syndicate| access-date=July 28, 2022| url-access=subscription}}

Filmography

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1953 \| Fort Ti \| Jed's Nephew \| Uncredited
1953–1964 \| Make Room for Daddy \| Rusty Williams \| 323 episodes
1954 \| Four Star Playhouse \| Dickie \| Episode: "Vote of Confidence"
1954 \| Shower of Stars \| Rusty \| Episode: "Entertainment on Wheels"
1956 \| Dance with Me, Henry \| Duffer \| Final 'Abbott & Costello' film
1958 \| The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour \| Rusty Williams \| Episode: "Lucy Makes Room for Danny"
1958 \| Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse \| Rusty Williams \| Episode: "Lucy Makes Room for Danny"
1958 \| The Ford Show, Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford \| Himself \| Episode #3.13
1961 \| The Red Skelton Show \| Guest drummer \| Episode #10.12
1965 \| The Joey Bishop Show \| Rusty Williams \| 3 episodes
1967 \| The Danny Thomas Hour \| Rusty \| Episode: "Make More Room for Daddy"
1969 \| Green Acres \| Alfred \| Episode: "Oliver's Schoolgirl Crush"
1970–1971 \| Make Room for Granddaddy \| Rusty Williams \| 24 episodes, (final appearance)

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1953

| Fort Ti

| Jed's Nephew

| Uncredited

1953–1964

| Make Room for Daddy

| Rusty Williams