A Horse Is A Horse…..Of Course, Of Course
Shortly after newlyweds Wilbur Post and his wife
Carol move into their new home, they discover a
horse in the barn left to them by the previous owner.
Wilbur finally persuades Carol to let him keep the
horse, and the TV comedy show, Mister Ed, is born.
The star of the show was a sometimes cantankerous,
always lovable horse named…..Mister Ed. The first
time Wilbur brushes his new horse, he discovers quite
a phenomenon, Mister Ed can talk!
But Wilbur is the only person Mister Ed likes well
enough to talk to, which creates some quite humorous
situations in future episodes of the show.
And as you can imagine, Mister Ed’s insistence on only
talking to Wilbur got poor Wilbur into all kinds of
trouble! Mischievous Mister Ed would use the telephone
or get out of his stable leaving Wilbur to get him out
of the mess.
You see, Mister Ed was never just content to be a horse.
He wanted to do everything a human could. So he drove
a delivery truck, met celebrities, flew an airplane, gave
a birthday party for all his horse buddies, and even
tried his hoof at playing baseball.
One show would find him wearing a Beatle wig, the
next he was delivering newspapers, flying a kite, or
vacuuming the carpet in his barn.
Mister Ed didn’t like being alone and when Wilbur went
on vacation to Hawaii, he had to go along. On the beach
Mister Ed astonished Wilbur as he is found “hanging
ten” on his surfboard riding out the waves.
Various episodes had Mister Ed enthralled with
attractive young fillies, even courting Clint Eastwood’s
horse.Once Ed fell in love with a spirited filly and
wanting to know the future had Wilbur take him
to a gypsy to have his hoof read. And of course
Ed wrote to Dear Abby because he wanted his own
bachelor stall down at the stables.
But when Ed wasn’t getting Wilbur into all sorts of
precarious predicaments, he would be found relaxing in
his barn in front of his black and white TV watching
his favorite doctor show, or he and Wilbur would
be playing chess.
Big hearted, on one show when Carol developed
an allergy to horses, Ed volunteered himself for the
Air Force guard duty. Another time, broken hearted
over the loss of his dream filly, he joined the Peace
Corps.
And who can forget when Ed was found wearing
glasses in public and decided it was time for
him to get contacts.
Feeling unfulfilled as a horse, Ed took up painting; then
another time he was the hero as he discovered clues
that helped the Secret Intelligence Agency recover
stolen papers.
In the very last episode, Wilbur tries his best to persuade
Ed to stick to being a horse. But Ed won’t hear of it and
makes up his mind to enter college to become a doctor.
Away from the cameras and bright lights, Mister Ed
started his days as a parade and show horse named
Bamboo Harvester. He was foaled in 1949 in El Monte,
California.
On occasion Mister Ed had a “stunt zebra” do some
difficult scenes, but there is no truth to the rumor that
Mister Ed was always played by a zebra. Mister Ed
was a horse…..of course.
His trainer, Les Hilton, used peanut butter to make
Mister Ed move his mouth on cue. Mister Ed loved
the stuff so much, he couldn’t stop licking his lips and
therefore completed virtually all his scenes in one take.
Suffering from a variety of leg and other health problems,
he was quietly put to sleep in 1970 with no publicity.
Ed won some Patsy Awards. (Oscars for animals) In
1962 & 1963 Mister Ed won 1st place for the “Mister
Ed” series. He was awarded 2nd place in 1964, then
3rd place winner in 1965. The categories include all
types of animals not just horses.
A horse is a horse, of course, of course,
and no one can talk to a horse of course.
Unless that horse is the famous horse,
the talking Mister Ed.
Tippy and Alfred are Senior Editors of the canine and feline sections
at Happy & Healthy Pets. Happy & Healthy Pets is a Free e-zine devoted to
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Copyright © 2002 Dave Cole