6.2 /10 1 Votes6.2
4.8/10 TV Created by Luther Davis Country of origin United States First episode date 13 January 1966 Number of seasons 1 | 7.6/10 IMDb Genre Sitcom Original language(s) English Final episode date 5 May 1966 Number of episodes 17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Starring Red ButtonsFred ClarkParley BaerZeme North Network American Broadcasting Company Cast Similar The Pruitts of Southampton, Kentucky Jones, Temperatures Rising, Mona McCluskey, Hank | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe was a 17-episode American sitcom broadcast on ABC from January 13 to September 1, 1966, and starring Red Buttons.
Contents
Plot
Henry Phyfe (Buttons) was a mild-mannered accountant, until circumstances forced the American Counter Intelligence Service (CIS) to recruit him to impersonate a foreign agent named U-31, who had been killed in an automobile accident. The agent looked just like Phyfe, but the two men's personalities were drastically different. That severe contrast laid the groundwork for many of the episodes.
Phyfe's girlfriend, Judy Kimball, her mother Florence and his boss at the accounting firm, Mr. Hamble, were all unaware of Henry's secret life, with Gerald Hannahan, the regional director of the agency the lone person to know the secret. The characters of the girlfriend and mother-in-law were phased out halfway through the abbreviated run.
Cast
Overview
Buttons noted that, unlike Agent Maxwell Smart in NBC's new hit Get Smart, his character was shy, used no gadgets in his work, and was an impostor, not an actual agent. Phyfe's CIS boss was played by veteran character actor Fred Clark, who bore a superficial physical resemblance to Smart's "Chief" played by Edward Platt.
The show marked Buttons' return to weekly television after his variety show had ended a three-year run in 1955. During the interim, Buttons found roles in 15 different motion pictures, including an Academy Award-winning performance in the 1957 Marlon Brando film, Sayonara.