Harold Frederick, Jr. Stone |
| Posted 2007-03-04 by Judy Wight Branson |
| The Verde Independent, Cottonwood, Arizona February 25, 2007 Harold "Hal" Frederick Stone Jr. Harold "Hal" Frederick Stone Jr., 75, died in a Phoenix hospital on Feb. 21, 2007, following a heart operation. He was born June 10, 1931, in Long Island, N.Y., to Harold "Harry" Frederick Stone Sr. and Helen Francis McKinley. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Dobson-Stone; his sister, Helen Stone Swartz of Casselberry, Fla.; his daughter, Deborah Stone Breininger; his son, Harold Stone, both of the Atlanta, Ga., area; stepson, James Dobson; two stepdaughters, Cathleen Giardina and Carol Zubrin, all of California; five grandchildren. At age 4, Hal began a modeling career in print advertising in New York, which led to becoming a child actor on the Broadway stage at age 7. His first role was "Harlan" in the long-running hit Life with Father, starring the legendary actress Lillian Gish. Following that play, he had a succession of stage roles, along with performances on many of the radio programs of the '40s and '50s. His stage credits included "Tomorrow The Word," with Elissa Landi, "Lady in the Dark," with Gertrude Lawrence, "This Rock" with Billy Burke and Zachary Scott, as well as "Watch on the Rhine," "Peter Pan," "and Star Spangled Family," etc. At 13, he won the role of "Jughead" on NBC's popular Archie Andrews Show and, except for one year overseas in the Air Force during the Korean War, he portrayed that comic character every Saturday for almost 10 years. After his retirement, Hal wrote a book about these early days of his career entitled, "AwŠRelax, Archie! Re-lax!" After discharge from the Air Force in 1952, he attended Hofstra and Columbia universities and graduated with a bachelor's in Speech, Drama, and TV Production, pursuing a career as a director and producer. After working at TV stations in Michigan and Florida, he became the principal staff director at Videotape Productions of New York for seven years. He eventually formed his own company, Centrex Productions, which, for over 10 years, became one of the major producers of TV commercials in the industry. In 1980, at age 50, after 43 years in show biz, Hal retired to Florida and began to pursue his "second love" of painting and sculpting. His passion for history and Western works of art depicted the Indian Wars. This led him to Sedona in 1990 where he later met and married Dorothy Marker Dobson in 1999. Early in 1990 he became interested in organizations throughout the United States that preserve and encourage radio dramas. "SPERDVAC" in Los Angeles, Calif., (Society to Preserve and Encourage Radio Drama, Variety and Comedy), made him an honorary member in 1991. The Friends of Old Time Radio (FOTR) in New York and New Jersey. In recognition of his continuing exemplary efforts in supporting the preservation and enjoyment of radio history, Friends of Old Time Radio (FOTR) presented him with awards in 1992 and 2003. In 2004, he received both the Ezra Stone/ Willard Waterman awards from the Old Time Radio and Nostalgia Convention in Cincinnati. No local services are planned. An online guestbook is available at www.westcottfuneralhome.com. |
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