The Double Life of Henry Phyfe

*The Double Life of Henry Phyfe*
The Double Life of Henry Phyfe
Genre	Sitcom
Created by	Luther Davis
Starring	Red Buttons; Fred Clark; Parley Baer; Zeme North
Theme music composer	Vic Mizzy
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	17
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Production companies	Luther Davis Productions; Filmways Television
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	January 13 –; May 5, 1966

The Double Life of Henry Phyfe is a 17-episode American sitcom broadcast on ABC from January 13 to September 1, 1966, and starring Red Buttons.

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

Red Buttons as Henry Phyfe
Fred Clark as Gerald B. Hannahan
Zeme North as Judy Kimball
Marge Redmond as Mrs. Florence Kimball
Parley Baer as Mr. Hamble

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"Phyfe and a Filly"	Unknown	Unknown	January 13, 1966 (1966-01-13)
2	"Phyfe on a Ferry"	Unknown	Unknown	January 20, 1966 (1966-01-20)
3	"Whatever Happened to Yesterday?"	Leslie H. Martinson	Ben Starr	January 27, 1966 (1966-01-27)
4	"Phyfe and the Models"	Unknown	Unknown	February 3, 1966 (1966-02-03)
5	"The Reluctant Lover"	Unknown	Unknown	February 10, 1966 (1966-02-10)
6	"Phyfe's First Felony"	Unknown	Unknown	February 17, 1966 (1966-02-17)
7	"The Unfriendly Persuasion"	Leslie H. Martinson	Teleplay by: Phil Leslie and William Raynor & Myles Wilder Story by: Charles Marion & Monroe Manning	February 24, 1966 (1966-02-24)
8	"Phyfe and the Code Book"	Unknown	Unknown	March 3, 1966 (1966-03-03)
9	"The Old Flame"	Unknown	Unknown	March 10, 1966 (1966-03-10)
10	"Operation Henry Phyfe"	Unknown	Unknown	March 17, 1966 (1966-03-17)
11	"Visit to Washington"	Unknown	Unknown	March 24, 1966 (1966-03-24)
12	"Phyfe Takes a Wife"	Unknown	Unknown	March 31, 1966 (1966-03-31)
13	"Jail Bird Phyfe"	Howard Morris	Sloan Nibley & Bill Lutz	April 7, 1966 (1966-04-07)
14	"Spend a Million Phyfe"	Unknown	Unknown	April 14, 1966 (1966-04-14)
15	"A Shot in the Dark"	Unknown	Unknown	April 21, 1966 (1966-04-21)
16	"Phyfe Goes Skiing"	Unknown	Unknown	April 28, 1966 (1966-04-28)
17	"Will the Real U-31 Try to Stand Up?"	Unknown	Unknown	May 5, 1966 (1966-05-05)

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.

External links