I'm Dickens, He's Fenster

Background:

In entertainment industry since the 1950s, Marty Ingels has performed as a standup comedian, film actor and television costar and more recently, has embarked as an agent. After making his film debut in 1961's “Armored Command,” he hit the big time as Arch Fenster in the comedy series “I'm Dickens, He's Fenster” (1962-1963), opposite John Astin. He went on to earn reputation as voice actor thanks largely for his work in “The New Tom & Jerry Show” (1975) and “The Great Grape Ape Show” (1977), as well as “Pac-Man” (1982). He voiced Beegle Beagle in the first two series and the title role in the latter. In a more recent time, TV audiences recognized Ingels as Mr. Gallagher in a 2006 episode of “ER.” As for his film projects, he will play Xander in “Wednesday Again” (2008) and Mr. Boudreau in “Parasomnia” (2009).

Ingels has been married to Academy Award-winning actress Shirley Jones since 1977.

Shirley Jones' Spouse

Childhood and Family:

Martin Ingerman, who would later be popular as Marty Ingels, was born on March 9, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York. He had a troubled upbringing and after completing school, he entered the army. The winner of several game shows, Marty later headed to California to try his hand in acting.

On November 13, 1977, Marty married singer-actress Shirley Jones (born March 31, 1934). Subsequently, he became the stepfather of Shaun, Ryan and Patrick, Shirley's sons from previous marriage to actor Jack Cassidy. After more two decades together, in 1999, Marty and Shirley became estranged, but they reconciled after six months. Currently, they reside in Encino, California, with their three dogs.

Pac-Man

Career:

Marty Ingels broke the small screen in the late 1950s when he was hired as a comedian in the Emmy-winning variety series “The Steve Allen Show.” His first real acting job came when he landed a two-episode role in the NBC short-lived series “Dan Raven” (1960) and in 1961, he debuted on the big screen with “Armored Command,” a drama/war starring Howard Keel. Ingels further improved his career by taking a recurring role as Sol Pomeroy in “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1961-1962) and a starring role opposite John Astin in the sitcom “I'm Dickens, He's Fenster” (1962-1963). The latter show made the actor famous.

Ingels made his next movie outing with “The Horizontal Lieutenant” (1962), based on a novel by Gordon Cotler, and joined Tony Curtis and Christine Kaufmann two years later for the comedy “Wild and Wonderful.” After guest starring in “The Addams Family” and “Bewitched” (both 1966), he supported Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan and Anne Baxter in the comedy “The Busy Body” (1967) and appeared with Walter Matthau and Inger Stevens in director Gene Kelly's “A Guide for the Married Man” (1967). It was also in that same year that Ingels returned to series TV as a regular in “The Pruitts of Southampton,” in which he portrayed Norman Krump. The sitcom lasted one season of 30 episodes.

The Brooklyn native spent the rest of the decade appearing in the movies “Silent Treatment” (1968), “For Singles Only” (1968, starred John Saxon and Mary Ann Mobley), Mel Stuart's “If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” (1969, with Suzanne Pleshette and Ian McShane) and “The Picasso Summer” (1969). He also portrayed a gangster in the TV film adaptation of Bella-Sam Spewack's play, “Kiss Me Kate” (1968), and had his early voice-over work in the cartoon series “Cattanooga Cats” and the spin-off “Motormouse and Autocat” (both 1969). He voiced the character Autocat.

During the 1970s, Ingels spent much of his working time on television. He appeared in episodes of “The Rookies” (1973), “Adam-12” (1973-1974), “The Ghost Busters” (1975), “Police Story” (1975-1976), “CHiPs” (1977), “The Love Boat” (1978) and “Family” (1979) as well as voiced Beegle Beagle in “The New Tom & Jerry Show” (1975) and “ The Great Grape Ape Show” (1977). He maintained his presence on films with roles in 1974's “How to Seduce a Woman” and 1975's “Linda Lovelace for President.”

Ingels had the title character of Pac-Man in the animation/family series of the same name in 1982. He reprised the voice role in the made-for-TV film “Christmas Comes to PacLand” later that same year. After the projects, he departed acting for many years and did not make his return until 1990 with a small part as Jon Clark in the drama/romance film “Instant Karma.” He followed it up with a string of guest roles in such series as “ Murder, She Wrote,” “Burke's Law,” “Baywatch” and “Walker, Texas Ranger.” His next film credits were “Round Numbers” (1992), “The Opposite Sex and How to Live with Them” (1993) and “Kartenspieler (1999). Ingels' voice could be heard in an episode of “Darkwing Duck” (1995), the video-game “Zork: Grand Inquisitor” (1997, as Griff) and the direct-to-video “The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Story (1998, as Hathi the Elephant).

In the new millennium, Ingels made fewer performances than the last ten years. He played Richard Chainey in the action/drama “Down the Barrel” (2003), which went straight to video, played Butler in the animation series “Z-Squad” (2006) and guested as Mr. Gallagher in an episode of “ER” (2006). In the meantime, Ingels focused more on his new career as an agent, which specialized in representing actors in celebrity endorsement ads. He has successfully helped Orson Welles become a spokesperson for Paul Masson wines.

Recently, Ingels has completed filming “Wednesday Again,” a 2008 drama directed and penned by John Lavachielli. He stars in the movie along side Richmond Arquette, Michael Berry Jr., Debi Bradshaw, Carmine Caridi and others. Ingels will be cast as Mr. boudreau in William Malone's horror/thriller “Parasomnia” (2009). Among his costars in the film are Cherilyn Wilson, John Landis, Sean Young, Timothy Bottoms, Dylan Purcell and Patrick Kilpatrick.

Awards:
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