My Three Sons (1960 – 1972): Frawley vs. the bottle
In My Three Sons, patriarch and widower Steve Douglas, played by faces the challenges of raising three sons with only the help of his father-in-law Bub, played by former I Love Lucy alum William Frawley. Stanley Livingston, who played son Chip, remembers him affectionately. Frawley seemed to genuinely like the kids, arranging to have surfboards delivered to their dressing rooms and taking them to Dodger games. But there were troubles with alcohol again. While Frawley managed his drinking during I Love Lucy, he needed extra ‘handling’ while filming My Three Sons. Tim Considine and the other kids in the cast were charged with fetching Frawley from a local bar to film his scenes. In addition to the battle with drinking, Frawley’s health was failing. He suffered a stroke. Producers worried he might not last another season. Showrunners wrote Frawley’s character out, replacing him with William Demaret as Uncle Charley.