Phil Spector had a small role on “I Dream of Jeannie.” He guest starred in an episode where Jeannie was trying to become a singer. Phil was a very famous music producer, so it was fitting that he played himself in this episode. During the episode, Jeannie and the cast refer to him as Phil Spector, but in the credits, his role is listed as ‘Steve Davis.” Pretty strange!
After his stint on “I Dream of Jeannie,” he was convicted of murdering an actress in his home. He is currently serving a 19-year prison sentence and will be eligible for parole when he is 88.
William Rorke or Hayden Rorke?
Despite being such a successful show, “I Dream of Jeannie” had a very small cast compared to other shows going on at the time. The only regular characters on the series were Jeannie (of course!), Tony and Roger. The only other character that made multiple appearances throughout the show was the character of Dr. Bellows, played by William Rorke. Dr. Bellows, like Tony, worked at NASA. He played the psychiatrist there.
Not much can be found about William Rorke because he went by a different name! He used his mother’s maiden name, Hayden, as his stage name, becoming Hayden Rorke!
“Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”
You may think that “I Dream of Jeannie” is a clever little play on words. However, that is not entirely the case! “I Dream of Jeannie” is actually part of a lyric from a song written in the 1800s. The song is called, “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair” and it was by Stephen Foster.
While many people said that “I Dream of Jeannie” was just a copy of “Bewitched” They could not be farther from the truth. The show is actually based off pre-existing movies and songs. The line in the song that inspired the show “I Dream of Jeannie” was, “I Dream of Jeanie with the light brown hair.”
Cool As A Cucumber
We mentioned that Barbara Eden was quite the lion whisperer on set when they had the real lion with them. A funny little tidbit that happened during filming the episode was that at some point during the shoot, the lion made a huge roar. This Roar was so scary and so loud that every single person on set ran away.
Everyone was scared. That is, except Barbara. Everyone ran away thinking they were about to get eaten by a lion, but Barbara did not seem affected whatsoever. She just went up to the lion gave him a pet and talked to him softly. She was able to calm him down, and then they started filming again.
The Nelson Home
Believe it or not, the cozy little home used as the Nelson Residence on “I Dream of Jeannie” is still standing today! Unfortunately, it is not used for filming any TV shows or movies. But it remains in use for other purposes on the Warner Brothers Ranch in California.
The iconic home that was used as Jeannie and Tony’s home is now used as the Operations office on the Ranch. While there have been a couple of minor changes to the exterior, the structure, for the most part, has been unchanged for 50 years! Thank goodness, since they ended up burning most of the set and props when they finished filming.