Jock’s Mother

His name was Jock Ellis, and we met in our high school band. 

Jock was a wonderful trombone player, but one of his best features was his mother, Georgia Ellis. She was an actress, most famously Miss Kitty on the radio version of Gunsmoke, though by the time we met, her acting days were over. 

Frequently after school, Jock and I would head to his house to hear classical records, of which he had hundreds. First, though, we sought out Georgia sitting at the dining table, where she would launch into endless stories and jokes. 

Her voice, like the TV Miss Kitty’s, was low and sultry, and she would deliver her lines in that destinctive tone. Jock didn’t inherit his mom’s looks, but he did get the voice, which later, along with his trombone career, allowed him to become a talented voice-over artist. 

When Jock and I arrived, Georgia would sit and reminisce about her show biz career, when, among other things, she loved playing pranks. One of her favorites was sneaking up behind another actor, who happened to wear stretch pants, and yank them down while he delivered his lines. To the actor’s credit, he continued his lines without a break.

Georgia often brought Jock to recording sessions, though at the time he wasn’t even a teenager. He would sit quietly off to the side, and occasionally he would be invited to deliver a line or two. 

When Georgia left show biz, she loved telling stories but seemed to prefer a quiet life. She married Karl, an airplane mechanic, whom Jock and I would often pass on our way into the house as he worked on a car. 

We would chat with Karl, stop and listen to Georgia’s stories, and finally make our way to Jock’s room, where I got the real treat, my choice of classical records to hear and enjoy. 

A perfect afternoon.