Rusty Hamer

Rusty Hamer
Hamer and Sherry Jackson in Make Room for Daddy in 1955
Born	Russell Craig Hamer (1947-02-15)February 15, 1947 Tenafly, New Jersey, U.S.
Died	January 18, 1990(1990-01-18) (aged 42) DeRidder, Louisiana, U.S.
Cause of death	Self-inflicted gunshot wound
Education	Palisades Charter High School
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1953–1971

Russell Craig "Rusty" Hamer (February 15, 1947 – January 18, 1990) was an American stage, film and television actor. He is best known for portraying Rusty Williams, the wise cracking son of entertainer Danny Williams (Danny Thomas), on the popular ABC/CBS situation comedy Make Room for Daddy (later retitled The Danny Thomas Show), from 1953 to 1964. He reprised the role in three reunion specials and the sequel series, Make Room for Granddaddy, that aired on ABC from 1970 to 1971.

Born in Tenafly, New Jersey, Hamer was the youngest of three sons of Arthur Walter John, Sr., a men's shirt salesman and Dorothy Hamer (née Chretin), a former silent film actress. He had two elder brothers, John and Walter. As a child, Hamer was nicknamed "Rusty" because of his red hair and freckles. Due to his parents' involvement in community theatre productions, Hamer and his brothers also began performing in stage productions. As a toddler, Hamer memorized and recited stories and performed skits for service club luncheons, women's clubs and church groups. In 1951, the Hamers moved to Los Angeles where Arthur Hamer worked as representative for a manufacturer of men's sport shirts (Arthur Hamer died eight months after his son was cast in The Danny Thomas Show). Shortly after arriving, Hamer's elder brother John was discovered by an agent while performing in a local stage production in which Hamer was also performing. The agent signed both boys to a film contract. The following year, Hamer won his first acting role in the 3-D Western Fort Ti, starring George Montgomery and Joan Vohs.

In 1953, entertainer Danny Thomas' secretary saw Hamer in a stage production and was impressed by the child's talent and charm. She suggested that Thomas audition Hamer for a role in his upcoming sitcom Make Room for Daddy. Thomas was also impressed by the 6-year old and cast Hamer as his precocious and quick-witted son, Rusty Williams. Thomas later said of Hamer, "He was the best boy actor I ever saw in my life. He had a great memory...great timing and you could change a line on him at the last minute and he came right back with it."Make Room for Daddy debuted on ABC on September 29, 1953 and, while critically acclaimed, garnered poor ratings. After three seasons, the series moved to CBS where it was re-tooled and retitled The Danny Thomas Show. The retooled version quickly became a hit with audiences and was a Top 20 hit for its remaining seven seasons. During the run of The Danny Thomas Show, Hamer attempted to launch a singing career. He first performed a song in a 1956 episode of Danny Thomas entitled "The Talented Kid". In 1959, Hamer released his only single, a "rockaballad" called "Two-of-a-Kind" (with the b side "If Only Mother Would Let Me") written by Wally Gold and Aaron Schroeder, through Mercury Records. The single was a commercial failure and Hamer never released another single.