My Three Sons Celebrates 50 and Ernie Gets a Big Role

Here’s something you probably haven’t heard anybody say in a long, long time—it’s a big week for Barry Livingston. Yes, that Barry Livingston, the one who played the adopted brother Ernie on My Three Sons. Today marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere of the series that made him a household name and he’s got a big movie coming out this weekend.

Now, you might be asking yourself, “Which one was Ernie?”

He was the nerdy one. He wasn’t the dreamy older brother Robbie (that was Don Grady) and he wasn’t the kind of everyman-ish brother Chip (played by his real-life sib Stanley Livingston). But being one of TV’s most famous geeks doesn’t seem to have slowed him down a bit.

Since My Three Sons ended, all the TV brothers have gone on to do some interesting things. Don wrote the theme song to The Phil Donahue Show. Stanley has gone on to write and produce projects like 2005’s Checkers. But it’s the underdog Barry that’s acted consistently and that has what’s sure to be THE big movie of the fall coming out this weekend—The Social Network.

We’re not saying he’s got a Timberlake sized role—he’s billed as Mr. Cox. But Robbie and Chip don’t have parts at all, now do they?

So we salute the little brother that could. Congrats, Ernie.