Mel Sharples

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Mel Sharples is a fictional character in the movie Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and the subsequent television show remake, Alice. The character was played by the late Vic Tayback, who reprised his movie role for the television show.

[edit] The man with the Spatula

Melvin Emory Sharples was born and bred in Brooklyn. After a stint in the Navy, where he served primarily as a cook, he opened a diner on 1130 Bush Highway in Phoenix, Arizona, and called it Mel's Diner.

The diner was best known for its 14 oz. cup of coffee, as its sign showed, and "Mel's Famous Chili". Although the diner established a loyal clientele, most notably Henry Beesmeyer, the running joke was that his food was awful.

Mel's frequent and numerous rivals in the restaurant business included Barney's Burger Barn and Benny's Beanery.

Mel has always had three waitresses working at the diner. His longest-employed waitress was Florence Jean Castleberry, better known as Flo; Vera Louise Gorman-Novak, a shy, nervous woman from New England; and New Jersey born Alice Hyatt.

After Flo moved to Houston, Belle Dupree, a waitress he knew from when he first worked in restaurants, came to help out. Mel favored Belle for a couple episodes, but the favoritism was short lived; After Belle left for Nashville to embark on a music career, a former trucker from South Carolina, Jolene Hunnicutt came to work at the diner.

Though he was tough on his waitresses and did not pay them well, he loved them dearly, considering them part of his family.

Mel took on a fatherly role to Alice's son, Tommy, since he had lost his real father in a truck accident, which necessitated Alice's move from New Jersey to Phoenix. When Tommy became popular with the ladies, Mel was quite proud, but this really distressed Alice, as she didn't want Tommy to become like her chauvinistic boss.

He even trained Tommy to become a fry cook like he was. This initially met with resistance from Alice, but she eventually relented when Tommy showed a genuine talent.

Mel could be very harsh and tough to deal with, especially with his long-suffering, on-again, off-again girlfriend, Marie Massey, whom he called "Puppy Toes." She even worked at Mel's as a temporary waitress in the episode that Belle came to the diner.

Mel had a strict rule in the diner that no checks were to be cashed there (obviously because of a lack of money) and he hated it when anyone moonlighted. Though he had fired his waitresses on more than one occasion, and sometimes for very petty reasons, he realized that he couldn't run his business without them, and he needed them more than they needed him.

Sometimes, Mel's greed caused physical damage to the diner itself. For example, he hated the idea of Flo driving a semi, so she drove it right through the front of the diner in retaliation.

Mel's mother, Carrie, was a recurring supporting character. Whenever she took over the cooking from her son, business skyrocketed. However, Mel would often cut down his mother's efforts, and on one occasion, drove her to the competition.

Mel called Vera "Dingy"; Jolene "Blondie"; and would often tell everyone else to "stow it!" or later on, in the case of Jolene and Belle, "Bag it!" His greatest adversary, however, was Flo.

Flo usually gave to Mel as good as she got, flooring him with phrases like "Kiss My grits!" (Flo's trademark line) or "When donkeys fly!"

Mel rarely ever got mad at Alice, since she was often the voice of reason, and she would often smooth over the waters whenever Mel would muck things up. He did get angry with her on occasion, but he would always take her back, since he really was fond of her. It was Alice, disguised as a mobster named "Sam Butler", who often came to Mel's rescue.

In 1985, however, Mel's Diner closed, and despite his cheapness over the years, he gave his beloved waitresses a $5,000 farewell bonus, along with the famous cow creamers on the tables.

Alice went to Nashville to embark on her own singing career, Jolene opened a beauty shop, and Vera and her husband Elliot settled down to normal married life.

In the final episode, Mel closed up the diner one last time, and went on to greener pastures. Presumably, he was still in Phoenix.