Buddy Lester was a veteran actor of dozens of character roles of film and television, who regularly appeared in
Jerry LewisJerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, singer, film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is best known for his slapstick humor in film, television, stage and radio. He was originally paired up with Dean Martin in 1946, forming the famed comedy team of Martin and Lewis...
features, including The Patsy,
The Ladies ManThe Ladies Man is a 1961 American comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was released on June 28, 1961 by Paramount.-Plot:...
,
The Nutty ProfessorThe Nutty Professor is a 1963 Paramount Pictures science fiction comedy feature film produced, directed, co-written and starring Jerry Lewis...
,
Three on a CouchThree on a Couch is a comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis.Filmed from September 13-December 1, 1965, it was released on July 7, 1966 by Columbia Pictures. Co-starring are Janet Leigh, James Best, Mary Ann Mobley and Kathleen Freeman....
,
SmorgasbordSmörgåsbord is a type of Scandinavian meal served buffet-style with multiple dishes of various foods on a table, originating in Sweden. In Norway it is called koldtbord, in Denmark it is called det kolde bord, in Finland seisova pöytä and in Estonia rootsi laud...
,
Hardly WorkingHardly Working is a comedy film directed by and starring Jerry Lewis. It was filmed in 1979, and was released in Europe in 1980 and in the United States on April 3, 1981 through 20th Century Fox.-Plot:...
" and
The Big MouthThe Big Mouth is a 1967 comedy film produced, directed, co-written by and starring Jerry Lewis released on July 12, 1967 by Columbia Pictures. It was filmed in San Diego and features Frank De Vol as an onscreen narrator.-Plot:...
.
Lester also portrayed Vince Massler, one of the original gang, in the 1960 film
Ocean's 11Ocean's 11 is a 1960 heist film directed by Lewis Milestone and starring five Rat Packers: Peter Lawford, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop....
, with Frank Sinatra. Lester also portrayed 'Sidney' the bookie on the television series
Barney MillerBarney Miller is a situation comedy television series set in a New York City police station in Greenwich Village. The series originally was broadcast from January 23, 1975 to May 20, 1982 on ABC. It was created by Danny Arnold and Theodore J. Flicker...
and Davey Kane in the
Peter SellersRichard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
comedy
The PartyThe Party is a 1968 comedy film directed by Blake Edwards, starring Peter Sellers and Claudine Longet. The film has a very loose structure, and essentially serves as a series of set pieces for Sellers's improvisational comedy talents...
.
Lester played Peter Evans, a crooked gambler, on Gomer Pyle, USMC in the third season of the show.
In the 1963-1964 television season, he played the role of Nick in
Phil SilversPhil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedy actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah." He is best known for starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S...
's
The New Phil Silvers ShowThe New Phil Silvers Show is an American situation comedy starring comedian Phil Silvers which aired thirty episodes on CBS from September 28, 1963, to April 25, 1964, under the sponsorship of General Foods.-Synopsis:...
, a sitcom set in a factory of a large
corporationA corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
, with co-stars
Stafford ReppStafford Alois Repp was an American actor best known for his role as Chief O'Hara on the Batman television series.-Early life:...
,
Herbie FayeHerbie Faye was an American actor who appeared in both of Phil Silvers's CBS television series, The Phil Silvers Show and The New Phil Silvers Show ....
,
Elena VerdugoElena Verdugo is an American actress who began in films at the age of six in Cavalier of the West . Her career in radio, television, and film spanned six decades....
,
Ronnie DapoRonnie Dapo is an American former child actor who appeared in supporting roles in such television series as ABC's Room for One More and CBS's The New Phil Silvers Show .-Acting career:...
and
Sandy DescherSandra "Sandy" Descher is an American former child actress of the 1950s.-Biography:Although born in Burbank, California, she was discovered by accident while on vacation. When Descher was about five years old, her family had travelled across country to New York City where the girl fell in love...
.
He was the younger brother of comic Jerry Lester, who died seven years earlier at the age of eighty-five in
MiamiMiami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
,
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and was interred at Lake Charles Cemetery in
Bel-NorBel-Nor is a northern suburban village in St. Louis County, Missouri, United States. The population was 1,499 as of the 2010 census. The events that were the basis for the 1971 novel and 1973 movie The Exorcist have a connection to the village of Bel-Nor....
,
MissouriMissouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...
.
Buddy also died at eighty-five, of cancer, in
Los AngelesLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
,
CaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
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