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Ed Wynn (November 9 1886 - June 19 1966) was a popular American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 comedian
Comedian

A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laughter. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy....
 and actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
 noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor.

Born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
, he ran away from home in his teens and eventually adapted his middle name "Edwin" into his new stage name, "Ed Wynn", to save his family the embarrassment of having a low comedian as a relative.

In his youth, Wynn worked as an onstage assistant to W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields

W. C. Fields was an United States comedian, actor and juggler. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century: a misanthrope and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs, children, and women....
.






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Ed Wynn (November 9 1886 - June 19 1966) was a popular American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 comedian
Comedian

A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laughter. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy....
 and actor
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
 noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio
Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals, by modulation of electromagnetic radiation with frequency below those of visible light.Electromagnetic radiation radio propagation by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space....
 show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor.

Born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a U.S. state located in the Northeastern United States and Mid-Atlantic States regions of the United States....
, he ran away from home in his teens and eventually adapted his middle name "Edwin" into his new stage name, "Ed Wynn", to save his family the embarrassment of having a low comedian as a relative.

In his youth, Wynn worked as an onstage assistant to W. C. Fields
W. C. Fields

W. C. Fields was an United States comedian, actor and juggler. Fields created one of the great American comic personas of the first half of the 20th century: a misanthrope and hard-drinking egotist who remained a sympathetic character despite his snarling contempt for dogs, children, and women....
. Fields caught him mugging for the audience during his "Pool Room" routine and knocked him unconscious with his cue. Wynn became a headliner in vaudeville
Vaudeville

Vaudeville was a genre of a variety show prevalent on the theatre in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. It developed from many sources, including the concert saloon, minstrel show, freak shows, dime museums, and literary burlesque....
 in the early-1910s, and was a star of the Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies

The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway theatre in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
 starting in 1914. He was best known as a comedian
Comedian

A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain members of an audience, primarily by making them laughter. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy....
, billed as The Perfect Fool (and starring in a musical revue
Revue

A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre entertainment that combines music, dance and sketch comedy. The revue has its roots in nineteenth-century American popular entertainment and melodrama, but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from ca....
 of that name on Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 in 1921). Wynn also wrote, directed and produced many shows. He was famous for his silly costumes and props, and he always worked "clean," making his shows suitable for the entire family.

Radio

Although many gag writers later provided material for Wynn's performances in radio, television and movies, it was his proud boast that every line he ever spoke during his early career as a stage performer was written by himself.

He hosted a popular radio show, The Fire Chief
Texaco Star Theater

Texaco Star Theater, a comedy-variety show , was one of the first successful examples of United States television broadcasting. Remembered best as the show that made a household name out of comedian Milton Berle, the show's root was radio---first, in a manic late-1930s version starring Ed Wynn; then, the classic 1940-44 version, hosted b...
 for most of the 1930s, heard in North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 on Tuesday nights, sponsored by Texaco
Texaco

Texaco is the name of an United States petroleum retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel,"Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
 gasoline
Gasoline

File:GasCan.jpgGasoline or petrol is a petroleum-derived liquid mixture, primarily used as fuel in internal combustion engines.It consists mostly of aliphatic hydrocarbons, enhanced with iso-octane or the aromatic hydrocarbons toluene and benzene to increase its octane rating....
. Like many former vaudeville performers who turned to radio in the same decade, the stage-trained Wynn insisted on playing for a live studio audience, doing each program as an actual stage show, using visual bits to augment his written material, and in his case, wearing a colorful costume with a red fireman's helmet. He usually bounced his gags off announcer/straight man Graham McNamee
Graham McNamee

Graham McNamee was a pioneering Presenter in United States of America radio, the medium's most recognized national personality in its first commercial decade....
; Wynn's customary opening, "Tonight, Graham, the show's gonna be different," became one of the most familiar tag-lines of its time. Sample joke: "Graham, my uncle just bought a new second-handed car... he calls it Baby! I don't know, it won't go anyplace without a rattle!"

Wynn was a radio superstar who reprised his radio character in two movies, Follow the Leader (1930) and The Chief (1933). Near the height of his radio fame he founded his own short-lived radio network
Radio network

A radio network is a network system which distributes radio programming to multiple radio station simultaneously, or slightly delayed, for the purpose of extending total coverage beyond the limits of a single broadcast signal....
, the Amalgamated Broadcasting System
Amalgamated Broadcasting System

The Amalgamated Broadcasting System was a radio network established on September 25, 1933 by two men: American comedian and radio star Ed Wynn, the "Fire Chief" of the original Texaco Star Theater program on NBC and CBS; and Hungary-born violinist Ota Gygi....
, which lasted only five weeks in 1933 and nearly destroyed the comedian, according to radio historian Elizabeth McLeod, who has written that the failed venture left Wynn deep in debt, divorced, and finally suffering a nervous breakdown.

Wynn was offered the title role in MGM's 1939 screen adaptation of The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 in film Cinema of the United States musical film-fantasy film mainly directed by Victor Fleming and based on the 1900 Children's literature novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L....
, but he turned down the role, as did his Ziegfeld contemporary W. C. Fields. The part finally went to Frank Morgan
Frank Morgan

Frank Morgan was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the title character in the film The Wizard of Oz ....
.

Television

In the late 1940s Ed Wynn hosted one of the first comedy-variety television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
 shows, and won an Emmy Award
Emmy Award

The Emmy Award, also known as the 'Emmy', is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards....
 in 1949. Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton

Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an Academy Award-winning United States comic actor and filmmaker. Best known for his silent films, his trademark was physical comedy with a stoicism, deadpan expression on his face, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face" ....
 made guest appearances with Wynn, establishing him in television as well.

After the end of Wynn's television series, his son, actor Keenan Wynn
Keenan Wynn

Keenan Wynn was an United States character actor and member of a well-known show business family. His bristling mustache and expressive face were his stock in trade as an actor....
, had encouraged him to make the career change rather than retire. The comedian reluctantly began a career as a dramatic actor in television and movies; father and son appeared in two productions: the 1957 Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90

Playhouse 90 is a 90-minute dramatic television anthology series, telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1961 for a total of 133 episodes. Since live anthology drama series of the mid-1950s were hour-long shows, the title highlighted the network's intention to present something unusual, a weekly series of hour-and-a-half dramas rather than 60-minut...
 broadcast of Rod Serling
Rod Serling

Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an United States screenwriter, best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his Science fiction on television Anthology series, The Twilight Zone ....
's play Requiem for a Heavyweight
Requiem for a Heavyweight

Requiem for a Heavyweight was originally a teleplay written by Rod Serling and produced for the live television show Playhouse 90 on 11 October 1956....
. Ed was terrified of straight acting and kept goofing his lines in rehearsal. When the producers wanted to fire him, star Jack Palance
Jack Palance

Jack Palance was an Academy Award-winning United States cinema of the United States actor. With his rugged facial features, Palance was best known to modern movie audiences as both the characters of Curly and Duke in the two City Slickers movies, but his career spanned half a century of film and television appearances....
 said he would quit if they fired Ed. On live broadcast night, Wynn surprised everyone with his pitch-perfect performance, and his quick ad libs to cover his mistakes. Ed and his son also worked together in the Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer

Jos? Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintr?n was a Puerto Rican people Theatre director, Director director and actor. He received one Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Tony Awards, besides multiple nominations....
 film "The Great Man
The Great Man

For the Kate Christensen novel, see The Great Man .The Great Man is a 1956 drama film directed by Jos? Ferrer and based on a novel by Al Morgan....
," Ed again proving his unexpected skills in drama.

Requiem established Wynn as serious dramatic actor who could easily hold his own with the best. His role in The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank (film)

The Diary of Anne Frank is a 1959 in film film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning The Diary of Anne Frank , which was based on the The Diary of a Young Girl of Anne Frank....
 won him an Academy Award
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
 nomination for best supporting actor in 1959.

Also in 1959, Wynn appeared on Serling's TV series The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)

The Twilight Zone is a science fiction anthology series United States television series created by Rod Serling. The original series ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964 and remains television syndication to this day....
 in "One for the Angels
One for the Angels

"One for the Angels" is the second episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone....
". Serling, a longtime admirer, had written that episode especially for him, and Wynn later starred in the episode "Ninety Years Without Slumbering
Ninety Years Without Slumbering

"Ninety Years Without Slumbering" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. The title comes from the lyrics of the song My Grandfather's Clock....
". For the rest of his life, Ed skillfully moved between comic and dramatic roles. He appeared in feature films and anthology television, endearing himself to new generations of fans.

Films

Wynn provided the voice of the Mad Hatter
Mad Hatter

The Hatter is a fictional character initially encountered at a tea party in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and later again as "Hatta" in the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass....
 in Walt Disney
Walt Disney

Walter Elias Disney was a multiple Academy Award-winning American film producer, film director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur and philanthropist....
's film, Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)

Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney and originally premiered in London, England on July 26, 1951 by RKO Pictures....
 and appeared as the Fairy Godfather in Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis

Jerry Lewis is an American comedian, actor, producer, writer, director and singer. He is best-known for his slapstick humor on stage, screen and television, his singing ability in a string of music album recordings and his charity fund-raising telethons for the Muscular Dystrophy Association ....
' Cinderfella
Cinderfella

Cinderfella is a comedy version of the classic Cinderella story, with several of the roles reversed. It was released December 16, 1960 by Paramount Pictures and stars Jerry Lewis as Fella....
. His performance as Paul Beaseley in the 1958 Jose Ferrer
José Ferrer

Jos? Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintr?n was a Puerto Rican people Theatre director, Director director and actor. He received one Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and three Tony Awards, besides multiple nominations....
 film The Great Man
The Great Man

For the Kate Christensen novel, see The Great Man .The Great Man is a 1956 drama film directed by Jos? Ferrer and based on a novel by Al Morgan....
 garnered him nominations for a "Best Supporting Actor" Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Awards are presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in film and television program....
 as well as a "Best Foreign Actor" BAFTA Award. The following year saw him receive his first (and only) nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry....
 for his role as Mr. Dussell in The Diary of Anne Frank
The Diary of Anne Frank (film)

The Diary of Anne Frank is a 1959 in film film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning The Diary of Anne Frank , which was based on the The Diary of a Young Girl of Anne Frank....
 (1959). In That Darn Cat! (1965) he played Mr. Hofstedder, the watch jeweler.

Possibly his best-remembered film appearance, though, was as Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins
Mary Poppins (film)

Mary Poppins is a 1964 in film musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and produced by Walt Disney, based on the Mary Poppins children's literature by P....
 (1964); his segment, involving the mysterious British nanny's eccentric uncle floating around just beneath the ceiling in uncontrollable mirth, singing "I Love to Laugh," was one of the film's highlights. In addition to Disney films, Wynn was a popular character in the Disneyland production The Golden Horseshoe Review. His last movie, released after his death, was The Gnome-Mobile
The Gnome-Mobile

The Gnome-Mobile is a 1967 Walt Disney Pictures musical film, directed by Robert Stevenson .It was based on a 1936 book by Upton Sinclair entitled The Gnomobile. The children, Elizabeth and Rodney, were played by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, familiar from their roles as the Banks children in Mary Poppins ....
 (1967) in which he played the character Rufus. His role as the toymaker in "Babes in Toyland" is a classic featuring all of his charisma and comedic talent.

Ed Wynn died June 19 1966 in Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills, California

Beverly Hills is a city in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, California, United States. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood, California are together entirely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, California....
 of throat cancer
Esophageal cancer

Esophageal cancer is cancer of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma. Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus....
, aged 79. He was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale

Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately-owned cemetery in Glendale, California, Los Angeles County, California, in the United States. It is the original location of Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks & Mortuaries, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California ....
 in Glendale
Glendale, California

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, California, United States. It lies at the eastern end of the San Fernando Valley, is bisected by the Verdugo Mountains, and is a suburb in the Greater Los Angeles Area....
.

The distinctive giggly wavering voice which Wynn created for his "Perfect Fool" character remains much imitated, especially by voice actors of animated cartoon
Animated cartoon

An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the Movie theater, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot . This is distinct from the term "animation" or "animated film", as not all follow the definition....
s. Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. , was an American List of animation studios that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century....
's Wally Gator
Wally Gator

Wally Gator is a Hanna-Barbera cartoon character. It is one of the segments from The Hanna-Barbera New Cartoon Series. The other segments that compose this trilogy are Lippy the Lion & Hardy Har Har and Touch? Turtle and Dum Dum....
's voice is probably the nearest to an exact impersonation of the Perfect Fool.

Quotations

  • "A comedian is not a man who says funny things. A comedian is one who says things funny."
  • "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Heck, I'll take that and more!"


Broadway and films

  • The Deacon and the Lady (1910) - musical - actor/performer
  • Ziegfeld Follies
    Ziegfeld Follies

    The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway theatre in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
     of 1914     (1914) - revue
    Revue

    A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre entertainment that combines music, dance and sketch comedy. The revue has its roots in nineteenth-century American popular entertainment and melodrama, but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from ca....
     - actor/performer
  • Ziegfeld Follies of 1915 (1915) - revue - actor/performer
  • The Passing Show of 1916 (1916) - revue - actor/performer
  • Sometime (1918) - play - actor
  • Ed Wynn's Carnival (1920) - revue - composer, lyricist, book-writer and performer/actor
  • The All-Star Idlers of 1921 (1921) - revue - actor/performer
  • The Perfect Fool (1921) - revue - composer, lyricist, book-writer, director and actor/performer
  • The Grab Bag (1924) - revue - producer, composer, lyricist, book-writer and actor/performer
  • Manhattan Mary (1927) - musical - actor in the role of "Crickets"
  • Simple Simon
    Simple Simon (musical)

    Simple Simon was a Broadway theatre Musical theater with book by Guy Bolton, and Ed Wynn, lyrics by Lorenz Hart, music by Richard Rodgers, produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, and starring Ed Wynn....
     (1930) - musical - co-book-writer and actor
    • Revived in 1931 (was also producer in addition to above roles)
  • The Laugh Parade (1931) - revue
    Revue

    A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre entertainment that combines music, dance and sketch comedy. The revue has its roots in nineteenth-century American popular entertainment and melodrama, but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from ca....
     - producer, co-book-writer, director, originator and star actor/performer
  • Alice Takat (1936) - play - producer
  • Hooray for What!
    Hooray for What!

    Hooray for What! is an anti-war Musical theatre with music by Harold Arlen, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse....
     (1937) - musical - actor in the role of "Chuckles"
  • Morose Thoughts (1941) - revue - producer, book co-author, and actor
  • Boys and Girls Together (1940) - revue - producer, co-book-writer, originator, director and actor/performer
  • Laugh, Town, Laugh! (1942) - revue - producer, book-writer and director
  • Stage Door Canteen
    Stage Door Canteen

    Stage Door Canteen is a musical film produced by Sol Lesser Productions and distributed by United Artists. It was directed by Frank Borzage and features many cameo appearances by celebrities, and the majority of the film is essentially a filmed concert although there is also a storyline to the film....
     (1943) - as himself
  • Alice in Wonderland
    Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)

    Alice in Wonderland is a 1951 animated feature film produced by Walt Disney and originally premiered in London, England on July 26, 1951 by RKO Pictures....
     (1951) - voice actor (as Mad Hatter
    Mad Hatter

    The Hatter is a fictional character initially encountered at a tea party in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and later again as "Hatta" in the story's sequel, Through the Looking-Glass....
    )
  • Marjorie Morningstar
    Marjorie Morningstar (film)

    Marjorie Morningstar is a 1958 in film melodrama film based on the 1955 in literature Marjorie Morningstar . The film, released by Warner Bros....
     (1958) - actor (as uncle Samson)
  • The Diary of Anne Frank
    The Diary of Anne Frank (film)

    The Diary of Anne Frank is a 1959 in film film based on the Pulitzer Prize winning The Diary of Anne Frank , which was based on the The Diary of a Young Girl of Anne Frank....
     (1959) - actor (as Fritz Pfeffer
    Fritz Pfeffer

    Friedrich "Fritz" Pfeffer was a Germans dentist and Jewish refugee who hid with Anne Frank during the Nazism Occupation of the Netherlands, and who perished in the Neuengamme concentration camp in Northern Germany....
    )
  • Babes in Toyland
    Babes in Toyland (1961 film)

    Babes in Toyland is a 1961 in film Christmas musical film in Technicolor, film director by Jack Donohue, produced by Walt Disney, and distributed to theatres by Buena Vista Distribution....
     (1961) - actor (as The Toy Maker)
  • The Absent-Minded Professor
    The Absent-Minded Professor

    The Absent-Minded Professor is a 1961 Walt Disney Pictures film based on the short story A Situation of Gravity, by Samuel W. Taylor. The film was reissued to theaters in 1967 and 1975, and released to video in 1981, 1986, and 1992....
     (1961 film) - actor (as Fire Chief)
  • Son of Flubber
    Son of Flubber

    Son of Flubber is the 1963 in film sequel to the Walt Disney children's movie comedy The Absent Minded Professor , also starring Fred MacMurray as a scientist who has perfected a high-bouncing substance that can levitate an automobile and cause athletes to bounce into the sky....
     (1963 film) - actor (as Dept. of Agriculture agent)
  • Mary Poppins
    Mary Poppins (film)

    Mary Poppins is a 1964 in film musical film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke and produced by Walt Disney, based on the Mary Poppins children's literature by P....
     (1964) - actor (as Uncle Albert)
  • The Gnome-Mobile
    The Gnome-Mobile

    The Gnome-Mobile is a 1967 Walt Disney Pictures musical film, directed by Robert Stevenson .It was based on a 1936 book by Upton Sinclair entitled The Gnomobile. The children, Elizabeth and Rodney, were played by Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber, familiar from their roles as the Banks children in Mary Poppins ....
     (1967) - actor (as Rufus) - posthumous work


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External links

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