Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker, August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American comedian and actor.^[1]

Early life[link]

Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York, New York, the son of a Jewish upholsterer. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103 (now a yeshiva).^[2] Living next door was a yet-to-be-famous aspiring baseball player named Sandy Koufax.^[3] He graduated from New Utrecht High School in 1942.^[2][2] While still a student, he began performing in nightclubs in the Catskills Borscht Belt resorts. He appeared first at the Golden Hotel in Hurleyville, New York, and he claimed he did not get one single laugh.^[2]

Hackett enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and served in an anti-aircraft battery.

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Hackett's first job after the war was at the Pink Elephant, a Brooklyn club. It was here that he changed his name from Leonard Hacker to Buddy Hackett.^[4] He made appearances in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, and continued to perform in the Catskills. He acted on Broadway, in Lunatics and Lovers, where Max Liebman saw him and put him in two television specials.

In the late 1940s, Hackett's friend, Jules White, asked him if he would like to replace Curly Howard in The Three Stooges, due to Curly's stroke. According to the The Love Bug audio commentary, Hackett turned down the role.

Hackett's movie career began in 1950 with a 10-minute "World of Sports" reel for Columbia Pictures called King of the Pins. The film demonstrated championship bowling techniques, with expert Joe Wilman demonstrating the right way and Hackett (in pantomime) exemplifying the wrong way. Hackett would not return to movies until 1953, after one of his nightclub routines attracted attention. With a rubber band around his head to slant his eyes, Hackett's "The Chinese Waiter" lampooned the heavy dialect, frustration, and communication problems encountered by a busy waiter in a Chinese restaurant: "No, we no have sprit-pea soup ... We gotta wonton, we got eh-roll ... No orda for her, juss orda for you!" The routine was such a hit that Hackett made a recording of it, and was hired to reprise it in the 1953 Technicolor musical Walking My Baby Back Home, produced by Universal-International.

Hackett was an emergency replacement for Lou Costello in 1954. Abbott and Costello were set to make a feature-length comedy Fireman, Save My Child, with a guest appearance by Spike Jones and His City Slickers. Several scenes had been shot with stunt doubles when Lou Costello was forced to withdraw due to illness. Universal-International salvaged the project by hiring Hugh O'Brian and Hackett to take over the Abbott and Costello roles; Jones and his band became the main attraction.

Hackett became known to a wider audience when he appeared on television in the 1950s and 1960s as a frequent guest on such talk shows as those of Jack Paar and Arthur Godfrey, telling brash, often off-color jokes, and mugging at the camera. Hackett was also a guest on Jack Paar's last Tonight show in 1962. He was on the Johnny Carson show as a frequent guest. According to Trivial Pursuit, Hackett has the most appearances of any guest in the history of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. A collection of these appearances are available on YouTube. During this time, he also appeared as a panelist on What's My Line?.

[edit] Stanley

Hackett starred as the title character in Stanley, a situation comedy that also featured Carol Burnett and the voice of Paul Lynde. Produced by Max Liebman, the series aired live on NBC before a studio audience and was one of the last live sitcoms. Stanley revolved around the adventures of the namesake character (Hackett) as the operator of a newsstand in a posh New York City hotel.

In 1960, he appeared as himself in an episode of NBC's short-lived crime drama Dan Raven, starring Skip Homeier, set on the Sunset Strip of West Hollywood. Hackett also appeared many times on the game show Hollywood Squares, in the late 1960s. In one particularly notable episode, Hackett suggested Israel as the country with the highest ratio of doctors to populace, or in his words, "the country with the most Jews". Despite the audience roaring with laughter (and Hackett's own belief that the actual answer was Sweden), the answer turned out to be correct.

After starring on Broadway in I Had a Ball, Hackett appeared opposite Robert Preston in the 1962 film adaptation of The Music Man. Hackett became widely known from his role in the 1963 box-office success It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Children became familiar with him as lovable hippie auto mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz in Disney's The Love Bug (1968). He appeared as Art Carney's replacement on The Jackie Gleason Show, and in the 1958 film God's Little Acre. His later career was mostly as a guest on variety shows and prime time sitcoms, such as Boy Meets World in its 4th season.

Later career[link]

In 1978, Hackett surprised many with his dramatic performance as Lou Costello in the television movie Bud and Lou opposite Harvey Korman as Bud Abbott. The film told the story of Abbott and Costello, and Hackett's portrayal was widely praised. He and Korman did a memorable rendition of the team's famous "Who's on First?" routine.

In 1979, Buddy was the voice of the groundhog "Pardon Me Pete", and the narrator of the Rankin/Bass Christmas special Jack Frost.

Hackett starred in the 1980 film Hey Babe! with a 13-year-old Yasmine Bleeth, in her first screen appearance. That same year, he hosted a syndicated revival of the quiz show You Bet Your Life which lasted for one year

Throughout the 1970s Hackett appeared regularly doing TV ads for Tuscan Dairy popsicles and yogurt. But his most famous television campaign was for Lay's potato chips ("Nobody can eat just one!") which ran for 3 years, 1968-1971.

Hackett guest-starred in the Space Rangers episode, "To Be Or Not To Be", as has-been comedian Lenny Hacker, a parody of his stage persona. The character's name was Hackett's own real name.

In 1983, he was the subject of an HBO special, "Buddy Hackett Live and Uncensored" that revived interest in his stage routine. In it, he provides a classic Catskills era comedy routine while interacting with and jokingly harassing various audience members with an irreverent and decidedly NSFW comedy routine.

A notable film performance was voicing Scuttle, the goofy little seagull, in Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989) and the direct-to-video sequel The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea in 2000. Hackett also appeared in the short term comedy series Action which starred Jay Mohr as movie producer Peter Dragon. He played Dragon's uncle Lonnie. He appeared again with Mohr as a judge in the reality show Last Comic Standing.

Buddy Hackett originally recorded the voice for Stanley the Troll in A Troll in Central Park, but was then replaced by Dom DeLuise.

He also played a cameo in an episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch in 1998, "My Nightmare, the Car".

Hackett's final film role was in the 1998 film Paulie, in which he played Artie, a pawnbroker. The film reunited Hackett with Jay Mohr once again.

For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Hackett was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In April 1998, Hackett guest starred in an episode of LateLine called "Buddy Hackett." The episode focuses on a news broadcast paying tribute to Hackett following his death, only to discover that the report of his death was a mistake. Robert Reich and Dick Gephardt also appeared in the episode, paying tribute to Hackett.^[5]

Personal life[link]

On June 12, 1955, Buddy Hackett married Sherry Cohen. Buddy did Buh Lee Ump. Before moving to Fort Lee in the late 1950s, they lived in a house previously owned by crime boss Albert Anastasia.^[6]

In his later years, Hackett and his wife established the Singita Animal Sanctuary in California's San Fernando Valley.^[4]

Death[link]

Hackett died on June 30, 2003, at his beach house in Malibu, California, at the age of 78.^[1] His son, Sandy Hackett, said his father had been suffering from diabetes for several years which was aggravated by his obesity.

Discography[link]

• How You Do (Coral CRL 757422)
• The Original Chinese Waiter (Dot 3351, reissued as Pickwick SPC 3198)

Filmography[link]

Features[link]

• Walking My Baby Back Home (1953)
• Fireman Save My Child (1954)
• God's Little Acre (1958)
• All Hands on Deck (1961)
• Everything's Ducky (1961)
• The Music Man (1962)
• The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
• It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)
• Muscle Beach Party (1964)
• The Golden Head (1964)
• The Love Bug (1968)
• The Good Guys and the Bad Guys (1969)
• Bud and Lou (1978) (TV Movie)
• Hey Babe! (1980)
• Loose Shoes (1980)
• Scrooged (1988)
• The Little Mermaid (1989) Scuttle
• Paulie (1998)
• The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea (2000) (direct-to-video) Scuttle
• Action (1999)

Short subjects[link]

• King of the Pins (1950) (pantomime)
• The Shoes (1961)
• Jack Frost (1979) (animation short; voice of Pardon Me Pete)
• Mouse Soup (1992) (voice)

See also[link]

Biography portal

References[link]

External links[link]

• Disney Legends profile
• The final days: Buddy Hackett's last interview
• "Buddy Hackett". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=7641596. Retrieved 2009-03-11. 
• Buddy Hackett at the Internet Movie Database
• Buddy Hackett at the Internet Broadway Database

Johnny Carson
Carson in January 1966
Birth name	John William Carson
Born	(1925-10-23)October 23, 1925 Corning, Iowa
Died	January 23, 2005(2005-01-23) (aged 79) Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Years active	1950-1994
Genres	Satire, sketch comedy, improvisational comedy
Subject(s)	current events, American politics, American culture, pop culture
Influences	[list membership disputed] Groucho Marx, Jack Benny, Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Laurel and Hardy, Red Skelton, George Burns, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, Charlie Chaplin, Don Rickles, Michael Gough, Bob Newhart[1]
Influenced	[list membership disputed] Ray Combs, Ellen DeGeneres, Kathy Griffin, Bill Hicks, Jay Leno, David Letterman,[2] George Lopez, Bill Maher, Conan O'Brien, Jerry Seinfeld, Garry Shandling
Spouse	Jody Morrill Wolcott (m. 1949-1963; divorced) Joanne Copeland (m. 1963-1972; divorced) Joanna Holland (m. 1972-1985; divorced) Alexis Maas (m. 1987-2005, his death)
Notable works and roles	Host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Signature
Emmy Awards
Special Classification of Outstanding Program and Individual Achievement 1976 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1977 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1978 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1979 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Governor's Award 1980 Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Program (Series) 1992 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
Peabody Awards
Personal Award 1985
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Male Performer in a TV Series (Leading Role) Network, Cable or Syndication 1987 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Lifetime Achievement Award 1992 Lifetime Achievement

John William "Johnny" Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005) was an American television host and comedian, known for thirty years as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962–1992). Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Governor Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award. He was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987. Johnny Carson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 1993.^[3]

Although his show was already successful by the end of the 1960s, during the 1970s Carson became an American icon and remained so until his retirement in 1992. He adopted a casual, conversational approach with extensive interaction with guests, an approach pioneered by Arthur Godfrey and previous Tonight Show hosts Steve Allen and Jack Paar. Late night hosts David Letterman, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Fallon have all cited ^[4][5] Carson's influence on their late-night talk shows, which resemble his in format and tone.

Early life and career[link]

Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, in the year 1925, to Homer Lloyd "Kit" Carson, a power company manager, and Ruth Hook Carson, who was of Irish descent.^[6] He grew up in the nearby towns of Avoca, Clarinda, and Red Oak in southwest Iowa before moving to Norfolk, Nebraska, at the age of eight. At the age of twelve, Carson found a book on magic at a friend's house and immediately purchased a mail-order magician's kit. He debuted as "The Great Carsoni" at fourteen and was paid $3; many other performances at local picnics and country fairs followed.^[6]

Navy portrait of Carson

Carson joined the U.S. Navy on June 8, 1943, received V-12 officer training at Columbia University^[7] and Millsaps College,^[8] and continued to perform magic. Commissioned an ensign late in the war, Carson was assigned to the USS Pennsylvania in the Pacific. While in the Navy, Carson posted a 10-0 amateur boxing record, with most of his bouts fought on board the USS Pennsylvania.^[9] He was en route to the combat zone aboard a troopship when the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war. Carson served as a communications officer in charge of decoding encrypted messages and said that the high point of his military career was performing a magic trick for United States Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal.

Carson then attended the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where he joined Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, continued performing magic (now paid $25 per appearance^[6]), wrote a thesis on the structure of Jack Benny's comedy routines,^[10] and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in radio and speech with a minor in physics in 1949.

He began his broadcasting career in 1950 at WOW radio and television in Omaha, Nebraska.^[11] Carson soon hosted a morning television program called The Squirrel's Nest. One of his routines involved interviewing pigeons on the roof of the local courthouse that would allegedly report on the political corruption they had seen. Carson supplemented his income by serving as master of ceremonies at local church dinners, attended by some of the same politicians and civic leaders that he had lampooned on the radio.

Carson as a guest on Jack Benny's television program, 1955.

Carson in 1957.

In 1951 Carson visited California and unsuccessfully sought work. The wife of one of the political figures he spoofed owned stock in a radio station in Los Angeles and referred Carson to her brother, who was influential in the emerging television market in southern California, and later that year Carson went to work at CBS-owned Los Angeles television station KNXT.^[6] He would later joke that he owed his success to the birds of Omaha. In 1953 comic Red Skelton — a fan of Carson's "cult success" low-budget sketch comedy show, Carson's Cellar (1951 to 1953) on KNXT — asked Carson to join his show as a writer. In 1954 Skelton during rehearsal accidentally knocked himself unconscious an hour before his live show began, and Carson successfully filled in for him.^[6] In 1955, Jack Benny invited Carson to appear on one of his programs during the opening and closing segments. Carson imitated Benny and claimed that Benny had copied his gestures. Benny, however, predicted that Carson would have a successful career as a comedian.^[12]

Carson hosted several shows besides Carson's Cellar, including the game show Earn Your Vacation (1954) and the variety show The Johnny Carson Show (1955–1956).^[6][13] He was a regular panelist on the original To Tell the Truth until 1962. After the prime time The Johnny Carson Show failed, he moved to New York City to host Who Do You Trust? (1957–1962), formerly known as Do You Trust Your Wife?. In 1958 he appeared as a guest star in an episode entitled "Do You Trust Your Wife" on NBC's short-lived variety show, The Polly Bergen Show. It was on Who Do You Trust? that Carson met his future sidekick, Ed McMahon. Although he believed moving to daytime would hurt his career, Who Do You Trust? was a success. It was the first show where he could ad lib and interview guests,^[10] and because of Carson's on-camera wit, the show became "the hottest item on daytime television" during his five years there.^[6]