Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante ( born February 10, 1893 in New York City, New York, † 29 January 1980 in Santa Monica, California ) was an American comedian, radio host, actor, bandleader, pianist and singer.
Life
Durante came from the milieu of the working class in the Lower East Side ( " Bowery " ) of New York City and was the youngest of four children of an immigrant from Italy Barber. He left school early to occur from about 1911 as ragtime pianist ( Ragtime Jimmy ) (eg, Coney Iceland College and the Alamo Club in Harlem ). The arrival of the Original Dixieland Jass band in 1917 impressed him so much that he put together a similar jazz band for his performances, Durante's Jazz and Novelty band in 1918 under the direction of Frank Christian as Original New Orleans Jazz Band, and in 1920, after he assumed responsibility had, as Jimmy Durante's Jazz Band recordings ..
In his performances, he had already begun his typical comic note in which he interrupted mid-game to tell jokes and to respond to " provocations " from the audience. Its characteristics as a comedian were an exuberant appearance, word distortions and misrepresentations and frequent jokes about his large nose, earning him the nickname " Schnozzola " earned ( with Schnozzola his nose was meant ). Mid-1920s, he was with the trio Clayton, Jackson and Durante ( with his close friends Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson the dancer ) for vaudeville and radio star. With them he was in Harlem during the alcohol prohibition also co-owner of a speakeasy ( " Club Durant ").
In 1928 she made it with performances at New York Palace finally "uptown ". In the 1930s, he appeared successfully on Broadway (1929 in the Ziegfeld show showgirl and particularly successful in 1935 in Billy Rose 's musical Jumbo, also filmed in 1962 ) and began his film career (1929 with Roadhouse Nights ) with a five-year contract from MGM. Less successful was he with the very different aligned Buster Keaton as a partner with MGM, and was then in supporting roles in films such as The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942, directed by William Keighley ) and It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963, directed by Stanley Kramer ) to see.
From 1933 he got his own radio show. His hit Inka Dinka Doo of 1934 was for the rest of his career to his personal signature tune. He was particularly effective in the 1940s, with whom he recorded some 78s for Majestic in a duo with the younger Eddie Jackson; During this time he performed with Frank Sinatra for the sender of the U.S. Army. In 1950, he was on TV, for example, as a frequent guest in Tallulah Bank Heads The Big Show, often seen in a duo with comedian Danny Thomas. Durante stepped up to the 1970s on, for example, in Las Vegas, but withdrew after several strokes off the stage.
Durante was married from 1921 to 1943 with Little Margie, then from 1960 until his death with Jeanne Olsen. In his radio shows he left mostly with " Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are " ( Goodnight Mrs. Calabash wherever you are ), another of his identification. He probably played it on his first wife, with whom he lived until her death in Calabasas, California (according to another opinion it was an operation that in 1940 he met on the journey through the small town of Calabash in South Carolina).
Durante is also the narrator in the very popular Christmas cartoon for children from 1969 Frosty the Snowman.