Ed Wynn
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- November 9, 1886
- Died
- June 19, 1966 (aged 79)
- Birthplace
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Biography
Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor. Ed Wynn first appeared on television on July 7, 1936 in a brief, ad-libbed spot with Graham McNamee during an NBC experimental television broadcast. In the 1949–50 season, Ed Wynn hosted one of the first network, comedy-variety television shows, on CBS, and won both a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award in 1949. Buster Keaton, Lucille Ball, and The Three Stooges all made guest appearances with Wynn. This was the first CBS variety television show to originate from Los Angeles, which was seen live on the west coast, but filmed via kinescope for distribution in the Midwest and East, as the national coaxial cable had yet to be completed. Wynn was also a rotating host of NBC's Four Star Revue from 1950 through 1952. After the end of Wynn's third television series, The Ed Wynn Show (a short-lived situation comedy on NBC's 1958–59 schedule), his son, actor Keenan Wynn, encouraged him to make a career change rather than retire. The comedian reluctantly began a career as a dramatic actor in television and movies. Father and son appeared in three productions, the first of which was the 1956 Playhouse 90 broadcast of Rod Serling's play Requiem for a Heavyweight. Ed was terrified of straight acting and kept goofing his lines in rehearsal. When the producers wanted to fire him, star Jack Palance said he would quit if they fired Ed. (However, unbeknownst to Wynn, supporting player Ned Glass was his secret understudy in case something did happen before air time.) On live broadcast night, Wynn surprised everyone with his pitch-perfect performance, and his quick ad libs to cover his mistakes. A dramatization of what happened during the production was later staged as an April 1960 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse episode, "The Man in the Funny Suit", starring both senior and junior Wynns, with key figures involved in the original production also portraying themselves. Ed and his son also worked together in the Jose Ferrer film The Great Man, with Ed again proving his unexpected skills in drama. Requiem established Wynn as a serious dramatic actor who could easily hold his own with the best. His role in The Diary of Anne Frank (1959) won him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Also in 1959, Wynn appeared on Serling's TV series The Twilight Zone in "One for the Angels". Serling, a longtime admirer, had written that episode especially for him, and Wynn later in 1963 starred in the episode "Ninety Years Without Slumbering". For the rest of his life, Wynn skillfully moved between comic and dramatic roles. He appeared in feature films and anthology television, endearing himself to new generations of fans.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Boulevard! A Hollywood Story
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Reflections on Alice
Movie · as Mad Hatter (voice) / Self
Shemp Cocktail: A Toast to the Original Stooge
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island
TV · as Dr. Bartlett (voice) · 18 eps
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie · as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hooray for Hollywood
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Gnome-Mobile
Movie · as Rufus
The Daydreamer
Movie · as The Emperor (voice)
The Greatest Story Ever Told
Movie · as Old Aram
That Darn Cat!
Movie · as Mr. Hofstedder
Dear Brigitte
Movie · as The Captain
Mary Poppins
Movie · as Uncle Albert
Those Calloways
Movie · as Ed Parker
The Patsy
Movie · as Ed Wynn
For the Love of Willadean
Movie · as Alfred
The Hollywood Palace
TV · as Self - Host · 1 ep
Son of Flubber
Movie · as A.J. Allen
The Sound of Laughter
Movie · as College Professor
Burke's Law
TV · as Zachary Belden · 1 ep
The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers
Movie · as Self
The Golden Horseshoe Revue
Movie · as Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Babes in Toyland
Movie · as Toymaker
The Absent-Minded Professor
Movie · as Fire Chief
Backstage Party
Movie · as Self
Cinderfella
Movie · as Fairy Godfather
The Man in the Funny Suit
Movie · as Self
The Diary of Anne Frank
Movie · as Albert Dussell
Meet Me in St. Louis
Movie · as Grandpa
Miracle On 34th Street
Movie · as Kris Kringle
The Twilight Zone
TV · as Lou Bookman, Sam Forstmann · 1 ep
Rawhide
TV · as Bateman · 1 ep
Bonanza
TV · as Professor Phineas T. Klump · 1 ep
Startime
TV · as Self, Amos Benedict · 1 ep
Marjorie Morningstar
Movie · as Uncle Samson
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
TV · as Self · 1 ep
77 Sunset Strip
TV · as Feigenstein · 1 ep
The Ed Wynn Show
TV · as John Beamer · 16 eps
On Borrowed Time
Movie · as 'Gramps' Northrup
Wagon Train
TV · as Cappy Darrin · 1 ep
The Great Man
Movie · as Paul Beaseley
Requiem for a Heavyweight
Movie · as Army
Playhouse 90
TV · as Army · 1 ep
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Steve Allen Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV · as John Hodges · 1 ep
December Bride
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Wonderful World of Disney
TV · as The Mad Hatter (voice) (archive footage), A.J. Allen (archive footage), Self, Alfred · 1 ep
General Electric Theater
TV · as Professor Franz, Max Grossblatt · 1 ep
This Is Your Life
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Alice in Wonderland
Movie · as Mad Hatter (voice)
Operation Wonderland
Movie · as Self
Hallmark Hall of Fame
TV · as Gramps · 1 ep
The Red Skelton Show
TV · as Self, Colonel Jungle-Rot Freeloader, Fairy Godfather, Muggsy, Guest Host · 1 ep
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV · as Self · 3 eps
Four Star Revue
TV · as Host · 1 ep
The Bob Hope Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
What's My Line?
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Ed Wynn Show
TV · as Host · 39 eps
The Emmy Awards
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV · as Self · 4 eps
Stage Door Canteen
Movie · as Ed Wynn
The Three Stooges: Live and Hilarious
Movie
The Chief
Movie · as Henry Summers
Turn Back the Clock
Movie · as Cigar Store Customer (uncredited)
Hollywood on Parade
Movie · as Self
Follow the Leader
Movie · as Cricket
Rubber Heels
Movie · as Homer Thrush