Ed Wynn
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
Credits
- 2021 · Boulevard! A Hollywood Story as Self (archive footage)
- 2008 · Shemp Cocktail: A Toast to the Original Stooge as Himself (archive footage)
- 1976 · That's Entertainment, Part II as (archive footage)
- 1967 · The Gnome-Mobile as Rufus
- 1966 · The Daydreamer as The Emperor (voice)
- 1965 · That Darn Cat! as Mr. Hofstedder
- 1965 · The Greatest Story Ever Told as Old Aram
- 1965 · Those Calloways as Ed Parker
- 1965 · Dear Brigitte as The Captain
- 1964 · Mary Poppins as Uncle Albert
- 1964 · The Patsy as Ed Wynn
- 1964 · For the Love of Willadean as Alfred
- 1964 · The Hollywood Palace as Self - Host
- 1963 · The Sound of Laughter as College Professor
- 1963 · Burke's Law as Zachary Belden
- 1963 · Son of Flubber as A.J. Allen
- 1962 · The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson as Self
- 1962 · The Golden Horseshoe Revue as Self
- 1962 · The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers as Self
- 1961 · Back Stage Party as Self
- 1961 · Babes in Toyland as Toymaker
- 1961 · The Absent-Minded Professor as Fire Chief
- 1960 · Cinderfella as Fairy Godfather
- 1959 · Miracle On 34th Street as Kris Kringle
- 1959 · Startime as
- 1959 · The Twilight Zone as Lou Bookman
- 1959 · The Twilight Zone as Sam Forstmann
- 1959 · Bonanza as Professor Phineas T. Klump
- 1959 · Meet Me in St. Louis as Grandpa
- 1959 · The Diary of Anne Frank as Albert Dussell
- 1959 · Rawhide as Bateman
- 1958 · 77 Sunset Strip as Feigenstein
- 1958 · Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse as Self
- 1958 · The Ed Wynn Show as John Beamer
- 1958 · Marjorie Morningstar as Uncle Samson
- 1957 · On Borrowed Time as 'Gramps' Northrup
- 1957 · Wagon Train as Cappy Darrin
- 1956 · The Great Man as Paul Beaseley
- 1956 · Requiem for a Heavyweight as Army
- 1956 · The Dinah Shore Chevy Show as Self
- 1956 · Playhouse 90 as Army
- 1956 · The Steve Allen Show as Self
- 1955 · The 20th Century Fox Hour as John Hodges
- 1954 · The Wonderful World of Disney as A.J. Allen (archive footage)
- 1954 · The Wonderful World of Disney as The Mad Hatter (voice) (archive footage)
- 1954 · The Wonderful World of Disney as Self
- 1954 · The Wonderful World of Disney as Alfred
- 1954 · December Bride as Self
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Professor Franz
- 1953 · General Electric Theater as Max Grossblatt
- 1952 · This Is Your Life as Self
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Gramps
- 1951 · The Red Skelton Show as Self
- 1951 · The Red Skelton Show as Self / Colonel Jungle-Rot Freeloader
- 1951 · The Red Skelton Show as Muggsy
- 1951 · The Red Skelton Show as Fairy Godfather
- 1951 · The Red Skelton Show as Guest Host
- 1951 · Alice in Wonderland as Mad Hatter (voice)
- 1951 · Operation Wonderland as Self
- 1950 · Four Star Revue as Host
- 1950 · The Colgate Comedy Hour as Self
- 1950 · The Bob Hope Show as Self
- 1950 · What's My Line? as Self - Mystery Guest
- 1949 · The Ed Wynn Show as Host
- 1949 · The Emmy Awards as Self
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
- 1943 · Stage Door Canteen as Ed Wynn
- 1941 · The Three Stooges: Live and Hilarious as
- 1933 · The Chief as Henry Summers
- 1933 · Turn Back the Clock as Cigar Store Customer (uncredited)
- 1932 · Hollywood on Parade as Self
- 1930 · Follow the Leader as Cricket
- 1927 · Rubber Heels as Homer Thrush