Actors - Ed Gardner

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	Actors - Ed Gardner

Ed Gardner (June 29, 1901 – August 17, 1963) was an American comedic actor.

Born in Astoria, New York, Gardner was a representative for the J. Walter Thompson advertising agency before going into show business. He began producing for the stage in the early 1930s. He produced the drama play Coastwise on Broadway (1931) and wrote and directed the Broadway comedy After Such Pleasures (1934).

Gardner became famous in the 1940s as the wisecracking, word-twisting bartender on the hit radio show Duffy's Tavern, which he originated. It aired on CBS Radio from 1941 to 1942, on NBC-Blue Radio from 1942 to 1944 and on NBC Radio from 1944 to 1952. Speaking in a nasal Brooklyn accent, he would start the show by answering the telephone and saying, "Duffy's Tavern, where the elite meet to eat. Archie speakin', Duffy ain't heah."

Duffy never did appear at the tavern, although there were phone calls from him and for him. After developing the idea for the show, Gardner could not find the right person to play the role of Archie, so he did it himself. There were other characters whose voices were heard, however, such as Miss Duffy, Eddie the waiter, Finnegan and Clancy the cop. The role of Miss Duffy, the tavern owner's daughter, was played by Shirley Booth, Gardner's first wife.

He had two wives, actress Shirley Booth (married 1929-divorced 1942) and Simone Hegemann (married 1943-his death 1963). He and Hegemann had two sons, Edward Gardner, Jr. (born 1944) and Stephen Gardner (born 1948).

Although he and Booth were divorced in 1942, she remained on the radio show in 1943. They remained good friends after the divorce. Gardner originated the Rudy Vallee-John Barrymore radio show and later directed George Burns and Gracie Allen, Bing Crosby, Al Jolson and Fanny Brice in their radio shows.

Gardner recreated his role as Archie for the motion picture version, Duffy's Tavern (1945), at Paramount. Besides Gardner, the movie featured dozens of studio stars. Gardner was the producer of the film noir crime/thriller The Man with My Face
(1951) for his own company, Edward F. Gardner Productions. It was released by United Artists.

Although Duffy's Tavern enjoyed its greatest success on radio, it also ran for a year on television, Duffy's Tavern (1954), with Gardner starring as Archie. In 1961 and 1962, he made guest appearances on episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

In simi-retirement since 1958, the tall, gangling comedian lived with his wife and sons at 910 North Bedford Drive in Beverly Hills.

Ed Gardner died at age 62 of a liver ailment at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. He is interred in Chapel of the Pines at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood.

Quotes

"Opera is when a guy gets stabbed in the back and instead of bleeding, he sings."

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