Actors - Ed Wynn

	Actors - Ed Wynn

Ed Wynn (November 9, 1886 - June 19, 1966) was a popular United States entertainer, born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wynn ran away from home in his teens and eventually split his middle name to save his family the embarrassment of having a low comedian as a relative. In his teens, he worked as an onstage assistant to W. C. Fields. Fields caught him “mugging,” for the audience during his Pool Room routine and knocked him unconscious with his cue. He became a headliner in vaudeville in the early 1910s, and was a star of the Ziegfeld Follies starting in 1914. He was best known as a comedian, billed as The Perfect Fool (and starring in a musical revue of that name on Broadway in 1921). Wynn also wrote, directed, and produced many shows. He was famous for his silly costumes and props. He always worked "clean," and his shows were suitable for the entire family.

He hosted a popular radio show for most of the 1930s, heard in North America on Tuesday nights, sponsored by Texaco gasoline. He was often seen wearing a fireman's helmet, as the "Texaco Fire Chief".

Wynn founded his own short-lived radio network, the Amalgamated Broadcasting System, which lasted only five weeks in 1933.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, he hosted a television show, and won an Emmy Award in 1949.

After the end of his television show, Wynn reluctantly began a career as a dramatic actor in television and movies. His son, actor Keenan Wynn, had encouraged him to make the career change rather than retire. The two appeared in the 1957 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 old Ed. On live broadcast night, he was almost perfect and skillfully covered his mistakes with adlibs that established him as serious dramatic actor who could easily hold his own with the best. His role in The Diary of Anne Frank
won him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor in 1959.

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 and another episode especially for him. For the rest of his life, Ed skillfully moved between comic and dramatic roles. He appeared in feature films and anthology television and endeared himself to new generations of fans.

Wynn also provided the voice of the Mad Hatter in Walt Disney's film, Alice in Wonderland
. One of his best-known performances in his later years was as "Uncle Albert" in Mary Poppins.

Ed Wynn died June 19, 1966 in Beverly Hills, California, of throat cancer.

The distinctive giggly wavering voice which Wynn created for his "Perfect Fool" character remains much imitated, especially by voice actors of animated cartoons.

Quotations

"A comedian is not a man who says funny things. A comedian is one who says things funny."

Complete work for Broadway

The Deacon and the Lady (1910) - musical - actor/performer
Ziegfeld Follies of 1914 (1914) - revue - actor/performer
Ziegfeld Follies of 1915 (1915) - revue - actor/performer
The Passing Show of 1916 (1916) - revue - actor/performer
Sometime (1918) - play - actor
Ed Wynn's Carnival (1920) - revue - composer, lyricist, book-writer and performer/actor
The All-Star Idlers of 1921 (1921) - revue - actor/performer
The Perfect Fool (1921) - revue - composer, lyricist, book-writer, director and actor/performer
The Grab Bag (1924) - revue - producer, composer, lyricist, book-writer, and actor/performer
Manhattan Mary (1927) - musical - actor in the role of "Crickets"
Simple Simon (1930) - musical - co-book-writer and actor
*Revived in 1931 (was also producer in addition to above roles)
The Laugh Parade (1931) - revue - producer, co-book-writer, director, originator and star actor/performer
Alice Takat (1936) - play - producer
Hooray For What! (1937) - musical - actor in the role of "Chuckles"
Boys and Girls Together (1940) - revue - producer, co-book-writer, originator, director, and actor/performer
Laugh, Town, Laugh! (1942) - revue - producer, book-writer and director

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Actors - Ed Wynn

Quotations

Complete work for Broadway

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