Jimmy Durante

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James Francis "Jimmy" Durante (born February 10, 1893 in New York City , New York - † January 29, 1980 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American comedian , radio presenter, actor, band leader, pianist and singer.

Life

Durante came from the Bowery working class on the Lower East Side of New York City and was the youngest of four children of a barber from Italy. He left school early to perform as a ragtime pianist ( Ragtime Jimmy ) from around 1911 (e.g. at Coney Island 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 , Durantes Jazz and Novelty Band , which in 1918 under the direction of Frank Christian as the Original New Orleans Jazz Band and in 1920 after he took over the direction had when Jimmy Durante's jazz band recorded.

In his appearances he already set his typical comic note by interrupting in the middle of the game to tell jokes and to react to "provocations" from the audience. His hallmarks as a comedian were an exuberant demeanor, twisted and distorted words and frequent jokes about his big nose, which earned him the nickname "Schnozzola" (Schnozzola meant his nose). In the mid-1920s he became a vaudeville and radio star with the trio Clayton, Jackson and Durante (with his close friends Lou Clayton and the dancer Eddie Jackson ) . With them he was also co-owner of a speakeasy ("Club Durant") in Harlem during the alcohol prohibition .

In 1928 they finally made it “uptown” with performances at the New York Palace . In the 1930s he also performed successfully on Broadway (1929 in the Ziegfeld show Show Girl and then particularly successful in 1935 in the Billy Rose musical Jumbo , also made into a film in 1962) and began his film career (1929 with Roadhouse Nights ) with a five-year contract with MGM . He was less successful with the very differently oriented Buster Keaton as a partner in a series of comedies for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in the 1930s. He has appeared as a supporting actor 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 ). In 1969, Durante acted as the narrator in Frosty the Snowman , a very popular Christmas cartoon for children in the United States.

From 1933 he got his own radio show. His 1934 hit Inka Dinka Doo became his personal signature tune for the rest of his career. He was particularly successful in the duo with Eddie Jackson in the 1940s, with whom he recorded some 78s for Majestic ; During this time he performed with Frank Sinatra for the US Army broadcasters . In 1950 he was on television, e.g. B. as a frequent guest on Tallulah Bankhead's The Big Show , often seen in a duo with comedian Danny Thomas . Durante performed in Las Vegas , for example, until the 1970s , but withdrew from the stage after several strokes.

Durante and Margie Little's grave in Holy Cross Cemetery

Durante was married to Jeanne Olsen from 1921 until her death in 1943, and then to Margie Little from 1960 until his death. On his radio shows, he usually said goodbye with “Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are”, another of his hallmarks. He probably alluded to his first wife, with whom he lived in Calabasas , California until her death (according to another opinion it was a waitress whom he met while passing through in 1940 in the small town of Calabash, South Carolina).

Jimmy Durante died of pneumonia shortly before his 87th birthday.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1931: The Havana Girl ( The Cuban Love Song )
  • 1932: Who doesn't love others ( The Passionate Plumber )
  • 1934: Scandals 1935 ( George White's Scandals )
  • 1935: Hollywood Party
  • 1936: The Singing Land ( Land Without Music )
  • 1941: Terror of the 2nd Company ( You're in the Army Now )
  • 1942: The Man Who Came to Dinner ( The Man Who Came to Dinner )
  • 1944: My darling is a sailor ( Two Girls and a Sailor )
  • 1944: Music for millions ( Music for Millions )
  • 1946: Dreams Come True ( Two Sisters from Boston )
  • 1947: Your Two Admirers ( It Happened in Brooklyn )
  • 1947: Enchanting Lips ( This Time for Keeps )
  • 1948: On an island with you ( On to Iceland with You )
  • 1950: The Christmas Wish ( The Great Rupert )
  • 1961: The Last Judgment does not take place ( Il giudizio universale )
  • 1962: Play With Me ( Billy Rose's Jumbo )
  • 1963: It's a Mad, Mad, Mad , Mad World ( It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World )

literature

  • David Bakish Jimmy Durante - His Show Business Career . McFarland & Company, 1995.
  • Gene Fowler Schnozzola; The Story of Jimmy Durante . The Viking Press, 1951.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ In it, Achille Bacquet played clarinet, Durante piano, Frank Christian cornet, Frank L'Hotag trombone and Johnny Stein drums in New York . Stein had been the leader of the original Original Dixieland Jass Band in Chicago , then called Stein's Dixie Jass Band .
personal data
SURNAME Durante, Jimmy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Durante, James Francis (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American comedian
DATE OF BIRTH February 10, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , New York
DATE OF DEATH January 29, 1980
Place of death Santa Monica , California