EW
Photo of Ed Wynn

Ed Wynn

Actor
Born November 9, 1886Died June 19, 1966 (79 years)
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.

Movies & Shows on Plex

  • Bonanza

Known For

  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Cinderfella
  • The Diary of Anne Frank
  • Babes in Toyland
  • Son of Flubber
  • The Gnome-Mobile
  • Those Calloways
  • Miracle on 34th Street
  • The Ed Wynn Show
  • The Ed Wynn Show (1958-59)

Filmography

2008
1997
Twentieth Century Fox: The First 50 Years · as Actor 'diary Of Anne Frank'
1986
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
1965
Those Calloways · as Ed Parker
1965
Dear Brigitte · as The Captain
1964
Mary Poppins · as Uncle Albert
1964
Slattery's People (TV Series) · as Ezra Tallicott
1963
Burke's Law (TV Series) · as Zachary Belden
1963
Vacation Playhouse (TV Series) · as Professor Hubert Abernathy
1962
Son of Flubber · as A.j. Allen
1961
Babes in Toyland · as Toymaker
1961
1960
Cinderfella · as Fairy Godfather
1959
Miracle on 34th Street · as Kris Kringle
1959
Ford Startime (TV Series)
1959
The Twilight Zone (TV Series) · as Lou Bookman
1959
Peabody's Improbable History (TV Series) · as Frantic Man
1959
Bonanza (TV Series) · as Professor Phineas T. Klump
1959
Meet Me in St. Louis · as Grandpa
1959
The Diary of Anne Frank · as Albert Dussell
1959
Rawhide (TV Series) · as Bateman
1958
77 Sunset Strip (TV Series) · as Feigenstein
1958
The Ed Wynn Show (1958-59) (TV Series) · as John Beamer
1958
Marjorie Morningstar · as Uncle Samson
1957
Wagon Train (TV Series) · as Cappy Darrin
1956
The Great Man · as Paul Beaseley
1956
1956
Playhouse 90 (TV Series) · as Army
1955
Alcoa Hour (TV Series) · as Billy Bishop
1955
The 20th Century-Fox Hour (TV Series) · as John Hodges
1953
General Electric Theater (TV Series) · as Professor Franz
1951
Hallmark Hall Of Fame (TV Series) · as Gramps
1951
The Red Skelton Show (TV Series) · as Muggsy
1951
Alice in Wonderland · as Mad Hatter (voice)
1950
Four Star Revue (TV Series) · as Host
1949
The Ed Wynn Show (TV Series) · as Host
1941
1933
The Chief · as Henry Summers
1933
Turn Back the Clock · as Cigar Store Customer (uncredited)
1930
Follow the Leader · as Cricket

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