© Copyright Harutyunyan 2024

sunfilm-logo
Home/Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn‌

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1886-11-08

Popularity

star6.1

Ed Wynn

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Ed Wynn

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Gender

Male

Birthday

calendar1886-11-08

Popularity

star6.1

Biography

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.

Movie Credits

Mary Poppins

Mary Poppins‌
star7.6
calendar 1964

The Greatest Story Ever Told

The Greatest Story Ever Told‌
star6.4
calendar 1965

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Diary of Anne Frank‌
star7.2
calendar 1959

The Gnome-Mobile

The Gnome-Mobile‌
star6.1
calendar 1967

Alice in Wonderland

Alice in Wonderland‌
star7.2
calendar 1951

Babes in Toyland

Babes in Toyland‌
star5.9
calendar 1961

Marjorie Morningstar

Marjorie Morningstar‌
star6.2
calendar 1958

Those Calloways

Those Calloways‌
star6.4
calendar 1965

Cinderfella

Cinderfella‌
star6.2
calendar 1960

The Patsy

The Patsy‌
star6.2
calendar 1964

The Daydreamer

The Daydreamer‌
star4.8
calendar 1966

Follow the Leader

Follow the Leader‌
star5.2
calendar 1930

The Chief

The Chief‌
star0.0
calendar 1933

The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers

The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers‌
star7.0
calendar 1962

The Great Man

The Great Man‌
star4.8
calendar 1956

Hollywood on Parade

Hollywood on Parade‌
star3.0
calendar 1932

Boulevard! A Hollywood Story

Boulevard! A Hollywood Story‌
star4.5
calendar 2021

Stage Door Canteen

Stage Door Canteen‌
star6.1
calendar 1943

The Absent-Minded Professor

The Absent-Minded Professor‌
star6.5
calendar 1961

Son of Flubber

Son of Flubber‌
star5.9
calendar 1963

Turn Back the Clock

Turn Back the Clock‌
star5.1
calendar 1933

That Darn Cat!

That Darn Cat!‌
star6.5
calendar 1965

Meet Me in St. Louis

Meet Me in St. Louis‌
star5.0
calendar 1959

Shemp Cocktail: A Toast to the Original Stooge

Shemp Cocktail: A Toast to the Original Stooge‌
star0.0
calendar 2008

That's Entertainment, Part II

That's Entertainment, Part II‌
star6.8
calendar 1976

For the Love of Willadean

For the Love of Willadean‌
star6.0
calendar 1964

Dear Brigitte

Dear Brigitte‌
star6.4
calendar 1965

The Sound of Laughter

The Sound of Laughter‌
star2.0
calendar 1963

The Golden Horseshoe Revue

The Golden Horseshoe Revue‌
star0.0
calendar 1962

Operation Wonderland

Operation Wonderland‌
star7.3
calendar 1951

Back Stage Party

Back Stage Party‌
star7.0
calendar 1961

Requiem for a Heavyweight

Requiem for a Heavyweight‌
star7.0
calendar 1956

Miracle On 34th Street

Miracle On 34th Street‌
star0.0
calendar 1959

On Borrowed Time

On Borrowed Time‌
star0.0
calendar 1957

The Three Stooges: Live and Hilarious

The Three Stooges: Live and Hilarious‌
star0.0
calendar 1941

Rubber Heels

Rubber Heels‌
star0.0
calendar 1927

Tv Credits

Burke's Law

Burke's Law‌
star6.0
calendar 1963

The Colgate Comedy Hour

The Colgate Comedy Hour‌
star7.0
calendar 1950

Playhouse 90

Playhouse 90‌
star7.4
calendar 1956

General Electric Theater

General Electric Theater‌
star5.5
calendar 1953

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Hallmark Hall of Fame‌
star8.8
calendar 1951

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone‌
star8.4
calendar 1959

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse‌
star4.3
calendar 1958

Rawhide

Rawhide‌
star7.0
calendar 1959

The Hollywood Palace

The Hollywood Palace‌
star4.5
calendar 1964

This Is Your Life

This Is Your Life‌
star6.4
calendar 1952

The 20th Century Fox Hour

The 20th Century Fox Hour‌
star4.2
calendar 1955

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show‌
star4.0
calendar 1956

The Ed Wynn Show

The Ed Wynn Show‌
star0.0
calendar 1949

The Steve Allen Show

The Steve Allen Show‌
star4.0
calendar 1956

77 Sunset Strip

77 Sunset Strip‌
star6.7
calendar 1958

The Emmy Awards

The Emmy Awards‌
star7.4
calendar 1949

December Bride

December Bride‌
star5.5
calendar 1954

Four Star Revue

Four Star Revue‌
star6.0
calendar 1950

Bonanza

Bonanza‌
star7.5
calendar 1959

Wagon Train

Wagon Train‌
star6.4
calendar 1957

The Red Skelton Show

The Red Skelton Show‌
star7.4
calendar 1951

The Red Skelton Show

The Red Skelton Show‌
star7.4
calendar 1951

The Red Skelton Show

The Red Skelton Show‌
star7.4
calendar 1951

The Red Skelton Show

The Red Skelton Show‌
star7.4
calendar 1951

The Red Skelton Show

The Red Skelton Show‌
star7.4
calendar 1951

Startime

Startime‌
star6.0
calendar 1959

General Electric Theater

General Electric Theater‌
star5.5
calendar 1953

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson‌
star7.4
calendar 1962

The Bob Hope Show

The Bob Hope Show‌
star7.0
calendar 1950

The Ed Sullivan Show

The Ed Sullivan Show‌
star6.5
calendar 1948

The Twilight Zone

The Twilight Zone‌
star8.4
calendar 1959

The Wonderful World of Disney

The Wonderful World of Disney‌
star7.6
calendar 1954

The Wonderful World of Disney

The Wonderful World of Disney‌
star7.6
calendar 1954

The Ed Wynn Show

The Ed Wynn Show‌
star0.0
calendar 1958

What's My Line?

What's My Line?‌
star6.6
calendar 1950

The Wonderful World of Disney

The Wonderful World of Disney‌
star7.6
calendar 1954

The Wonderful World of Disney

The Wonderful World of Disney‌
star7.6
calendar 1954