- Born
- Died
- Birth nameJames Francis Durante
- Nickname
- The Schnoz
- Height5′ 8¼″ (1.73 m)
- First wife Jeanne died in 1943. Wed second wife, Marjorie Little after 16 year courtship when she was 39 and he 67 Marjorie Little had been the hatcheck girl at the Copacabana. Durante and his second wife adopted a baby girl, Cecelia Alicia on Christmas day 1961. Durante doted on "CeCe" until his death.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
- Comedian, composer, actor, singer and songwriter ("Inka Dinka Doo") Jimmy Durante was educated in New York public schools. He began his career as a Coney Island pianist, and organized a five-piece band in 1916. He opened the Club Durant with Eddie Jackson and Lou Clayton, with whom he later formed a comedy trio for vaudeville and on television. He appeared in the Broadway musicals "Show Girl", "The New Yorkers", "Strike Me Pink", "Jumbo", "Red Hot and Blue", and "Stars in Your Eyes". By 1936, he had appeared at the Palladium in London. Later he had his own radio and television shows, and was a featured headliner in night clubs. Biographer Gene Fowler wrote his biography, "Schnozzola". Joining ASCAP in 1941, he collaborated musically with Jackie Barnett and Ben Ryan, and his other popular song compositions include "I'm Jimmy That Well-Dressed Man", "I Know Darn Well I Can Do Without Broadway", "I Ups to Him and He Ups to Me", "Daddy Your Mamma Is Lonesome For You", "Umbriago", "Any State In the Forty-Eight", "Chidabee Chidabee Chidabee", and "I'm Jimmy's Girl".- IMDb Mini Biography By: Hup234!
- SpousesMargie Little(December 14, 1960 - January 29, 1980) (his death, 1 child)Jeanne Olsen(June 19, 1921 - February 14, 1943) (her death)
- Children
- Rumpled hat, patter songs ("Inka Dinka Doo") and, of course, his huge proboscis.
- Deep gravelly New York accent
- A legal challenge to his adoption of daughter CeCe late in life, on the grounds that he was too old to care for such a young child, was dismissed by a judge, who said, "I've heard this man sing 'Young at Heart.'".
- Famous for a number of other beloved catchphrases besides the "Mrs. Calabash" routine, including: "It's a castastrostroke!", "I'm mortified!", "Surrounded by assassins!", "Everybody wants ta get inta da act!" and "Hotch-cha-cha-cha-cha!".
- Dropped out of school in the eighth grade and a couple of years later played ragtime piano for a living, taking jobs wherever he could, including bars, cabarets and whorehouses. He became known for a time as "Ragtime Jimmy".
- For years, he signed off his radio and television shows with "Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are", but he would never divulge who she was. Some speculated it was a "code name" for a current or former lover, some doubted she ever existed. It was not until after his death in 1980 that it was revealed she was, indeed, a real person.
- Comic Sonny King, who worked with Durante during his career, stated in an interview that the mysterious "Mrs. Calabash" was indeed Jimmy's late wife Jeanne Olson, but "Calabash" was a reference to Calabasas, California, where she was hospitalized in her later years. She had difficulty in pronouncing the city name, often calling it "Calabash", and it became an inside joke for the Durantes.
- [on his funny looks as a child] I'd go home [from school] and cry. I made up my mind never to hurt anybody else, no matter what. I never made jokes about anybody's big ears, crossed eyes, or their stuttering.
- [ad-libbing with Bob Hope] When it comes to noses, you're a retailer. I'm a wholesaler!
- I hate music, especially when it's played.
- Goodnight, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.
- I like to make people laugh. Dey like me. What more could I want?
- You're in the Army Now (1941) - $25 .000
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