Ed Wynn
Also Known As: Isaiah Edwin «Ed» Wynn, Isaiah Edwin Wynn, Isaiah Edwin Leopold, Isaiah Edwin "Ed" Wynn
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.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Birthday: November 09, 1886
Deathday: June 19, 1966
Adult: No
Gender: Male
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Known For:
Mary Poppins
Overview: Mr Banks is looking for a nanny for his two mischievous children and comes across Mary Poppins, an angelic nanny. She not only brings a change in their lives but also spreads happiness.
Genres: Comedy Family Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-12-17
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The Greatest Story Ever Told
Overview: From his birth in Bethlehem to his death and eventual resurrection, the life of Jesus Christ is given the all-star treatment in this epic retelling. Major aspects of Christ's life are touched upon, including the execution of all the newborn males in Egypt by King Herod; Christ's baptism by John the Baptist; and the betrayal by Judas after the Last Supper that eventually leads to Christ's crucifixion and miraculous return.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-04-09
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The Diary of Anne Frank
Overview: The true, harrowing story of a young Jewish girl who, with her family and their friends, is forced into hiding in an attic in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-03-18
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The Gnome-Mobile
Overview: An eccentric millionaire and his grandchildren are embroiled in the plights of some forest gnomes who are searching for the rest of their tribe. While helping them, the millionaire is suspected of being crazy because he's seeing gnomes! He's committed, and the niece and nephew and the gnomes have to find him and free him.
Genres: Fantasy Comedy Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-07-19
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Alice in Wonderland
Overview: On a golden afternoon, wildly curious young Alice tumbles into the burrow and enters the merry, madcap world of Wonderland full of whimsical escapades.
Genres: Animation Family Fantasy Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-07-28
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Babes in Toyland
Overview: All roads lead to magical, merry Toyland as Mary Contrary and Tom Piper prepare for their wedding! But villainous Barnaby wants Mary for himself, so he kidnaps Tom, setting off a series of comic chases, searches, and double-crosses! The "March Of The Wooden Soldiers" helps put Barnaby in his place, and ensures a "happily ever after" for Tom and Mary!
Genres: Comedy Fantasy Family Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-12-14
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Marjorie Morningstar
Overview: While working as a counselor at a summer camp, college-student Marjorie Morgenstern falls for 32-year-old Noel Airman, a would-be dramatist working at a nearby summer theater. Like Marjorie, he is an upper-middle-class New York Jew, but has fallen away from his roots, and Marjorie's parents object among other things to his lack of a suitable profession. Noel himself warns Marjorie repeatedly that she's much too naive and conventional for him, but they nonetheless fall in love.
Genres: Drama Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-04-24
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Those Calloways
Overview: Story of Cam Calloway and his family, who live in a densely wooded area in New England. Cam dreams of building a sanctuary for the geese that fly over the area each year, and he tries several schemes to buy a nearby lake for this santuary. He is thwarted at every attempt, it seems; he and his son try to get enough furs from their trapping venture to get the money, but the bottom falls out of the fur market. He uses the little money they get for a down payment on the lake, thereby losing their house when he can't make the mortgage payment. They move to the lake, where their friends help them build a cabin. A salesman stops in town, and tries to get the people to sell their land for a tourist venture; Cam is outraged at his tactics and takes desperate measures after he himself is tricked.
Genres: Drama Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-01-28
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Cinderfella
Overview: When his father dies, poor Fella is left at the mercy of his snobbish stepmother and her two no-good sons Maximilian and Rupert. As he slaves away for his nasty step-family, Maximilian and Rupert attempt to find a treasure Fella's father has supposedly hidden on the estate. Hoping to restore her dwindling fortunes, the stepmother plans a fancy ball in honor of the visiting Princess Charmein whom she hopes will marry Rupert. Eventually, Fella's Fairy Godfather shows up to convince him that he has a shot at winning the Princess himself.
Genres: Comedy Fantasy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1960-12-18
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The Patsy
Overview: When a star comedian dies, his comedy team decides to train a 'nobody' to play the Star in a big TV show (a Patsy). But the man chosen, bellboy Stanley Belt (Lewis), can't do anything right. The TV show is getting closer, and Stanley is getting worse.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-06-24
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The Daydreamer
Overview: A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order to make his studies easier. Each time he falls asleep, he experiences in his dreams the different characters he would later write about in fairy tales including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Emperor's New Clothes.
Genres: Animation Adventure Family Fantasy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-06-01
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Follow the Leader
Overview: A kooky waiter and sometimes vaudevillian promises to get his employer's daughter into a Broadway show. When he kidnaps the show's star, she gets her opportunity, as the understudy, to play the role and become a star herself.
Genres: Comedy Music Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1930-12-06
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The Chief
Overview: The dim-witted son of a heroic fire chief tries to follow in his late father's footsteps, only to become the unknowing pawn of corrupt politicians.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-11-03
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The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers
Overview: A TV movie with intertwining music numbers and sketches.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-01-06
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The Great Man
Overview: Joe Harris, preparing a eulogy for popular radio commentator Herb Fuller, finds that nobody has a good word to say about him.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-12-01
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Hollywood on Parade
Overview: A short featuring many stars
Genres: Comedy Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1932-06-05
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Boulevard! A Hollywood Story
Overview: Dickson Hughes and Richard Stapley, two young composers and romantic partners, are caught in the web of silent film star Gloria Swanson when she hires them to write a musical version of Sunset Boulevard, her 1950 film directed by Billy Wilder.
Genres: Documentary History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2021-08-16
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Stage Door Canteen
Overview: A young soldier on a pass in New York City visits the famed Stage Door Canteen, where famous stars of the theater and films appear and host a recreational center for servicemen during the war. The soldier meets a pretty young hostess and they enjoy the many entertainers and a growing romance
Genres: Comedy Music Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1943-06-24
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The Absent-Minded Professor
Overview: Bumbling professor Ned Brainard accidentally invents flying rubber, or "Flubber", an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately, no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.
Genres: Comedy Family Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-03-16
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Son of Flubber
Overview: Beleaguered professor Ned Brainard has already run into a pile of misfortunes with his discovery of the super-elastic substance "Flubber." Now he hopes to have better luck with a gravity-busting derivative he's dubbed "Flubbergas." Ned's experiments, constantly hampered by government obstruction, earn the consternation of his wife, Betsy. But a game-winning modification to a football uniform may help Ned make the case for his fantastic new invention.
Genres: Comedy Family Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-01-16
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Turn Back the Clock
Overview: While recuperating in a hospital after he's hit by an automobile, a struggling shopowner dreams what his life might have been like if he'd made different choices twenty years earlier.
Genres: Comedy Drama Fantasy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1933-08-25
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That Darn Cat!
Overview: A young woman suspects foul play when her cat comes home wearing a wristwatch. Convincing the FBI, though, and catching the bad guys is tougher than she imagined.
Genres: Family Comedy Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-12-02
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Meet Me in St. Louis
Overview: Young love and childish fears highlight a year in the life of a turn-of-the-century family up to the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair.
Genres: Comedy Music TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-04-26
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Shemp Cocktail: A Toast to the Original Stooge
Overview: A compilation that highlights works from the Three Stooges. It includes the shorts Brideless Groom, Sing a Song of Six Pants, and Malice in the Palace, also Ed Wynn's live TV Camel Comedy Caravan starring Shemp, Larry, and Moe.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2008-03-18
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That's Entertainment, Part II
Overview: Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.
Genres: Documentary Music
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-05-16
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For the Love of Willadean
Overview: A new boy, Harley, joins a club but shows an interest in the girl on whom the club leader has a crush. The two club members trick Harley into stealing a prize watermelon to the dismay of the furious farmer, and later dare him to enter a supposedly haunted house in which they uncover a bag of money stolen in a bank robbery.
Genres: Family Comedy TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-03-08
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Dear Brigitte
Overview: Professor Leaf, an absent-minded poet with a prejudice against the sciences, is forced to face the fact that his son is a math prodigy with little artistic talent of his own.
Genres: Comedy Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-01-08
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The Sound of Laughter
Overview: A compilation of film clips of comedies from 1930's.
Genres: Comedy Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-12-17
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The Golden Horseshoe Revue
Overview: The 10,000th performance of Disneyland's venerable "Golden Horseshoe Revue," featuring special guest stars.
Genres: Music Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1962-09-23
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Operation Wonderland
Overview: 1951 behind the scenes featurette of the Walt Disney animated classic.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1951-06-14
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Backstage Party
Overview: Party, enterianment, and Behind the scenes
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-12-17
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Requiem for a Heavyweight
Overview: An over-the-hill heavyweight boxing champion who suffers from the ravages of years of head trauma is exploited by his manager, despite the efforts of a compassionate young woman who tries to help him recover his self-respect.
Genres: TV Movie Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-10-11
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Miracle On 34th Street
Overview: In this charming TV adaptation of the 1947 film classic, a kindly old gentleman (Ed Wynn) working as a Macy's department store Santa causes a commotion when he claims to be the real St. Nick. Forced to prove his sanity, he is taken to court where he must convince the judge and his friends that he actually is Santa Claus. The faith of one skeptical little girl (Susan Gordon) and a Christmas miracle are the keys to his true identity.
Genres: Family Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-11-27
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On Borrowed Time
Overview: Mr. Brink seems to bring death with him wherever he goes. But can a young boy and his grandfather change this dire situation?
Genres: Drama Fantasy TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-11-17
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The Three Stooges: Live and Hilarious
Overview: The Three Stooges are at it again in a hilarious and extremely hard-to-find turn on the Ed Wynn Show.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1941-12-16
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Rubber Heels
Overview: A European royal couple come to New York to sell some of the royal family's crown jewels. A gang of international jewel thieves is planning to steal the gems, so a private detective is assigned to guard them. Unfortunately the private eye turns out to be a bumbling, inept fool--or so everyone thinks.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1927-06-11
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