Buddy Hackett | |
|---|---|
 Hackett in 1973 | |
| Born | Leonard Hacker (1924-08-31)August 31, 1924 New York City,New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 30, 2003(2003-06-30) (aged 78) Malibu, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1946–2003 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingSandy Hackett |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch | United States Army |
| Service years | 1942–1945 |
Buddy Hackett (bornLeonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American comedian and comic actor. Known for his raunchy material, heavy appearance and thick New York City accent, his notable roles include Marcellus Washburn inThe Music Man (1962), Benjy Benjamin inIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Tennessee Steinmetz inThe Love Bug (1968) and the voice of Scuttle inThe Little Mermaid (1989). He was also a frequent guest on TVgame shows andvariety shows.
Leonard Hacker was one of two children, born into a Jewish family inBrooklyn, New York, to Anna (née Geller), who worked in the garment trades, and father, Philip Hacker, a furniture upholsterer and part-time inventor.[1][2] Hackett grew up across from Public School 103 on 54th Street and 14th Avenue inBorough Park, Brooklyn, and was active in varsity football and drama club atNew Utrecht High School.[1][3] Hackett suffered fromBell's palsy as a child, the lingering effects of which contributed to his distinctive slurred speech and facial expression.[4]
While still a student, Hackett worked as a "tummler" (Yiddish for "tumult maker") entertaining guests in theCatskillsBorscht Belt resorts.[1] While there, he began performing stand-up comedy in the resort nightclubs as "Butch Hacker".[5] He appeared first at the Golden Hotel inHurleyville, New York, claiming later he did not get one single laugh.[3] Following his graduation from high school in 1942, Hackett enlisted in theUnited States Army and served duringWorld War II for three years in ananti-aircraft battery.[1][3][6]
Hackett's first job after the war was at the Pink Elephant, a Brooklyn club. It was here that he changed his name from Leonard Hacker to Buddy Hackett.[7] He made appearances in Los Angeles andLas Vegas, and continued to perform in the Catskills. He acted onBroadway, inLunatics and Lovers, whereMax Liebman saw him and put him in two television specials.
Hackett's movie career began in 1950 with a 10-minute "World of Sports" reel forColumbia Pictures calledKing of the Pins. The film demonstrated championship bowling techniques, with expert Joe Wilman demonstrating the right way and Hackett (in pantomime) exemplifying the wrong way. There was an anecdote that, because of this appearance, Hackett received an offer to join theThree Stooges fromJules White, the head of Columbia short subject department, in 1952.[8]Curly Howard had suffered a debilitating stroke in 1946; his older brotherShemp Howard was intended to replace him only on a temporary basis until he fully recovered, but Curly died in January 1952. It was said Hackett even joinedMoe Howard andLarry Fine for a rehearsal, but turned down the offer eventually when he felt he did not fit with the act's comedy style and wanted to develop his own style as a solo act.[9] Some later dismissed the story as either untrue or unfounded,[10] despite Hackett telling Johnny Carson that it was, in fact, true.[11]
Hackett would not return to movies until 1953, after one of his nightclub routines attracted attention. With a rubber band around his head toslant his eyes, Hackett's "The Chinese Waiter" lampooned the frustration and communication problems encountered by a busy waiter in a Chinese restaurant. The routine was such a hit that Hackett made a recording of it, and was hired to reprise it in theUniversal-International musicalWalking My Baby Back Home (1953), in which he was third-billed underDonald O'Connor andJanet Leigh.
Hackett was an emergency replacement for the similarly builtLou Costello in 1954.Abbott and Costello were set to make a feature-length comedyFireman, Save My Child, featuringSpike Jones and His City Slickers. Several scenes had been shot with stunt doubles when Costello was forced to withdraw due to illness. Universal-International salvaged the project by hiringHugh O'Brian and Hackett to take over the Abbott and Costello roles with Jones and his band becoming the main attraction.
Hackett became known to a wider audience when he appeared on television in the 1950s and 60s as a frequent guest on variety talk shows hosted byJack Paar andArthur Godfrey, telling brash, often off-color jokes, and mugging at the camera. Hackett was a frequent guest on both the Jack Paar and theJohnny Carson versions ofThe Tonight Show. His regular guest appearances onJack Paar's Tonight Show in the early 1960s were rewarded with a coveted appearance on Paar's finalTonight program on March 29, 1962.
He also appeared as a panelist and mystery guest on CBS-TV'sWhat's My Line? and filled in as emcee for the game showTreasure Hunt.[12] He made fifteen guest appearances on NBC-TV'sThe Perry Como Show between 1955 and 1961.[13] He appeared with his roommateLenny Bruce on thePatrice Munsel Show (1957-1958), calling their comedy duo the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players,"[4] twenty years before the cast ofSaturday Night Live used the same name.
Hackett starred as the title character on NBC'sStanley, a 1956–57 situation comedy which ran for 19 weeks on Monday evenings at 8:30 pm ET. The half-hour series also featured a youngCarol Burnett and the voice ofPaul Lynde. The Max Liebman-produced program aired live before a studio audience and was one of the last sitcoms from New York to do so.Stanley revolved around the adventures of the titular character (Hackett) as the operator of a newsstand in a posh New York City hotel.
Hackett appeared in two episodes on ABC'sThe Rifleman: "Bloodlines" (1959) and "The Clarence Bibs Story" (1961).[14]
He appeared many times on the game showHollywood Squares in the late 1960s and 1970s. In one episode, Hackett (who was Jewish) was asked which country had the highest ratio of doctors to populace; he answeredIsrael, or in his words, "The country with the most Jews." Despite the audience roaring with laughter (and Hackett's own belief that the actual answer was Sweden), the answer turned out to be correct.
Hackett appeared oppositeRobert Preston in the film adaptation ofThe Music Man (1962). InIt's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Hackett was paired withMickey Rooney, with whom he had also recently madeEverything's Ducky (1961), in which they played two sailors who smuggle a talking duck aboard a Navy ship. Children became familiar with him as lovable hippie auto mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz inDisney'sThe Love Bug (1968).
In 1964, he had a stint onBroadway, appearing with Richard Kiley inI Had a Ball.
In the 1970s, Hackett published a book of poetry entitledThe Naked Mind of Buddy Hackett,[15] made frequent appearances on Johnny Carson'sTonight Show until Carson's retirement in 1992, delivered a dramatic performance as Lou Costello in the television movieBud and Lou oppositeHarvey Korman as Bud Abbott, and narrated theRankin/Bass Christmas specialJack Frost (1979). Hackett appeared regularly in TV ads for Tuscan Dairy popsicles and yogurt throughout this decade, with his most famous television campaign being forLay'spotato chips ("Nobody can eat just one!"), running from 1968 to 1971. In 1980, he starred in the filmHey Babe! and hosted a syndicated revival of the 1950–61Groucho Marx quiz showYou Bet Your Life until its cancellation one year later. Hackett also appeared onThe Big Valley.The Love Boat,Murder, She Wrote,L.A. Law, and in two episodes ofThe Fall Guy. He guest-starred on theSpace Rangers episode "To Be Or Not To Be" as has-been comedian Lenny Hacker, a parody of his stage persona. He also did uncensored stand-up comedy specials forHBO.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Hackett was given a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame. In 2000, a Golden Palm Star on thePalm Springs, California,Walk of Stars was dedicated to him.[16]
In April 1998, Hackett guest starred in an episode ofLateLine called "Buddy Hackett". The episode focused on a news broadcast paying tribute to Hackett following his death, only to discover that the report of his death was a mistake.Robert Reich andDick Gephardt also appeared in the episode, paying tribute to Hackett, by singing along to Hackett's rendition ofShipoopi fromThe Music Man.
In his final years, Hackett had a recurring spot called "Tuesdays with Buddy" onThe Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn in which he shared stories of his career and delivered some of his comedic routines.
In 1999, he appeared in 13 episodes of Fox'sAction TV series as a security guard and chauffeur named Lonnie Dragon.
In 2021, Hackett was inducted into theNew Jersey Hall of Fame.
On June 12, 1955, Hackett married Sherry Cohen. They lived inLeonia, New Jersey, in the late 1950s. In August 1958, they bought the house previously owned by deceased crime bossAlbert Anastasia inFort Lee, New Jersey.[17] After renovations, they moved in and lived there through most of the 1960s. In 2003, Hackett and his wife established the Singita Animal Sanctuary in California'sSan Fernando Valley.[18]Hackett's son,Sandy, followed his father into the comedy world, and for years opened for his father before his performances. Sandy created a one-man stage show about his father after his death.[4]
He was an avid firearms collector and owned a large collection that he sold off in his later years.[19]
In the early 1990s, Hackett was diagnosed with severeheart disease, but steadfastly refused to considerbypass surgery. His heart disease was the primary cause of his death[4] on June 30, 2003, at his beach house inMalibu, California, at the age of 78. His son, comedianSandy Hackett, said his father had been suffering fromdiabetes for several years and suffered a stroke nearly a week before his death, which also may have contributed to his demise.[20]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Walking My Baby Back Home | Blimp Edwards | |
| 1954 | Fireman Save My Child | Smokey Hinkle | |
| 1958 | God's Little Acre | Pluto Swint | also Sheriff Candidate |
| 1961 | All Hands on Deck | Shrieking Eagle Garfield | |
| Everything's Ducky | Seaman Admiral John Paul 'Ad' Jones | ||
| 1962 | The Music Man | Marcellus Washburn | |
| The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm | Hans | (Segment: 'The Singing Bone') | |
| 1963 | It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World | Benjy Benjamin | |
| 1964 | Muscle Beach Party | S.Z. Matts | |
| The Golden Head | Lionel Pack | ||
| 1966 | The Big Valley | Charlie Sawyer | TV Show S2-E1 "Hidden Treasure" |
| 1969 | The Love Bug | Tennessee Steinmetz | |
| The Good Guys and the Bad Guys | Ed | Uncredited | |
| 1978 | Loose Shoes | Himself | also S.T.O.P.-I.T Spokesman |
| Bud and Lou | Lou Costello | TV movie | |
| 1979 | Jack Frost | Pardon-Me-Pete | Voice, TV special |
| 1982 | The Fall Guy | Ozzie | TV Show S1-E13 "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harold" |
| 1983 | The Fall Guy | Ozzie/Harold | TV Show S2-E13 "The Further Adventures of Ozzie and Harold" |
| 1983 | Hey Babe! | Sammy Cohen | |
| 1987 | No Laughing Murder | Murray Gruen | TV Show S3-E18 "Murder, She Wrote" |
| 1988 | Scrooged | Scrooge | |
| 1989 | The Little Mermaid | Scuttle | Voice |
| 1998 | Paulie | Artie | |
| 2000 | The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea | Scuttle | Voice direct-to-video |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | King of the Pins | Pantomime |
| 1961 | The Shoes | |
| 1992 | Mouse Soup | Voice |
| 2015 | The Concept | Animation short by band HeCTA andChris Shepherd |
And after quitting the stage, the only time her performed was at the annual fund-raiser for the Singita Animal Sanctuary, a dog and cat rescue organization begun by Hackett and his wife.
