Jerry Colonna

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaGerardo Luigi Jerry Colonna (September 17, 1904 – November 22, 1986) was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and trombonist best remembered as the zaniest of Bob Hopes sidekicks in Hopes popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s.With his pop-eyed facial expressions and walrus-sized handlebar moustache, Colonna was known for singing loudly in a comic caterwaul, according to Raised on Radio author Gerald Nachman, and for his catchphrase, Whos Yehudi?, uttered after many an old joke, although it usually had nothing to do with the joke. The line was believed to be named for violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin, and the search for Yehudi became a running gag on the Hope show.Colonna featured in three of the popular Hope-Crosby Road films: Road to Singapore (1940) as Achilles Bombassa, Road to Rio (1947) as a Cavalry captain and The Road to Hong Kong (1962) in a cameo role. He can also be seen in the Fred Allen vehicle, Its in the Bag! (1945), as psychiatrist Dr. Greenglass, and he made a brief appearance with Hope in the Wife, Husband and Wolf sketch in Star Spangled Rhythm. In 1956 he performed the featured song My Lucky Charm in the film Meet Me in Las Vegas, starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse.He provided the voice of the March Hare in the Walt Disney animated film version of Alice in Wonderland (1951) (another radio legend, Ed Wynn, voiced the Mad Hatter) and also lent his zany narration style to several Disney shorts, including Casey at the Bat (1946) and The Brave Engineer (1950).

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