TODAY IS THE BIRTHDAY OF Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comedic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident. Many shows, such as Rowan and Martins Laugh-In, Saturday Night Live, The Uncle Floyd Show, Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street, The Electric Company are credited with having been influenced by Kovacs. Chevy Chase acknowledged Kovacs influence and thanked him during his acceptance speech for his Emmy award for Saturday Night Live. Chase appeared in the 1982 documentary. Ernie Kovacs: Televisions Original Genius, discussing the impact Kovacs had on his work. Ernie Kovacs is perhaps the greatest role model that any comedian can have, especially any comedian who wants to get into television. Born on January 23rd, 1919 in Trenton, New Jersey, Ernest Edward Kovacs has often been referred to as Television’s Original Genius. Believe me, folks, this is a moniker that is quite appropriate when used to describe this brilliant man. While in high school, Ernie was influenced greatly by his drama teacher, Harold Van Kirk. Upon graduation he went to acting school and through a series of bizarre events ended up as a Disc Jockey on Trenton radio station WTTM.The affable and hysterically funny Ernie quickly became a huge hit with Trentonians and soon had his own newspaper column. This led to a stint starting in 1949-50 at WPTZ-TV, the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia. The medium was brand new, and Ernie was young and brimming with fresh and innovative ideas to bring to this new toy. And in bringing his considerable gifts to the airwaves, he changed the way we view television forever. He was the first performer to realize how to use television’s intrinsic qualities to make a comedically visual statement. And, he created characters which influenced everyone from SNL to David Letterman and beyond. Read the book Kovacsland: A Biography Of Ernie Kovacs by Diana Rico to find out more. Clicking the book title will take you to a page where you can purchase it. Unfortunately, a car accident in Los Angeles on January 13th, 1962, took Ernie from us at the height of his popularity https://youtube/watch?v=B4_SwoSs0gA
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 23:51:43 +0000
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