Birthname: James Francis Durante
| Sign | Aquarius |
| Born |
Feb 10, 1893
New York City, NY |
| Died |
Jan 29, 1980
Santa Monica, CA |
| Age | Died at 87 |
| Final Resting Place Holy Cross Cemetery | |
Jimmy Durante |
|
| Job | Actor, comedian, singer, pianist |
| Years active | 1920-1972 |
| Top Roles | Ferdi Farro, Himself, Curly Cooney, The man with the large nose, Fingers |
| Top Genres | Comedy, Musical, Romance, Drama, Family, Film Adaptation |
| Top Topics | Romance (Comic), Christmas, Based on Play, Pre-Code Cinema, World War II |
| Top Collaborators | Buster Keaton, Robert Young, Edward LeSaint, Joe Pasternak (Producer), Frank Sinatra, Kathryn Grayson, Peter Lawford, Jack Benny |
| Also Born on February 10 | |
| Also Born in 1893 | |
| Also Born in New York | |
| Also an Aquarius | |
Jimmy Durante Overview:
Legendary actor, Jimmy Durante, was born James Francis Durante on Feb 10, 1893 in New York City, NY. Durante died at the age of 87 on Jan 29, 1980 in Santa Monica, CA and was laid to rest in Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, Los Angeles County, CA.
MINI BIO:
Piano-playing American comedian with a unique repertoire of inspired comic songs. Under contract to MGM for many years, but the studio never really projected his personality properly, and he remained at his best in solo spots, nightclubs, and records. Died from pneumonia. (Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Film Stars).HONORS and AWARDS:
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He was honored with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the categories of Motion Pictures and Radio. Jimmy Durante's handprints and footprints were 'set in stone' at Grauman's Chinese Theater during imprint ceremony #73 on Oct 31, 1945. In addition, Durante was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame . Durante was never nominated for an Academy Award.
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Jimmy Durante Quotes:
Doc Wise:
He's no more a champ than you're an Indian.
Knobby Walsh: I am an Indian; and my name is Sittin' Pretty.
Knobby Walsh: I am an Indian; and my name is Sittin' Pretty.
— From: Palooka
Breezy Albright:
Something's happened to me. I can't getcha outta my mind.
Ginger Burton: Well, calm down, I'm only a woman.
Breezy Albright: Yet regardless of that fact, I still feel drawn to ya.
Ginger Burton: Well, calm down, I'm only a woman.
Breezy Albright: Yet regardless of that fact, I still feel drawn to ya.
— From: The Milkman
Cornelius J. Courtney:
Folks, this is your pal, Cornelius J. Courtney, tellin' you that this program is brought to you by that nationally famous head cold remedy "Nose Posse." Aaahh! Manufactured, endorsed by that benefactor of humanity, Thomas Summerville. Ah, that most delicate of organisms, the nose, the snoozle, the proboscus, let Nose Posse guard it for you. It deserves that protection - take it from me, a man who knows his noses. At-chaaa! And now, after a brief pause for station identification, Gene Autry will present this week's thrilling drama of the sagebrush, "The Sagebrush."
— From: Melody Ranch
Tommy Summerville:
Phone her home. Phone the Mayfair Club. We've got to find our leading lady!
Cornelius J. Courtney: No sooner said then done! First I'll track her down, then I'll corral her, then I'll ignore her.
Cornelius J. Courtney: No sooner said then done! First I'll track her down, then I'll corral her, then I'll ignore her.
— From: Melody Ranch
Banjo:
[to Nurse Preen] I can feel the hot blood pounding through your varicose veins.
See more quotes from Jimmy Durante...— From: The Man Who Came to Dinner
Jimmy Durante Facts
See More Facts about Jimmy Durante >>
For years he signed off his radio and TV 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.
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.'"
Has a street named after him on the east side of Las Vegas, Nevada.
Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. Pg. 146-148. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387
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.