Ed Wynn Overview:

Character actor, Ed Wynn, was born Isaiah Edwin Leopold on Nov 9, 1886 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Wynn died at the age of 79 on Jun 19, 1966 in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and was laid to rest in Forest Lawn (Glendale) Cemetery in Glendale, CA.

Ed Wynn was a dark-haired, inimitably Jewish (although he married a Catholic), bespectacled American comedian, known in his wildly successful, baggy-panted vaudeville days as "The Perfect Fool". His early film sound comedies were not successful, but he returned to Hollywood in his seventies with his gurgling voice intact and found himself in demand playing eccentric old gentlemen, especially in Walt Disney productions. He was the father of actor Keenan Wynn. He died from cancer.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Illustrated Dictionary of Film Character Actors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Although Wynn was nominated for one Oscar, he never won a competitive Academy Award.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1959Best Supporting ActorThe Diary of Anne Frank (1959)Mr. DussellNominated
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He was honored with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the categories of Motion Pictures, Radio and Television.

BlogHub Articles:

TV Tuesday: Hattie McDaniel on The Show

By KC on Feb 9, 2010 From Classic Movies

Here's Hattie McDaniel in a 1949 appearance on The Show as Beulah, her character from her popular radio (and eventually television) show. My favorite part of this sketch is when McDaniel breaks into a rendition of Some of These Days (though she didn't sing much on the big screen, ... Read full article


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Ed Wynn Quotes:

[Uncle Albert had been asked if there is a way to get down from being up in the air]
Uncle Albert: There is a way. And frankly, I don't like to think of it, because you have to think of something sad.
Mary Poppins: Then do get on with it, please.
Uncle Albert: Let me see... I have the very thing: Yesterday, when the lady next door answered the door, there was a man there, and the man said to the lady, "I'm terribly sorry, I just ran over your cat."
[Jane and Michael descend from being up in the air]
Jane: Oh, that is sad.
Michael: The poor cat.
Uncle Albert: And the man said, "I'd like to replace your cat." And the lady said, "That's all right with me, but how are you with catching mice?"
[then they all burst out laughing and Jane and Michael re-ascend back to the tea table in the air]


Mad Hatter: Oh yes mustard! That'll do... Mustard? Don't let's be silly. Now lemon, that's different...


Uncle Albert: Speaking of weather, the other day when it was so cold, a friend of mine went to buy some long underwear. The shopkeeper said to him, "How long do you want it?" And my friend said, "Well, from about September to March."


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Best Supporting Actor Oscar 1959






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Ed Wynn on the
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Ed Wynn Facts
Wynn was originally slated to play the title role in MGM's "The Wizard Of Oz". He turned the part down .....believing it was "way too small ...."!

Ed teamed up with son Keenan Wynn again, this time in the sequel Son of Fluuber. Flubber.

Some of his more famous on-stage props: an 11-foot pole for people he wouldn't touch with a 10-foot pole; a windshield wiper to be served with grapefruit; a typewriter carriage for eating corn on the cob; a cash drawer that closed before you could open it; a non-wrinkling nightgown; and a cuckoo-clock fiddle.

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