1904-09-17 ( 120 years old ) in Boston, Massachusetts, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerardo 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 Hope's sidekicks in Hope's 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, "Who's 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, It's 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).
Movies
This Is Bob Hope...
2017-12-29
Entertaining the Troops: Bob Hope & the USO
2002-01-01
Bob Hope: Laughing With the Presidents
1996-11-23
Don't Push, I'll Charge When I'm Ready
1977-12-18
Joys
1976-03-05
The Road to Hong Kong
1962-03-29
Andy Hardy Comes Home
1958-12-22
Pinocchio
1957-10-13
Meet Me in Las Vegas
1956-03-09
Music Land
1955-06-11
Ellis in Freedomland
1952-06-15
Alice in Wonderland
1951-07-28
Operation Wonderland
1951-06-14
Kentucky Jubilee
1951-05-18
The Brave Engineer
1950-03-03
Casey at the Bat
1946-08-15
Make Mine Music
1946-06-30
Road to Utopia
1946-02-27
It's in the Bag!
1945-04-21
G.I. Journal
1944-11-03
Atlantic City
1944-09-15
Musical Movieland
1944-09-09
Stars on Horseback
1943-04-23
Ice Capades Revue
1942-12-24
Priorities on Parade
1942-07-23
True to the Army
1942-03-21
Star Spangled Rhythm
1942-03-05
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 1
1941-10-02
Ice-Capades
1941-08-19
Sis Hopkins
1941-04-12
Melody and Moonlight
1940-10-10
Comin' Round the Mountain
1940-08-16
Road to Singapore
1940-03-22
Naughty But Nice
1939-06-23
Sweepstakes Winner
1939-05-20
Swingtime in the Movies
1938-12-24
Garden of the Moon
1938-09-23
Valley of the Giants
1938-09-17
Little Miss Broadway
1938-07-29
Port of Seven Seas
1938-07-01
The Star Reporter
1938-03-21
Rosalie
1937-12-24
Song Hits on Parade
1936-01-01
Powered by Powerxsoft Ltd using the TMDB API