Jimmy Durante

Jimmy Durante (1893-1980) was an American singer, pianist, comedian, writer, and actor. His famous nickname was 'The Great Schnozzola', referencing his big nose. He was also known for his deep raspy voice when he said "Ha-Cha-Cha-Chaaaaa!". He won an Emmy Award in 1952.


British postcard in the Picturegoer Series, London, no. W 643. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.


British postcard in the Film Weekly Series, London.


American postcard by Fotofolio, NY, NY, no. PH22. Photo: Philippe Halsman. Caption: Jimmy Durante, 1951.

Stop the music

James Francis 'Jimmy' Durante was born in 1893 in Brooklyn, New York. His family were Italian Catholics. Durante dedicated himself to becoming a piano player, performing in the usual dives, beer halls and public events.

He organised a ragtime band, playing for such spots as the Coney Island College Inn and Harlem's Alamo Club. He secured two long-lasting relationships in 1921 when he married Maud Jeanne Olson and formed a professional partnership with dancer Eddie Jackson.

Two years later Durante and Jackson combined with another dancer, Lou Jackson, to form one of the best-known roughhouse teams of the 1920s. Clayton, Jackson and Durante opened their speakeasy, the Club Durant (they couldn't afford the 'E' on the sign), quickly becoming the 'in' spot for show-business celebrities and the bane of Prohibition agents.

Durante was the star of the proceedings, adopting his lifelong stage character of an aggressive, belligerent singer, yelling "Stop the music"; at the slightest provocation and behaving as though he had to finish his song before the authorities hauled him away for having the nerve to perform.

Durante's trio went uptown in the Ziegfeld musical 'Show Girl' in 1929, the same year that Durante made his screen debut in Roadhouse Nights (Hobart Henley, 1929) starring Helen Morgan.


Spanish postcard by Dümmatzen no. 103. Photo: Metro Goldwyn Mayer.

What elephant?

In the 1930s, the megawatt Jimmy Durante acted in a comedy series with stone-faced comedian Buster Keaton. Though popular in personal appearances, Durante's overbearing performing style did not translate well to film.

Hal Erickson at AllMovie: "Though Durante and Keaton liked each other, their comedy styles were not compatible." He later appeared in The Wet Parade (Victor Fleming, 1932) starring Dorothy Jordan, and Broadway to Hollywood (Willard Mack, Jules White, 1933).

Durante reached his peak in films by 1934 and was thereafter used only as a specialty act or in supporting roles. On stage, however, Durante was still a proven audience favourite.

He stopped the show in the 1935 Billy Rose stage musical 'Jumbo', wherein, while leading a live elephant away from his creditors, he was stopped by a cop. "What are you doing with that elephant?" demanded the cop. Durante looked askance and bellowed, "What elephant?"

In hit after hit on Broadway, Durante was a metropolitan success. Later films include The Man Who Came to Dinner (William Keighley, 1942), playing 'Banjo', a character based on Harpo Marx, Ziegfeld Follies (Vincente Minnelli, a.o., 1946), and Billy Rose's Jumbo (Charles Walters, 1962), based on the 1935 musical.


Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Dialling G-O-D, and saying 'Thanks!

In 1943, Jimmy Durante expanded his popularity nationwide with a radio program co-starring young comedian Garry Moore. During the 1950s, Durante continued to thrive on TV.

On 4 August 1955, The Jimmy Durante Show on NBC was the venue of the final role by the famous Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda. Miranda fell to her knees while dancing with Durante, who quickly told the band, "STOP--the music!". He helped Miranda up to her feet as she laughed, "I'm all out of breath!". He replied, "That's OK, honey, I'll take your lines." Miranda laughed again and quickly pulled herself together and finished the show. However, the next morning, Miranda died at home from another heart attack.

Durante's last film was the classic comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (Stanley Kramer, 1963) with Spencer Tracy. By the mid-1960s, Durante was capable of fracturing a TV audience simply by mangling the words written for him on cue cards; a perennial of ABC's weekly Hollywood Palace, he took on a weekly series in his 76th year in a variety program co-starring the Lennon Sisters.

Suffering several strokes in the 1970s, Jimmy Durante decided to retire completely, though he occasionally showed up (in a wheelchair) for such celebrations as MGM's 50th anniversary.

Hal Erickson: "Few stars were as beloved as Durante, and even fewer were spoken of so highly and without any trace of jealousy or rancour after he died in 1980; perhaps this adulation was due in part to Durante's ending each performance by finding a telephone, dialling G-O-D, and saying 'Thanks!'"


Belgian Collectors Card by Kwatta, Bois d'Haine. Photo: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Collection: Geoffrey Donaldson Institute.


American Plastichrome postcard by Colourpicture Publishers, Boston, Mass. / Mitock & Sons, Sherman Oaks, Calif., no. P59003. Color by Don Andrews. Caption: Jimmy Durante arrives at the glamorous Hollywood Premiere.

Sources: Hal Erickson (AllMovie - now page defunct), Wikipedia and IMDb.