Jimmy Durante - Film & Theater Personalities, Facts and Family
Jimmy Durante's Personal Details
Jimmy Durante, popularly known as ‘Schnozzola’, was an American singer, actor, comedian and pianist
| Information | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birthday | February 10, 1893 |
| Died on | January 29, 1980 |
| Nationality | American |
| Famous | Film & Theater Personalities, Actors, Comedians, Pianists, Singers |
| Nick names | Ragtime Jimmy, Schnozzola |
| Spouses | Jeane Olson, Marjorie Little |
| Known as | Jimmy Durante |
| Childrens | CeCe Durante-Bloum |
| Birth Place | Brooklyn |
| Political Ideology | Democratic Party |
| Religion | Roman Catholic |
| Gender | Male |
| Father | Bartolomeo Durante |
| Mother | Rosa |
| Sun Sign | Aquarius |
| Born in | Brooklyn |
| Famous as | Actor, Comedian, Singer, Pianist |
| Died at Age | 86 |
// Famous Singers
Billie Eilish
Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O’Connell is an American singer and songwriter. Check out this biography to know about her childhood, family, personal life, birthday, etc.
Isaak Presley
All about American actor and singer Isaak Presley including his age, birthday, family life, girlfriends, net worth, and some fun facts.
Sophia Montero
Sophia Montero is an American singer and YouTuber. Let’s have a look at her family and personal life including age, date of birth, net worth, relationships, and fun facts.
Jimmy Durante's photo
Who is Jimmy Durante?
James Francis ‘Jimmy’ Durante was a famous American performer/entertainer, pianist, comedian, actor and singer. His flawless comic timing, the implicit use of comic language and jazzy melodious songs made him the most famous and loved stage, television, silver screen and radio artist in America. From a very early age, young Durante knew his professional talent for playing ragtime piano and therefore he joined the ‘Original New Orleans Jazz Band’, one of New York’s most famous jazz bands. From there on Durante moved to Broadway, teamed up with other artists to perform on stage or in the movies or on the radio. His catchphrases like, "Dat's my boy dat said dat!", "Dat's moral turpentine!" and "It's a catastastroke!", etc. made him extremely popular with the audience and soon Durante started getting big chunk of roles in the movies, in Broadway, radio and TV. He was also a lovely singer, who came up with a pop album of his own, titled, ‘September Songs’ which became a best-seller at the time and the songs from this album were used in popular motion pictures, like ‘The Notebook’ and ‘Sleepless in Seattle’.
// Famous Comedians
Meghan Rienks
Check out all that you wanted to know about Meghan Rienks, the famous American YouTuber & vlogger; her birthday, her family and personal life, her boyfriends, fun trivia facts and more.
Desmond English
Check out all that you wanted to know about Desmond English, the famous YouTuber and Viner; his birthday, his family and personal life, his wife, fun trivia facts and more.
Meital Dohan
Meital Dohan is an award-winning Israeli theater, film, and television actress, comedian and singer. Check out this biography to know about her birthday, childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about her.
Childhood & Early Life
Jimmy Durante was born in Lower East Side of New York to Rosa Lentino and Bartolomeo Durate. His family had immigrated to America from Salerno, Italy, and his father was a barber.
Durante dropped out of eighth grade to pursue ragtime piano. Initially he started playing with a cousin. Both of them used to perform only for the family but Durante realized the far reach of his talent.
He started playing for city’s piano bars and adopted a nickname ‘Ragtime Jimmy’. Soon enough, Durante was hired as a professional pianist by one of the first popular jazz bands of New York––Original New Orleans Jazz Band.
Career
Durante remained a part of the Original New Orleans Jazz Band for considerable number of years and his trademark routine of breaking into a song to deliver a joke with orchestra chord punctuation made him famous in 1920s.
By the mid-1920s, Durante became a famous performer and got himself into vaudeville entertainment and radio. He worked with two other artists, Clayton and Jackson and from-time-to-time he got together with them to do different entertainment projects.
The trio of Clayton, Jackson and Durante came together in a movie based on Dashiell Hammett’s ‘Red Harvest’, titled ‘Roadhouse Nights’ in 1930. Also, in the same year he teamed up with Jackson for Cole Porter musical ‘The New Yorkers’.
In 1934, his innovative composition ‘Inka Dinka Doo’ became a super hit record; the lyrics for which were written by Ben Ryan and Durante composed the music. ‘Inka Dinka Doo’ stuck with him as his theme song, for life.
In 1935, Duranted acted in musical Broadway, ‘Jumbo’. The most famous part of the show was when a police officer catches him leading a life with an elephant and on being questioned he says, “What elephant?”.
Next step forward for Durante was to appear in the motion pictures. For this he was paired with the silent film legend Buster Keaton and they did movies from 1932-1933, like, ‘What! No Beer?’, ‘Speak Easily’, and ‘The Passionate Plumber’.
Durante did his first major stint with the radio in 1933; he made an appearance in Eddie Cantor’s ‘The Chase and Sanborn Hour’. Later he teamed up with Garry Moore for ‘The Durante-Moore Show’.
Durante and Moore became nation’s favorite on the radio, with their catchphrases and incorporated performances by performers like Frank Sinatra. Moore left the show in 1947 and Durante came out with his own show ‘The Jimmy Durante Show’.
Now was the time for him to move on to the television and he made his debut in 1950 with ‘The Big Show’. And in the following year, he was one of the hosts on ‘4-Star Revue’.
In 1962-63, Durante did motion movies like, ‘Billy Rose’s Jumbo (1962)’, a musical film whose title came from Durante’s Broadway musical ‘Jumbo’ and ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)’ which was an epic comedy film.
Durante recorded an album of pop genre, ‘September Song’ in 1963. The album became a best-seller and Durante was re-introduced, to yet another generation, almost three decades after he was first recognized in the world of ragtime piano.
Major Work
Durante’s entertainment career stated with ‘Original New Orleans Jazz Band’ which took him to acting in Broadways and entertainment shows. His comic timing earned him a place in the movies, ‘Roadhouse Nights’, ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World’.
Not Just that, his talent took him to television with ‘4-Star Revue’, to radio with ‘The Durante-Moore Show’ and later ‘The Jimmy Durante Show’. He was also a singer and his album ‘September Song’ was a hit of its time.
Personal Life & Legacy
Durante married his first wife, Jeanne in 1921 but she died in 1943, due to a heart disease that lingered on for two years.
He got married again in 1960 to a former Beauty Queen of the New Jersey State Fair, Margaret ‘Margie’ Little, when he was 67 years old and Margie was 47. The couple adopted a girl baby, Cecilia Alicia.
Durante retired from the entertainment business after suffering from a stroke that left him in the wheelchair. He died in 1980 because of severe pneumonia, in California.
Trivia
His catchphrase at the end of his show on the radio, ‘Goodnight Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are’ was meant for his first wife who died due to heart ailment.
He wrote foreword for a humorous book titled ‘Cockeyed Americana’.
// Famous Film & Theater Personalities
Jacob Elordi
Jacob Elordi is an Australian actor. Let’s take a look at his childhood, family, personal life, career, etc.
Wentworth Miller
Wentworth Miller is an American actor and screenwriter who achieved recognition for his role in the TV series ‘Prison Break’.
Skai Jackson
Skai Jackson is an American child actress with huge fan following. Find more about her family & personal life, relationships, facts and more.
Jimmy Durante's awards
| Year | Name | Award |
|---|---|---|
Primetime Emmy Awards | ||
| 1953 | Best Comedian | Winner |
Jimmy Durante biography timelines
- // 10th Feb 1893Jimmy Durante was born in Lower East Side of New York to Rosa Lentino and Bartolomeo Durate. His family had immigrated to America from Salerno, Italy, and his father was a barber.
- // 1920Durante remained a part of the Original New Orleans Jazz Band for considerable number of years and his trademark routine of breaking into a song to deliver a joke with orchestra chord punctuation made him famous in 1920s.
- // 1920By the mid-1920s, Durante became a famous performer and got himself into vaudeville entertainment and radio. He worked with two other artists, Clayton and Jackson and from-time-to-time he got together with them to do different entertainment projects.
- // 1921 To 1943Durante married his first wife, Jeanne in 1921 but she died in 1943, due to a heart disease that lingered on for two years.
- // 1930The trio of Clayton, Jackson and Durante came together in a movie based on Dashiell Hammett’s ‘Red Harvest’, titled ‘Roadhouse Nights’ in 1930. Also, in the same year he teamed up with Jackson for Cole Porter musical ‘The New Yorkers’.
- // 1932 To 1933Next step forward for Durante was to appear in the motion pictures. For this he was paired with the silent film legend Buster Keaton and they did movies from 1932-1933, like, ‘What! No Beer?’, ‘Speak Easily’, and ‘The Passionate Plumber’.
- // 1933Durante did his first major stint with the radio in 1933; he made an appearance in Eddie Cantor’s ‘The Chase and Sanborn Hour’. Later he teamed up with Garry Moore for ‘The Durante-Moore Show’.
- // 1934In 1934, his innovative composition ‘Inka Dinka Doo’ became a super hit record; the lyrics for which were written by Ben Ryan and Durante composed the music. ‘Inka Dinka Doo’ stuck with him as his theme song, for life.
- // 1935In 1935, Duranted acted in musical Broadway, ‘Jumbo’. The most famous part of the show was when a police officer catches him leading a life with an elephant and on being questioned he says, “What elephant?”.
- // 1947Durante and Moore became nation’s favorite on the radio, with their catchphrases and incorporated performances by performers like Frank Sinatra. Moore left the show in 1947 and Durante came out with his own show ‘The Jimmy Durante Show’.
- // 1950Now was the time for him to move on to the television and he made his debut in 1950 with ‘The Big Show’. And in the following year, he was one of the hosts on ‘4-Star Revue’.
- // 1960He got married again in 1960 to a former Beauty Queen of the New Jersey State Fair, Margaret ‘Margie’ Little, when he was 67 years old and Margie was 47. The couple adopted a girl baby, Cecilia Alicia.
- // 1962 To 1963In 1962-63, Durante did motion movies like, ‘Billy Rose’s Jumbo (1962)’, a musical film whose title came from Durante’s Broadway musical ‘Jumbo’ and ‘It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)’ which was an epic comedy film.
- // 1963Durante recorded an album of pop genre, ‘September Song’ in 1963. The album became a best-seller and Durante was re-introduced, to yet another generation, almost three decades after he was first recognized in the world of ragtime piano.
- // 29th Jan 1980Durante retired from the entertainment business after suffering from a stroke that left him in the wheelchair. He died in 1980 because of severe pneumonia, in California.
// Famous Pianists
Kylee Renee
Check out all that you wanted to know about Kylee Renee, the famous singer; her birthday, her family and personal life, her boyfriends, fun trivia facts and more.
Ross Lynch
Ross Lynch is an American actor, singer and musician, who became famous after his role in the television show ‘Austin & Ally.’ Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and other facts related to his life.
Serj Tankian
Serj Tankian is a famous American singer-songwriter and member of the band, ‘System of a Down’. This biography profiles his childhood, music career, life, achievements and timeline.
Matthew Bellamy
Matthew Bellamy, popularly known as Matt Bellamy, is a popular English musician. Check out this biography to know about his childhood, family life, achievements and fun facts about him.
Sarah McLachlan
The founder of the ‘Lilith Fair’ tour and winner of two Grammy Awards, Sarah McLachlan is a Canadian singer, musician and a songwriter. This biography profiles her childhood, life, music career, works, achievements and timeline.
Nikki Sixx
Nikki Sixx is an American musician and is best known as the founder and bassist of the band, ‘Mötley Crüe’. This biography profiles his childhood, career, achievements, life and timeline.
Jimmy Durante's FAQ
What is Jimmy Durante birthday?
Jimmy Durante was born at 1893-02-10
When was Jimmy Durante died?
Jimmy Durante was died at 1980-01-29
Where was Jimmy Durante died?
Jimmy Durante was died in Santa Monica
Which age was Jimmy Durante died?
Jimmy Durante was died at age 86
Where is Jimmy Durante's birth place?
Jimmy Durante was born in Brooklyn
What is Jimmy Durante nationalities?
Jimmy Durante's nationalities is American
What is Jimmy Durante nick names?
Jimmy Durante's nickNames is Ragtime Jimmy, Schnozzola
Who is Jimmy Durante spouses?
Jimmy Durante's spouses is Jeane Olson, Marjorie Little
Who is Jimmy Durante childrens?
Jimmy Durante's childrens is CeCe Durante-Bloum
What is Jimmy Durante's political ideology?
Jimmy Durante's political ideology is Democratic Party
What is Jimmy Durante's religion?
Jimmy Durante's religion is Roman Catholic
Who is Jimmy Durante's father?
Jimmy Durante's father is Bartolomeo Durante
Who is Jimmy Durante's mother?
Jimmy Durante's mother is Rosa
What is Jimmy Durante's sun sign?
Jimmy Durante is Aquarius
How famous is Jimmy Durante?
Jimmy Durante is famouse as Actor, Comedian, Singer, Pianist