When Jimmy Durante performed, he appeared to the world like a king penguin in basic black evening wear and a shapeless black fedora. Strong in his stride and tireless while performing, he was known for his rapid speech, gravelly voice, and cathedral nose. His legacy continues every Christmas season when he is heard as the narrator of Frosty, the Snowman.

Origins

     Durante was born to Italian immigrant parents in New York City on the kitchen table in his parents' apartment. His parents gave him piano lessons as he grew up. From 1910 until 1914 Durante worked at Diamond Tony's on Coney Island. Billed as "Ragtime Jimmy," he became a talented piano player and learned the ins and outs of handling a crowd.

     Durante worked his way up to the Alamo Club in Harlem, where he was bandleader and talent booker. He worked there until 1921 and moonlighted at other clubs. He also made a series of recordings with the Original New Orleans Jazz Band. During his time at the Alamo, Durante met his wife, Jeanne Olson. They were married in 1921.

     During the 1920s, Durante gravitated toward vaudeville, where he became part of a comedy music team with Lou Clayton and Eddie Jackson, known as the "Three Sawdust Bums." He opened his own place, The Club Durant, which, although it did not last long, made Jimmy Durante a star. After the club closed in 1925, the three men continued performing music and comedy at various theaters and finally at the Palace Theater.

     Durante developed much of his characteristic style during his vaudeville days. He purposefully misused the English language and enthusiastically delivered his signature "Hotcha­ cha." He also became known for tunes such as "I Ups to Him," "I'm Jimmy, That Well-Dressed Man," and his theme song, "Inka-Dinka Doo."

     Clayton, Jackson, and Durante made their Broadway debut in Ziegfeld's Show Girl in 1929. Durante had a chance to do a solo and let his personality shine through. The "Bums" also made their film appearance in Roadhouse Nights, filmed on Long Island in the Paramount studio. Durante played Helen Morgan's piano accompanist. He knew that he was not the matinee idol type, and he found his popularity increasing as he aged and became loved by another generation.

     The next Broadway appearance for the trio was The New Yorker (1930-1931), playing speakeasy gangsters. At that time Durante was offered a five-year contract by Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM), breaking up the trio. Lou Clayton became Jimmy's manager and confidant until Clayton's death in 1950.

     Durante appeared in 17 films over the next four years. In his first film he supported William Haines in The New Adventures of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1931). During his early film career, there were few memorable moments. He took time off to reteam with Clayton and Jackson in the Broadway show Strike Me Pink. The play got modest reviews. Although his film career was not spectacular, Durante appeared in a number of films from 1936 to 1941. He also appeared on Broadway in the Cole Porter revue Red, Hot & Blue (1936-37, with Ethel Merman and Bob Hope) and then in Stars in Your Eyes (1939, again with Merman).

Radio

     Durante was a guest on many radio shows in the 1930s and 1940s. He appeared with Eddie Cantor, Rudy Vallee, Fred Allen, and others, making appearances as well on such programs as Fibber McGee and Molly and Duffy's Tavern. In 1943 Durante began appearing on CBS's Camel Comedy Caravan with Garry Moore. In 1945 the program was renamed The Jimmy Durante-Garry Moore Show. Moore left in 1947, but Durante continued with the show through 1949. While appearing on radio, Durante also appeared in six films at MGM. He was a great comic foil for Van Johnson and June Allyson. In the 1950s he made only three films, starring with Donald O'Connor in The Milkman, The Great Rupert, and Beau James.

Film and Television

     During the late 1940s and the 1950s, some of Durante's greatest success came from television. He co-hosted NBC's Four Star Revue in 1950, as well as the All Star Revue (1951-52) and the Colgate Comedy Hour (NBC, 1953-54). In 19 54 he starred in his own show, which ran through 1956. Though his show went off the air, Durante continued to guest-star on television shows and in specials. Baby boomers knew him in the early 1960s from his various appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show. In 1969 he supplied the narration for the CBS cartoon Frosty, the Snowman, which still runs every year at Christmas. His last television appearance was on the Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in 1971.

     Unlike most of his contemporaries, Durante seemed ageless from the late 1940s throughout the early 1970s. In 1972, he suffered a stroke and his health declined. Wheelchair bound, he appeared on various award shows, making his last public appearance at his 83rd birthday bash in 1976. His fame was rekindled when his recordings of "As Time Goes By" and "Make Someone Happy" were used on the soundtrack of the movie Sleepless in Seattle (1993), putting Durante on the charts in the 1990s.