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Ernie Kovacs Biography (1919-1962)

Born January 23, 1919, in Trenton, NJ; died after an automobile accident, January 13, 1962, in Beverly Hills, CA; son of Mary Kovacs (an actress); marriedBetty Wilcox (a dancer), 1945 (divorced, c. 1952); married Edie Adams (an actress), 1955; children: (first marriage) Bette Lee Andrea (later known as Elisabeth), Kip Raleigh (daughter); (second marriage) Mia Susan (deceased).

Nationality

American

Gender

Male

Birth Details

January 23, 1919

Trenton, New Jersey, United States

Death Details

January 13, 1962

Beverly Hills, California, United States

Famous Works

• Credits; Television Appearances; Series
• Deadline for Dinner (cooking show), The DuMont Network, 1950.
• Ernie in Kovacsland (also known as It's Time for Ernie), NBC, 1951.
• Kovacs on the Corner, NBC, 1951-52.
• Kovacs Unlimited, CBS, 1952-54.
• Panelist, Take a Guess, 1953.
• Panelist, One Minute Please, The DuMont Network, 1954.
• Host, Time Will Tell (game show), The DuMont Network, 1954.
• The Ernie Kovacs Show, NBC, 1955-56, ABC, 1958-59.
• Alternate host, The Tonight Show, NBC, 1956-57.
• Host, Take a Good Look, ABC, 1959-60.
• Host, Silent's Please, ABC, 1961, syndicated, 1962.
• The New Ernie Kovacs Show, ABC, 1961-62.
• Host of the series Three to Get Ready (a morning show in Philadelphia, PA).
• Credits; Television Appearances; Specials
• The Ernie Kovacs Special, ABC, 1962.
• Credits; Television Work; Specials
• Director, The Ernie Kovacs Special, ABC, 1962.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Episodic
• Person to Person, CBS, 1955.
• "Topaze," Playhouse 90, CBS, 1957.
• "The World's Greatest Quarterback," General Electric Theatre, CBS, 1958.
• "The Ernie Kovacs Show," The Jack Benny Program, CBS, 1959.
• Ford Startime, NBC, 1959.
• "Symbol of Authority," Desilu Playhouse, CBS, 1959.
• "I Was a Bloodhound," General Electric Theatre, CBS, 1959.
• "The Salted Mine," Schlitz Playhouse of Stars, CBS, 1959.
• Himself, "Lucy Meets the Moustache," The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Show, CBS, 1960.
• "Author at Work," Goodyear Theatre, NBC, 1960.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Pilots
• Filmed Medicine Man with Buster Keaton on the day he died.
• Credits; Film Appearances
• Captain Paul Locke, Operation Mad Ball, Columbia, 1957.
• Sidney Redlitch, Bell, Book, and Candle, Columbia, 1958.
• Harry Foster Malone, It Happened to Jane (also known as Twinkle and Shine), Columbia, 1959.
• Frankie Canon, North to Alaska (also known as Go North), Twentieth Century-Fox, 1960.
• Captain Segura, Our Man in Havana, Columbia, 1960.
• Immigration official, Pepe, Columbia, 1960.
• Roger Altar, Strangers When We Meet, Columbia, 1960.
• Captain Charlie Stark, Wake Me When It's Over, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1960.
• Bugsy F. "Captain" Foglemeyer, Sail a Crooked Ship, Columbia, 1961.
• Aldo Bondi, Five Golden Hours (also known as Cinque ore in contanti), Columbia, 1961.
• Appeared in Showdown at Ulcer Gulch, a commercial short filmed for The Saturday Evening Post.
• Credits; Radio Appearances; Series
• Host of Coffee with Kovacs, WTTM-AM, during World War II.
• Credits; Video
• The comedian's work has been collected on videotapes, including The Bestof Ernie Kovacs, five volumes, released by White Star in 1990, and on Kovacs!and Television's Original Genius.
• Writings;Television Series
• The Ernie Kovacs Show, NBC, 1955-56, ABC, 1958-59.
• Writings;Books
• Zoomar (novel), Doubleday (Garden City, NY), 1957.
• How to Talk at Gin, Illustrated by the Author in a Moment of Overconfidence, Doubleday, 1962.
• Writings;Other
• Author of a comic newspaper column in the 1940s.
• Other Works
• Adaptations: A television movie about Kovacs's life, Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter, was written by April Smith and broadcast in 1984 by ABC. It focused on the tragedy the comedian faced in his private life when his ex-wifekidnapped their two daughters in the early 1950s. Kovacs spent three years and much of his savings searching for them.

Further Reference

Books:

• Rico, Diana, Kovacsland: A Biography of Ernie Kovacs, Harcourt (San Diego, CA), 1990.
• Walley, David, Nothing in Moderation: A Biography of Ernie Kovacs, Drake(New York City), 1975.

Periodicals:

• New York Times, January 21, 1962.
• People Weekly, extra edition, summer, 1989, p. 64.

Electronic:

• http://www.primenet.com/~jlerew/eefms.html.