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Ernie Kovacs

Highest Rated: 95% Our Man in Havana (1960)

Lowest Rated: 50% North to Alaska (1960)

Birthday: Jan 23, 1919

Birthplace: Trenton, New Jersey, USA

Known for his signature bushy moustache, ever-present cigar and wildly irreverent manner, legendary comedian Ernie Kovacs actually had his start in the entertainment world as a singer, but his ability to both devise and improvise delightfully strange comic scenarios soon sent him off in a wholly different direction. After trying his hand at various mundane jobs, Kovacs found his home on television and honed his talent with a number of hosting gigs. Whether he was instructing housewives on how to spice up their evening meal or reporting the local weather, Kovacs always worked his unique brand of irreverence into even the drabbest show premise. When finally granted a program in which he could let his inner madman run wild, Kovacs concocted some of the zaniest and most original comedy of his day, best illustrated on "The Ernie Kovacs Show" (CBS/NBC, 1952-56). One of the key elements of his humor was its unexpected and incongruous nature, a natural outgrowth of his frequent ad-libbing, but also representative of his truly unique sensibilities. Kovacs' blackouts were quite experimental for the time and he would be credited with inspiring a number of later programs, particularly "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" (NBC, 1968-73), as well as serving as role model for future comics with their own peculiar perspectives. Never short of unusual ideas and ways to somehow pull them off, Kovacs was incredibly inventive and a true trail blazer whose importance to the worlds of comedy and television could never be underestimated.

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Highest-Rated Movies

95% 77% Our Man in Havana
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76% 66% Bell, Book and Candle
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56% Strangers When We Meet
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50% 76% North to Alaska
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Kovacs!
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50% It Happened to Jane
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49% Pepe
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Sail a Crooked Ship
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Mapping the Blue
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50% Wake Me When It's Over
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Filmography

Movies TV Shows
Mapping the Blue 2014 Cinematographer Kovacs! 1971 Actor Sail a Crooked Ship 1962 Bugsy G. Foglemeyer/The Captain Actor Pepe 49% 1961 Immigration Inspector Actor Five Golden Hours 60% 1961 Aldo Bondi Actor Wake Me When It's Over 50% 1960 Capt. Charlie Stark Actor Our Man in Havana 95% 77% 1960 Capt. Segura Actor North to Alaska 50% 76% 1960 Frankie Canon Actor Strangers When We Meet 56% 1960 Roger Altar Actor It Happened to Jane 50% 1959 Harry Foster Malone Actor Bell, Book and Candle 76% 66% 1958 Sidney Redlitch Actor Operation Mad Ball 43% 1957 Capt. Paul Lock Actor
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