Line #8 Creator/JimmyDurante


1	[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jimmy_durante.jpeg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:325:''Ha-cha-cha-cha-cha!'']]
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4	->''"All of us have schnozzles... if not in our faces, then in our character, minds or habits. When we admit our schnozzles, instead of defending them, we begin to laugh, and the world laughs with us."''
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6	James Francis Durante (February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist whose distinctive gravelly speech, thick New York accent, comedic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and protruberant nose helped to make him one of America's most familiar and popular entertainers from the [[TheRoaring20s 1920s]] through the [[TheSeventies '70s]]. He often referred to his nose as the ''schnozzola''--an Italianization of the American Yiddish slang word ''schnoz'' (nose)--and the word became his nickname.
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8	Durante was born on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He was the youngest of four children born to Rosa (Lentino) and Bartolomeo Durante, both of whom were immigrants from Salerno, Italy. He caught the performing bug early, dropping out of school in the seventh grade to become a full-time ragtime pianist. He first played with his cousin, whose name was also Jimmy Durante. It was a family act, but he was too professional for his cousin. He continued working the city's piano bar circuit, earning the nickname "ragtime Jimmy", before joining one of the first recognizable jazz bands in New York, the Original New Orleans Jazz Band.
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10	By the mid-1920s, Durante had become a vaudeville star and radio personality as part of a trio called Clayton, Jackson and Durante. By 1934, he had a major hit record with his own novelty composition, "Inka Dinka Doo", which became his SignatureSong for the rest of his life.
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12	His prolific career continued for five decades across film, stage, radio, television, and records, making such an impression that people even now can instantly recognize Durante's prominent nose and gruff voice in animated parodies, whether or not they can actually name the actor himself.
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14	Durante retired from performing in 1972, having become wheelchair-bound following a stroke. He died of pneumonia in Santa Monica, California on January 29, 1980, 12 days before he would have turned 87. He received Catholic funeral rites four days later--with such fellow entertainers as Marty Allen, Creator/DesiArnaz, Creator/ErnestBorgnine, and Creator/JackCarter in attendance--and was subsequently interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
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17	!!Filmography:
18	[[folder:Film roles]]
19	* ''Roadhouse Nights'' (1930) as Daffy
20	* ''New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford'' (1931) as Schnozzle
21	* ''The Christmas Party'' (1931) (short subject) as SantaClaus ({{uncredited\|role}})
22	* ''The Cuban Love Song'' (1931) as O.O. Jones
23	* ''Jackie Cooper's Birthday Party'' (1931) (short subject)
24	* ''Hollywood on Parade: Down Memory Lane'' (1932) (short subject)
25	* ''Hollywood on Parade'' (1932) (short subject)
26	* ''The Passionate Plumber'' (1932) as Julius J. [=McCracken=]
27	* ''The Wet Parade'' (1932) as Abe Shilling
28	* ''Speak Easily'' (1932) as James
29	* ''Blondie of the Follies'' (1932) as Jimmy
30	* ''The Phantom President'' (1932) as Curly Cooney
31	* ''Le plombier amoureux'' (1932) as Tony
32	* ''Give a Man a Job'' (1933) (short subject)
33	* ''What! No Beer?'' (1933) as Jimmy Potts
34	* ''Hollywood on Parade No. 9'' (1933) (short subject)
35	* ''Hell Below'' (1933) as Ptomaine, Ship's Cook
36	* ''Broadway to Hollywood'' (1933) as Himself, Hollywood Character
37	* ''Meet the Baron'' (1933) as Joe [=McGoo=] - the Favorite 'Schnozzle' of the Screen
38	* ''Palooka'' (1934) as Knobby Walsh
39	* ''George White's Scandals'' (1934) as Happy [=McGillicuddy=]
40	* ''Strictly Dynamite'' (1934) as Moxie
41	* ''Hollywood Party'' (1934) as Durante/Schnarzan
42	* ''Student Tour'' (1934) as Hank Merman, Trainer of the Crew
43	* ''Carnival'' (1935) as Fingers
44	* ''Land Without Music'' (1936) as Jonah J. Whistler
45	* ''Start Cheering'' (1938) as Willie Gumbatz
46	* ''Sally, Irene and Mary'' (1938) as Jefferson Twitchel
47	* ''Little Miss Broadway'' (1938) as Jimmy Clayton
48	* ''Melody Ranch'' (1940) as Cornelius J. Courtney
49	* ''You're in the Army Now'' (1941) as Jeeper Smith
50	* ''Film/TheManWhoCameToDinner'' (1942) as Banjo
51	* ''Two Girls and a Sailor'' (1944) as Billy Kipp
52	* ''Music for Millions'' (1944) as Andrews
53	* ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1945) (scenes deleted)
54	* ''Two Sisters from Boston'' (1946) as Spike
55	* ''It Happened in Brooklyn'' (1947) as Nick Lombardi
56	* ''This Time for Keeps'' (1947) as Ferdi Farro
57	* ''On an Island with You'' (1948) as Buckley
58	* ''The Great Rupert'' (1950) as Mr. Louie Amendola
59	* ''The Milkman'' (1950) as Breezy Albright
60	* ''Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Premiere'' (1955) (short subject) as Himself
61	* ''The Heart of Show Business'' (1957) (short subject) as Himself
62	* ''Beau James'' (1957) as Himself (cameo, uncredited)
63	* ''Pepe'' (1960) as Himself (cameo)
64	* ''The Last Judgment'' (1961) as The man with the large nose
65	* ''Billy Rose's Jumbo'' (1962) as Anthony 'Pop' Wonder
66	* ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' (1963) as "Smiler" Grogan
67	* ''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman'' (1969) as Himself, Narrator (voice)
68	[[/folder]]
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71	!!Tropes:
72	* CatchPhrase: Several, including "I got a million of 'em!", "Everybody wants to get into the act!", "Stop the music!", and "That's my boy that said that!"
73	** His radio and television shows ended with the cryptic SigningOffCatchphrase "Good night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are."[[note]]Durante eventually revealed that the phrase was a tribute to his first wife, Jean; while driving across the country they had stopped in Calabash, North Carolina and she had been delighted by the town's name.[[/note]]
74	* CoverAlbum: In the 1960s Durante found unexpected success as a crooner of traditional pop standards on a series of bestselling albums.
75	* DoubleAct:
76	** Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer made a brief, unsuccessful attempt to fashion one of these by pairing Durante with Creator/BusterKeaton in the early '30s.
77	** Durante had a much more successful one on radio with Garry Moore in the '40s.
78	* EveryoneHasStandards: Due to the bullying he received growing up due to his nose, he made a point of never mocking anyone else's appearance or other things he imagined they were sensitive or had been ostracized over.
79	* GagNose: His ''schnozzola'' is one of the most recognizable examples from the vaudeville era.
80	* InkSuitActor: As the narrator in ''WesternAnimation/FrostyTheSnowman''.
81	* {{Malaproper}}: Part of his usual comedic persona.
82	* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Durante was easily '''the''' most imitated celebrity during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation. He has been impersonated by the likes of WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, WesternAnimation/PopeyeTheSailor and [[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Tweety Bird]]. And at least three major characters--Creator/{{Terrytoons}}' Sourpuss, Creator/HannaBarbera's [[WesternAnimation/AugieDoggieAndDoggieDaddy Doggie Daddy]], and Spike in the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' shorts--are based directly on him.
83	** [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] performer Jerry Nelson also used Durante's voice as the basis for ''Series/SesameStreet''[='s=] Herry Monster.
84	* SignatureHeadgear: His trademark battered fedora.

Context Creator / JimmyDurante