Buddy Hackett Biography

The son of a Brooklyn upholsterer, baby-faced comic actor Buddy Hackett always claimed he was "born to be funny." Hackett was the boy who invariably blew his lines in the Holiday pageants and the overweight teen who accidentally stuck his foot in a water bucket during his first game with the high school football team. It was while serving in the Army that Hackett met the double-talking Chinese waiter who inspired him to create the most famous of his early nightclub routines. Hackett's first stand-up gig in Brooklyn led to additional work on the New York supper club Catskill resort circuits; he also guested on a very early (1945) TV program, Laff Time. His film debut was as the voice of a talking camel in the otherwise straightforward Arabian nights programmer Slave Girl (1947). He was signed to a Universal Pictures contract in 1953, then starred for two years in Broadway comedy Lunatics and Lovers. He played the title role in 1956 TV sitcom Stanley, which served to introduce Carol Burnett to America's televiewers; two years later, he became a regular on Jackie Gleason's Saturday night variety series. Hackett was most active in films during the years 1958 through 1968, appearing primarily in nitwit comedy-relief roles, but also delivering a solid dramatic performance in God's Little Acre. At the same time, his reputation in nightclubs soared, first because of his quick wit and gift for sudden improvisation, then later for his ability to spout out the dirtiest of material with the cherubic ingenuousness of a naughty first-grader. Perhaps it was this veneer of innocence that made Hackett an ideal "family" entertainer in such G-rated pictures as Everything's Ducky (1961), The Music Man (1962), and The Love Bug (1968). As late as 1989, he was still delighting the kiddie trade as the voice of Scuttle in the Disney animated feature The Little Mermaid. Among Buddy Hackett's many television credits was the 1978 biopic Bud and Lou, in which he offered a curiously unsympathetic interpretation of his idol, Lou Costello; ironically, back in 1954 Hackett had replaced an ailing Costello in the Universal slapstick comedy flick Fireman Save My Child. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

• 1. Zaneeta Shinn: It's indecent to meet boys at the footbridge!
  2. Tommy Djilas: he answers Zaneeta: First thing after supper?
  3. Winthrop Paroo: she answers Tommy: All right! Ye Gods!
  4. Harold Hill: Mothers of River City, heed that warning before it's too late! Watch for the telltale signs of corruption! The minute your son leaves the house, does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee? Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger? A dime-novel hidden in the corncrib? Is he starting to memorize jokes from Captain Billy's Whiz-Bang? Are certain words creeping into his conversation? Words like 'swell' and "so's your old man"? If so my friends, ya got trouble!
  5. Winthrop Paroo: No, thank you, AMARYLLITH! [Winthrop had an embarressing lisp]
  6. Harold Hill: Ladies and gentlemen, either you are closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge, or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated by the presence of a pool table in your community!
  7. Marcellus Washburn: Well, ain't no call for a boys' band in this town. Anything these Iowa people don't have already, they do without.
  8. Tommy Djilas: Mayor Shinn, your honor, your daughter and I have been going steady behind your back.
  From The Music Man. Submitted by rick b (44 days ago)

• 1. Harold Hill: Oh, my dear little librarian. You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth remembering.
  2. Mrs. Paroo: It's a well-known principle that if you keep the flint in one drawer and the steel in the other, you'll never strike much of a fire.
  3. Marcellus Washburn: I heard you was in steam automobiles. (to Harold Hill)
  4. Harold Hill: answers: I was... till someone actually 'invented' one!
  5. Harold Hill: 'Brooklyn'? Marce, this isn't even *Dubuque*!
  From The Music Man. Submitted by rick b (44 days ago)