Biography
Comedian, composer, actor, singer and songwriter ("Inka Dinka Doo") Jimmy Durante was educated in New York public schools. He began his career as a Coney Island pianist, and organized a five-piece band in 1916. He opened the Club Durant with Eddie Jackson and Lou Clayton, with whom he later formed a comedy trio for vaudeville and on television. He appeared in the Broadway musicals "Show Girl", "The New Yorkers", "Strike Me Pink", "Jumbo", "Red Hot and Blue", and "Stars in Your Eyes". By 1936, he had appeared at the Palladium in London. Later he had his own radio and television shows, and was a featured headliner in night clubs. Biographer Gene Fowler wrote his biography, "Schnozzola". Joining ASCAP in 1941, he collaborated musically with Jackie Barnett and Ben Ryan, and his other popular song compositions include "I'm Jimmy That Well-Dressed Man", "I Know Darn Well I Can Do Without Broadway", "I Ups to Him and He Ups to Me", "Daddy Your Mamma Is Lonesome For You", "Umbriago", "Any State In the Forty-Eight", "Chidabee Chidabee Chidabee", and "I'm Jimmy's Girl".
Movies & TV Shows
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It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) — Smiler Grogan
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Frosty the Snowman (1969) — Narrator (voice)
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The Man Who Came to Dinner (1941) — Banjo
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The Oscars (1953) — Self
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That's Entertainment! (1974) — (archive footage) (uncredited)
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The Lucy Show (1962) — Jimmy Durante
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Pepe (1960) — Jimmy Durante
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That's Entertainment, Part II (1976) — (archive footage)
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That's Entertainment! III (1994) — (archive footage)
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The Last Judgment (1961) — The man with the large nose
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The Great Rupert (1950) — Mr. Louie Amendola
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What's My Line? (1950) — Self - Mystery Guest
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Speak Easily (1932) — James
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The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) — Self
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Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962) — Anthony ('Pop') Wonder
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It Happened in Brooklyn (1947) — Nick Lombardi
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The Movie Orgy (1968) — Self (archive footage)
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On an Island with You (1948) — Buckley
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Little Miss Broadway (1938) — Jimmy Clayton
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Hell Below (1933) — Ptomaine' - Ships Cook
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The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (1971)
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Hollywood Party (1934) — Jimmy Durante
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The Colgate Comedy Hour (1950) — Self
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What! No Beer? (1933) — Jimmy Potts
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Blondie of the Follies (1932) — Jimmy
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Two Girls and a Sailor (1944) — Billy Kipp / Julian Kipp
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The Passionate Plumber (1932) — Julius J. McCracken
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Palooka (1934) — Knobby Walsh
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Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song (2002) — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
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The Christmas Party (1931) — Santa Claus (uncredited)
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Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1975) — Self (archive footage)
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The Cuban Love Song (1931) — O.O. Jones
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Start Cheering (1938) — Willie Gumbatz
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George White's Scandals (1934) — Happy McGillicuddy
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You're in the Army Now (1941) — Homer "Jeeper" Smith
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This Time for Keeps (1947) — Ferdi Farro
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Broadway to Hollywood (1933) — Jimmy
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The Wet Parade (1932) — Abe Shilling
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Meet the Baron (1933) — Joe McGoo
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The Phantom President (1932) — Curly