Phil Silvers

Phil Silvers (May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly sixty years. Silvers achieved major popularity when he starred in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom set on a U.S. Army post in which he played Master Sergeant Ernest (Ernie) Bilko. He also starred in the films It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966). He is a winner of two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on The Phil Silvers Show and two Tony Awards for his performances in Top Banana and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

Phil Silvers
Silvers as Sgt. Bilko
Birth namePhilip Silver
Born(1911-05-11)May 11, 1911
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 1, 1985(1985-11-01) (aged 74)
Century City, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
GenresCharacter comedy
Spouse
(m. 1945; div. 1950)

Evelyn Patrick
(m. 1956; div. 1966)
Children5
Notable works and rolesThe Phil Silvers Show

Early life

Born Philip Silver[1] or Philip Silversmith[2] on May 11, 1911, in Brooklyn, New York, in the working-class Brownsville section,[3] he was the eighth and youngest child of Russian Jewish immigrants, Saul and Sarah (née Handler) Silver. His siblings were Lillian, Harry, Jack, Saul, Pearl, Michael, and Reuben Silver. His father, a sheet metal worker, helped build the early New York skyscrapers.

Career

Silvers began entertaining at the age of 11, when he would sing in theaters when the film projector broke (a common occurrence in those days), to the point where he was allowed to keep attending the same movie theater free of charge, to sing through any future breakdowns.[4] By age 13, he was working as a singer in the Gus Edwards Revue. Subsequently, he worked in vaudeville and as a burlesque comic.[5]

Silvers next worked in short films for the Vitaphone studio, such as Ups and Downs (1937), and on Broadway, where he made his début in the short-lived show Yokel Boy in 1939. Critics raved about Silvers, who was hailed as the bright spot in the mediocre play.[6] The Broadway revue High Kickers (1941) was based on his concept.[7]

He made his feature film début in Hit Parade of 1941 in 1940[8] (his previous appearance as a 'pitch man' in Strike Up the Band was cut). Over the next two decades, he worked as a character actor for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox, in such films as All Through the Night (1942) with Humphrey Bogart. Around the same time, he played a scene with W. C. Fields in Tales of Manhattan (also 1942) which was cut from the original release, but restored decades later in home video issues. Silvers also appeared in Lady Be Good (1941), Coney Island (1943), Cover Girl (1944), with Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth, and Summer Stock (1950).[9] When the studio system began to decline, he returned to the stage.

Silvers wrote the lyrics for Frank Sinatra's "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)". Although he was not a songwriter, he wrote the lyrics while visiting composer Jimmy Van Heusen. The two composed the song for Van Heusen's writing partner Johnny Burke, for his wife Bessie's birthday. Substituting Sinatra's little daughter's name Nancy at her birthday party, the trio pressed the singer to record it himself. The song became a popular hit in 1945 and was a staple in Sinatra's live performances.[10] Towards the end of the Second World War, Silvers entertained the troops during several successful overseas USO tours with Sinatra.[11]

The Phil Silvers Show

Silvers became a household name in 1955 when he starred as Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko in You'll Never Get Rich, later retitled The Phil Silvers Show. The military comedy became a television hit, with the opportunistic Bilko fast-talking his way through one obstacle after another. In 1958, CBS switched the show to be telecast on Friday nights and moved the setting to Camp Fremont in California. A year later, the show was off the schedule.[12] In the 1963–1964 television season, he appeared as Harry Grafton, a factory foreman interested in get-rich-quick schemes, much like the previous Bilko character, in CBS's 30-episode The New Phil Silvers Show,[13] with co-stars Stafford Repp, Herbie Faye, Buddy Lester, Elena Verdugo as his sister, Audrey, and her children, played by Ronnie Dapo and Sandy Descher.

Film roles

Throughout the 1960s, he appeared in films such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963)[14] and 40 Pounds of Trouble (1963).[15] According to the documentary on the DVD of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Silvers was not a traditional comedian: he was a comic actor. Silvers never did stand-up, and, out of character, he was not known for cracking jokes.

He was featured in Marilyn Monroe's last film, the unfinished Something's Got to Give (1962).[16] In 1967, he starred as a guest in one of the British Carry On films, Follow That Camel, a Foreign Legion parody in which he played a variation of the Sergeant Bilko character, Sergeant Nocker.[17] Producer Peter Rogers employed him to ensure the Carry On films' success in America, though Silvers' presence did not ensure the film's success on either side of the Atlantic.[18] His salary was £30,000, the largest Carry On salary ever, only later met by the appearance of Elke Sommer in Carry On Behind.

Broadway

Publicity photo of Silvers from the musical Top Banana

Silvers scored a major triumph in Top Banana, a Broadway show of 1952. Silvers played Jerry Biffle, the egocentric, always-busy star of a major television show. (The character is said to have been based on Milton Berle.) Silvers dominated the show and won a Tony Award for his performance. He repeated the role in the 1954 film version which was initially released in 3-D.[4] Silvers returned to Broadway in the musical Do Re Mi in December 1960, receiving a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical. Stanley Green wrote, "It was particularly blessed by offering two outstanding clowns in Phil Silvers as the pushiest of patsies and Nancy Walker."[19] Silvers was offered the leading role of conniving Roman slave Pseudolus in the Broadway musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Silvers declined,[4] and the role went instead to Zero Mostel, who was so successful in the role that he repeated the role in the 1966 film version. By this time, Silvers realized his error and agreed to appear in the film as a secondary character, flesh merchant Marcus Lycus. When actor-producer Larry Blyden mounted a Broadway revival of Forum in 1972, he wanted Phil Silvers to play the lead, and this time Silvers agreed.[20] The revival was a hit and Silvers became the first leading actor ever to win a Tony Award in a revival of a musical.

Later career

Silvers in The Beverly Hillbillies (circa 1969-1970)

Later in his career, Silvers guest-starred on The Beverly Hillbillies, and various TV variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In and The Dean Martin Show. He appeared as curmudgeonly Hollywood producer Harold Hecuba in the classic 1966 episode "The Producer" on Gilligan's Island,[21] where he and the castaways performed a musical version of Hamlet.[22] (Silvers' production company Gladasya – named after his catchphrase "Gladdaseeya!" – financed the show.) He continued to make guest appearances in television sitcoms including, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Happy Days, and his final screen credit CHiPs in 1983. He also starred in various television specials and talk shows such as The Bob Hope Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The David Frost Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Mike Douglas Show. In 1980, Silvers participated in The Friar's Club Tribute to Milton Berle alongside Don Rickles, Dick Shawn, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, George Burns, Karl Malden, and Robert Culp.[23]

Personal life

Phil Silvers was married twice, to Jo-Carroll Dennison, and to Evelyn Patrick.[24] Both of his marriages ended in divorce.[12] He had five daughters — Candace, Cathy, Laury, Nancey, and Tracey [24] — all by his second wife, Evelyn Patrick.[4]

Like his alter-ego Ernie Bilko, Silvers was a compulsive gambler, and also suffered from chronic depression.[25] He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1962 while performing in Spain. While staying in Reno, Nevada, in the 1950s, he would often gamble all night. On one occasion, at the tiny Cal-Neva Lodge in nearby Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Silvers spent an entire night playing craps until he lost all his money and then went through $1,000 in credit. A taxi was called to return him to Reno. It was one "of the worst nights of my life", Silvers told the driver, adding, "Don't wait for any lights and don't wait for any tip . . . I left it at the Cal-Neva!"[26]

His memoir is titled This Laugh Is On Me.

Illness and death

Silvers suffered a stroke during the run of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum in August 1972.[27] He was left with slurred speech. Despite his poor health, he continued working, playing Harry Starman in the 1974 "Horror in the Heights" episode of Kolchak: The Night Stalker starring Darren McGavin. His guest appearances continued into the early 1980s, including co-starring in The Chicken Chronicles (1977),[28] an appearance on Fantasy Island as an old comic trying to reunite with his old partner, and on Happy Days as the father of Jenny Piccolo (played by his real daughter Cathy).[29] Silvers played the cab driver Hoppy in Neil Simon's send-up of hard-boiled detective films, The Cheap Detective (1978), which starred Peter Falk. In his cab, Silvers can be heard (three words) and seen turning his head towards the camera and breaking into a smile (1/4 fps) at the film's ending immediately prior to Falk entering "Hoppy's" cab. His final appearance was in an episode of CHiPs (entitled "Hot Date") in 1983.[30]

On November 1, 1985, Silvers died in his sleep in Century City, California. According to his family, Silvers died of natural causes.[31] He was interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.[32]

Legacy

In 1996, TV Guide ranked him number 31 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.[33]

In 2003, The Phil Silvers Show was voted Best Sitcom[34] in the Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Silvers was voted #42 on the list of the top 50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. Dick Van Dyke, who made his TV debut on Bilko, says he "was always fascinated with Phil's sense of timing. Incredible."

Voice actor Daws Butler employed an impression of Silvers as the voice of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Hokey Wolf[35] and also used the same voice in numerous cartoons for Jay Ward. The premise of The Phil Silvers Show was the basis for the Hanna-Barbera animated series Top Cat, for which Arnold Stang moderately imitated Silvers' voice for the title character.[36] The 1993 animated series The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog featured a character called Wes Weasley, who had a very similar appearance and voice to Silvers.

Sgt Bilko's Vintage Emporium and The Phil Silvers Archival Museum houses personal and commercial memorabilia collected by Silvers' correspondent Steve Everitt. Opened in 2015 it is located in Fargo Village, Coventry, United Kingdom.[37]

Work

Theatre

YearTitleRoleVenueRef
1939Yokel Boy"Punko" ParksMajestic Theatre, Broadway[38]
1947High Button ShoesHarrison FloyBroadway Theatre, Broadway
1951Top BananaJerry BiffleWinter Garden Theatre, Broadway
1960Do Re MiHubert CRam54th Street Theatre, Broadway
U.S. National Tour
1971How the Other Half LovesFrank FosterRoyale Theatre, Broadway
1972A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumPseudolus/PrologusLunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway

Filmography

Source: Turner Classic Movies[39]

YearTitleRoleNotes
1937Ups and DownsCharlie
1940Strike Up the BandPitch Manscenes deleted
1940Hit Parade of 1941Charlie Moore
1941The Wild Man of BorneoMurdock
1941The PenaltyHobo
1941Tom, Dick and HarryIce Cream Vendor
1941Ice-CapadesLarry Herman
1941Lady Be GoodMaster of Ceremonies
1941You're in the Army NowBreezy Jones
1942Roxie HartBabe
1942My Gal SalWiley
1942All Through the NightWaiter
1942Footlight SerenadeSlap
1942Tales of Manhattan1st Salesman at Santelli'suncredited; scenes deleted
1942Just Off BroadwayRoy Higgins
1943Coney IslandFrankie
1943A Lady Takes a ChanceSmiley Lambert
1944Four Jills in a JeepEddie
1944Cover GirlGenius
1944Take It or Leave ItPhil Silvers
1944Something for the BoysHarry Hart
1945Diamond HorseshoeBlinkie Miller
1945Don Juan Quilligan'Mac' MacDenny
1945A Thousand and One NightsAbdullah
1946If I'm LuckyWallingham M. 'Wally' Jones
1950Summer StockHerb Blake
1954Top BananaJerry Biffle
1954Lucky MeHap Schneider
1962Something's Got to GiveInsurance Salesmanincomplete
196240 Pounds of TroubleBernie Friedman
1963It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad WorldOtto Meyer
1966A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumMarcus Lycus
1967A Guide for the Married ManTechnical Advisor (Realtor)
1967Follow That CamelSergeant Nocker
1968Buona Sera, Mrs. CampbellPhil Newman
1970The BoatniksHarry Simmons
1975The Strongest Man in the WorldKirwood Krinkle
1976Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved HollywoodMurray Fromberg
1977The Chicken ChroniclesMax Ober
1977The Night They Took Miss BeautifulMarv Barker
1978The Cheap DetectiveHoppy
1979RacquetArthur Sargent
1980The Happy Hooker Goes HollywoodWilliam B. Warkoff
1980There Goes the BridePsychiatrist

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1948The Phil Silvers Arrow ShowHost-Performer3 episodes[40]
1955-59The Phil Silvers ShowMSgt. Ernest G. 'Ernie' Bilko143 episodes
1959Keep in StepHimself/Sgt. Ernest G. BilkoTelevision movie
1959The Ballad of Louie the LouseLouieTelevision movie
1960The Slowest Gun in the WestFletcher Bissell III
The Silver Dollar Kid
Television movie
1962The Jack Benny ProgramHimselfEpisode: The Phil Silvers Show
1963Judy and Her Guests, Phil Silvers and Robert GouletHimselfTelevision special
1963-64The New Phil Silvers ShowHarry Grafton30 episodes
1966Gilligan's IslandHarold HecubaEpisode: The Producer
1966The Lucy ShowOliver KastenEpisode: Lucy and the Efficiency Expert
1966At Your ServicePerformerunsold pilot
1967Damn YankeesMr. ApplegateTelevision movie
1967-70The Beverly HillbilliesShifty Shafer aka Honest John6 episodes
1970Rowan & Martin's Laugh-InGuest PerformerEpisode: #4.13
1971EddieEddie Skinnerunsold pilot
1971JuliaCapt. BiestoffEpisode: Swing Low, Sweet Charity
1972The Dean Martin ShowPerformerEpisode: #7.24
1974Kolchak: The Night StalkerHarryEpisode: Horror in the Heights
1975Get Christy Love!Uncle HarryEpisode: A Few Excess Love
1975S.W.A.T.Russ Baker2 episodes
1975The Carol Burnett ShowSelfEpisode: #8.23
1976Bob Hope in JoysSelfTelevision special
1977The Night They Took Miss BeautifulMarv BarkerTelevision movie
1977Charlie's AngelsMax BrownEpisode: Angels on Ice
1977The Love BoatStubby/Morris Beckman2 episodes
1978Fantasy IslandCharlie ParksEpisode: Carnival/The Vaudevillians
1979Goldie and the BoxerWallyTelevision movie
1980Take Me Up to the Ball GameIrwinVoice; Television movie
1981Happy DaysRoscoe PiccaloEpisode: Just a Piccalo
1982CHiPsHerman HintonEpisode: Hot Date

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryProjectResult
1956Primetime Emmy AwardsBest ComedianPhil SilversWon
Best Actor in a Continuing PerformanceThe Phil Silvers ShowWon
1957Best Continuing Actor in a Comedy SeriesNominated
1958Nominated
1959Nominated
1952Tony AwardsBest Actor in a MusicalTop BananaWon
1961Do Re MiNominated
1972A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the ForumWon

References

  1. Silvers, Phil; Saffron, Robert (1973). This Laugh Is on Me: The Phil Silvers Story. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. p. 15. ISBN 0-13-919100-3.
  2. "Phil Silvers | Biography, Credits, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica.
  3. Erickson, Hal. "Phil Silvers Biography". AMG Allmovie Guide. Retrieved November 26, 2011 via answers.com.
  4. "Phil Silvers". masterworksbroadway.com. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  5. Monush, Barry (2003). "Phil Silvers". Screen World Presents the Encyclopedia of Hollywood Film Actors. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 681. ISBN 1-55783-551-9.
  6. Bordman, Gerald and Norton, Richard (2010). "Yokel Boy". American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle. Oxford University Press. p. 575. ISBN 978-0-19-972970-8.
  7. Suskin, Steven (2011). The Sound of Broadway Music. Oxford University Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-0-19-979084-5.
  8. Crowther, Bosley."Movie Review: 'Hit Parade of 1941' at Loew's Criterion" The New York Times, December 5, 1940
  9. "Phil Silvers Filmography". Fandango.com. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  10. Frank Sintra : The Complete Guide. Google eBook. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  11. Andrews, Maxene; Gilbert, Bill (1993). Over Here, Over There: The Andrews Sisters and the USO Stars in World War II. Thorndike Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0-7862-0094-8.
  12. Gomery, Douglas. "Phil Silvers". museum.tv. The Museum of Broadcast Communications. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  13. Newcomb, Horace (2004). "Phil Silvers Show". Encyclopedia of Television, Volume 1 (2nd ed.). CRC Press. p. 1758. ISBN 1-57958-411-X.
  14. "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World". TCM.com. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  15. Crowther, Bosley (January 24, 1963). "Movie Review: '40 Pounds of Trouble'". The New York Times.
  16. Something's Got to Give at IMDb
  17. Munden, Kenneth White (1971). "Follow That Camel". The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures. University of California Press. p. 360. ISBN 0-520-20970-2.
  18. Childs, Peter; Storry, Mike (1999). "Carry On films". Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture]. Taylor & Francis. p. 83. ISBN 0-415-14726-3.
  19. Green, Stanley; Green, Kay (1996). "Do Re Mi". Broadway Musicals, Show By Show (5th ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 194. ISBN 0-7935-7750-0.
  20. Green, Stanley; Green, Kay (1996). "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Broadway Musicals, Show by Show. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 198. ISBN 0-7935-7750-0.
  21. Gilligan's Island: "The Producer" at IMDb
  22. Cantor, Paul A. (2003). "The Courage of the Fearless Crew". Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 19. ISBN 0-7425-0779-3.
  23. "Milton Berle Roast". classicfriarroasts.com. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  24. "Phil Silvers: Biography", TVGuide.com
  25. Maslon, Lawrence and Kantor, Michael."Phil Silvers"Make 'em Laugh: The Funny Business of America (2008), Hachette Digital, Inc., ISBN 0-446-50531-5
  26. Moe, Albert Woods. Nevada's Golden Age of Gambling, Puget Sound Books, (2001), ISBN 0-9715019-0-4.
  27. "Phil Silver's Illness Threatens 'Forum' Run", ("Mr. Silvers has been out of the cast since he was stricken a week ago and hospitalized".) The New York Times, August 8, 1972, p. 21
  28. "Phil Silvers Rough Road Back" The Prescott Courier, August 25, 1977
  29. Brant, Marley."Jennie Piccolo"Happier Days: Paramount Television's Classic Sitcoms 1974-1984 (2006), Random House Digital, Inc., ISBN 0-8230-8933-9, p. 59
  30. "Phil Silvers". IMDb.
  31. Kerr, Peter. "Phil Silvers, TV'S Sergeant Bilko, Dead At 73", The New York Times, November 2, 1985, p. 32
  32. Farah, Judy. "Kings of Comedy Mourn Funnyman Phil Silvers", The Associated Press, November 4, 1985.
  33. TV Guide Guide to TV. Barnes and Noble. 2004. pp. 596. ISBN 0-7607-5634-1.
  34. Best Sitcom news.bbc.co.uk
  35. "Hokey Wolf". cartoonscrapbook.com. Archived from the original on 2010-12-08. Retrieved November 25, 2011.
  36. Weber, Bruce (December 22, 2009). "Arnold Stang, Milquetoast Actor, Dies at 91". The New York Times.
  37. The Official museum webpage fargovillage.co.uk, accessed 17 January 2019
  38. "Phil Silvers Listing" InternetBroadwayDatabase, accessed November 25, 2011
  39. "Phil Silvers Biography" tcm.com, accessed November 25, 2011
  40. "The Phil Silvers Arrow Show". Billboard. December 4, 1948. p. 10. Retrieved 17 August 2016.
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