ERNIE KOVACS
Name: Ernie Kovacs
Birth name: Ernest Edward Kovacs
Born: 23 January 1919 Trenton, New Jersey
Died: 13 January 1962 Los Angeles, California
Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919—January 13, 1962) was an American comedian whose
uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comic style came to
influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his tragic, early
death in an automobile accident. Such later, iconoclastic shows as Rowan and
Martin's Laugh-In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Uncle Floyd Show, and
Saturday Night Live and TV hosts like David Letterman are seen as bearing
Kovacs's influence.
Born to parents of Hungarian descent, Kovacs was influenced deeply by his
Trenton Central High School drama teacher, Harold Van Kirk, and thus went to
acting school after his 1937 graduation. His first paid entertainment work was
as a disc jockey on Trenton's WTTM radio, which led eventually to his first
television job (1949-1950), a show called Three to Get Ready, at NBC's
Philadelphia affiliate, WPTZ.
Name: Ernie Kovacs
Birth name: Ernest Edward Kovacs
Born: 23 January 1919 Trenton, New Jersey
Died: 13 January 1962 Los Angeles, California
Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919—January 13, 1962) was an American comedian whose
uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comic style came to
influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his tragic, early
death in an automobile accident. Such later, iconoclastic shows as Rowan and
Martin's Laugh-In, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Uncle Floyd Show, and
Saturday Night Live and TV hosts like David Letterman are seen as bearing
Kovacs's influence.
Born to parents of Hungarian descent, Kovacs was influenced deeply by his
Trenton Central High School drama teacher, Harold Van Kirk, and thus went to
acting school after his 1937 graduation. His first paid entertainment work was
as a disc jockey on Trenton's WTTM radio, which led eventually to his first
television job (1949-1950), a show called Three to Get Ready, at NBC's
Philadelphia affiliate, WPTZ.