(1919-01-23)January 23, 1919 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S.
Died
January 13, 1962(1962-01-13) (aged 42) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting place
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
Medium
Newspaper
radio
television
magazine
cinema
Years active
1941–1962
Genres
Character comedy
surreal comedy
improvisational comedy
prop comedy
spoof
sketch
Spouse
Bette Lee Wilcox
(m. 1945; div. 1952)
Edie Adams
(m. 1954)
Children
3
Relative(s)
Bill Lancaster (son-in-law)
Ernest Edward Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer.
Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his death. Kovacs has been credited as an influence by many individuals and shows, including Johnny Carson, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Saturday Night Live, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Jim Henson, Max Headroom,[1] Chevy Chase,[2][3] Conan O'Brien,[4] Jimmy Kimmel, Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Pee-wee's Playhouse, The Muppet Show, Dave Garroway,[5] Andy Kaufman, You Can't Do That on Television, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Uncle Floyd, among others.[6][7] Chase even thanked Kovacs during his acceptance speech for his Emmy award for Saturday Night Live.[8][2]
While Kovacs and his wife Edie Adams received Emmy nominations for best performances in a comedy series during 1957, his talent was not recognized formally until after his death.[9] The 1962 Emmy for Outstanding Electronic Camera Work and the Directors' Guild award came a short time after his fatal accident.[10][11] A quarter century later, he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.[12] Kovacs also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television.[13] In 1986, the Museum of Broadcasting (later to become the Museum of Television & Radio and now the Paley Center for Media) presented an exhibit of Kovacs's work, called The Vision of Ernie Kovacs. The Pulitzer Prize–winning television critic, William Henry III, wrote for the museum's booklet: "Kovacs was more than another wide-eyed, self-ingratiating clown. He was television's first significant video artist."[14]
^O'Connor, John J. (March 8, 1987). "TV View: Ernie Kovacs: A comic to the medium born". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
^ abChase, Chevy (April 9, 1977). "The Unique Comedy of Ernie Kovacs". TV Guide: 39–40.
^O'Connor, John J. (November 17, 1982). "TV: Why Ernie Kovacs's humor grows with time". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
^Visconage, Matt (January 23, 2012). "Conan O'Brien and the Legacy of Ernie Kovacs". Splitsider. Archived from the original on February 15, 2013. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
^Willmore, Alison (May 2, 2012). "Take a Look at the Unappreciated Genius of TV Pioneer Ernie Kovacs". Indiewire. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
^Walley, David G. (1987). The Ernie Kovacs Phile. New York City: Simon & Schuster, Inc. p. 202. ISBN 978-0-918282-06-4.
^Bren, Frank (October 31, 2011). "Ernie Kovacs: An American Secret". Bright Lights Film Journal. Cathedral City, CA. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
^Hofer, Stephen F.(2006). TV Guide: the official collector's guide, Bangzoom Publishers.
^Cite error: The named reference CBS was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference Directors was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Emmy Awards Database-Ernie Kovacs". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Archived from the original on April 4, 2016. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
^"Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame Inductees". Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. 1987. Archived from the original on December 18, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
^"Hollywood Walk of Fame-Ernie Kovacs". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 12, 2010.
^Dudek, Duane (June 16, 1986), "'Vision of Ernie Kovacs' honors first video artist", Milwaukee Journal
has media related to ErnieKovacs. Wikiquote has quotations related to ErnieKovacs. The Official ErnieKovacs Website Works Kovacs' 16 MAD magazine articles...
under the title The ErnieKovacs Show, which aired from 11:15pm to 12:15am ET. Kovacs began to refer to this show as The ErnieKovacs Rehearsal in its final...
My Line? (once as "Edith Adams (Mrs. ErnieKovacs)" while her husband was on the panel; once together with Kovacs; twice alone as Edie Adams). Adams starred...
The Nairobi Trio was a sketch comedy skit that ErnieKovacs performed many times for his TV shows. It combined several existing concepts and visuals in...
played by television comedian ErnieKovacs. It is probably the best remembered of Kovacs' many TV incarnations. Kovacs created the character in 1950 for...
as comedian ErnieKovacs in the 1984 TV movie, "ErnieKovacs: Between the Laughter". The movie dealt with the real-life kidnapping of Kovacs' two daughters...
in the 1983 TV miniseries Sadat, and played ErnieKovacs' wife Dorothy in the 1984 TV movie ErnieKovacs: Between the Laughter. Smith starred as Tracy...
baked-bean dinner." Chase acknowledged ErnieKovacs's influence on his work in Saturday Night Live, and he thanked Kovacs during his acceptance speech for his...
Tonight hosting duties with ErnieKovacs during the 1956–57 season. To give Allen time to work on his Sunday evening show, Kovacs hosted Tonight on Monday...
Wayne (uncredited). The picture stars Wayne along with Stewart Granger, ErnieKovacs, Fabian, and Capucine. The script is based on the 1939 play Birthday...
as Edie Adams in the television film ErnieKovacs: Between the Laughter, opposite Jeff Goldblum as ErnieKovacs and played the coveted role of Marilyn...
him.[citation needed] Lancaster was married to Kippie Kovacs, daughter of the comedian ErnieKovacs. They had one child, daughter Keigh Kristin. Lancaster...
acted most in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in seven episodes of the ErnieKovacs television shows. Brand was from Baldwin Park, California. She graduated...
singer" and becoming a favorite of comedian ErnieKovacs and appearing several times on The ErnieKovacs Show. Kovacs' widow, Edie Adams, later recalled that...
guest hosts taking over for the summer of 1956. Beginning that fall, ErnieKovacs (who came over from the faltering DuMont Television Network) was the...
movies, ErnieKovacs: Between the Laughter (starring Jeff Goldblum and Cloris Leachman) and California Girls (starring Robbie Benson, Ernie Hudson, Doris...
following year, she portrayed Elizabeth (Bette) Kovacs in the biographical television movie ErnieKovacs: Between the Laughter, and appeared in another...
with Ben Gazzara. She joined the cast of The ErnieKovacs Show as a "scantily clad" sidekick to Kovacs, a job that her first husband, television producer...
1959 American romantic comedy film starring Doris Day, Jack Lemmon and ErnieKovacs. It was directed by Richard Quine and written by Norman Katkov and Max...
Wilhelm, starring ErnieKovacs, Cyd Charisse and George Sanders, and featuring Dennis Price and John Le Mesurier. Aldo Bondi (Kovacs) is a professional...
produced by Jed Harris, directed by Richard Quine, that stars Jack Lemmon, ErnieKovacs, Kathryn Grant, Arthur O'Connell, and Mickey Rooney. The screenplay is...
Fun House Let's Make A Deal It's Anybody's Guess People Will Talk The ErnieKovacs Show Days of Our Lives - director (1965-1988) First Love (1954-1955)...
of the time. Some were visual gags that owed a debt to pioneers like ErnieKovacs and Steve Allen. Among the highlights were: One early episode showed...
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