Jack Gilford(1908-1990)
- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Jack Gilford was born in Brooklyn, New York, as Yankel Gellman. He
began his career in the Amateur Nights of the 1930s moving on to
nightclubs as an innovative comedian doing satire and pantomime. He was
a regular at the Greenwich Village nightspot, Cafe Society and hosted
shows featuring Zero Mostel,
Billie Holiday and jazz greats like
Hazel Scott. It is said that he
invented the expression, "The butler did it!", as part of one of his
movie satire routines. He also did a facial pantomime of "Pea Soup
Coming to a Boil". During the 1950s, he was a victim of the The House
Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisting which stalled his
TV career until the early 1960s. But after that, he became a regular
popular comic character actor on dozens of TV series and movies. He was
most recognized for being the rubber-faced guy on the "Cracker Jacks"
commercials for a dozen years, from 1960-1972.
He was nominated for Tony awards on Broadway for best supporting actor in the musical, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", and "Cabaret". The song "Meeskite" was written for him by John Kander & Fred Ebb.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, Save the Tiger (1973), starring opposite Jack Lemmon, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance.
He was nominated for Tony awards on Broadway for best supporting actor in the musical, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", and "Cabaret". The song "Meeskite" was written for him by John Kander & Fred Ebb.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, Save the Tiger (1973), starring opposite Jack Lemmon, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance.
