Jimmy Durante
Acting • Born 1893-02-09 – Died 1980-01-29
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".
Filmography
94 credits
Blondie of the Follies
Movie • 1932
Jimmy
The Movie Orgy
Movie • 1968
Self (archive footage)
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
Movie • 1963
Smiler Grogan
Palooka
Movie • 1934
Knobby Walsh
The Man Who Came to Dinner
Movie • 1941
Banjo
Frosty the Snowman
Movie • 1969
Narrator (voice)
Billy Rose's Jumbo
Movie • 1962
Anthony ('Pop') Wonder
Speak Easily
Movie • 1932
James
On an Island with You
Movie • 1948
Buckley
Little Miss Broadway
Movie • 1938
Jimmy Clayton
This Time for Keeps
Movie • 1947
Ferdi Farro
The Great Rupert
Movie • 1950
Mr. Louie Amendola
It Happened in Brooklyn
Movie • 1947
Nick Lombardi
Showbiz Goes to War
Movie • 1982
(archive footage)
Roadhouse Nights
Movie • 1930
Daffy (as Durante)
Two Girls and a Sailor
Movie • 1944
Billy Kipp / Julian Kipp
What! No Beer?
Movie • 1933
Jimmy Potts
The Passionate Plumber
Movie • 1932
Julius J. McCracken
Pepe
Movie • 1960
Jimmy Durante
Broadway to Hollywood
Movie • 1933
Jimmy
The Cuban Love Song
Movie • 1931
O.O. Jones
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Movie • 1988
Self (archive footage)
Start Cheering
Movie • 1938
Willie Gumbatz
The March of Time
Movie • 1930
Self
The Wet Parade
Movie • 1932
Abe Shilling
The Milkman
Movie • 1950
Breezy Albright
George White's Scandals
Movie • 1934
Happy McGillicuddy
Meet the Baron
Movie • 1933
Joe McGoo
The Phantom President
Movie • 1932
Curly
Give a Man a Job
Movie • 1933
Strictly Dynamite
Movie • 1934
Moxie
Hollywood Party
Movie • 1934
Jimmy Durante
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Movie • 1966
Humpty Dumpty
Hollywood on Parade No. A-3
Movie • 1932
Self
Land Without Music
Movie • 1936
Jonah J. Whistler
Melody Ranch
Movie • 1940
Cornelius J. Courtney
Music for Millions
Movie • 1944
Andrews
Hell Below
Movie • 1933
Ptomaine' - Ships Cook
Student Tour
Movie • 1934
Hank Merman
Don Knotts: Tied Up with Laughter
Movie • 2011
Himself
Checking Out: Grand Hotel
Movie • 2004
(archive footage)
New Adventures of Get Rich Quick Wallingford
Movie • 1931
Schnozzle
Sally, Irene and Mary
Movie • 1938
Jefferson Twitchel
Going Hollywood: The '30s
Movie • 1984
(archive footage)
Two Sisters from Boston
Movie • 1946
'Spike'
The Christmas Party
Movie • 1931
Santa Claus (uncredited)
The New March of Dimes Presents: The Scene Stealers
Movie • 1962
Self - Host
Hollywood on Parade
Movie • 1932
Self
That's Entertainment!
Movie • 1974
(archive footage)
Beau James
Movie • 1957
Jimmy Durante
Carnival
Movie • 1935
Fingers
You're in the Army Now
Movie • 1941
Homer "Jeeper" Smith
The Last Judgment
Movie • 1961
The man with the large nose
That's Entertainment! III
Movie • 1994
(archive footage)
Hollywood on Parade No. B-9
Movie • 1934
Self
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
Movie • 2000
Self (archive footage)
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Movie • 1975
Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
Movie • 1976
(archive footage)
Marlene Dietrich: Her Own Song
Movie • 2002
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Screen Snapshots (Series 16, No. 1)
Movie • 1936
Self
It's Showtime
Movie • 1976
Self (archive footage)
The Best of Bob Hope: 50 Years of Laughter — Volume 1
Movie • 2001
Self (archive footage)
The Frank Sinatra Timex Show
Movie • 1959
Self
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
Movie • 2017
Self
Breakdowns of 1942
Movie • 1942
Self
Murder at N.B.C.
Movie • 1966
Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast
Movie • 2019
Self - Comedian (archive footage)
Prohibition Newsreel No. 7
Movie • 1933
Self
Hidden Hollywood: Treasures from the 20th Century Fox Film Vaults
Movie • 1997
Self (Archival Footage)
Hollywood Scandals and Tragedies
Movie • 1988
The All-Star Christmas Show
Movie • 1958
Self
Brasileiros em Hollywood
Movie • 1970
Self (archive footage)
Plumber in love
Movie • 1932
Tony
Hollywood on Parade No. B-10
Movie • 1934
Self
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self
The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
TV • 1971
The Lucy Show
TV • 1962
Jimmy Durante
The Hollywood Palace
TV • 1964
Self
The Don Knotts Show
TV • 1970
Self
Jimmy Durante Presents the Lennon Sisters
TV • 1969
Self
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
TV • 1956
Self
The Steve Allen Show
TV • 1956
Self
The Oscars
TV • 1953
Self
Summer Playhouse
TV • 1954
The Jimmy Durante Show
TV • 1954
Self - Host
Four Star Revue
TV • 1950
Host
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
The Pearl Bailey Show
TV • 1971
Self
What's My Line?
TV • 1950
Self - Mystery Guest
The Bob Hope Show
TV • 1950
Self
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV • 1950
Self - Cameo
The Mothers-in-Law
TV • 1967
Jimmy Durante
The Bob Hope Show
TV • 1950
Self (uncredited)
The Jerry Lewis Show
TV • 1963
Self