February 16

This Day in Humor with Mike Durrett

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Born 1876: Mack Swain, Vaudevillian, who became a popular contract player at the Keystone movie studio, often as the character Ambrose. Best remembered for sharing a tasty meal of an old boot with Charlie Chaplin in "The Gold Rush" (1925). Died 1935.

Born 1903: Edgar Bergen, ventriloquist, who, along with his dummies, Charlie McCarthy and Mortimer Snerd, became a huge star on network radio(!), in part due to a phony feud with comedian W.C. Fields, who starred opposite the boys in movie comedy "You Can't Cheat an Honest Man" (1939). Father of Candice Bergen. Died 1978.

Born 1910: Fred F. Finklehoffe, scripted and produced "The Egg and I" (1947) and Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis' first starring vehicle, "At War With the Army" (1950). He also co-authored Judy Garland's classic "Meet Me in St. Louis" (1944) and contributed to the "McHale's Navy" TV series (1962-66). Died 1977.

Born 1910: Jerry Lester, comedian, host of "Broadway Open House" (1950-51), the evolutionary predecessor to NBC's "The Tonight Show." Brother of comedian Buddy Lester. Died 1995.

Born 1935: Sonny Bono, songwriter and vocalist, became pop sensation in the mid-1960s with wife, Cher, later spinning into a new career as a TV musical-comedy star (1971-74: "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour," 1974: "The Sonny Comedy Revue"). Died 1998.

1940: Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy's daffy feature, "A Chump at Oxford," unspooled on movie screens across America for the first time.

Born 1945: Frank Welker, actor, with hundreds of voice credits in television and films, including numerous incarnations of "Scooby-Doo," plus "Muppet Babies" (1986-92), "Tiny Toons Adventures" (1990-92), "Aladdin" (1992), and "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius" (2001).

1966: The first Walt Disney animated featurette based on A.A. Milne's beloved characters, "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree," opened in theatres on a double bill with the live-action comedy "The Ugly Dachshund," starring Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette.

1986: Steven Spielberg’s "Amazing Stories" aired "Family Dog," its only cartoon episode, which later became a TV series, from director Brad Bird.

Copyright ©2003 Mike Durrett. All rights reserved.