Phil Silvers

 Phil Silvers (May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985)

He was best known for starring in the 1950's sitcom The Phil Silvers Show, where he played Sgt. Bilko. He made his feature film debut in Hit Parade of 1941 in 1940(his previous appearance as a 'pitch man' in Strike Up the Band was cut). Over the next two decades, he worked as a character actor for MGM, Columbia, and 20th Century Fox, in such films as 1941's All Through the Night with Humphrey Bogart, Lady Be Good (1941), Coney Island (1943), Cover Girl (1944), and Summer Stock (1950). When the studio system began to decline, he returned to the stage. Cover Girl demonstrates that Silvers was an accomplished dancer, performing flawlessly in quick-tempo trios with famed dancers Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth. Silvers wrote the lyrics for Frank Sinatra's "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)". Although he was not a songwriter, he wrote the lyrics while visiting composer Jimmy Van Heusen. The two composed the song for Van Heusen's writing partner Johnny Burke, for his wife Bessie's birthday. Substituting Sinatra's little daughter's name Nancy at her birthday party, the trio impressed the singer to record it himself. The song became a popular hit in 1944 and was a staple in Sinatra's live performances. Silvers scored a major triumph in Top Banana, a Broadway show of 1952. Silvers played Jerry Biffle, the egocentric, always-busy star of a major television show. (The character is said to have been based on Milton Berle.) Silvers dominated the show and won a Tony Award for his performance. He repeated the role in the 1954 film version that was originally released in 3-D. According to the documentary on the DVD of It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Silvers was not a traditional comedian: he was a comic actor. Silvers never did stand-up, and, out of character, he was not known for cracking jokes. Silvers became a household name in 1955 when he starred as Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko in You'll Never Get Rich, later retitled The Phil Silvers Show.

The military comedy became a television hit, with the opportunistic Bilko fast-talking his way through one obstacle after another. Throughout the 1960s he appeared in films such as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and 40 Pounds of Trouble (1963). He was featured in Marilyn Monroe's last film, the unfinished Something's Got to Give (1962). Silvers also guested on The Beverly Hillbillies, and various TV variety shows such as The Carol Burnett Show, Gilligan's Island, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, and The Dean Martin Show. Phil Silvers died in his sleep on November 1, 1985 at age 74, and is buried at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Los Angeles, CA.