ErnieKovacs

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ERNIE KOVACS

1919-- 1962

Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919 – January 13, 1962) was an American comedian whose uninhibited, often ad-libbed, and visually experimental comic style came to influence numerous television comedy programs for years after his death in an automobile accident. Such iconic shows as Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In^[1], Monty Python's Flying Circus^[1], The Uncle Floyd Show, Saturday Night Live^[2] and even Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street and The Electric Company, and TV hosts such as David Letterman^[1]^[3] and Craig Ferguson are influenced by Kovacs. Chevy Chase acknowledged Kovacs' influence on his work in Saturday Night Live^[4], and he thanked Kovacs during his acceptance speech for his Emmy award for SNL^[5]. In addition, Chevy Chase spoke of Kovacs' influence on his work in an appearance in the 1982 documentary called Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius. ^[6]

On or off screen, Kovacs could be counted on for the unexpected-from having marmosets as pets,^[7]^[8] to wrestling a jaguar on his live Philadelphia television show.^[9]^[10]

Kovacs' talent was not formally recognized until after his death. The 1962 Emmy for outstanding electronic camera work and the Directors' Guild award came a short time after his fatal accident.^[11]^[12] A quarter century later, he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.^[13] Kovacs also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television.^[14] In 1986, the Museum of Television & Radio (now the Paley Center for Media) presented an exhibit of Kovacs' work, called The Vision of Ernie Kovacs. The Pulitzer Prize winning television critic, William Henry III wrote for the museum's booklet:^[15]

Kovacs was more than another wide-eyed, self-ingratiating clown. He was television's first significant video artist. He was its first surrealist... its most daring and imaginative writer. He was... television's first and possibly only auteur. And he was a genius. In commercial terms, a genius is any entertainer... who finds a new way to make money. Kovacs never fit that description. Kovacs' genius lay in the realm of art. There, a genius is someone who causes an audience to look at the world in a new way.

MORE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernie_Kovacs

A SHORT HISTORY OF ERNIE KOVACS

Ernie Kovacs is perhaps the greatest role model that any comedian can have, especially any comedian who wants to get into television. Born on January 23rd, 1919 in Trenton, New Jersey, Ernest Edward Kovacs has often been referred to as "Television’s Original Genius." Believe me, folks, this is a moniker that is quite appropriate when used to describe this brilliant man.

While in high school, Ernie was influenced greatly by his drama teacher, Harold Van Kirk. Upon graduation he went to acting school and through a series of bizarre events ended up as a Disc Jockey on Trenton radio station WTTM.The affable and hysterically funny Ernie quickly became a huge hit with Trentonians and soon had his own newspaper column. This led to a stint starting in 1949-50 at WPTZ-TV, the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia.

MORE: http://www.erniekovacs.net/ernie1.html

THE ERNIE KOVACS SHOW(VARIOUS)

U.S. Comedy/Variety Program

In a few brief years in the 1950s there were actually a number of different Ernie Kovacs shows. The first, Ernie in Kovaksland, originated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and appeared on NBC from July until August 195 1. The Ernie Kovacs Show (first known as Kovacs Unlimited) was programmed on CBS from December 1952 to April 1953 opposite Milton Berle on NBC. Yet another Ernie Kovacs Show aired on NBC from December 195 5 to September 1956. The existence of these separate shows is testament to both the success and failure of Ernie Kovacs. A brilliant and innovative entertainer, he was a failure as a popular program host; praised by critics, he was avoided by viewers.

Kovacs was one of the first entertainers to understand and utilize the television as a true "medium," capable of being conceived and applied in a variety of ways. He recognized the potential of live electronic visual technology and manipulated its peculiar qualities to become a master of the sight gag. Characters in pictures on the walls moved; sculptures undulated; pilots flew away without their planes. For one gag that lasted only a few seconds he spent $12,000: when a salesman (played by Kovacs) slapped the fender of a used car, the car fell though a platform. According to Kovacs, 'Eighty percent of what I do is in the category of sight gags, no pantomime. I work on the incongruity of sight against sound."

MORE: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/E/htmlE/ErnieKovaksShow/erkovacshow.htm

POSTERS

The Hungarian-American comedian Ernie Kovacs whose cigar was his trademark as was his ad-libbing comedy; setting the stage for comedians that followed!

Many comics today can thank Ernie Kovacs for paving the way for them! He had a type of comedy routine that was the cutting-edge of the 1950s. Well known for his ad-libbing comedy, he is also attributed to inventing many camera tricks that are used even today!

I was compelled to put together this particular lens for two reasons: I have included a "mention" of Ernie Kovacs in my lens, Kovacs aka Kovach, and I have created a number of lenses with the Hungarian flavor!

You see, Ernie Kovacs was Hungarian-American, so it seemed a natural for me. And, I honestly must admit, I DO REMEMBER watching Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams on black and white TV a LONG time ago!

MORE: http://www.squidoo.com/erniekovacs

IT'S BEEN REAL

There is only one comedian in contemporary television history who is considered to have fully understood the potential of the medium. That comedian is Ernie Kovacs. Kovacs, an American Hungarian born on January 23, 1919 in Trenton, New Jersey, got his start in radio on a local basis then eventually moved into television. During its infancy, television was nothing more than a medium in which to see people moving around in. What was once considered vaudevillian, found its way into television: singing, dancing, and verbal comedy. To Kovacs, that kind of material was kiddie stuff. He was a comedian of unique sophistication for his time and has many times been called an acquired taste in the world of comedy.

Kovacs has long been considered master of visual comedy. In the 1970's, PBS reran a series of specials he had taped prior to his untimely death. During that time I was in my childhood years but still recall seeing some of the most bizarre tricks and sequences ever to come out of the 1950's and early 1960's. Items rolling off a table (which in reality was a tilted table), a half-soused effeminate poet, a children's storyteller dressed up for Halloween, and a German disk jockey has me recalling laughter just thinking about them. Percy Dovetonsils, the poet, was my personal favorite. Holding a martini, his hair in two spitcurls over his forehead, glasses with fake eyeballs in them, and the leopardskin jacket with that oversized book of poetry in his hand, Kovacs made an outrageous satire of literata. Even his poetry was just as outrageously funny, as one so goes: "Beautiful dreamer, your fun never stops, so put out the butt now cause here come the cops." The antics of this 6'2" tall comedian was just too much.

MORE: http://www.angelfire.com/ct3/pouruchista/kovacs.htm