Ed Wynn

Ed Wynn on Muppet Babies

Ed Wynn (1886-1966) was a comic actor (more clown than comedian) who gained fame in Ziegfeld Follies, in vaudeville, on Broadway with his fluttery characterization of The Perfect Fool, and for his radio work as The Fire Chief (1932-1935, plus other radio shows as late as 1945). His trademark fluttery voice (often punctuated with a giggling "whoo whoo" whoop), as well as his distinctive glasses and splayed hair, have often been caricatured or borrowed for cartoon voices.

In his later years, Wynn shifted to work as a character actor in television (including Rod Serling's Requiem for a Heavyweight and The Twilight Zone) and movies (winning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1959's The Diary of Anne Frank as the petulant Mr. Dussell, and playing the blind man in The Greatest Story Ever Told in 1965). In a more whimsical vein, Wynn voiced the Mad Hatter in Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951) and subsequently appeared in several Disney projects, most notably as the ever-laughing Uncle Albert in Mary Poppins (1964).

References

• Clip footage of Ed Wynn is used in the fifth season Muppet Babies episode "Muppets Not Included," during Piggy's "Celebrity Circles" game, with Frank Welker dubbing a brief "Whoo hoo." Welker used the Ed Wynn voice for other characters throughout the run of Muppet Babies.

• Many Muppet characters have sported Ed Wynn-inspired voices. On Sesame Street, Ed Wynn's appearance and voice inspired the appropriately named Dr. Edwynn, as well as Mr. Monster in the 1990 video special Sesame Street Home Video Visits the Firehouse. Although the puppets were different, both characters were performed by David Rudman and both featured Ed Wynn-style glasses and hair.

• Mr. Poodlepants on Muppets Tonight also speaks in an Ed Wynn imitation, coupled with the glasses and a general clownishness, which caused Los Angeles Times critic Susan King to refer to him as "the Ed Wynn-ish Mister Poodlepants."