Jerry Colonna (1904-1986) was a comedian and novelty singer known for his long association with Bob Hope, especially on radio. He had an active career as a recording artist including the 1955 album Music for Screaming and two of his singles were used on Sam and Friends.
He was originally a trombone player with bandleader John Scott Trotter, including Trotter's stint on Bing Crosby's Kraft Music Hall. Colonna made his air debut as a radio personality in one broadcast, showing off his powerful but eccentric singing voice. The Crosby appearance caught Bob Hope's attention, and Colonna joined his cast and would remain from 1938 to 1948. Newsweek would later describe Colonna as "holding a note longer than most opera singers" and note this skill was more commonly associated only with hog callers.[1] Colonna was Hope's primary radio sidekick, with a zany persona (referred to on air as "Professor" Colonna) and nonsensical catchphrases like "Who's Yehudi?" and "I don't ask questions, I just have fun!" He joined Hope on his USO tours during World War II. Although phased out in 1948, Colonna returned periodically for Hope's last radio season, including his final broadcast in 1955.
Colonna's appearance, with wild eyes and a walrus moustache, was equally wacky and he joined Hope in four Road to... movies and periodically in specials. Other screen roles played off of his radio persona, often as insane doctors or psychiatrists, in It's in the Bag (with Jack Benny), Andy Hardy Comes Home (with Mickey Rooney), and on The Monkees. Already eminently cartoony, Colonna lent his voice to the March Hare in Disney's Alice in Wonderland and narrating/singing the Disney retellings of Casey at the Bat and Casey Jones, while Looney Tunes and other theatrical cartoons frequently caricatured him. His final screen appearance was a cameo in the 1976 Bob Hope special Joys.
References[]
- Colonna's singles of "I Cried for You" (1945)[2] and "When You See a Pretty Girl" (1955)[3] were both transcribed for use on Sam and Friends and other early Muppet television appearances.
Sources[]
- ↑ Dunning, John. The Encyclopedia of Old Time Radio. Oxford University Press, 1998. p. 107
- ↑ Shemin, Craig. Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show. BearManor Media, 2022. p. 250
- ↑ ibid. p. 266