Phil Silvers

Phil Silvers on the Playbill for Top Banana, and the actual Top Banana

Phil Silvers (1911-1985) was a bespectacled comedian known for playing fast-talking schemers, typified by his signature character Sgt. Bilko on The Phil Silvers Show (1955-1959). Jim Henson listed Silvers and Zero Mostel as casting possibilities for the human lead in the 1970 Muppet special The Great Santa Claus Switch (which ultimately went to Art Carney).

Silvers began his career in the 1930s in vaudeville and burlesque. After the short-lived 1939 Broadway musical Yokel Boy, he landed supporting roles in Hollywood. He was teamed with Jimmy Durante as accidental enlistees in 1941's You're in the Army Now, but was usually typecast as the star's sidekick (what Silvers termed "Blinky" roles). These films included Cover Girl and Summer Stock (both with Gene Kelly), several Betty Grable vehicles including Diamond Horseshoe (actually named Blinkie), and Something for the Boys (with Carmen Miranda, already playing a con artist). In between, he starred on Broadway in High Button Shoes and left movies in 1951 to play the self-centered comic in Top Banana, winning a Tony Award and starring in the 1954 film version.

Silvers entered TV in 1955, combining elements of previous roles into the conniving motor pool sergeant Bilko (who himself would inspire the Hanna-Barbera character Top Cat). In addition to spotlighting Silvers' broad grin and manipulative joviality, the series offered early guest spotlights for Dick Van Dyke, Charlotte Rae, and Alan Alda. When the show ended, Phil Silvers continued to play Bilko types, as part of the all-star cast of comedians in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, in guest spots on The Beverly Hillbillies (named Shifty Shafer), and for Disney in The Boatniks and The Strongest Man in the World. He played the dealer in courtesans in the 1966 film version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (with Zero Mostel) and would move up to the lead in the 1972 Broadway revival. Silvers suffered a stroke during the run and his health declined, but he continued to work periodically, including a guest spot on Happy Days (as the father of Jenny Piccalo, played by his actual daughter Cathy Silvers).

References

• The script for Sesame Street Episode 3156 gives the stage direction for when Oscar the Grouch displays faux-innocent astonishment: "(Bilko)," as the tactic was a regular trick of Sgt. Bilko.

• The Top Banana in "Elmo's World: Bananas" is based on Phil Silvers, referencing his Broadway show Top Banana while costumed in his trademark thick glasses.

External links

• IMDb
• Internet Broadway Database
• Craighodgkins.com - "Phil Silvers: From Burlesque and Blinky to Bilko and Beyond"