Lost in the flood of news that we are all subjected to on a
daily basis this year was the death notice of a man that all of us knew very well
when most of us were in elementary school.
Edward Byrne
Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 –
January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in
the television series 77 Sunset Strip. He also was
featured in the 1978 film Grease as television teen-dance show host Vince Fontaine, and
was a charting recording
artist with "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" (with Connie
Stevens).
By the time of his death on January 8, 2020, he was no longer the handsome actor who had legions of fans across the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edd_Byrnes
Byrnes was born in New York City, the
son of Mary (Byrne) and Augustus "Gus" Breitenberger. He had two
siblings, Vincent and Jo-Ann. After his abusive alcoholic father died] when Edd was
thirteen, he dropped his last name in favor of "Byrnes" based on the
name of his maternal grandfather, Edward Byrne, a fireman.
Byrnes developed the urge to act at
high school but did not seriously consider pursuing it until after he had tried
a number of other jobs, such as: driving an ambulance, roofing and selling
flowers. At seventeen, he found work as a photographer's model; this led to an
introduction to prostitution. In his memoirs, he described this as a
"strange world... Art, wealth, sadism, limousines, sex for money, theater
and fine restaurants."
In 1956,
Byrnes got an unpaid job in a summer stock theatre company in
Connecticut, the Litchfield Community Playhouse. He soon began appearing in the
company's plays as an actor; he also tried to get roles in Broadway theatre productions,
but had no luck. Also that year, he was cast in an episode of the Crossroads TV program. Byrnes
also appeared in episodes of the late-50s series Wire Service and Navy Log.
After a year, Byrnes moved to Hollywood. He appeared
in a local stage production of Tea and Sympathy. Byrnes also
appeared in episodes of The Adventures of Jim Bowie, and Telephone Time and
in the film Fear Strikes Out (1957). Byrnes was
third-billed in the film Reform School Girl (1957) for American International Pictures; that same
year, he had a supporting role in the Warner Bros. film Johnny Trouble.
Byrnes was cast in Girl on the Run,
a pilot for a detective show starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Byrnes played contract killer Kenneth
Smiley, who continually combed his hair – Byrnes said this was an idea of his
which the director liked and kept in. Around this time Byrnes decided to
change his acting name from "Edward" to "Edd". "I just
dreamed it up one day", he said. "Edward is too formal and there are
lots of Eddies."
The show aired in October 1958 and was so popular
Warners decided to turn it into a TV series: 77 Sunset Strip.[Byrnes'
character became an immediate national teen sensation, prompting the producers
to make Byrnes a regular cast member. They transformed Kookie from a hitman
into a parking valet at Dino's Lodge who helped
as a private investigator. Zimbalist Jr. explained
the situation to the audience:
“We previewed this show, and because Edd Byrnes was such a
hit, we decided that Kookie and his comb had to be in our series. So, this
week, we'll just forget that in the pilot he went off to prison to be executed.”
They transformed Kookie from a hitman into a parking valet at
Dino's Lodge who helped as a private investigator. In a very short time,
it became the most popular show on television.
Although Byrnes continued to act in a variety of roles
until he was nearly 70 years old, his “Kookie” character always remained the
high point of his career.
If you’d like to take a trip down memory lane, I’d
recommend playing some of the opening themes for the show at various times
during its 6 year run.
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