Phil Silvers - Biography

Last Editor: johnespinosa				Phil Silvers Biography -   Name : Phil Silvers Date of birth : 11 May 1911 Place of birth : New York, New York, USA Date of death : 1 November 1985 Place of death : Century City, California, USA. (heart attack) Birth name : Philip Silversmith Nickname : The King of Chutzpah Height : 5' 11

Phil Silvers Trivia -

Interred at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Los Angeles, California, USA. Father of actresses Cathy Silvers, Candace Silvers, Nancey Silvers and Tracey Silvers. He wrote the lyrics to the Jimmy Van Heusen song "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" for friend Frank Sinatra's firstborn child Nancy Sinatra. His Gladasya production company co-produced "Gilligan's Island" (1964). Had 5 daughters with his second wife, Evelyn Patrick: Tracey Silvers (1957), Nancey Silvers, Cathy Silvers & Candace Silvers (1961) and Laury Silvers (1963). Enjoyed a long string of Broadway successes, most notably "High Button Shoes" (1948), "Top Banana" (1951, for which he won a Tony award), "Do-Re-Mi" (1961), "How the Other Half Loves" (1970), and the revival of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (1971, and another Tony win). He was a gambling addict. Once, when complaining about his lack of work and being broke in Los Angeles, he absent-mindedly pulled out a large wad of bills. When asked about why did not live on that money, he replied it did not count because it was only his gambling money. Daughter Tracey Silvers is a film producer and writer. Has won two Tony Awards as Best Actor (Musical): in 1952 for "Top Banana," a part that he recreated in the film version of the same name, Top Banana (1954), and in 1972 for a revival of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." He was also nominated in the same category in 1961 for "Do Re Mi." Grandfather of Jaclyn Sara Silvers.

Phil Silvers Detailed Biography -

Growing up in the squalid Brownsville section of Brooklyn, Phil Silvers used his excellent tenor voice and facility for cracking jokes to escape a life of poverty. He was discovered as a young teen by vaudevillian Gus Edwards who hired him to perform in his schoolroom act. Silvers' singing career ended when his voice changed at 16, whereupon he took acting jobs in various touring vaudeville sketches. During his subsequent years in burlesque, he befriended fellow comic Herbie Faye, with whom he would work off and on for the rest of his career. While headlining in burlesque, Silvers was signed to star in the 1939 Broadway musical comedy Yokel Boy. This led to film work, first in minor roles, then as comedy relief in such splashy 1940s musicals as Coney Island (1943) and Cover Girl (1944). Silvers became popular if not world famous with his trademark shifty grin, horn-rimmed glasses, balding pate, and catchphrases like "Gladda see ya!" He returned to Broadway in 1947, where he starred as a turn-of-the-century con man in the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn musical High Button Shoes. In 1950, he scored another stage success as a Milton Berle-like TV comedian in Top Banana, which won him the Tony and Donaldson Awards. From 1955 through 1959, Silvers starred as the wheeling-dealing Sgt. Ernie Bilko on the hit TV series You'll Never Get Rich, for which he collected five Emmy awards. Upon the demise of this series, Silvers stepped into another success, the 1960 Styne-Comden-Green Broadway musical Do Re Mi. The failure of his 1963 sitcom The New Phil Silvers Show marked a low point in his career, but the ever scrappy Silvers bounced back again to appear in films and TV specials. In 1971, he starred in a revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (nine years after turning down the original 1962 production because he felt the show "wouldn't go anywhere."). He collected yet another Tony for his efforts -- then suffered a severe stroke in August of 1972. While convalescing, Silvers wrote his very candid autobiography, The Laugh Is on Me. He recovered to the extent that he could still perform, but his speech was slurred and his timing was gone. Still, Silvers was beloved by practically everyone in show business, so he never lacked for work. Phil Silvers was the father of actress Cathy Silvers, best known for her supporting work on the TV series Happy Days.