Ernie Kovacs

Ernie Kovacs
Associated Press

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Ernie Kovacs
TV: North side of the 6300 block of Hollywood Boulevard
Comedian
Born Jan. 23, 1919 in Trenton, NJ
Died Jan. 13, 1962 of automobile accident in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Brilliant. Innovative. Wacky. Original.

Ernie Kovacs was all of the above and so much more. With his bushy eyebrows, mustache and ever-present cigar, Kovacs was one of the craziest and most visionary comedians to emerge during the Golden Age of TV in the 1950s.

He pushed the visual envelope on his comedy-variety series "Ernie in Kovacsland" and "The Ernie Kovacs Show," and in his comedy specials. Kovacs also created the hysterically funny and beloved characters Percy Dovetonsils, Mr. Question Man and the Nariobi Trio.

His crazy sketches and characters, such as the sidesplitting musical parody as a gorilla "Swan Lake" ballet, the woman-in-the-tub bits, Percy Dovetonsils reading "Leslie the Mean Animal Trainer" and an interview with painter Mother Rustic, made his television shows unique.

Kovacs changed the way viewers watched television. His influence could be seen on many of the comedy shows that followed, including "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In."

— Susan King in the Los Angeles Times Jan. 12, 1996

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