Edd Byrnes

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other people with similar names, see Edward Burns (disambiguation) and Edward Byrne.
Edd Byrnes
Byrnes in 1973 in a guest appearance on The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour
Born
Edward Byrne Breitenberger

(1932-07-30)July 30, 1932
New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 8, 2020(2020-01-08) (aged 87)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1956–1999
Spouse
Asa Maynor
​
​
(m. 1962; div. 1971)​
Children1

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).

Early life

Byrnes was born in New York City, the son of Mary (Byrne) and Augustus "Gus" Breitenberger.[1] He had two siblings, Vincent and Jo-Ann. After his abusive alcoholic father died[2] when Edd was 13, he dropped his last name in favor of Byrnes, based on the name of his maternal grandfather Edward Byrne.[3]

Byrnes developed the urge to act in 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.[4] At age 17, he found work as a photographer's model.[5]

Career

Early acting career

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-1950s series Wire Service and Navy Log
.

After a year, Byrnes moved to Hollywood.[4] He appeared in a stage production of Tea and Sympathy.[6][7] 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 low budget exploitation film Reform School Girl (1957) for American International Pictures, co-starring Sally Kellerman; the same year, he had a supporting role in the Warner Bros. film Johnny Trouble.

In 1957, Byrnes signed a three-year contract with John Carroll of Clarion Pictures.

Warner Bros.,[9] and a contemporary report described him as "a Tab Hunter type.".[10] The studio liked Byrnes' work and signed him to a long-term contract in May 1957.[11]

Warner Bros.

Warners started off Byrnes' contract by assigning him to a comic role in the war drama

The Gale Storm Show: Oh! Susanna and Colt .45. In 1958 he appeared (credited as Edward Byrnes) as Benji Danton on Cheyenne
in the episode titled "The Last Comanchero."

When Tab Hunter refused a role in the war film Darby's Rangers (1958), Byrnes stepped in instead. He was wanted for Baby Face Nelson (1957), but Warners would not loan him out.[14]

Byrnes also appeared in the romantic drama Marjorie Morningstar (1958) and Life Begins at 17 (1958). He appeared as a guest star in Maverick, The Deputy, and Sugarfoot, in the latter with John Russell, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr., and Will Wright in the 1958 season-premiere episode "Ring of Sand." He was in another war film titled Up Periscope (1959).

77 Sunset Strip

Byrnes was cast in

contract killer Kenneth ("Kookie") Smiley, who continually combed his hair – Byrnes said this was an idea of his which the director liked and kept in.[15][16][17][18][19] 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."[4][16]

The show aired in October 1958

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.

— From the pre-credit sequence for the episode "Lovely Lady, Pity Me"

Kookie's recurring character—a different, exciting look that teens of the day related to—was the valet-parking attendant who constantly combed his piled-high, greasy-styled teen hair, often in a

West Hollywood. Kookie frequently acted as an unlicensed, protégé detective who helped the private eyes (Zimbalist and Roger Smith) on their cases, based upon "the word" heard from Kookie's street informants. Kookie called everybody "Dad" (as in "Sure thing . . . Dad") and was television's homage to the "Jack Kerouac" style of cult-hipster of the late 1950s.[21]

Byrnes as Kookie with Sue Randall (c. 1963)

The show became the most popular one in the country.

The Fonz character of the Happy Days series (switch hot rod for motorcycle; same hair and comb). By April 1959, Byrnes was among the most popular young actors in the country.[23]

"I was a nobody", said Byrnes. "Now I'm dragging in over 400 letters a week and I'm a name."[24]

Kookie's constant onscreen tending of his

gold disc by the RIAA.[25][26] The song also appeared on the Edd Byrnes album, entitled Kookie. He and Stevens appeared together on ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom. During the run of 77 Sunset Strip, Byrnes, as the "Kookie" character, was a popular celebrity, and Byrnes received fan-mail that reached 15,000 letters a week, according to Picture Magazine in 1961; this rivalled most early rock recording-stars of the day.[citation needed
]

Clashes with Warners

Warners put him in the second lead of a Western, Yellowstone Kelly (1959), supporting Clint Walker, star of another Warners show, Cheyenne; it was a minor success at the box office.[27]

"I'm not studying", said Byrnes at the time. "Why should I? I get all my experience in front of the camera. You get in front of the camera every day and you've got to learn."[4]

Byrnes walked off the show in the second season, demanding a bigger part and higher pay. In November 1959, Warners put him on suspension. They eventually offered $750 a week but he refused. In April 1960, they came to terms and Byrnes went back to work.[28][29]

Owing to restrictions in his

Ocean's Eleven (1960); Rio Bravo (1959); North to Alaska (1960) and The Longest Day (1962). He tested for the role of John F. Kennedy in PT 109, but President Kennedy preferred Cliff Robertson.;[30] instead of making that movie, he guest starred on Lawman
.

Byrnes made a cameo as Kookie in

Surfside Six and Hawaiian Eye, a 77 Sunset Strip spin-off. He bought a story for Warners, Make Mine Vanilla, but it was not made.[31] He threatened to punch a photographer who was trying to take a photo of him getting a marriage license.[32] He did some summer stock in 1962 with his wife.[33]

Although Byrnes was a popular celebrity, typecasting led him to ultimately buy out his television contract with Warner Brothers to clear his way for films—but it was too late for Byrnes to capitalize on feature-length cinema projects based upon his established television-series fame.

Post-Warner Bros.

In August 1963 Byrnes bought up the remaining ten months of his contract with Warner Bros. and left Sunset Strip. "No more hipster image for me", said Byrnes. "From now on I'd like to establish myself as a movie star."[34]

Byrnes appeared in episodes of

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; Burke's Law and Kraft Suspense Theatre. He travelled to Yugoslavia where he was one of several names in Roger Corman's ensemble war film The Secret Invasion (1964). While in Europe he signed to do a TV show in Munich.[35]

Back in the United States, he made a

Theatre of Stars, and did Picnic; Bus Stop; Sunday in New York; Sweet Bird of Youth and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on stage in stock.[40][41]

The shadow of Kookie hung over him. "People think that's the only role you can play", he said in 1966. "Producers and directors still think of me as the kid I played on the Strip. I've been offered other series but they've still wanted to cast me as the same kid."[42]

Byrnes returned to Europe for several Spaghetti Westerns, which included the 1967 films Renegade Riders; Any Gun Can Play and Red Blood, Yellow Gold.[43] In 1969 he said he made more money in the preceding year than in his entire time at Warner Bros.[44]

Back in the US he worked mostly in TV; this included episodes of Mannix; Love, American Style; The Virginian; Adam-12 and Pathfinders. He was also in the TV movies The Silent Gun (1969), starring Lloyd Bridges, and The Gift of Terror (1973), starring Denise Alexander and Will Geer. Byrnes had a supporting role in the Duo-Vision horror film Wicked, Wicked in 1973, starring Tiffany Bolling, and played a TV interviewer in the David Essex film Stardust (1974).

In 1974, Byrnes hosted the

Wheel of Fortune, but NBC chose Chuck Woolery instead.[45]

He was a guest star in

Marcus Welby, MD; Thriller; Police Story; Police Woman and Sword of Justice
; and was also in the TV movies Mobile Two (1975) and Telethon (1977).

Grease

Byrnes played a small but memorable role of the Dick Clark-like dance-show host Vince Fontaine, host of National Bandstand, in the 1978 movie Grease.

The box office success of the film led to Byrnes becoming the only regular cast member of the

The Master, Simon & Simon, and Crazy Like a Fox
.

Later career

Byrnes had a small role in the Erin Moran TV film Twirl (1981) and the lead in Erotic Images (1983) with Britt Ekland. Byrnes also appeared in Mankillers (1987); Back to the Beach (1987); Party Line (1988) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989).

Later appearances included parts in:

time share and singing a revamped version of "Kookie" with the thrash metal band Anthrax
. The episode and his appearance were well-received.

One of his final TV roles was a small role in the mini-series Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story (1999).

Personal life and death

His wife, Asa Maynor, was born 22 September 1936, as Virginia Maynor, in Birmingham, AL.[47]

Byrnes’s son by Asa Maynor is Logan Byrnes, a television news anchor for KUSI-TV News in San Diego, California, since 2018, after performing the same duty at KTTV in Los Angeles. Before 2016 he was at Fox Connecticut from 2008.[48]

Byrnes died of natural causes on January 8, 2020, at his

Santa Monica home. He was 87 years old. His body was cremated. [49][50][5]

Legacy

As a tribute to his enduring celebrity and his iconic "Kookie" character, Byrnes has ranked #5 in TV Guide's list of "TV's 25 Greatest Teen Idols" (23 January 2005). In 1996, he wrote an autobiography with Marshall Terrill titled Kookie No More.[5]

Byrnes appeared during the Memphis Film Festival in June 2014; he was reunited with his former Yellowstone Kelly co-star Clint Walker.[51]

Filmography

09/13/1972, TV Series) as Skinner

References

Citations

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  2. ^ Jablon, Robert (January 10, 2020). "Edd Byrnes, who played Kookie in 77 Sunset Strip, dies". Star Tribune. Minneapolis. Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  3. ^ Biodata, imdb.com; accessed December 12, 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e Schumach, Murry (August 30, 1959). "SUCCESS STORY; From Edward to Edd, or How Kookie Paid Off". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Fox, Margalit (January 9, 2020). "Edd Byrnes, Who Combed His Way to TV Stardom, Dies at 86". The New York Times. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  6. ^ Eliot 2013, pp. 22–23.
  7. ^ Davidson, Bill (October 12, 1975). "The conquering antihero". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
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  13. ^ Thompson, Jr., Henry Howard (January 16, 1958). "'Deep Six' Is Drama About Pacifist at War". The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2020.(subscription required)
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  16. ^ a b Compo 2009, p. 58.
  17. ^ Compo 2009, p. 478.
  18. ^ Variety Staff (May 2, 2014). "'77 Sunset Strip,' 'F.B.I.' Star Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Dies at 95". Variety. Retrieved January 11, 2020.
  19. ^ Terrace 2003, p. 148.
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  28. ^ 77 Sunset Strip. Tvparty.com. Retrieved on 2012-05-05.
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  30. ^ p. 24 Davidson, Bill "The President Casts a Movie" The Saturday Evening Post, Volume 235 Curtis Publishing Company, September 8, 1962
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  38. ^ Lisanti 2005, p. 158.
  39. ^ Lisanti 2005, p. 164.
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  48. ^ Logan Byrnes official website; retrieved December 12, 2015.
  49. ^ Alicia Adejobi (9 January 2020). "Grease actor Edd Byrnes dies aged 87". Metro Entertainment. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  50. ^ "Edd Byrnes, Kookie on '77 Sunset Strip,' Dies at 87". The Hollywood Reporter.
  51. ^ "Home security and locksmith blog, tips & info". Memphis Film Festival website. Archived from the original on 2015-08-28. Retrieved 2015-08-17.
  52. ^ "Payment in Blood (1967)". IMDb.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021.

Sources

External links
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Edd_Byrnes&oldid=1219794193"