Bill Dana
Comedian/ Writer
About This Interview
Bill Dana was interviewed for nearly three hours in Los Angeles, CA. Dana talked about growing up in the Depression, his interest in comedy, and his stint as an NBC page. He discussed teaming up for a comedy act with Gene Wood, before joining The Steve Allen Show, where he became head writer. He detailed some of the show's recurring sketches, including "The Question Man" "Man on the Street" and the "Nutley-Hinkley Report." He then chronicled the creation of his famous character, "Jose Jimenez" which began on Allen's show. He described Jimenez’s character's traits, his many appearances, his retirement, the response of the Latino community regarding the character, and the culmination of Jimenez's fame on The Bill Dana Show. He discussed his work as a producer on The Milton Berle Show; his roles on St. Elsewhere and The Golden Girls; and his writing of the famous All in the Family episode, "Sammy's Visit" featuring Sammy Davis Jr. Lastly, he talked about his current work with Emerson College and his creation of the American Comedy Archives. The interview was conducted by Jeff Abraham on February 10, 2007.
Related To This Video
Featured Content
From youtube: Bill Dana as Jose Jimenez in the Santa Claus sketch, with straight-man Pat Harrington, ca.1959:
Resources
Click to view:
Bill Dana's Biography from Emerson College's American Comedy Archives
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Highlights
Bill Dana on his feelings today toward the character that made him famous: "Jose Jimenez"
Bill Dana on writing for the voice of Don Adams; the birth of "would you believe" jokes
Bill Dana on the birth of his character "Jose Jiminez" on The Steve Allen Show in 1959
Bill Dana on writing the episode "Sammy's Visit" for All in the Family ; starring Sammy Davis, Jr.- Bill Dana on his advice to aspiring writers and comedians
- Bill Dana on breaking in new comedic material, live, on The Garry Moore Show as part of the comedy team "Dana and Wood".
- Bill Dana on his recurring role as "Uncle Angelo" on The Golden Girls; the biggest laugh he ever got was on that show
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- On his childhood in Quincy, MA; on his brother Irving Szathmary, on growing up during the Depression; finding humor in difficult situations
- On his brother Arthur who taught him an awareness of language, which would play a great role in his comedic writing, malaprops, and the dialects he would use in characters such as Jose Jimenez; on other early influences; his education; meeting Gene Wood
- On his Army service during WWII; on realizing the power of language; on the Leopoldville disaster; on being sent to witness the Dachau concentration camp by President Eisenhower
- On the G.I Bill that enabled him to go to Emerson College; on forming a comedy duo with Gene Wood; on heading to California to pursue work in the early 1950s
- Chapter 2
- On early odd jobs as a layout electrician and how he wound up (by a misunderstanding) as head of equipment at Douglas Aircraft base on the Nike Missile project;
- On getting a job as a page at NBC on Date in Manhattan with Ed Herlihy and Broadway Open House at Studio 8H; on his comedy partner Gene Wood and their comedy routines such as "What would have happened if..."; on becoming "Dana" from Szathmary
- On his management; starting a career in comedy writing
- On a bit he wrote for Don Adams which got him noticed by Steve Allen and hired as head writer, and for a time, the only writer, on the Steve Allen Tonight Show
- Chapter 3
- On Don Hinkley; memorable comedy sketches "The Question Man" and "The Nutley-Hinkley-Butley-Winkly Report"; the Martha Raye Show; Steve Allen
- On the genesis of the "Man on the Street" segments on
The Steve Allen Show; working with Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Louis Nye on those sketches; the difference in format between the Steve Allen Primetime show and the "Plymouth" show on ABC; hiring Buck Henry - On the birth of his character "Jose Jimenez" on
The Steve Allen Show in 1959 - Chapter 4
- On "Jose the Astronaut" who first appeared on The Garry Moore Show; on Mickey Kapp's recording of "Jose Jimenez" at the Hungry i; the relationship of the fictional Jose and the real Bill to the NASA Appollo program; on some memorable Jose the Astronaut lines
- On his proudest moments being associated with the NASA astronauts
- On the huge popularity of his character "Jose"; on transforming his alter ego into a "real flesh and blood character" on Make Room For Daddy with Danny Thomas
- On The Bill Dana Show getting greenlit without a pilot or a script; the premise of the show with Jose as a bellman at the Park Central Hotel; on the cast with Jonathan Harris, Gary Crosby, Maggie Peterson, Don Adams
- On the Bill Dana Show being cancelled, but being happy for Don Adams to continue on Get Smart along
- On writing for Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme and the Spike Jones Show
- Chapter 5
- On first appearing on variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show as "Jose Jimenez"
- On "Discover America with Jose Jimenez" , and NBC special series which he wrote with Al Wasserman
- Bill Dana on some of the initial backlash to the Jose Jimenez character, while he was a member of the National Hispanic Media Coalition
- On retiring his Jose Jimenez character
- On how he came to produce The Milton Berle Show, which he compared to "choreographing a typhoon"
- On how he came to write the classic All in the Family episode "Sammy's Visit" with Sammy Davis, Jr.
- Chapter 6
- On the All in the Family episode with Sammy Davis, Jr. where he kissed Archie Bunker
- On No Soap, Radio breaking the "fourth wall"
- On St. Elsewhere, on which he played Jonas Fiscus, Howie Mandel's father on the show
- On his recurring role as "Uncle Angelo" on The Golden Girls; working with Bea Arthur, Betty White, Estelle Getty, Susan Harris
- On reflecting back on the character that made him famous, "Jose Jimenez" and his feelings about him now
- On founding the American Comedy Archives at Emerson College; on the challenges of being a comedian
- On co-writing "The Laughter Prescription" with Dr. Lawrence Peter about the healing power of laughter
- On advice to aspiring writers
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@ClassicShowbiz ha ha ha ha :-)
Thank you for leaving the telepattern in. Means a lot to us.
i went to a dollar store and they had one copy of the BILL DANA SHOW on VHS
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