Biography
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Gerardo Luigi "Jerry" Colonna (September 17, 1904 – November 22, 1986) was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and trombonist best remembered as the zaniest of Bob Hope's sidekicks in Hope's popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s.
With his pop-eyed facial expressions and walrus-sized handlebar moustache, Colonna was known for singing loudly "in a comic caterwaul," according to Raised on Radio author Gerald Nachman, and for his catchphrase, "Who's Yehudi?", uttered after many an old joke, although it usually had nothing to do with the joke. The line was believed to be named for violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin, and the search for Yehudi became a running gag on the Hope show.
Colonna featured in three of the popular Hope-Crosby Road films: Road to Singapore (1940) as Achilles Bombassa, Road to Rio (1947) as a Cavalry captain and The Road to Hong Kong (1962) in a cameo role. He can also be seen in the Fred Allen vehicle, It's in the Bag! (1945), as psychiatrist Dr. Greenglass, and he made a brief appearance with Hope in the "Wife, Husband and Wolf" sketch in Star Spangled Rhythm. In 1956 he performed the featured song "My Lucky Charm" in the film Meet Me in Las Vegas, starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse.
He provided the voice of the March Hare in the Walt Disney animated film version of Alice in Wonderland (1951) (another radio legend, Ed Wynn, voiced the Mad Hatter) and also lent his zany narration style to several Disney shorts, including Casey at the Bat (1946) and The Brave Engineer (1950).
Filmography
all 55
Movies 48
self 19
TV Shows 7
Narrator 5
This Is Bob Hope... (2017)
Disney's American Legends (2001)
Bob Hope: Laughing With the Presidents (1996)
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC (1988)
Joys (1976)
Dinah! (1974)
The Monkees (1966)
The Road to Hong Kong (1962)
Pinocchio (1957)
Meet Me in Las Vegas (1956)
Music Land (1955)
Climax! (1954)
Ellis in Freedomland (1952)
Alice in Wonderland (1951)
Kentucky Jubilee (1951)
The Brave Engineer (1950)
What's My Line? (1950)
Casey at the Bat (1946)
Make Mine Music (1946)
Road to Utopia (1946)
It's in the Bag! (1945)
Atlantic City (1944)
Musical Movieland (1944)
Ice Capades Revue (1942)
Priorities on Parade (1942)
True to the Army (1942)
Star Spangled Rhythm (1942)
Ice-Capades (1941)
Sis Hopkins (1941)
You're the One (1941)
Melody and Moonlight (1940)
Comin' Round the Mountain (1940)
Road to Singapore (1940)
Naughty But Nice (1939)
Swingtime in the Movies (1938)
Garden of the Moon (1938)
Valley of the Giants (1938)
Little Miss Broadway (1938)
Port of Seven Seas (1938)
The Star Reporter (1938)
Rosalie (1937)
Gallery
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1904-09-17
Deathday1986-11-21 (82 years old)
Birth PlaceBoston, Massachusetts, USA
CitizenshipsUnited States of America
Also Known AsGerardo Luigi Colonna
Awardsstar on Hollywood Walk of Fame
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