HACKETT, Buddy 1924-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born Leonard Hacker, August 31, 1924, in Brooklyn, NY; died June 30, 2003, in Malibu, CA. Actor and author. Hackett was a legendary comedic talent who appeared on stage, in movies, and on television from the 1940s into the twenty-first century. He first became interested in theater while he was in high school, and he toured resorts in the Catskills as a comedian while also working as a waiter and bellhop during the summer. During World War II he joined the U.S. Army and served in an antiaircraft unit. Seeing a performance of the musical Oklahoma! in 1945, he determined to go into show business as soon as he left the military. After studying method acting in Brooklyn, he started performing in clubs, but had little success until his agent allowed him to use more of his own material. Moving to California, he did better at Billy Gray's Band Box in Los Angeles, and then had a successful gig in Las Vegas. Returning to the Catskills, he performed at hotels there until economic conditions changed and the hotels closed. After being discovered during a stage performance of Lunatics and Lovers in 1954, Hackett got his own television show, a comedy called Stanley which costarred Carol Burnett but only lasted for one season. During the 1950s he also appeared as a regular on The Jackie Gleason Show and The Jack Paar Show. Meanwhile, he was also gaining acclaim for his film performances in God's Little Acre (1958), The Music Man (1962), and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962). Other movies in which he appeared include It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), The Love Bug (1968), Scrooged (1988), and Disney's animated The Little Mermaid (1989). On television, he was a regular on The Liar's Club (1976), played the part of Lou Costello in Bud and Lou (1978), and made guest appearances on many other popular shows, such as Quincy and The Big Valley. He was also the author of two books, The Truth about Golf, and Other Lies (1968) and The Naked Mind of Buddy Hackett (1974).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

BOOKS

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 35, Gale (Detroit, MI), 2001.

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, July 2, 2003, section 1, p. 11.

Los Angeles Times, July 1, 2003, p. B11.

New York Times, July 2, 2003, p. A21.

Times (London, England), July 7, 2003.