Ed Wynn

The Man Who Split His Name

Isaiah Edwin Leopold cut down his middle name so as not to embarrass his family. His father made hats in Philadelphia and did not accept that his heir would end up telling jokes on dubious stages. That 15-year-old boy ran away from home to sell tickets for a traveling theater company and ended up on stage before turning eighteen.

In 1902 he began his career in vaudeville. That variety scene demanded a thick skin and a visual style that could work from the back row of the balcony. Wynn quickly understood that his looks were not those of a leading man. But he made the most of his high-pitched voice and nervous gestures to build a celebrity persona that bordered on the absurd.

And the audience devoured his act.

For decades he perfected the use of ridiculous objects in his performances. He didn't need complex scripts, because his comedy relied on interaction with impossible inventions. In 1921 he wrote and produced The Perfect Fool on Broadway. That production gave him the nickname that would stay with him for the rest of his life and made him one of the best-paid names on the New York stage.

Radio Success and the Great Depression

Radio came as a threat to many actors of his generation. Wynn, however, saw a golden opportunity at NBC. In 1932 he signed on to star in The Fire Chief. He earned 5,000 dollars per broadcast for each half-hour episode. It was an staggering sum in a country sinking into economic misery after the 29 stock market crash.

He always insisted on having a real audience in the studio. He couldn't stand performing in front of a cold microphone, because he needed the immediate reaction of laughter. So he made the crew build full sets with props and costumes, even though listeners at home could only hear his voice.

But his success on the radio didn't last forever.

After World War II, his style began to seem old-fashioned. New comedians brought a different rhythm, and Wynn was relegated to supporting roles or nostalgic cameo appearances. His son Keenan Wynn was already a respected actor in Hollywood and gave him the most bitter advice of his life. He asked him to stop trying to be funny.

The Metamorphosis into a Character Actor

In 1956 he accepted a dramatic role in the television series Playhouse 90. He played a washed-up boxing trainer in the episode Requiem for a Heavyweight. The impact was immediate. The industry discovered that beneath the makeup layers and colorful hats was a man capable of conveying heartbreaking vulnerability.

Walt Disney called him shortly after.

In 1951 he had already voiced the Mad Hatter in the animated version of Alice in Wonderland. But his big moment in live-action film came in 1959 with The Diary of Anne Frank. For his performance as Albert Dussell, he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor at age 72.

In 1964 he appeared in Mary Poppins as Uncle Albert. The scene where he floats across the ceiling due to his laughing fits became his most memorable visual legacy. Despite his advanced age, he kept filming grueling days without complaint about the physical effort required by the suspension wires.

He never officially retired.

His last appearance on the big screen came in 1967 in The Gnome-Mobile. He died in Beverly Hills on June 4, 1966, from esophageal cancer, before seeing his final work released. His will revealed a personal fortune of 212,000 dollars of the era, divided among his direct heirs.