Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November , â€" June , ), better known as Ed
Wynn, was an American actor and comedian, noted for his Perfect Fool
comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the s, and his later
career as a dramatic actor.Wynn was born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph, who manufactured and
sold women's hats, was born in Bohemia. His mother, Minnie Greenberg,
of Romanian and Turkish ancestry, came from Istanbul. Wynn attended
Central High School in Philadelphia until age . He ran away from home
in his teens, worked as a hat salesman, and as a utility boy, and
eventually adapted his middle name "Edwin" into his new stage name,
"Ed Wynn", to save his family the embarrassment of having a lowly
comedian as a relative.Wynn began his career in vaudeville in and was
a star of the Ziegfeld Follies starting in . During The Follies of ,
W. C. Fields allegedly caught Wynn mugging for the audience under the
table during Fields' Pool Room routine and knocked Wynn unconscious
with his cue. Wynn wrote, directed, and produced many Broadway shows
in the subsequent decades, and was known for his silly costumes and
props as well as for the giggly, wavering voice he developed for the
musical revue, The Perfect Fool.
Wynn, was an American actor and comedian, noted for his Perfect Fool
comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the s, and his later
career as a dramatic actor.Wynn was born Isaiah Edwin Leopold in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Joseph, who manufactured and
sold women's hats, was born in Bohemia. His mother, Minnie Greenberg,
of Romanian and Turkish ancestry, came from Istanbul. Wynn attended
Central High School in Philadelphia until age . He ran away from home
in his teens, worked as a hat salesman, and as a utility boy, and
eventually adapted his middle name "Edwin" into his new stage name,
"Ed Wynn", to save his family the embarrassment of having a lowly
comedian as a relative.Wynn began his career in vaudeville in and was
a star of the Ziegfeld Follies starting in . During The Follies of ,
W. C. Fields allegedly caught Wynn mugging for the audience under the
table during Fields' Pool Room routine and knocked Wynn unconscious
with his cue. Wynn wrote, directed, and produced many Broadway shows
in the subsequent decades, and was known for his silly costumes and
props as well as for the giggly, wavering voice he developed for the
musical revue, The Perfect Fool.
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