The word genius is too often freely placed on the undeserving but Ernie Kovacs would not have a problem qualifying for the description that Webster uses: "extraordinary intellectual power as manifested in creative activity". He had all of those things in spades...
His local show in Philadelphia would morph into network specials which would lead to "The Ernie Kovacs Show" in 1952 (on CBS-TV and then NBC-TV in 1956). Every week for 4 years we were treated to the most innovative and creative hours of television ever seen on the medium, to this day. We witnessed video tricks no one ever dreamed of before, like milk being poured sideways by Kovacs seated at a table that was straight. He once attached a camera lens to a kaleidoscope for a truly psychedelic effect before that word was ever used. There would be Ernie underwater blowing smoke from a cigar which was actually milk that Kovacs had filled his mouth with before submerging in a tank of water. And how can we ever forget the Nairobi Trio, the derby wearing apes that moved to a tune that was called "Solfeggio" which translates to "the silent show". The experimentation which included superimpositions, reverse polarity and scanning, the quick "blackouts" and running gags were priceless. Kovacs once spent $50,000 on a piece that lasted 6 seconds on screen...
The genius of Ernie Kovacs met a tragic end on January 13, 1962 when his Corvair station wagon crashed into a telephone pole during a Southern California rainstorm. When his body was found there was an unlit cigar lying just out of his reach. Authorities theorized that he may have lost control of his car while trying to light his ever present cigar. Ten days earlier Kovacs had just turned 43...
More on Ernie Kovacs in my commentary...
More January 13 Memories...
1854) Anthony Faas of Philadelphia patents the accordion ("Lady of Spain" would soon follow)...
1906) Hugh Gernsback of the Electro Importing Company advertises radio receivers for sale at a price of just $7.50 in "Scientific American" magazine...
1928) Ernest F. W. Alexanderson gives the 1st public demonstration of television...
1930) "Mickey Mouse" appears in a comic strip for the 1st time...
1957) Wham-O begins producing "Pluto Platters", the beginning of production of the flying disc a.k.a. "The Frisbee"...
1959) The Platters are #1 with "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes"...
1962) Ernie Kovacs dies in a car crash at 43 (feature story)...
1966) Elizabeth Montgomery's character Samantha on "Bewitched" gives birth to Tabitha...
1968) Minnesota's 30-year old winger, Bill Masterson is fatally injured when he's checked heavily into the boards, hitting his head on the ice. He dies 2 days later of brain injuries...
1978) Former Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey dies in Waverly, Minnesota at 66...
1978) The Police begin recording their debut album...
1979) Donny Hathaway dies after either jumping or falling from a 15th floor hotel room in Manhattan. Hathaway was 34...
1979) The Y.M.C.A. files a lawsuit against the Village People over their song "Y.M.C.A." (after clearly thinking about all the free publicity they would receive forever, they drop the suit)...
1982) An Air Florida 737 crashes into Washington, D.C.'s 14th Street Bridge after taking off in a blinding snowstorm. The plane lands in the Potomac killing 78 (Howard Stern lost his job over this when asking when the next flight was scheduled to arrive at the 14th Street Bridge)...
1982) Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson are elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame...
1989) Subway vigilante Bernhard H. Goetz is sentenced to one year in prison for gun possession but is freed the following September...
1989) The "Friday the 13th" virus strikes computers worldwide (hardest hit is Britain)...
1990) L. Douglas Wilder takes office as the nation's 1st elected black governor (in Virginia)...
1998) NBC-TV agrees to pay almost $13 million for each episode of "E.R." (the highest amount ever paid for a TV show)...
1999) Michael Jordan announces his retirement from the Bulls and the NBA (Michael will return in a couple of years with the Washington Wizards)...
2000) Microsoft chairman Bill Gates steps aside as chief executive and promotes president Steve Ballmer to the position...
2002) The off-Broadway musical "The Fantasticks" is performed for the last time ending a run of nearly 42 years and 17,162 shows (and it seems like only yesterday - not!)...
2002) President George W. Bush faints after choking on a pretzel (obviously a gift of Ted Kennedy)...
2003) Pete Townshend of The Who is arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children (Townshend denies the charge and is later cleared)...
2003) FAO Schwarz files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1930) Frances Sternhagen...
1931) Charles Nelson Reilly...
1934) Rip Taylor...
1938) Billy ("Bud" from "Father Knows Best") Gray...
1943) Richard ("Bull" from "Night Court") Moll...
1961) Julia Louis-Dreyfus...
1977) Orlando Bloom...
Commentary...
Some interesting things you may not have known about Ernie Kovacs:
- Ernie's epitaph reads "Nothing in moderation/We all loved him"...
- Two of Ernie's 3 daughters, Mia and Kippie were both killed in auto accidents...
- Kovacs played poker with entertainment friends and Jack Lemmon was quoted as saying that Ernie and Walter Matthau were "two of the worst players he had ever known"...
- Ernie disliked working in front of a live audience...
- Shortly before his death, Kovacs had been signed to play Melville Crump in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"...
- Although a long-time spokesman for Dutch Masters cigars, in real life Ernie only smoked expensive Cuban cigars, as many as 20 a day...
Bob Sherwood commenting on Mark McGwire's chances of being elected into Baseball's Hall of Fame next year: "Sadly the ill-advised and stupid whining testimony of McGwire in front of Congress and the American people will keep Mark out". Bob also feels that as difficult a person as Jim Rice was to the media, "his numbers clearly mandate his admission". And finally Bob commenting on Frank Zappa's admission to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: "Zappa presented us at Mercury, album art that showed him in Lawrence of Arabia attire for an album entitled "Sheik Yurbuti". I can't recall what we sold but the LP is a classic". Thanks for your feedback Bob...
This is the 13th day of 2006 with 352 days left in the year but only 66 days remaining until Spring...
Saturday, January 14, 2006..
January 14 Memories...
1699) Massachusetts holds a day of fasting for wrongly persecuting witches (what's this commonwealth coming to ?)...
1784) The U.S. ratifies a peace treaty with England ending the Revolutionary War...
1882) The Myopia Hunt Club in Winchester, Mass. becomes the 1st country club in the U.S. (were glasses necessary for members ?)...
1952) "The Today Show" premieres on NBC-TV with Dave Garroway and Jack Lescoulie...
1954) Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe marry at San Francisco's city hall (Marilyn charges "mental cruelty" in October and the couple are divorced)...
1955) Alan Freed produces his 1st Rock 'n Roll show in New York. Held at St. Nicholas Arena, the show features the Drifters, Fats Domino, Joe Turner and others...
1956) Little Richard releases "Tutti Frutti"...
1960) Elvis Presley is promoted to "Sergeant" in the U.S. Army...
1963) George C. Wallace vows "segregation forever" as he is sworn in as governor of Alabama...
1966) David Jones changes his last name to "Bowie" to avoid confusion with Davy Jones of the Monkees...
1967) Sonny and Cher release "The Beat Goes On"...
1968) The Green Bay Packers defeat the Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II (just a plain ole "championship game", "Super Bowl" wouldn't be used until SBIII)...
1970) Diana Ross and the Supremes perform their last concert together at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas...
1970) The 1st "Human Be-in" takes place in Golden Gate Park ("far-out, man")...
1972) "Sanford & Son" starring Redd Foxx debuts on NBC-TV (and runs until September 2, 1977 on the network before going into syndication)...
1973) The Miami Dolphins complete an undefeated, 17-0 season when they beat the Washington Redskins 14-7 in Super Bowl VII (the 1st and only team to finish a season undefeated)...
1973) Elvis Presley's "Aloha From Hawaii" concert is broadcast live around the world...
1976) "Bionic Woman" starring Lindsay Wagner debuts on ABC-TV (and then later on NBC-TV). The show will run until September 2, 1978...
1984) Madonna debuts "Holiday" on American Bandstand...
1985) Martina Navratilova joins Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert Lloyd as the only tennis players to win 100 tournaments...
1989) Paul McCartney releases his "Back In The U.S.S.R." LP...
1993) David Letterman announces that he's moving from NBC to CBS-TV...
1998) Whitewater prosecutors begin questioning Hillary Rodham Clinton about the gathering of FBI files on past Republican political appointees...
2001) The Giants gain their 3rd trip to a Super Bowl by beating Minnesota 41-0 in the NFC title game (they will lose to Baltimore in SBXXXV)...
2002) "The Today Show" celebrates its 50th anniversary on the air...
2004) J.P. Morgan Chase strikes a deal to buy Bank One for $58 billion...
2004) President Bush unveils a plan to send astronauts (and Ted Kennedy) to the moon, Mars and beyond...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To..
1919) Andy Rooney...
1936) Clarence Carter...
1938) Jack Jones...
1940) Julian Bond...
1941) Faye Dunaway...
This is the 14th day of 2006 with 351 days left in the year but only 65 days until Spring...
Sunday, January 15, 2006...
January 15 Memories...
1777) The people of New Connecticut declare their independence from Great Britain. The tiny republic later becomes known as the state of Vermont...
1844) The University of Notre Dame receives its charter from the state of Indiana (everybody, "cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame")...
1863) "The Boston Morning Journal" becomes the 1st paper in the U.S. to be published on wood pulp paper...
1870) The Democratic Party is represented as a donkey for the 1st time in a cartoon by Thomas Nast in "Harper's Weekly"...
1892) The rules of basketball are published for the 1st time in Springfield, Mass., where the game originated...
1943) Work is completed on the Pentagon...
1947) The mutilated remains of 22-year old aspiring actress Elizabeth Short, known as the "Black Dahlia" for her dark outfits, are found in a vacant L.A. lot (the case is never solved)...
1953) Harry S. Truman becomes the 1st U.S. President to give his farewell speech on both radio and TV...
1961) Motown signs The Supremes...
1964) Vee Jay Records files a suit against Capitol and Swan over rights to Beatles recordings...
1967) On "The Ed Sullivan Show" the Rolling Stones change the lyrics to "Let's Spend the Night Together" to "let's spend some time together" for network censors...
1967) The Buckinghams begin recording "Don't You Care"...
1967) The Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 in what will become known as "Super Bowl I"...
1971) George Harrison releases "My Sweet Lord"...
1973) Gene Shalit brings his bushy mustache and doctor's bag to "The Today Show" for movie reviews which he continues to contribute in a very annoying way using far too many cliches (but how do I really feel ?)...
1974) "Happy Days" premieres on ABC-TV (it will run until July 12, 1984 and spawn the spinoff, "Laverne and Shirley" in January, 1976)...
1975) "Space Mountain" debuts at Disneyland...
1976) Sara Jane Moore is sentenced to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Ford in San Francisco...
1977) "The Coneheads" debut on Saturday Night Live...
1978) Two students are murdered in their Florida State sorority house (Ted Bundy is later convicted of the crime and executed)...
1978) The 1st "indoor" Super Bowl finds Dallas beating Denver 27-10 in Super Bowl XII played in the Superdome in New Orleans...
1981) "Hill Street Blues" premieres on NBC-TV (running until 1987 and winning Emmys in 1982, 1983 and 1984)...
1987) Ray Bolger, the scarecrow in "The Wizard of Oz" dies at 83...
To ensure accuracy, multiple reference sources were used in the timeline...
Happy Birthday To...
1937) Margaret O'Brien...
1941) Captain Beefheart...
1947) Andrea Martin...
1957) Mario Van Peebles...
1967) Lisa Lisa...
1968) Chad Lowe...
This is the 15th day of 2006 with 350 days left in the year but only 64 days remaining until Spring...
