Adjectives like “beloved” fell on him. And deservedly so. Few bad words were ever spoken about him and he always seems to have really loved being in front of an audience.
It’s Schnozzola’s birthday today, so let’s pass along a couple of birthday stories from the major wire services. The first is from 1963, the second saw print seven years later.
Durante Marks 70th Birthday
By GENE PLOWDEN
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP)—Jimmy (the Schnozz) Durante admitted today he had a birthday—his 70th—"but I don't want every body to know about it."
The veteran entertainer, interviewed at a hotel where he Is appearing, described it this way:
"Thank God I had another birthday. Da party? Sure. It was after da show an’ they asked me if I didn’t want to come in and have some tea. It was a big surprise to me. We had a wonderful time.
"Mrs. Morris Lansburgh (whose husband owns the hotel) gave it. He's in Las Vegas. A few of my friends was there—George Raft, Eleanor Holm, Rocky Marciano, Little Jack Carter, Gene Bayless, Peter Lawford and a lot of others.
"I wanted to go four rounds wit’ Rocky, but he wouldn't take me on. Everybody had a lot of fun."
Durante does an hour and 15-minute show and keeps going night after night.
"No other entertainers—just us," he said.
Between shows Monday night he entertained the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association at their annual banquet.
The record says Durante was born in Brooklyn in 1893 and that he started in show business at 17, which means he’s starting his 54th year on the stage.
"Who th’ hell knows?” he snorted. “In my day, we didn't have no doctors. Everybody had midwives. Maybe I picked da date at random. Nobody had birth certificates in them days.
"I could'a said 1910 or somein'. Maybe I should'a picked a date like that. I had a lot of trouble gettin’ to Europe In 1936, ’cause I never had no birth certificate. I never did find one.
"But it’s been a lot of fun, and I’ll go on as long as I can—as long as they come to see me and I can make ’em happy.”
'The Nose' Marks 78th Year
By VERNON SCOTT
UPI Hollywood Correspondent
HOLLYWOOD (UPI) - “Da nose may be 78 years old but not da man what owns it," quoth Jimmy Durante on his birthday.
Jimmy stroked his proboscis with affection. “Doesn't look a day older, does it?"
The beloved comedian moved with energy, his legs spry, his eyes atwinkle. He is astonishingly agile for a man of his years which he explains is due to his never having drunk alcohol.
“Thank God the birthdays keep coming around," the great Durante rasped. “I certainly wouldn’t want to miss one."
Recently Returned Home
Durante returned recently from Las Vegas where he starred in his own revue at one of the hotels on the desert town's famed Strip. He still sings the same songs, throws his hat at his drummer, wrecks the piano and straightens his tie while ogling girls.The spotlight narrows on Jimmy as he sings “September Song" in a memorable rendition which brings audiences to their feet, as he did this week at a testimonial dinner to producer Stanley Kramer. Durante, married to his wife Margie for 11 years, works only about half the year. The rest of the time he spends at home in Beverly Hills or in Del Mar, Calif.
His 9-year-old daughter, Cecille, keeps him young.
“She’s a wonderful little girl and I spend all the time I can with her,” the entertainer said.
“So I'm on the threshold of middle age. That’s fine with me. I expect to go another 70 years. From here I go to Chicago and then to Philadelphia. By June I’ll be back playing at one of Mr. Howard Hughes' establishments in Vegas.”
How will the Great Schnozz celebrate his birthday?
“I’d like to let it slip by nice and quiet. Me and Marge and a few friends will go out to dinner. Then I’ll go home and go to bed early—which is what I always do when I’m not working."
And what would Jimmy like to have for a birthday present?
“Another good year," he replied. “And a few more winners at the race track. That would be the cream on the boithday cake!”
Unfortunately, he didn’t have “another good year.” In September, he checked into hospital in Santa Monica for exhaustion and then had a stroke in November. He cancelled a TV appearance with Julie Andrews planned for that month and when AP writer Bob Thomas caught up with him in 1975, he was in a wheelchair and speaking slowly during a phone interview. He was gone just after the start of 1980.
To paraphrase some hokum, Happy birthday, Mr. Durante, wherever you are.
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