Jimmy Durante | |
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Born | James Francis Durante February 10, 1893 New York City, U.S. |
Died | January 29, 1980 Santa Monica, California, U.S. | (aged 86)
Resting place | Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City |
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Years active | 1920–1974 |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouses | Jeanne Olsen
(m. 1921; died 1943)Margie Little (m. 1960) |
Children | 1 (adopted) |
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James Francis Durante (/dəˈrænti/ də-RAN-tee, Italian: [duˈrante]; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American comedian, actor, singer, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and prominent nose helped make him one of the United States' most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. He often referred to his nose as the schnozzola (Italianization of the American Yiddish slang word schnoz, meaning "big nose"), and the word became his nickname.