Person
Jerry Colonna
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gerardo Luigi "Jerry" Colonna (September 17, 1904 – November 22, 1986) was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and tro…
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Gerardo Luigi "Jerry" Colonna (September 17, 1904 – November 22, 1986) was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and trombonist best remembered as the zaniest of Bob Hope's sidekicks in Hope's popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s. With his pop-eyed facial expressions and walrus-sized handlebar moustache, Colonna was known for singing loudly "in a comic caterwaul," according to Raised on Radio author Gerald Nachman, and for his catchphrase, "Who's Yehudi?", uttered after many an old joke, although it usually had nothing to do with the joke. The line was believed to be named for violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin, and the search for Yehudi became a running gag on the Hope show. Colonna featured in three of the popular Hope-Crosby Road films: Road to Singapore (1940) as Achilles Bombassa, Road to Rio (1947) as a Cavalry captain and The Road to Hong Kong (1962) in a cameo role. He can also be seen in the Fred Allen vehicle, It's in the Bag! (1945), as psychiatrist Dr. Greenglass, and he made a brief appearance with Hope in the "Wife, Husband and Wolf" sketch in Star Spangled Rhythm. In 1956 he performed the featured song "My Lucky Charm" in the film Meet Me in Las Vegas, starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse. He provided the voice of the March Hare in the Walt Disney animated film version of Alice in Wonderland (1951) (another radio legend, Ed Wynn, voiced the Mad Hatter) and also lent his zany narration style to several Disney shorts, including Casey at the Bat (1946) and The Brave Engineer (1950).
Filmography
Movies and shows, newest first
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2025
Miles, Morale and Memories: Bob Hope and WWII
Movie Self - Performer (archive footage)
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2017
This Is Bob Hope...
Movie Self (archive footage)
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2002
Entertaining the Troops: Bob Hope & the USO
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1996
Bob Hope: Laughing With the Presidents
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1988
Happy Birthday, Bob: 50 Stars Salute Your 50 Years with NBC
Movie Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
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1977
Don't Push, I'll Charge When I'm Ready
Movie Self
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1976
Bob Hope's World of Comedy
Movie Self (archive footage)
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1976
Joys
Movie Self
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1974
Dinah!
TV show Self
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1966
The Monkees
TV show Dr. Mann
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1962
The Road to Hong Kong
Movie Man Looking For Match (uncredited)
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1958
Andy Hardy Comes Home
Movie Doc
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1957
Pinocchio
Movie Ringmaster
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1956
The Rosemary Clooney Show
TV show Self
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1956
Meet Me in Las Vegas
Movie Jerry Colonna
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1955
Music Land
Movie Narrator (archive footage)
More credits
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1954
Climax!
TV show Stan
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1952
Ellis in Freedomland
Movie The Waste-away (voice)
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1951
Alice in Wonderland
Movie March Hare (voice)
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1951
Operation Wonderland
Movie Self
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1951
Kentucky Jubilee
Movie Jerry Harris
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1950
The Colgate Comedy Hour
TV show Self
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1950
The Brave Engineer
Movie Narrator
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1950
What's My Line?
TV show Self
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1947
Road to Rio
Movie Jerry Colonna
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1946
Casey at the Bat
Movie Narrator
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1946
Make Mine Music
Movie Narrator (segment "Casey at the Bat") (voice)
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1946
Road to Utopia
Movie Man on Boat to Alaska (uncredited)
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1945
It's in the Bag!
Movie Dr. Greengrass
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1944
G.I. Journal
Movie Self
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1944
Atlantic City
Movie The Professor
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1944
Musical Movieland
Movie The Texas Tornado
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1943
Stars on Horseback
Movie
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1942
Ice Capades Revue
Movie Theophilus J. Twitchell
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1942
Priorities on Parade
Movie Jeep Jackson
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1942
True to the Army
Movie Pvt. 'Pinky' Fothergill
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1942
Star Spangled Rhythm
Movie Jerry Colonna
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1941
Hedda Hopper's Hollywood No. 1
Movie Self (uncredited)
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1941
Ice-Capades
Movie Colonna
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1941
Sis Hopkins
Movie Professor
