Sunday Comics - My Name…Bill Dana

March 16, 2008

This weeks comedian is one that many of the younger generations probably never heard of.  I am speaking of Bill Dana.

Bill Dana was born on October 5, 1924 in Quincy, Massachusetts.  His birth name was William Szathmary and he was of Hungarian-Jewish descent.

Mr. Dana created a very funny character for the Steve Allen Show.  His heavily-accented Latino character’s name was Jose Jimenez.  From 1963-1965 he starred in The Bill Dana Show.  A spinoff came in the form of The Danny Thomas Show in which Dana reprised his role as Jose Jimenez who was a bumbling bellhop at an upscale New York City Hotel.

On top of his acting, he was a prolific comedy writer.  Some of the credits to his name are the script for the "Get Smart" theatrical film called "The Nude Bomb."  His brother, Irving Szathmary wrote the famous theme to the "Get Smart" television series.  In the mid-1980s Bill Dana was cast with a recurring role on The Golden Girls in which he portrayed Sophia Petrillo’s (played by Estelle Getty) brother, Angelo.

Dana’s Jose Jimenez character had several cameos in the 1983 movie, The Right Stuff.  The training astronauts would watch Ed Sullivan between tests at a military hospital.

Sullivan:  I see you have some of your space equipment here.  Now, what is this?  Is this the crash helmet?

Jimenez: Oh, I hope not.

Alan B. Shepard, America’s first astronaut, was a great admirer of the Jose Jimenez character.  In the movie “The Right Stuff“, two NASA recruiters went to the air craft carrier that Shepard worked on.  He was preparing to land his jet.  He said, "Jose Jimenez on approach."  When he got the okay to land, the operator came on and said, "There are a couple of guys down here who want to talk about being an astronaut."  Shepard’s reply, "They want to make me an astronaut…Oh I hope not."  The other two references to Jose Jimenez in the movie were when Shepard was getting ready to launch.  John Glenn put his hand out and said, "Vaya con Dios Jose."  The other reference was when Shepard finally launched, his good friend Deke Slayton said, "You are on your way Jose."

This isn’t the only set of Jimenez references in movies about space.  In 1998, Tom Hanks directed and produced a series called "From the Earth to the Moon."  In the first episode the "You are on your way Jose" reference was made.  In Episode three, the Apollo 7 crew are sitting around eating breakfast.

John Young (played by John Posey): Bill Dana is great on Ed Sullivan.

Deke Slayton (Played by Nick Searcy):  Shepard is always talking about Bill Dana.

Wally Schirra (Played by Mark Harmon):  My Name…Jose Jimenez.

Wally as Ed Sullivan:  Mr. Jimenez, could you tell us, what is the most important thing in rocket travel?

Wally as Jose:  To me…the most important thing in rocket travel is the blast off.  I always take a blast before I take off, otherwise, I would not get near that thing.

Bill Dana is still going strong and enjoying life! Check out more about him on his web site

Posted in Sunday Comics