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Ernie Kovacs (January 23, 1919 - January 13, 1962)
was a creative and innovative entertainer from the
early days of television. His on-air antics would
go on to inspire TV shows like Saturday Night Live
and TV hosts like David Letterman. 

Born in Trenton, New Jersey, Kovacs became a
pioneer of television comedy as a distinct medium;
earlier television comedians mostly continued
comedy styles of vaudeville, film, or radio.

His live shows were unique at the time because of
their ad-libbed routines, experimentation with
video effects (including superimpositions, reverse
polarity, and reverse scanning which flipped
images upside down), and a willingness to break
the fourth wall by allowing viewers to see
activity beyond the set construction |set -
including crew members and, on occasion, outside
the studio itself.  He would also talk to the
off-camera crew.

==Visual humor==
Kovacs invented many camera tricks that are still
common today. One of his most popular gags was a
bit where Kovacs sat down at a table to eat his
lunch. He took items out of his lunch box and one
by one, each item mysteriously rolled down the
table into a gentleman reading the newspaper at
the other end. Kovacs then started to pour a glass
of milk. The milk appeared to pour from the
thermos in an unusual direction. The visual trick,
which had not been seen on TV before, was created
with a crooked table and an equally crooked
camera. 

Kovacs was rarely seen without a cigar, which he
often incorporated as a prop. In one memorable
segment, he was seen sitting in an easy chair,
calmly reading a newspaper. After a short
interval, he took the cigar out of his mouth and
exhaled smoke. The unique feature of this
otherwise ordinary sequence was that it took place
entirely under water.

==Comedy==
Other popular bits included; performing an
all-gorilla version of Swan Lake; poet Percy
Dovetonsils; The Nairobi Trio; the Silent show;
and various musical segments with every day items
moving in sync with classical music. Haydn's
String Quartet, Opus 3, Number 5 (the Serenade,
which was indeed written by Haydn, not Roman
Hoffstetterhttp://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes
/55002.html) was used in the Old West quick-draw
bits in his memorable Dutch Masters commercials.

His musical choices were certainly unique.  His
main theme was called Oriental Blues, a quirky
piano number derived from a Gershwin tune.  A
German version of Mack the Knife frequently
underscored mimed sketches.  Robert Maxwell's
Solfeggio became so associated with the infamous
derby-hatted apes that it became better known
simply as The Song of the Nairobi Trio.  The piece
de resistance, if that's the term, were tunes by
Leona Anderson such as Rats in My Room.  Leona was
reportedly a kind and gentle soul, whose singing
voice, in contrast, could be unfavorably compared
to fingernails on a blackboard.  Naturally, Kovacs
incorporated her songs at every opportunity.

Kovacs may have said, Television:  A medium - so
called because it is neither rare nor well done. 
(This quip has also been attributed to radio star
Fred Allen.)

==First marriage==
Kovacs married his first wife, Bette Wilcox on
August 13, 1945. He fought with her for custody of
their children, Bette and Kip. The courts awarded
Kovacs full custody of them, which was extremely
unusual at the time, because they decided that his
former wife was mentally unstable. Wilcox then
kidnapped the children. After a long search Kovacs
was eventually reunited with his children, with
the help of the police.

==Second marriage==
Kovacs married actress and singer Edie Adams on
September 12, 1954 in Mexico City. The ceremony
was presided over by former New York City mayor
William O'Dwyer, and performed in Spanish, which
neither Kovacs or Adams understood; O'Dwyer had to
prompt each to say Si at the I do portion of the
vows. They remained happily married until his
death. The couple had one daughter. Kovacs
frequently incorporated his wife into sketches on
his TV shows, always referring to her in a
businesslike way, as Edie Adams.

==Writing credits==
Kovacs wrote a novel entitled, ZOOMAR
(Sophisticated Novel About Love and TV) in 1956.
His Television programs include Time for Ernie in
1951, Ernie in Kovacsland in 1951, The Ernie
Kovacs Show in 1952 and The Tonight Show from 1956
to 1957.

==Death==
Kovacs died in a car accident in Los Angeles,
California|Los Angeles. It has been reported that
the posture of his body indicated that he was in
process of trying to light one of his omnipresent
cigars when he lost control of the car.

At the time of his death, he owed the Internal
Revenue Service|IRS several hundred thousand
dollars in back taxes. Kovacs felt the tax system
was unfair, and simply refused to pay. Adams
eventually paid off the taxes herself, refusing
help from their celebrity friends. She owns the
rights to all of Kovacs's surviving television
work. He is buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood
Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. Kovacs' epitaph
reads Nothing in moderation.

==Retrospective==
In 1984, a TV movie was made about Kovacs's life
called Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter, which
starred Jeff Goldblum as Kovacs.  It focused on
his private life, especially his attempts to
retrieve his kidnapped children.