Jerry Lester (born Lester J. Goldberg; February 16, 1910 – March 23, 1995) was an American comedian, singer and performer on radio, television and the stage, knows for playing the father of the main characters, Mike Firpo, in the comedy '' Odds and Evens'' and who hosted the first network late night television program as host of '' Broadway Open House'' on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, a vaudeville-esque combination of comedy and music, whose success demonstrated the potential for late-night television and led to the creation of the ''

Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 2010� ...

''.

Early life

Jerry Lester was born in

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in 1910. His father was a music critic. As a youth, Lester competed in dance contests and performed in various venues. Following his graduation from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

, he performed nationally in music halls and nightclubs, going on to appear in vaudeville, several Broadway musicals including '' Beat the Band'' and '' Jackpot'', and Hollywood films in the 1940s, as well as being a performer on

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Career

A CBS radio program starring Lester debuted on July 25, 1943. In 1950, he became host of '' Cavalcade of Stars'' on the DuMont Television Network, replacing Jack Carter. After viewers phoned in their appreciation for Lester's guest appearance on an early television talk show, NBC president

Pat Weaver Sylvester Laflin "Pat" Weaver Jr. (December 21, 1908 – March 15, 2002) was an American broadcasting executive who was president of NBC between 1953 and 1955. He has been credited with reshaping commercial broadcasting's format and philosophy ...

invited Lester to be one of the hosts of ''Broadway Open House'', a planned late-night show whose host,

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, died two weeks before the show was scheduled to premiere. Lester quit ''Cavalcade of Stars'' and

Jackie Gleason John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916June 24, 1987) was an American actor, comedian, writer, composer, and conductor known affectionately as "The Great One." Developing a style and characters from growing up in Brooklyn, New York, he was know ...

was hired as his replacement; the show was soon renamed ''The Jackie Gleason Show''. ''Broadway Open House'' went on the air in May 1950 with Lester hosting three nights a week and

Morey Amsterdam Moritz "Morey" Amsterdam (December 14, 1908 – October 28, 1996) was an American actor, comedian, writer and producer. He played Buddy Sorrell on CBS's ''The Dick Van Dyke Show'' from 1961 to 1966. Early life Amsterdam was born in Chicago ...

hosting two nights, but Lester soon became the show's sole emcee. The program introduced and made stars of

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson, all of whom would go on to host the ''Tonight Show''. It also made a star of cast member Dagmar, who became such a sensation that she overshadowed Lester, leading him to walk off the show in May 1951.''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

''. July 16, 1951. Later in the 1950s, Lester appeared as a regular on the game show ''

Pantomime Quiz ''Pantomime Quiz'', initially titled ''Pantomime Quiz Time'' and later ''Stump the Stars'', was an American television game show produced and hosted by Mike Stokey. Running from 1947—1959, it has the distinction of being one of the few te ...

'', and

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp ...

s such as ''Saturday Night Dance Party'' and ''Cavalcade of Stars''. In 1959, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and became host of a local late-night comedy and musical variety show on

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV ou ...

. Lester returned to prominence in theatre in the 1960s, appearing in the lead role of slave Pseudolus in the road production of '' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'', subsequently replacing Zero Mostel on Broadway, and playing Seabee in the 1969 production of '' South Pacific''.

Death

Afflicted with Alzheimer's disease in 1985, he retired from show business. He died in Miami, Florida, in 1995. His brother was actor and comedian Buddy Lester.

References

External links

* *
''Broadway Open House''
YouTube video of the show, hosted by Jerry Lester {{DEFAULTSORT:Lester, Jerry 1910 births 1995 deaths Male actors from Chicago American male comedians Vaudeville performers 20th-century American singers American male film actors American stand-up comedians Late night television talk show hosts Comedians from Illinois 20th-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors