Bill Dana
Birthday:
5 October 1924, Quincy, Massachusetts, USA
Birth Name:
William Szathmary
Comedian, author and composer, educated at Emerson College. He served in the US Infantry during World War II. Later, he was part of the team Dana and Wood on television and in supper clubs. As a single, he appeared on television with Martha Raye and Imogene Coca and was a writer for Steve Allen, and he also appeared in night clubs and on records. J...
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Comedian, author and composer, educated at Emerson College. He served in the US Infantry during World War II. Later, he was part of the team Dana and Wood on television and in supper clubs. As a single, he appeared on television with Martha Raye and Imogene Coca and was a writer for Steve Allen, and he also appeared in night clubs and on records. Joining ASCAP in 1958, his popular-song compositions include "My Name Jose Jimenez", "All About Love" and "Big Bells and Bongo Drummers". Show less «
[on Don Adams] Don--the only thing he enjoyed was going to the track. He didn't enjoy ANYTHING else. Let's see. He liked working with me [on...Show more »
[on Don Adams] Don--the only thing he enjoyed was going to the track. He didn't enjoy ANYTHING else. Let's see. He liked working with me [on The Bill Dana Show (1963)] as Byron Glick the hotel detective, because he didn't have any responsibility other than to be there. Show less «
[on Richard Nixon] I hated everything he stood for, but I got on his enemies list and it destroyed me. It was terrible. I was on his IRS ene...Show more »
[on Richard Nixon] I hated everything he stood for, but I got on his enemies list and it destroyed me. It was terrible. I was on his IRS enemies list. They crucified me. I was sick in bed and they were crawling all over my house with tape measures, looking to see how much of the house I had written off for an office. He is a devil to me. I just despise the thought of Richard Nixon and anyone who had anything to do with him. Show less «
[on working with Milton Berle, as producer of The Milton Berle Show (1966)] He was hard to deal with. It was hard getting people to come bac...Show more »
[on working with Milton Berle, as producer of The Milton Berle Show (1966)] He was hard to deal with. It was hard getting people to come back on the show. He never ever got any kind of discipline in terms of how to handle people. But I loved Uncle Milty because he was Uncle Milty--a bigger-than-life human being. Show less «
[on Ginger Rogers] She was one of the cheapest people I ever met in my life. I had written her a performance hunk on [The New Steve Allen Sh...Show more »
[on Ginger Rogers] She was one of the cheapest people I ever met in my life. I had written her a performance hunk on [The New Steve Allen Show (1961)] and she was going to appear in Las Vegas and these other places and she asked me to help her. When it came time for payment she gave me Soap-On-A-Rope. Show less «
Bill Dana's Photos
Mr. Fiscus
Papa Angelo
