Ed Ames, deep-toned baritone pop singer and actor who played loyal Cherokee sidekick Mingo on the 1960s NBC series Daniel Boone, has died. He was 95 years old.
Ames died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles after a battle with Alzheimer’s, his wife, Jean, told Hollywood Reporter.
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A native of Massachusetts and a son of Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, Ames starred in the first four seasons (1964–68) of the TV Western as Daniel Boone, an Oxford-educated Mingo opposite Fess Parker.
His most memorable night on television, however, came in April 1965 during an appearance on NBC’s the tonight show, While demonstrating to host Johnny Carson how Mingo would skillfully handle a tomahawk, he fired the weapon at an outline of a cowboy drawn on a wooden board – and it stuck. in the right crotch,
As the audience booed, Carson left his desk and said to Ames the now-classic ad-libbed lines, “I didn’t even know you were Jewish!” and “Welcome to Frontier Brice!”
The whole thing produced the longest laugh in history the tonight show — at nearly four minutes, some say the longest in TV history — and was a staple of the highlight show for decades.
one in 2014 Interview On The Carson Podcast with host Mark Malkoff, the affable Ames admitted that he never swung a Tomahawk until he learned. the tonight show wanted him to do it on the air. (On earlier appearances with Carson, he had a bow and a spear and shot an arrow).
“That afternoon, I practiced throwing it,” he said. “First I did it at home the night before and broke some trees.”
Ames noted that the morning after the show aired, cab drivers yelled at him, “Good for you, Ed!” as he walked through the streets of New York City.
The 6-foot-3 Ames was cast in the role of Mingo after 20th Century Fox talent scouts spotted him as Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey’s original 1963 Broadway production opposite Kirk Douglas and Gene Wilder. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,
Eames and his three older brothers – Vic, Gene and Joe – performed and recorded as the Eames Brothers. In 1950, he had his first No. 1 song, the double-sided track “Rag Mop”/”Sentimental Me”, followed it three years later with “You, You, You” on RCA Records and became one of the most became a. A popular quartet in the era before the intrusion of rock ‘n’ roll.
Ames went solo in 1961 and achieved success with songs such as “Try to Remember”. his signature song – “Apologise,” “When the snow is on the rose,” “My cup is over” and “Who will answer?”
Edmund Dantes Urich was born on July 9, 1927, in Malden, Massachusetts, the youngest of nine children (five boys and four girls). As a child, he largely attended the Boston Latin School—Benjamin Franklin was another famous alum—and sang in the city’s churches.
He joined Vic, Gene, and Joe as leading men in an act he called the Urick Brothers and then the Armory Brothers (Vic’s middle name), and he played in Latin Quarters such as the Boston Knight, founded by Barbara Walters’ father, Lou. Made his mark in the clubs. ,
They moved to New York, took a job with bandleader Art Mooney, signed with Decca Records, and became the Eames Brothers at the suggestion of noted Broadway producer Abe Burroughs. (“Ems” means “truth” in Yiddish.)
He had his first chart success in 1949 with “Forever and Ever”, recorded with Russell Morgan’s orchestra. Listeners loved his rich, clean harmonies.
After “Rag Mop,” “Sentimental Me,” “Undecided” and another top-10 hit, the 1954 novelty song “The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane,” the brothers began performing regularly on Arthur Godfrey’s show. and was one of the first acts to appear on The Ed Sullivan toast of the town,
In 1955, he had his own 15-minute syndicated TV program, ames brothers showand performed the title song for flame man (1957), starring Bing Crosby. At their peak, the four men could earn $20,000 per week on tour, and were named BoardBest vocal group of 1958, when they had eight singles on the charts.
Ames took up acting in the 60s and studied at the Herbert Berghoff Drama School in New York. He starred Off-Broadway as John Proctor in a revival of Arthur Miller’s the crucibleGower then took the lead in the national company of champions Carnival.
Ames also appeared in the Off-Broadway smash the fantastics, on which she sang “Try to Remember”. Carson loved her rendition, and once sang it every night for a week. the tonight show,
Ames also introduced John Wayne film war wagon (1967) with “Ballad of the War Wagon”.
In later years, he appeared in concerts and supper clubs and appeared on such TV shows as murder She Wrote, in the heat of the Night And Marshal,
Ames was also an early minority owner of the NBA expansion team Phoenix Suns, along with Henry Mancini, Andy Williams, Bobby Gentry and Tony Curtis.
Survivors include his children, Ronald and Sonya, in addition to his wife; seven grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
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