Name	Ernie Kovacs (Ernest Edward Kovacs)
Build	Average
Date of Birth	January 23, 1919
Birthplace	Trenton, New Jersey
Star Sign	Aquarius
Died	January 13, 1962 (Aged 43)
Location of Death	Los Angeles, CA
Cause of Death	Auto Accident
Nationality	American
Ethnicity	White
University	New York School of Theatre
Occupation	Comic
Celebrity Index	Er
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Quotes

Television – a medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well done.

(quotationspage.com)

"There is currently a formula for success in the entertainment medium, that is -- beat it to death if it succeeds."

"Nothing In Moderation" - The epitaph on his tombstone

Some years ago I had a complete nervous breakdown, was dead broke and had to be put in a charity ward with 30 others. I was there 18 months and doctors didn`t give me long to live. So now each day to me is a special dividend, so I live it to the hilt. - response to gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, who asked him why he was "trying to kill himself."

"It`s appropriate that television is considered a medium, since it`s rare if it`s ever well done."

Trivia

Daughter actress Mia Kovacs died in an auto accident on 8 May 1982. Daughter Kippie Kovacs died after a long bout of ill health on 28 July 2001.

Was chosen originally to play the character of Melville Crump in It`s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), but he died in a one-car accident before principal shooting. In real life he was married to Edie Adams, who played Melville Crump`s newlywed wife, Monica Crump, in the movie. The role of Melville Crump was finally played by Sid Caesar.

The car in which he was killed was a new 1962 Chevrolet Corvair.

His father was a bootlegger during prohibition.

It is suspected that his death in a car crash was caused by losing control of the steering as he was trying to light a cigar.

When he died, he owed the IRS several hundred thousand dollars in back taxes (he felt the tax system was unfair, and simply refused to pay it). His widow, Edie Adams, made television commercials and did other work to finally pay the back taxes, refusing help from her celebrity friends. She now owns all the rights to all of Ernie Kovacs` surviving television work.

Created the first kaleidoscopic images on live television with a large metal can with two mirrors inside of it, taped to the lens of a television camera.

Many of the kinescopes he made on the DuMont television network have been lost.

Interred at Forest Lawn (Hollywood Hills), Los Angeles, California, USA.

See also Trivia Index (E) :: Quotes Index (E) :: Connections Index (E)

• Ernie Kovacs and Edie Adams
• Ernie Kovacs and Bette Lee Wilcox

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