Profile of Louis Nye on Famous Like Me

Louis Nye (May 1, 1913 – October 9, 2005) was an American comedy-actor.

He was born Louis Neistat in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of Joseph Neistat (May 18, 1881-September 1967) and Jennie Sherman (born 1890). His sister was Rose Neistat (born 1917). Although Louis, who pronounces his given name Louie, had claimed to have been born in 1922, he was age 6 on the 1920 Hartford County, Connecticut, Federal Census (enumerations were recorded as of 1 January regardless of when taken). The family then lived at 165 Madison Street. On the 1930 census when he was 16, enumerated April 3, they lived at 44 Baltimore Street.

Louis's parents were both Yiddish speaking Jews born in Russia. They emigrated to the United States in 1906, and became naturalized citizens in 1911. Joseph ran a small grocery store. Louis attended Weaver High School, but did not excel as a student. "My marks were so low," he said, "that they wouldn't let me in the drama club. So, I went down to WTIC Radio, auditioned and got on a show."

Later he went to New York, and worked in radio there, including various roles on soap operas. Then the U.S. entered World War II and he found himself in the Army, where he mimicked other soldiers and made them laugh. He was given the job of running the recreation hall. After his stint in the Army, Nye returned to New York and began working in live television. He also appeared in some plays on Broadway.

Nye had been married to pianist/songwriter, Anita Leonard, since circa 1947. They have one son, Peter Nye, who is an artist.

He made numerous appearances on The Jack Benny Program and The Jimmy Durante Show. When he met Steve Allen he was cast as a regular on The Steve Allen Show, often in "Man on the Street" sketches, performing with the likes of Don Knotts, Dayton Allen, Tom Poston and Bill Dana.

Nye was a popular sketch comedian who primarily played urbane, wealthy bon vivant types. His characterization of the delightfully pretentious country-club braggart Gordon Hathaway, his catchphrase, "Hi, ho, Steve-a-reeno," and Allen's inability to resist bursting into hysterical laughter at Nye's ad-libs during gags, made Nye one of the favorite performers on Allen's show. When production was moved to Los Angeles, Nye went along and became a character actor in Hollywood.

He appeared on a number of top shows, including Make Room for Daddy, Burke's Law, The Munsters, Love, American Style, Laverne & Shirley, Starsky and Hutch, Police Woman, Fantasy Island, St. Elsewhere and The Cosby Show.

Nye played dentist Dr. Delbert Gray on several episodes of The Ann Sothern Show from 1960 to 1961. And one of his best-remembered roles is as Sonny Drysdale, the spoiled rich stepson of the banker on The Beverly Hillbillies during the 1962 season. He did six episodes, and received more mail than from anything else he had ever done on TV, but the character was dropped. It was rumored that someone in the CBS network, or a sponsor, thought Sonny was too "sissified." Nye revived the character briefly during the 1966 season, however.

He also recorded a few comedy LPs, doing a variety of characterizations.

He never had much opportunity to reach his potential in movies. A lot of his character roles were little more than cameos. But he performed with the likes of such stars as Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, Dean Martin, Walter Matthau, Robert Mitchum, and Joanne Woodward, among others.

Nye has also performed on the lecture circuit, concerts and night clubs, and has done voice work in animation, such as Inspector Gadget with Don Adams.

He has had a recurring role on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. He completed a 24 city tour of the country for Columbia Artists, ending the tour with a two week stint at the Sahara in Las Vegas.

Louis Nye retired to Pacific Palisades where he lived with his wife until his death in 2005, after a battle with lung cancer at age 92.

Filmography

• Sex Kittens Go to College (1960) ... Dr. Zorch
• The Facts of Life (1960) ... Hamilton Busbee
• The Last Time I Saw Archie (1961) ... Private Sam Beacham
• Zotz! (1962) ... Hugh Fundy
• The Stripper (1963) ... Ronnie
• The Wheeler Dealers (1963) ... Stanislaus
• Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? (1963) ... Harry Tobler
• Good Neighbor Sam (1964) ... Det. Reinhold Shiffner
• A Guide for the Married Man (1967) ... Irving
• Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) ... radio announcer
• Harper Valley PTA (1978) ... Kirby Baker
• The Charge of the Model Ts (1979)
• Full Moon High (1981) ... reverend
• Cannonball Run II (1984) ... fisherman
• O.C. and Stiggs (1987) ... Garth Sloan

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