Joe E. Ross

About Joe E. Ross

Who is it?: Actor, Soundtrack
Birth Day: March 15, 1914
Birth Place:  New York City, New York, United States
Died On: August 13, 1982(1982-08-13) (aged 68)\nLos Angeles, California
Birth Sign: Aries
Cause of death: Heart attack
Occupation: Actor
Years active: 1955–1982

Joe E. Ross Net Worth

Joe E. Ross was born on March 15, 1914 in  New York City, New York, United States, is Actor, Soundtrack. Gravel-voiced comedian Joe E. ("Oooh! Oooh!") Ross was born in Manhattan and began his career, ironically enough, as a singing waiter in speakeasy clubs. Comedy came to the forefront, however, and he steadily built up his image as a stand-up comic and impressionist, announcing and emceeing at burlesque clubs and various niteries around and about the Schuster circuit out of Chicago in the late 1930s. He made his film debut in the hotsy-totsy girlie show Teaserama (1955), which featured strippers Bettie Page and Tempest Storm and female impersonator Vicki Lynn. The underground flick had Ross doing his familiar baggy-pants burlesque schtick. Another "break" came with the comedy Hear Me Good (1957), co-starring Hal March, but it went nowhere and did not result in other offers. The crevice-faced, roly-poly funnyman's greatest claim to fame would be on situation comedy television, first as a third banana to Phil Silvers on his popular late 1950s series "You'll Never Get Rich" (The Phil Silvers Show (1955) / "Sgt. Bilko") and in the cult hit series Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) as dim-bulb Officer Gunther Toody, opposite Fred Gwynne (famous as "Herman Munster") as the more serious Officer Francis Muldoon. Silvers himself had discovered Ross, who was infamous for his "blue comedy" routines, working at the Club Ciro in Miami Beach, and he and producer/partner Nat Hiken hired him for "Bilko" in the role of dunderhead Master Sgt. Rupert Ritzik. It was Hiken who later gave the green light for Ross to co-star in "Car 54".Ross' last series was It's About Time (1966), in which he played a caveman named "Gronk" who was brought back to modern times with cavegirl Imogene Coca, but the series was critically blasted and short-lived. He fell out of favor after that and returned to the nightclub scene, appearing occasionally in shoddy, low-grade and obscure films with such tasteless and exploitative titles as How to Seduce a Woman (1974), Linda Lovelace for President (1975), Slumber Party '57 (1976) and The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977).Joe E. Ross died while on stage at the age of 68 and was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles, CA.
Joe E. Ross is a member of Actor

💰 Net worth: Under Review

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Biography/Timeline

1914

Ross was born on March 15, 1914 to Jewish immigrant parents in New York, New York. He dropped out of Seward Park High School at age 16 to become a singing waiter at the Van Cortlandt Inn in the Bronx. When the cafe added a female Dancer and singer, Ross was promoted to announcer. He added some jokes and became a Comedian.

1938

In 1938, he appeared at the Queens Terrace, near Jackson Heights, New York. Jackie Gleason had already been playing there for 16 weeks, and the manager was about to ask Gleason to stay a while longer. Ross heard of the opening, auditioned for it, got the contract, and also stayed 16 weeks. Ross then turned burlesque comic on the Schuster circuit out of Chicago.

1955

In 1955, Ross worked at a nightclub in Miami Beach called Ciro's. He was spotted by Nat Hiken and Phil Silvers, who were planning You'll Never Get Rich (later known as The Phil Silvers Show and sometimes Sgt. Bilko) and loved Ross's comedy skills. Ross was hired on the spot and cast as the mess sergeant, Rupert Ritzik.

1959

After The Phil Silvers Show ended in 1959, Nat Hiken went on to produce Car 54, Where Are You? and cast Joe E. Ross as Patrolman Gunther Toody of New York's 53rd Precinct. Fred Gwynne, another Bilko alumnus, played Toody's partner, Francis Muldoon. Toody could usually be counted on at some point to say "Ooh! Ooh!", or "Do you mind? Do—you—mind?". Ross became so identified with his policeman role that he recorded an album of songs entitled "Love Songs from a Cop". Roulette Records released the LP in 1964. Ross did the voice for Toody for the episode "Car 54" of Hanna-Barbera's Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, in which Toody and Muldoon moonlight running a day care center and one of the children turns up missing.

1966

Ross also starred as Gronk in Sherwood Schwartz's ill-fated 1966 sitcom It's About Time, which featured two 1960s American astronauts who were thrown back in time to the prehistoric era.

1968

Following the breakup of Allen & Rossi in 1968, Steve Rossi teamed for less than three months with Ross in an act called "Rossi & Ross". Rossi & Ross played once on Ed Sullivan and disbanded in January 1969.

1970

Ross also was a prominent cartoon voice into the 1970s, playing the stereotypical bumbling sergeant in many cartoons such as Hong Kong Phooey (as Sgt. Flint) and Help!... It's the Hair Bear Bunch! (as Botch). He also voiced Roll on CB Bears segment Shake, Rattle and Roll. His "Ooh! Ooh!" phrase was emulated by Frank Welker in the animated series Fangface. He was also one of the few white comedians with 1970's label Laff Records, which specialized in African-American comedians and released his album Should Lesbians Be Allowed to Play Pro-Football?.

1982

Ross died of a heart attack on August 13, 1982 while performing in the clubhouse of his apartment building in Los Angeles, The Oakwood Apartments. He was buried in Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills Cemetery. Jay Leno delivered the eulogy. Ross' gravestone is inscribed with the double entendre "This man had a ball".