Ed Wynn and Keenan Wynn…

They’re father and son (which I just learned), and it seems we owe them a lot! How many times have we heard one of the humans or ‘bots exclaim that, “THEY LOVE TO LAUGH, LONG AND LOUD AND HARD?” A bunch, right? Well, that—and the voice—was Ed Wynn, father of Keneen, whose lovable mug shows up in Laserblast and Parts: The Clonus Horror!

I’m so excited to learn of these family ties! (Sorry if this is common knowledge, but it’s news to me, so I had to share!)

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Nate Begle does a great Ed Wynn as anyone watching the riff-alongs or the Jackbox games can attest.

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I go where the Wynn takes me…

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Keenan Wynn also appeared in the original Fred MacMurray Absent Minded Professor movies, as Alonzo Hawk, and as the same character in Herbie Rides Again. And don’t forget, he was in Supertrain!

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:notes: The Keenan Wyn
Comes blowin’ in
From across the sea :notes:

The Wynn family goes back before Ed and continues to this day (see Jessica Keenan Wynn)! I think Ed was the most popular, though, if we go by references in cartoons, which is the measure I always use. A parody of him was always turning up in old Looney Tunes. People imitate him to this day (see Alan Tudyk in Wreck-It Ralph).

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Damn!

I did not know that! And what’s really surprising to me is that I never thought to make the connection.

But is it true that Keenan Wynn had a grenade explode in his helmet at one point? No, it not true.! :grin:

My only contribution is that I’m 99% sure that actor Ray Wise is not related to Robert Wise, the director.

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Here’s a priceless picture of the two of them. You can just see the thought bubble over Keenan’s head, “Dad, I’m trying to make a serious acting career here!”

image

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I do a pretty good Ed Wynn and have worked it into some of my Let’s Play videos, most prominently as the Genie in Quest For Glory 2.

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Even more shocking is that Jackie Earle Haley isn’t related to Jack Haley!

Also, Jane Curtin’s not related to Roald Dahl, but that’s a long story…

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You may know of Marc Snegoff, who worked his Snegoff doing makeup for Catalina Caper, Agent for H.A.R.M. (in which he appeared as Conrad the Treacherous Frenchman), and The Time Travelers. His son Gregory grew up to be a voice actor and provided the English voice for Ator.

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Hmmm…

But James Earl Jones is the son of Robert Earl Jones, also an actor: look up the latter if anyone hasn’t yet…quite a character.

This thread is quite a Public Service Announcement! The more you know!

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He played the blind newsman in Maniac Cop 2!

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Also the ex-partner from The Sting whose murder sets the heroes off for revenge.

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One that was a big surprise for me: Edgar Bergen, especially notable to fans of MST3k for pioneering the use of clever writing in a puppet ventriloquism act rather than just a demonstration of the skill with corny jokes (to the point he was able to have a successful radio show, where the writing was all he had going for him), was the father of Candice “Murphy Brown” Bergen.

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Candice Bergen used to say that she had the embarrassing experience of, when people asked her what her father did, she had to say, “He’s a ventriloquist…on the radio.”

But I was trying to explain who Candice Bergen was to my kids (lol)—because I had confused her for Mariette Hartley (lolol)—and then had to go into Edgar Bergen who I believe may be the only beloved, non-creepy ventriloquist in human history.

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Addendum: Son of Flubber is the only movie in which both Ed and Keenan Wynn appeared. It was kind of stunt casting.

Also, I like the idea of an early Disney family movie cinematic universe.

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And, of all things, in Doctor Strangelove!

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Ah yes, I had forgotten he was in that, as Sgt. “Bat Guano,” if that indeed was his name.

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“Well, son, I saw that episode from Alfred Hitchcock Presents when you wore a tuxedo I wonder I never wore”
It’s called “A Dip In The Pool”, by the way

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They were also both in the original TV movie of Requiem for a Heavyweight, in which Ed was extremely nervous about playing a dramatic role for the first time, and reportedly greatly irritated the crew by trying to get more comedy added to the script, only to blow them all away with his moving performance on the live broadcast. It was even dramatized as The Man in the Funny Suit, in which most of the major characters played themselves (and the source of that picture I posted above).

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