Long-time star comedian in vaudeville who, at the urging of his actor son, Keenan Wynn, would late in life take up acting, both light and serious. He is especially remembered for his role in the television drama "Requiem for a Heavyweight" (1956).


Father of actor Keenan Wynn, with whom he appeared in Disney's 'The Absent Minded Professor' (1961). (The two had also appeared in the previously cited "Requiem".) Interred along with his son Keenan Wynn at Forest Lawn, Glendale, CA., in the Great Mausoleum, Holly entrance, Daffodil Corridor. The epitaph on his niche reads: "Dear God, Thank You." Wynn was originally slated to play the title role in MGM's "The Wizard Of Oz". He turned the part down .....believing it was "way too small ...."! Suffered from Parkinson's Disease in his later years. Opened the opening night of the Palace in 1913. Attended Central High in Philadelphia before running away from home to join the Thurber-Nasher Repertoire Company. At the end of the '30s, several of his business ventures collapsed, including a radio chain, and he suffered a severe nervous breakdown. The epitaph on his grave stone at Forest Lawn, Glendale, California reads: "Dear God, Thank You". Eventually he took his middle name of Edwin and adapted it into his stage moniker, "Ed Wynn," in order to save his European immigrant parents the embarrassment of having a low-style burlesque comedian as a relative. Running away from home at age 15, he first worked as a utility boy and eventual actor for a traveling stage company. The adventure was short-lived and he returned home to sell women's hats at his father's retail store until leaving again in five months. Hanna-Barbera's Wally Gator's voice is probably the nearest to an exact impersonation of Wynn's "Perfect Fool" character. Ed teamed up with son Keenan Wynn again, this time in the sequel Son of Fluuber.