Joe Penner

Joe Penner, born József Pintér on November 11, 1904, in Nagychkereck, Hungary, was a comedian who built a career across vaudeville, Broadway, radio, and film before his death on January 10, 1941, at the age of 36.

Penner began performing in 1917, earning 38 cents per week doing an act in which he dressed as Charlie Chaplin. His clowning and a routine built around the catchphrase "Wanna buy a duck?" brought him work in small-time burlesque and vaudeville. A significant early engagement came in 1926, when he performed in the Greenwich Village Follies in Chicago. He continued touring mainstream vaudeville circuits through the early 1930s. In 1932, he toured a vaudeville revue alongside Eddie Tamblyn, the father of actor Russ Tamblyn.

His Broadway appearances came during this same period. Between 1930 and 1931, Penner appeared in two productions: the musical East Wind and the revue The Vanderbilt Revue.

Radio became the medium that brought Penner his greatest fame. Appearances on Rudy Vallée's program led to his own NBC Blue Network series, The Baker's Broadcast, which premiered on October 8, 1933. Penner was voted radio's top comedian in 1934. A dispute with the show's advertising agency over its format led him to leave The Baker's Broadcast on June 30, 1935. He returned to radio the following year with the situation comedy The Park Avenue Penners, which aired on CBS beginning October 4, 1936, sponsored by Cocomalt, with Harry Conn serving as head writer. That program ran until June 26, 1938. Penner subsequently headlined The Joe Penner Show on CBS from October 6, 1938, through March 30, 1939, and later hosted The Tip Top Show on NBC from October 5, 1939, to April 25, 1940.

His film credits include College Rhythm (1934), New Faces of 1937, The Life of the Party (1937), Go Chase Yourself (1938), Mr. Doodle Kicks Off (1938), The Day the Bookies Wept (1939), Millionaire Playboy (1940), and The Boys from Syracuse (1940). His cultural reach extended to animation as well: directors Tex Avery and Friz Freleng caricatured him in the cartoon My Green Fedora, and he was referenced in the Popeye cartoon Can You Take It?, in several cartoons featuring the character Egghead, and in the Disney cartoon Mother Goose Goes Hollywood, in which his duck routine was depicted alongside Donald Duck.

In 1928, Penner married showgirl Eleanor May Vogt. He died of a heart attack in his sleep in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 10, 1941. His funeral in Los Angeles was attended by more than 2,000 people.