Phil Silvers: The King of Chutzpah
Phil Silvers (May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as “The King of Chutzpah”. He achieved major popularity starring in The Phil Silvers Show, a 1950s sitcom in which he played Master Sergeant Ernest Bilko, and won four major awards—two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards—for his stage and television work.
Early Life and Education
Born Philip Silver, he was the eighth and youngest child of Russian Jewish immigrants, Saul and Sarah Silver. His father, a sheet metal worker, helped build the early New York skyscrapers.
Career and Achievements
Silvers began entertaining at age 11, singing in theaters when film projectors broke, eventually earning free admission. By 13, he was working as a singer in the Gus Edwards Revue. He later worked in vaudeville and burlesque before finding work at Warner Bros.’ Vitaphone studio in Brooklyn, with his first job an incidental role in the Jack Haley short Success (1931).
He made his Broadway début in Yokel Boy in 1939, earning critical praise. Over the next two decades, he worked as a character actor for major studios in films including All Through the Night (1942) with Humphrey Bogart, Cover Girl (1944) with Gene Kelly and Rita Hayworth, and Summer Stock (1950) with Kelly and Judy Garland. Silvers wrote the lyrics for Frank Sinatra’s “Nancy (with the Laughing Face)”, composing them while visiting composer Jimmy Van Heusen. The song became a popular hit in 1945. Toward the end of World War II, he entertained troops during overseas USO tours with Sinatra.
Silvers became a household name in 1955 when he starred as Sergeant Ernest G. Bilko in You’ll Never Get Rich, later retitled The Phil Silvers Show. The military comedy became a television hit, with Bilko fast-talking his way through obstacles. In 1958, CBS moved the show to Friday nights and relocated the setting to Camp Fremont in California. Silvers ended the series in 1959 while it remained popular. In the 1963–1964 season, he appeared as Harry Grafton, a factory foreman with similar schemes, in CBS’s 30-episode The New Phil Silvers Show.
Throughout the 1960s, Silvers appeared in films such as It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and 40 Pounds of Trouble (1963). He was featured in the unfinished Something’s Got to Give (1962) with Marilyn Monroe and Dean Martin. In 1967, he guest-starred in the British Carry On film Follow That Camel, playing Sergeant Nocker, a Foreign Legion variation of his Bilko character, earning a salary of £30,000, the largest Carry On salary ever at that time.
On stage, Silvers played con-man Harrison Floy in the 1947 Broadway production of High Button Shoes, earning praise from critic Brooks Atkinson. He scored a major triumph in Top Banana (1952), playing Jerry Biffle, an egocentric television star. He returned to Broadway in Do Re Mi in December 1960, receiving a Tony nomination. When offered the leading role of Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Silvers declined; the role went to Zero Mostel. Silvers later agreed to appear in the 1966 film as secondary character Marcus Lycus. When Larry Blyden mounted a Broadway revival in 1972, Silvers accepted the lead role, becoming the first leading actor to win a Tony Award in a revival of a musical.
Later in his career, Silvers guest-starred on The Beverly Hillbillies, The Carol Burnett Show, Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, and The Dean Martin Show. He appeared as Harold Hecuba in the 1966 Gilligan’s Island episode “The Producer”. His production company Gladasya, named after his catchphrase “Gladdaseeya!”, financed the show. He continued making guest appearances in sitcoms including The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Happy Days, and CHiPs, his final screen credit in 1983. He also appeared on various talk shows and television specials. In 1980, he participated in The Friar’s Club Tribute to Milton Berle alongside Don Rickles, Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon, and others.
Awards and Honors
Silvers won two Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on The Phil Silvers Show. He received a Tony Award for Top Banana (1952) and won a second Tony Award for his performance in the 1972 Broadway revival of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. He received a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for Do Re Mi (1960).
Notable Events and Milestones
Silvers suffered a stroke in August 1972 during the run of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, leaving him with slurred speech. Despite his poor health, he continued working, appearing in Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974), The Chicken Chronicles (1977), and Neil Simon’s The Cheap Detective (1978). His final appearance was in the CHiPs episode “Hot Date” in 1983.
Additional Resources
For more detailed information about Phil Silvers’s life and career, consult Wikipedia and other biographical archives, which contain extensive documentation of his work in television, film, and theater.
