Edward Byrne Breitenberger, known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series 77 Sunset Strip.
42 Facts About Edd Byrnes
2.
Edd Byrnes was featured in the 1978 film Grease as television teen-dance show host Vince Fontaine, and was a charting recording artist with "Kookie, Kookie ".
3.
Edd Byrnes developed the urge to act in high school but did not seriously consider pursuing it until after he had tried a number of other jobs, such as driving an ambulance, roofing and selling flowers.
4.
In 1956, Edd Byrnes got an unpaid job in a summer stock theatre company in Connecticut, the Litchfield Community Playhouse.
5.
Edd Byrnes soon began appearing in the company's plays as an actor; he tried to get roles in Broadway theatre productions, but had no luck.
6.
Edd Byrnes appeared in episodes of the late-1950s series Wire Service and Navy Log.
7.
Edd Byrnes appeared in a stage production of Tea and Sympathy.
8.
Edd Byrnes appeared in episodes of The Adventures of Jim Bowie, and Telephone Time and in the film Fear Strikes Out.
9.
Edd Byrnes was third-billed in the low budget exploitation film Reform School Girl for American International Pictures, co-starring Sally Kellerman; the same year, he had a supporting role in the Warner Bros.
10.
In 1957, Edd Byrnes signed a three-year contract with John Carroll of Clarion Pictures.
11.
Edd Byrnes tested for roles in the films Bernardine and Until They Sail but was unsuccessful.
12.
Edd Byrnes did guest star on an episode of Cheyenne made by Warner Bros.
13.
When Tab Hunter refused a role in the war film Darby's Rangers, Edd Byrnes stepped in instead.
14.
Edd Byrnes was wanted for Baby Face Nelson, but Warners would not loan him out.
15.
Edd Byrnes appeared in the romantic drama Marjorie Morningstar and Life Begins at 17.
16.
Edd Byrnes appeared as a guest star in Maverick, The Deputy, and Sugarfoot, in the latter with John Russell, Rodolfo Hoyos Jr.
17.
Edd Byrnes was cast in Girl on the Run, a pilot for a detective show starring Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
18.
Around this time Byrnes decided to change his acting name from "Edward" to "Edd".
19.
Edd Byrnes' character became an immediate national teen sensation, prompting the producers to make Edd Byrnes a regular cast member.
20.
We previewed this show, and because Edd Byrnes was such a hit, we decided that Kookie and his comb had to be in our series.
21.
The song appeared on the Edd Byrnes album, entitled Kookie.
22.
Edd Byrnes walked off the show in the second season, demanding a bigger part and higher pay.
23.
Edd Byrnes tested for the role of John F Kennedy in PT 109, but President Kennedy preferred Cliff Robertson.
24.
Edd Byrnes made a cameo as Kookie in Surfside Six and Hawaiian Eye, a 77 Sunset Strip spin-off.
25.
Edd Byrnes bought a story for Warners, Make Mine Vanilla, but it was not made.
26.
Edd Byrnes threatened to punch a photographer who was trying to take a photo of him getting a marriage license.
27.
Edd Byrnes did some summer stock in 1962 with his wife.
28.
Edd Byrnes appeared in episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; Burke's Law and Kraft Suspense Theatre.
29.
Edd Byrnes travelled to Yugoslavia where he was one of several names in Roger Corman's ensemble war film The Secret Invasion.
30.
Back in the United States, he made a pilot for a TV series, Kissin' Cousins, based on the Elvis Presley film Kissin' Cousins, with Edd Byrnes taking the part of the lieutenant played by Presley in the film; it did not go to series.
31.
Edd Byrnes starred in a beach party movie financed by Corman, Beach Ball.
32.
Edd Byrnes was in episodes of Mister Roberts; Honey West and Theatre of Stars, and did Picnic; Bus Stop; Sunday in New York; Sweet Bird of Youth and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on stage in stock.
33.
Edd Byrnes returned to Europe for several Spaghetti Westerns, which included the 1967 films Renegade Riders; Any Gun Can Play and Red Blood, Yellow Gold.
34.
Edd Byrnes was in the TV movies The Silent Gun, starring Lloyd Bridges, and The Gift of Terror, starring Denise Alexander and Will Geer.
35.
Edd Byrnes had a supporting role in the Duo-Vision horror film Wicked, Wicked in 1973, starring Tiffany Bolling, and played a TV interviewer in the David Essex film Stardust.
36.
In 1974, Edd Byrnes hosted the pilot of Wheel of Fortune, but NBC chose Chuck Woolery instead.
37.
Edd Byrnes was a guest star in Marcus Welby, MD; Thriller; Police Story; Police Woman and Sword of Justice; and was in the TV movies Mobile Two and Telethon.
38.
The box office success of the film led to Edd Byrnes becoming the only regular cast member of the NBC comedy-drama anthology series $weepstake$ in early 1979, but it only lasted nine episodes.
39.
Edd Byrnes had a small role in the Erin Moran TV film Twirl and the lead in Erotic Images with Britt Ekland.
40.
Edd Byrnes appeared in Mankillers ; Back to the Beach ; Party Line and Troop Beverly Hills.
41.
Edd Byrnes died of natural causes on January 8,2020, at his Santa Monica home.
42.
Edd Byrnes appeared during the Memphis Film Festival in June 2014; he was reunited with his former Yellowstone Kelly co-star Clint Walker.