Louis Nye was an entertainer to the troops during World War II and is best known for his work on countless television, film and radio programs.
21 Facts About Louis Nye
2.
Louis Nye was born Louis Neistat in Hartford, Connecticut, son of Joseph Neistat and Jennie Sherman.
3.
Louis Nye's parents were both Yiddish speaking Jews from the Russian Empire.
4.
Louis Nye's father owned a small grocery store, which his wife helped him run.
5.
Louis Nye attended Weaver High School, but he was not a good student.
6.
Louis Nye decided to go to New York City, where he worked in radio, playing various roles on soap operas.
7.
Louis Nye served in the United States Army during World War II, and because he earned laughs by mimicking other soldiers, he was assigned to Special Services where he met Carl Reiner.
8.
Louis Nye appeared in several plays on Broadway, and made many appearances on television variety shows such as The Jack Benny Program, The Jimmy Durante Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom and The Victor Borge Show.
9.
Louis Nye earned his greatest fame as a regular on The Steve Allen Show, performing with Allen, Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Pat Harrington Jr.
10.
When production moved to Los Angeles, Louis Nye went too and became a character actor in Hollywood.
11.
Louis Nye played dentist Delbert Gray on several episodes of The Ann Sothern Show from 1960 to 1961, the romantic interest of Olive Smith, played by Ann Tyrrell.
12.
Louis Nye played Sonny Drysdale, the spoiled rich stepson of Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies during the 1962 season.
13.
Louis Nye did six episodes, and received more mail than from anything else he had ever done on television, but the character was dropped.
14.
However, Louis Nye revived the character briefly during the 1966 season.
15.
Louis Nye was a member of the cast of Needles and Pins, playing Harry Karp.
16.
Louis Nye appeared as a celebrity judge on The Gong Show during the late 1970s.
17.
Louis Nye recorded a few comedy LPs, doing a variety of characterizations.
18.
Louis Nye appeared on the lecture circuit, in concerts and in nightclubs, and did voice work in animation, such as Inspector Gadget with Don Adams.
19.
Louis Nye completed a 24-city tour of the country for Columbia Artists, ending the tour with a two-week stint at the Sahara in Las Vegas.
20.
Louis Nye was the great uncle of filmmakers Casey Neistat, Van Neistat and stuntman Dean Neistat.
21.
Louis Nye was cremated and his ashes are interred at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.