Herbie Faye

Herbie Faye (February 2, 1899 – June 28, 1980) was an American actor and vaudeville comedian who appeared in both of Phil Silvers' CBS television series, The Phil Silvers Show (1955–1959) and The New Phil Silvers Show (1963–1964).[1]

Herbie Faye
Born	February 2, 1899 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	June 28, 1980 (aged 81) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1951-1980 (his death)

Career

Faye worked with Mildred Harris in vaudeville, with Silvers as one of the supporting cast.[2] His relationship with Silvers began in 1928 when Silvers was the straight man in Faye's act.[3]

On Broadway, Faye appeared in Top Banana (1951)[4] and Wine, Women and Song (1942).[5]

In movies, Faye appeared in 1956 as Max in The Harder They Fall, a boxing story starring Humphrey Bogart in his last role. In 1961, he appeared as a cook in the comedy film Snow White and the Three Stooges. In 1962, he portrayed Charlie the bartender, in another boxing film Requiem for a Heavyweight, starring Anthony Quinn.

On television, Faye was Corporal Sam Fender in The Phil Silvers Show from 1955 to 1959. He appeared as "Lefty" in the 1962 episode "Fall Guy" of ABC's crime drama The Untouchables, starring Robert Stack as Eliot Ness,[6] and as Mr. Perkins in the episode "Jose's Portege" of The Danny Thomas Show, also known as Make Room for Daddy, the same year. In 1961 and 1962, he appeared three times on The Joey Bishop Show, and from 1963 to 1964 he portrayed Waluska in The New Phil Silvers Show. Other sitcom appearances were as Officer Luke in the 1963 episode "Now I Lay Me Down to Steal" of The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis starring Dwayne Hickman. He appeared six times in various roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show, including Harry Keen in the 1965 segment "Brother, Can You Spare $2,500". He guest starred too on The Jack Benny Program and twice on both Bewitched and on My Favorite Martian.[6] He also guest-starred in a 1965 episode of The Cara Williams Show.[7]

During the middle 1960s, he appeared three times on The Andy Griffith Show and four times on the Griffith spin-off Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a military comedy starring singer Jim Nabors. He appeared twice on The Andy Griffith Show's successor series Mayberry R.F.D. starring Ken Berry. In 1963 he appeared in The Twilight Zone episode "A Kind of a Stopwatch". In 1966, he appeared as a man in a diner in the Don Knotts film The Ghost and Mr. Chicken. In 1968, he appeared as Croupier in the Walt Disney comedy film Blackbeard's Ghost. In 1969, he appeared in the role of Mr. Welch on Andy Griffith's film Angel in My Pocket.

From 1966 to 1969, he appeared four times in different roles on CBS's rural comedy Petticoat Junction, including as Doodles in the episode "It's Not Easy to Be a Mother".[6] In the 1966 episode "Better Never Than Late" he played "Mr. Fiskee" and in the 1969 episode "The Other Woman" he played "Oliver".

He appeared as a small-time pool hustler in the second episode (1967) of the TV drama Mannix, "Skid Marks On A Dry Run".

From 1970 to 1972, he appeared four times on Lucille Ball's CBS series Here's Lucy. From 1972 to 1973, he guest starred on ABC's Love, American Style and CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show. He also appeared on "All in the Family" in episode 12, season 1, as the delivery man. From 1971 to 1974, he appeared four times on CBS's The New Dick Van Dyke Show, including the role of Uncle Manny. In 1973, he guest-starred in an episode of the situation comedy A Touch of Grace. He also appeared as "Pop" in the 1974 episode "Knock Around the Block" of ABC's Happy Days starring Tom Bosley, Marion Ross, Henry Winkler, and Ron Howard. From 1971 to 1975, he guest starred five times on ABC's sitcom The Odd Couple starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. In 1975, he appeared as Bernie in the Jack Albertson-Freddie Prinze NBC sitcom Chico and the Man in the episode entitled "Louie's Retirement". That same year, he appeared as Nathan Levine in the episode "The Social Worker" of ABC's sitcom Barney Miller.[6]

Death

His last appearance prior to his death was as an unnamed witness in the 1980 film Melvin and Howard starring Jason Robards.[8] Faye died in Las Vegas in 1980.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1954	Top Banana	Moe
1955	The Shrike	Tager
1956	The Harder They Fall	Max
1959	Never Steal Anything Small	Hymie
1961	Snow White and the Three Stooges	Head Cook	Uncredited
1962	Requiem for a Heavyweight	Charlie, the Bartender
1963	Come Blow Your Horn	Waiter	Uncredited
1963	The Thrill of It All	Irving
1964	The Patsy	Tailor	Uncredited
1964	The Disorderly Orderly	Mr. Welles, Patient	Uncredited
1965	The Family Jewels	Joe
1966	The Ghost and Mr. Chicken	Man in Diner	Uncredited
1966	The Fortune Cookie	Maury, the Equipment Man
1967	Enter Laughin	Mr. Schoenbaum
1967	Thoroughly Modern Millie	Taxi Driver
1968	Blackbeard's Ghost	Croupier
1968	The Night They Raided Minsky's	Waiter	Uncredited
1969	Angel in My Pocket	Mr. Welch
1969	The Love God?	Lester Timkin
1971	Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?	Divorcee
1980	Melvin and Howard	Man Witness	(final film role)

References

1. Alex McNeil, Total Television, New York: Penguin Books, 1996, 4th ed., pp. 598, 658
2. Barron, Mark (February 18, 1952). "'Fabulous Invalid' Shows Gross About 50 Billion Dollars Annually". Denton Record-Chronicle. Texas, Denton. p. 3. Retrieved January 13, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Herbie Faye Was Teacher of Silvers". Biddeford-Saco Journal. Maine, Biddeford. April 11, 1964. p. 11. Retrieved January 13, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Top Banana - Cast". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
5. "("Herbie Faye" search results". Playbill Vault. Retrieved 14 January 2017.
6. "Herbie Faye". Internet Movie Data Base. Retrieved January 24, 2009.
7. Classic TV Archive The Cara Williams Show (1964–1965)
8. "Melvin and Howard (film)". Internet Movie Data Base. January 24, 2009.

External links

• Herbie Faye at IMDb
• Herbie Faye at the Internet Broadway Database