Sonny King, a Las Vegas comedian-singer who was Jimmy Durante’s onstage sidekick for almost 30 years and had close ties with the Rat Pack, has died. He was 83.
King died Friday of cancer at his home in Las Vegas after undergoing treatment for tongue and throat cancer, said his brother, Donald Schiavone.
Frank Sinatra, one of the entertainers in the Rat Pack, gave King the nickname “Lounge Giant,” and another member, Dean Martin, roomed with King in New York City when they were struggling young performers.
King first teamed with Durante in 1950 at the Copacabana in New York when King substituted for Durante’s usual sidekick, Eddie Jackson. Four years later, King pinch-hit again for Jackson at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas.
“I can’t explain it. I don’t know if it was spiritual, but we looked at each other and we couldn’t stop laughing,” King said of his rapport with Durante. “The audience caught on, and they were laughing too.”
The pair performed together until Durante’s death in 1980.
Myron Waldman drew Betty Boop, Superman
Animator Myron Waldman, who in his long career originated Betty Boop’s sidekick, helped create two Oscar-nominated cartoons and put Superman and Raggedy Ann on the screen, has died at 97, his family said Monday.
Waldman died Saturday of congestive heart failure at New Island Hospital in Bethpage, N.Y., said Rosalie Waldman, his wife of 57 years.
Waldman was instrumental in the animation of Betty Boop, Popeye, Casper, Raggedy Ann and Andy, and the original Superman cartoon series, said Jerry Gladstone, president of American Royal Arts of Boca Raton, Fla., which represented Waldman’s work.
“He was a true pioneer, both as an animator and as one who greatly affected the animation industry,” said Gladstone.
Waldman was the last surviving head animator of the Max Fleischer Studios, a leader in the fledgling cartoon field of the 1920s which then became rivals to Walt Disney in the 1930s with its Betty Boop and Popeye the Sailor series.
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