Louis Nye

Known for ActingBorn 1913-05-01Died 2005-10-09Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Louis Nye, born Louis Neistat, was an American comedic actor. He was an entertainer to the troops during World War II and is best known for his work on countless television, film and radio programs. Nye decided to go to New York City, where he worked in radio, playing various roles on soap operas. He recalled "I still think of myself as an actor. In the radio days, I was busy playing rotten Nazis, rich uncles and emotional juveniles -- the whole span -- and the only time I tried to be funny was at parties." Nye served in the United States Army during World War II, and because he earned laughs by mimicking other soldiers, he was assigned to run the recreation hall. Following his discharge, he returned to New York and began working in live television. He also appeared in several plays on Broadway, and made many appearances on television variety shows such as The Jack Benny Program (including one memorable turn as a crying cab driver), The Jimmy Durante Show, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom and The Victor Borge Show. He earned his greatest fame as a regular on The Steve Allen Show, performing with Allen, Don Knotts, Tom Poston, Pat Harrington Jr., Dayton Allen, Gabriel Dell and Bill Dana. He primarily played urbane, wealthy, and often fey bon vivants; as part of the weekly "Man on the Street" sketches, his characterization of the pretentious country-club braggart Gordon Hathaway, with his catchphrase, "Hi-ho, Steverino," plus Allen's inability to resist bursting into hysterical laughter at his ad-libs, made Nye one of the favorites on Allen's show. When production moved to Los Angeles, Nye went too and became a character actor in Hollywood. Nye was cast as a guest star on many television series, including Make Room for Daddy; Guestward, Ho!; Burke's Law; The Munsters; Love, American Style; Laverne & Shirley; Starsky and Hutch; Police Woman; Fantasy Island; St. Elsewhere; and The Cosby Show. 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. Nye also played Sonny Drysdale, the spoiled rich stepson of Milburn Drysdale on The Beverly Hillbillies during the 1962 season. He did six episodes, and received more mail than from anything else he had ever done on television, but the character was dropped. It was rumored that someone in the CBS network, or a sponsor, thought Sonny was too "sissified". However, Nye revived the character briefly during the 1966 season. During this period, Nye appeared in several television commercials for various products, including Rath brand lunch meats and the Better Business Bureau. Nye appeared as a celebrity judge on The Gong Show during the late 1970s. He also recorded a few comedy LPs, doing a variety of characterizations. Unfortunately, he never had the opportunity to reach his potential in movies. Many of his character roles were little more than cameos. Nevertheless, he performed with Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, Jack Lemmon, Dean Martin, Walter Matthau, Robert Mitchum, Jack Webb and Joanne Woodward, and others. Nye also appeared on the lecture circuit, in concerts and in nightclubs, and did voice work in animation, such as Inspector Gadget with Don Adams.Read more

Movies & web series

Daytime Revolution

Charge of the Model T's

The Don Knotts Show

The City That Forgot About Christmas

Curb Your Enthusiasm

The Steven Banks Show

The Judy Garland Show

The Adventures of Errol Flynn

Salute to Stan Laurel

The Munsters

The Real Ghostbusters

The Jack Benny Program

The George Gobel Show

Kraft Television Theatre

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

Tonight Starring Jack Paar

Starsky & Hutch

Harper Valley P.T.A.

Laverne & Shirley

The Great Bear Scare

The Cosby Show

Aloha Paradise

One Touch of Venus

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus

Needles and Pins

Alice in Wonderland

The Lieutenant

The Beverly Hillbillies

The Bob Hope Show

The Dick Cavett Show

Steve Martin: Comedy Is Not Pretty

Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In

Fantasy Island

Good Neighbor Sam

The Merv Griffin Show

Police Woman

The Pruitts of Southampton

Guestward, Ho!

The Love Boat

This Is Your Life

The Dinah Shore Chevy Show

The Wheeler Dealers

Burke's Law

The Last Time I Saw Archie

All Commercials... A Steve Martin Special

The Steve Allen Show

Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?

A Guide for the Married Man