Tribute to Ernie Kovacs Trivia Quiz

Answer: Edie Adams

Ernie married Edie in September 1954 after he divorced his first wife. Edie appeared with him on his TV show. After Ernie's death, she had her own series "Here's Edie" (1963), which only ran for one season. She passed away in 2008 at age 81.

Answer: a cigar

Ernie was a habitual cigar smoker and was seldom seen without a cigar whether performing or not. He even did commercials for Dutch Masters brand cigars. Groucho Marx, George Burns and Milton Berle were also made cigars part of their personna.

Answer: "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963)

Although tapped for the role of Melville Crump in the movie "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" (1963), Ernie died before filming started. His role in this film then went to Sid Caesar.

Answer: no

Edie Adams was primarily a singer and TV star up until 1960 when her first "big" role came as Miss Olsen in "The Apartment". After Ernie's death her movie career blossomed even more. She appeared in "Lover Come Back" (1961), "Call Me Bwana" (1963), and "The Honey Pot" (1967) amongst others.

They had been scheduled to play Melvin and Monica Crump, an avaricious married couple, in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" but, as mentioned in the previous question, Ernie died before production began. Edie and Ernie never worked on a movie together.

Answer: no

Ernie fathered three children by his first wife, Bette Wilcox and one with Edie Adams. They were all daughters. Mia Kovacs, the daughter by Edie, was also an aspiring actress when, like her famous father, died in a car crash in 1982.

Answer: Jeff Goldblum

Melody Anderson portrayed Edie Adams and Cloris Leachman played Ernie's mother, Mary, in this revealing biopic. The real Edie Adams also appeared in this movie - as Mae West!

Answer: The Nairobi Trio

The three "ape" actors consisted of a percussionist, the conductor, and a pianist. The conductor was always assumed to be Ernie and the piano player, Edie. It is rumored that different celebrities were behind the ape mask of the third member including Jack Lemmon and Frank Sinatra. They always performed the song "Solfeggio" written by Robert Maxwell.

Answer: income tax evasion

Ernie firmly believed that paying taxes was wrong and simply did not pay them. In 1961, the IRS finally served him with a lien of $75,000 in unpaid taxes (over half a million in today's money). He was still paying it off at the time of his death, but Edie eventually managed to pay all Ernie's debts in full.

Answer: Willy Lump Lump

Percy Dovetonsils was a sissified poet who wore thick glasses, Miklos Molnar was a chef who prepared simple foods in very complicated ways, and Matzoh Hepplewhite was a bumbling magician. Willy Lump Lump was a character creation of Red Skelton.

Answer: Milton Berle

Both Ernie and Edie had been attending a baby shower given for Milton Berle and his wife, Ruth, on January 13, 1962. Ernie had driven there directly from work, so fortunately for Edie, she had driven her own car to and from the party. It is thought that Ernie was attempting to light one of his ubiquitous cigars when he lost control of his Chevrolet Corvair on a rain-slicked highway.

He was just 10 days shy of his 43rd birthday.