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JOSE JIMENEZ

“The Astronaut, Parts 1 & 2”

(Bill “JOSE JIMENEZ” Dana)

Kapp 409

No.19    October 2, 1961

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Jose was born in the fertilized mind of Bill Dana in the cold winter of 1959.   In a fit of frenzied creativity,

Dana, the head writer for the top drawer “Steve Allen Show”, dreamed up this goodhearted, Hispanic

character who was to be the teacher in a one-of sketch involving a school for department store Santa

Clauses.   The skit was so well-received that Jose became a staple on Stevie’s show.   Night club

appearances, five fine selling albums, a hit single and a spin-off TV turkey followed like a caboose on a

fast moving freight. Ten years later, amid much controversy, Bill Dana killed Jose Jimenez.

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Bill was born Willaim Szathmary on October 5, 1924, in Quincy, Massachusetts.   He graduated from

Boston’s Emerson College in 1950 and for the next few years he made comedic performances in local

watering holes and houses of laughter.   Bill appeared in bit roles on TV programs with Imogene Cocca

and Martha Raye and began writing gags for Don Adams.   In 1956 and for the next four years, Dana was

a behind the scenes writer for STEVE ALLEN.   After the Jose Jimenez character took on a life of its own,

Bill let Jose cut some sides for the Kapp label.   “The Astronaut” would be his lone top 40 single, but all

five of Jose’s long plays sold well enough to place on Billboard’s Top 40 Albums chart.

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In the early ’60s Jose made regular appearances on “The Danny Thomas Show” and for a season and a

half Bill’s character had his own program on NBC.    With the rise of ethnic sensitivities in the late ’60s

pressures were placed on Dana to put a stop to his characterization.   Some viewers came to consider

Jose’s naivete as a racial put-down.   In 1970, Dana murdered Jose and a mock funeral was held in Los

Angeles.   While lying low during much of the remainder of the ’70s, BiII returned to pubIic view in a

couple of short-lived T.V. series, “No Soap, Radio” (1982) and “Zorro and Son” ( 1983).