Joey Faye

Character actor of stage, screen, and television, Joey Faye was among the last of the great burlesque comedians. Over his 65-year career he performed alongside stars ranging from Gypsy Rose Lee, Marlene Dietrich, Abbott and Costello, Tony Randall, and John Wayne. The son of a sideshow barber working with the Barnum and Bailey circus, Faye (born Joseph Palladino) started out as a Borscht Belt comic during the early '30s. While working in primarily Russian Jewish Catskills resorts, Faye starred alongside such comics as Phil Silvers, Rags Ragland, and the aforementioned duo. Faye appeared 36 times on Broadway (including a command performance of Guys and Dolls for President Lyndon B. Johnson) and for the U.S.O. His films include Close Up (1948; his film debut), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967), and Once Upon a Time in America (1984). On April 26, 1997, the 87-year-old Faye, by then a resident of the Actor's Home in Englewood, NJ, died of heart failure.

~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide