Ernest Edward "Ernie" Kovacs (January 23, 1919 - January 13, 1962) was an American comedian, actor, and writer. Kovacs's visually experimental and often spontaneous comedic style influenced numerous television comedy programs for years after his death. Many individuals and shows, such as Johnny Carson, David Letterman, Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, Saturday Night Live, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Jim Henson, Max Headroom, Chevy Chase, Conan O'Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street, The Electric Company, Dave Garroway, Uncle Floyd, and many others have credited Kovacs as an influence. Chevy Chase thanked Kovacs during his acceptance speech for his Emmy award for Saturday Night Live.
Early life and career
Kovacs's father Andrew emigrated from Hungary at age 13. He worked as a policeman, restaurateur, and bootlegger; the last so successfully that he moved his wife Mary, and sons Tom and Ernie, into a 20-room mansion in the better part of Trenton.  Though a poor student, Kovacs was influenced by his Trenton Central High School drama teacher, Harold Van Kirk, and received an acting scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1937 with Van Kirk's help. The end of Prohibition and the Depression resulted in difficult financial times for the family. When Kovacs began drama school, all he could afford was a fifth floor walk-up apartment on West 74th Street in New York City. During this time, he watched many "Grade B" movies; admission was only ten cents. Many of these movies influenced his comedy routines later.  A 1938 local newspaper photograph shows Kovacs as a member of the Prospect Players, not yet wearing his trademark mustache. Like any aspiring actor, Kovacs used his class vacation time to pursue roles in summer stock companies. While working in Vermont during 1939, he became so seriously ill with pneumonia and pleurisy that his doctors didn't expect him to survive. During the next year and a half, his comedic talents developed as he entertained both doctors and patients with his antics during stays at several hospitals. While hospitalized, Kovacs developed a lifelong love of classical music by the gift of a radio, which he kept tuned to WQXR. By the time he was released, his parents had separated, and Kovacs went back to Trenton, living with his mother in a two-room apartment over a store. He began work as a cigar salesman, which resulted in a lifelong cigar-smoking habit.  Kovacs's first paid entertainment work was during 1941, as an announcer for Trenton's radio station WTTM. He spent the next nine years with WTTM, becoming the station's director of Special Events; in this job he did things like trying to see what it was like to be run over by a train (leaving the tracks at the last minute) and broadcasting from the cockpit of a plane for which he took flying lessons. Kovacs was also involved with local theater; a local newspaper published a photograph of him and the news that he was doing some directing for the Trenton Players Guild in early 1941. The Trentonian, a local weekly newspaper, offered Kovacs a column in June 1945; he named it "Kovacs Unlimited".

Q: Where was Ernie Kovacs born?
A: Kovacs's father Andrew emigrated from Hungary at age 13.

Q: What was interesting about Ernie's childhood?
A: Though a poor student, Kovacs was influenced by his Trenton Central High School drama teacher, Harold Van Kirk, and received an acting scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts

Q: What did Kovacs do while at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts?
A: When Kovacs began drama school, all he could afford was a fifth floor walk-up apartment on West 74th Street in New York City.

Q: Was he successful after graduation from the drama school?
A: Kovacs used his class vacation time to pursue roles in summer stock companies. While working in Vermont during 1939, he became so seriously ill with pneumonia

Q: What happened to Kovacs after he was ill?
A: During the next year and a half, his comedic talents developed as he entertained both doctors and patients with his antics during stays at several hospitals.

Q: What success did he find as a result of his antics?
A: While hospitalized, Kovacs developed a lifelong love of classical music by the gift of a radio, which he kept tuned to WQXR. By the time he was released, his parents

Q: What did his parents do after he was hospitalized?
A: his parents had separated, and Kovacs went back to Trenton, living with his mother in a two-room apartment over a store. He began work

Q: Where did Kovacs work?
A: He began work as a cigar salesman, which resulted in a lifelong cigar-smoking habit.

Q: What did Kovacs do after his job as a cigar salesman?
A: Kovacs's first paid entertainment work was during 1941, as an announcer for Trenton's radio station WTTM. He spent the next nine years with WTTM,
what did he do while at WTTM?
becoming the station's director of Special Events; in this job he did things like trying to see what it was like to be run over by a train (
becoming the station's director of Special Events; in this job he did things like trying to see what it was like to be run over by a train (