Ed Ames of the Ames Brothers & ’60s Series ‘Daniel Boone’ Dies at 95
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Singer Ed Ames, whose poor aim with a tomahawk led to one of the most hilarious “Tonight Show” bloopers of all time, died at 95 at his L.A. home on May 21, Variety reports.
Popular for his work on TV’s “Daniel Boone” (1964-1968) — he played Native American character Mingo in brownface — Ames appeared on “The Tonight Show” in 1965 to show off his tomahawk-throwing skills. Faced with the outline of a man, Ames pitched his tomahawk right into the crotch area, cracking up Johnny Carson and the studio audience.
“I didn’t even know you were Jewish!” Carson ad-libbed. “Welcome to ‘Frontier Bris’!”
It was the host’s favorite-ever moment-gone-wrong. The uproar has been called the longest instance of sustained laughter in TV history.
Ames by then was a well-known vocalist, having recorded with his siblings as part of the phenomenally successful Ames Brothers from 1947. The group enjoyed a big hit in 1950 with “Rag Mop”/”Sentimental Me” and charted nearly 50 songs before disbanding in 1963. They also had their own 15-minute series at the dawn of the television era.
Ames had been the group’s last survivor, having been preceded in death by Joe (1921-2007), Gene (1924-1997) and Vic (1925-1978).
Ames continued as a solo singer, racking up his biggest hits with “My Cup Runneth Over” (1967) and “Who Will Answer?” (1968), and landing three no. 1s on the U.S. Adult Contemporary chart.
Born July 9, 1927, in Malden, Massachusetts, Ames was Jewish, but frequently played Native Americans, including Chief Bromden in the Broadway production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in 1963 with Kirk Douglas, Gene Wilder and William Daniels.
Preceded in death by his daughter, Ames is survived by his wife Jeanne, his two children, his stepson, his seven grandchildren, and his five great-grandchildren.
