Frank Fontaine ‎– Songs I Sing On The Jackie Gleason Show (Vinyl)

Frank Fontaine (April 19, 1920 – August 4, 1978) was an American stage, radio, film and television comedian, singer and actor. Fontaine is best known for his appearances on television shows of the 1950s and 1960s, including The Jack Benny Program, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Tonight Show, and The Ed Sullivan Show. One of his earliest appearances was on the radio version of The Jack Benny Program. During an episode which aired on April 9, 1950, Fontaine played a bum (named "John L.C. Sivoney") who asked Benny for a dime for a cup of coffee. The smallest coin Benny had to offer was a fifty-cent piece, so he gave it to him. The story Benny told about this event became a running gag during later shows. Fontaine's goofball laugh and other voice mannerisms made a hit with the audience, and Benny brought him back for several more radio shows between 1950-52. He also later appeared on four of Jack Benny's television shows between 1951 and 1961.[citation needed] In 1952, Fontaine starred in The Frank Fontaine Show, a weekly variety program on CBS radio. The program featured four other members of Fontaine's family in addition to singer Helen O'Connell and announcer Harry von Zell. He also was heard regularly on The Bob Hope Show on radio.: 47-48  On June 3, 1955, his comedy-variety television program, Frank Fontaine's Showtime, debuted on KTTV in Los Angeles.