Crazy Guggenheim was my favorite character on the old Jackie Gleason show when i was a young kid. The one song that i distinctly remember and sing often is “Red Roses For a Blue Lady”. No one could do it better. It was a true honor to have seen him and hear him.
Even though I was a very young kid at the time , your uncle gave me so much pleasure . I would always wait up until he came out and sang . then I could go to bed happy . god bless him and keep him .
He was hysterical in the old Jack Benny programs, and if you watch or listen to his appearances as John L.C. Silvoney on those, Jack loses it almost every time he's on with Frank. He always has a hard time keeping it together, he's laughing so hard.
I remember Frank (Crazy) from watching the Jackie Gleason Show as a child. I've mimicked his laugh over the years and kept him in my memory. He was great... Take Care..
I'm old and I couldn't think of his name for the last two weeks. I searched but I didn't have a keyword to find it. Tonight I asked a friend and he knew who I was talking about. A friend around your age is be better than Wikipedia, Google and even RUclips sometimes if you don't have a clue. Plus they can help in many other ways because you can bounce memories off of them and you'll both learn. Thanks Uncle Thom, I hope you're well and still cooking'... Like number 575 & comment 100!
In the mid 60s there used to be a little shop with a soda fountain that sold penny candy on Salem St. in Medford, MA. Frankie hung out there frequently and if we went in when he was there he'd buy all us kids candy and do his shtick for us. Loved the guy.
I was just 4 or 5 but still at 55 I remember "my" Crazy Guggenheim from my fave Jackie Gleason Show.That laugh was so original. Sad or funny, but, his eyes reminded me of my grandpa Oneal's whenever he'd come home late from getting some air.. My grandma Gwen would say that we had air here at home. He'd reply, "I like beer with my air. " So, was Crazy 's brain soaked with booze or would he now be in a facility and on daily meds? Whichever, I wish he was still around to laugh and make us laugh too. Toodles, Crazy! .
Yes I agree with you RUclips should replace these fantastic scenes, I always Treasure and Remember The Jackie Gleason Show watching TV with my Family over a half a Century ago, and always the Highlight was the Guggenheim singing his favourite song at the Bar, This Memory for me will forever live. Go on youtube allow the next Generation to Watch Real good Entertainment , Slainte from Ireland :)
This morning the name "Crazy Guggenheim" popped into my head. A name I haven't even thought of since I was a kid. I couldn't quite place the name or where this character came from - so I did a search and ended up here. WOW! I MISS THIS GUY!!! He was one of the funniest ever and can't believe I forgot about him until now. Thanks for posting this.
It is sad they took his scenes with Jakie Gleason off of RUclips. It was great to see him on that show. I met him in 1954 when he played at the Vagabond Club, I was the stage manager. I watched his show every night from backstage. Bumped into him years later, sunning himself in one of the hotels on Miami Beach. He told me he had ten children. Next thing i knew, he was crazy Guggenheim. Loved watching him.
Some of my earliest memories is sitting in front of our 13" b&w TV set with built-in rabbit ear antenna and watching the Jackie Gleason Show with my Dad Joe Manzo Sr. Those were the special times in a young boys life when all Dad had to to is laugh at a comic, sing to a crooner or the cream of the crop, route for his favorite sports team and you were automatically hook line and sinker on board! He would wait... no, we would wait for 50 minutes towards the end of each program to see Frank Fontaine as Crazy Gugenheim swap a few jokes with Jackie Gleason aka Joe the Bartender before he blew everyone away with his amazing singing voice.
As a kid, I loved Fontaine's Crazy Guggenheim, but his singing, as great as it was, bored me to tears (I was too young to appreciate it). I also always loved Gleason's singing "My Gal Sal" to close the bits.
EVERY Saturday night was the Jackie Gleason Show from Miami. His "Joe the Bartender" sketch with the ever invisible & not heard "Mr. Dunahee" & then 'Ol Crazy would show up & tell Joe about the latest rings happening in his life. "I wasn't doin nuthin. Just hanging around, you know, just hanging around." After some trade offs with "Joe", Joe would ask Mr. Dunahee to slip a nickel into #14 on the jukebox, the orchestra would give the intro & then "Crazy" would sing a song just beautifully. That was a different era when there was REAL talent & REAL entertainment for the entire family on TV. Not the so-called "reality" vulgar scatological crap of these days.
When Gleason as Joe The Bartender faced the camera and talked to unseen/unheard bar customer Mister Dunahy it made the home TV viewer feel like he was part of the sketch. A truly brilliant ahead of its time concept by The Great One. Sadly these days Frank Fontaine's brilliant hilarious portrayal of a goofy mildly mentally challenged character would be considered politically incorrect but it was the best part of Jackie Gleason's variety show ☺ ♣
Jackie Gleason & Frank Fontaine had a skit where Frank pretended to come in and talk about some kids picking on a classmate, and he felt sorry for him. It was a profound skit that I saw when I was still in school. Does anybody know what I'm referring to, and if it is available?
Wesley Noggle In the late 1960s we would always turn the sound completely down every time Craz starting singing, then turn it up again the minute Joe was clapping - EXCEPT the time he sang "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". I HAD to hear the lyrics to the 1931 movie's theme song, "Public Enemy".
Crazy, I believe, was on the OLD Gleason Show, from NYC. By the time he moved to FLA, that character, I'm almost positive, didn't 'move' with him. If you want to remember the 'pure' Gleason, it's the bcasts from New York. Early 50s.
Frank Fontaine was absolutely hilarious! Jackie Gleason proved he was truly the Great One on his "American Scene Magazine", which ended with his Joe the Bartender skit. He would entertain us with his comments and then came Frank Fontaine as Crazy Googenham, who would then steal the show, leaving us in stitches. We'd laugh almost to the point of tears. Joe would yell "c'mon Crazy, sing us one of your songs!" Then he would sing one of his ballads. What a voice he had! Frank Fontaine stole the show not once, but twice every week. His skits were once on RUclips until some total 💩 decided to pull them all off. Here's hoping someone would post them all back again!
My dad used to let us do whatever we kids wanted while he was doing his comedy with Jackie Gleason, but once he started to sing we had to shut up OR ELSE!
The earliest I remember seeing Frank Fontaine was when he appeared in the early 1950's (I'm dating myself) as "John L.C. Silvoney." Same shtick with scattered appearances on TV. Then Jackie Gleason needed a character for Crazy Guggenheim. He knew Frank had the act he needed, and Frank had 11 or 12 kids depending source so he could use steady work. Jackie offered him a regular job trading quips with Joe the Bartender. Unfortunately Frank died of a heart attack at the age of 58.
Hi, do you have the Dec. 26th, 1964 show from J.G.'s American Scene Magazine. I remember Frank Fontaine doing some sort of Scrooge bit. Love to see that again
Hiya Joe! Heee Heee Hee Hee Why did the chicken cross the road? To eat a hot dog, his wife made meatloaf again for dinner! Heee Heee Hee Heee. He had a great singing voice. Rest in peace Crazy, we miss you. :)
You are right ! I find it amazing ! We had maybe 8 to 13 channels of analog TV and were able to find something to watch with a certain " redeeming social value",most of the time , and entertainment , as you stated " for the entire family" . Now what have we got 100+ channels of a lot of garbage that has to be policed for content . I miss those Farmer John hot dog adds ?? hmmm I'm trying to remember the name of that baseball team ?? padre dogs ? Red sox dogs ?Giant dogs??? Oh well.
Darn shame, especially since you can not buy these shows. Apparently, when Gleason was willing to release the shows he had carefully stored, the buyers only wanted the Honeymooners, not classic stuff like this, the poor soul, reginald van gleason. The post baby boom generation that never saw such shows, would really be impressed if able to see them
I recently read a biography of Jackie Gleason ("The Great One" by William Henry) and naturally it contained Frank Fontaine's character. It was spelled Googenham, and I thought that was sloppy misspelling, how could the author not know it was Guggenheim? But here Fontaine clearly says "Googenham," and a yt video of Gleason has him saying "Googenham" also. I'm starting to think we all had it wrong!
Jannelle Morgan This moron likes to put other people down. I'm sure it's to make himself feel like a man. He's a jerk! His mommy never taught him any manners.
I Hear The Hum Finally, a perfect match. Dumb and Dumber, twin stalkers with time on their hands. I'd suggest you reproduce with her, but... well, there was a TV show about such things. Mission Impossible.
Lol you are correct sir, it is Mission Impossible since I am also a female. Haha stalker. Yep I have nothing better to do than stalk you. Actually I just clicked on your profile name to see who I was talking to and below your profile was yet another instance of you being a sad little fella and trying to belittle others to make yourself feel good. Honey, go to the senior center and play a little shuffle board, drink a little wine and try to stop being so miserable to other people. Don't forget to take your teeth with you, there might be some free snacks. Have a happy day. P.S. after you post another amusing message don't wait around for my reply, as I will be out on a ship for several days with my friends. I'm sure you have heard of those, you used to have them. Anyways...have fun at the center darling.
***** Memories! Yes, Miss Morgan posted that Lucille Ball died of, if I recall, an "erotic aneurism." Currently she is on the staff of Harvard Medical School, curing leukemia, so it's best not to bother her. Listen, GEVMM, sure it's flattering that I am your new reason for- I use the expression loosely- living. But here's something better: First, cut down on energy drinks, tattoos (they can be unhygienic), booze and tobacco, and that includes vapor. That will increase your chances of making it to adulthood. That said- not that you'll take this advice- grow up, be curious and willing to learn. There's a lot to life, and you will miss it by concentrating on me, or your other latest obsession of the moment. Give me up and deal with what's important: education, for one, and doing useful things, and living a life that is productive both to yourself and to others. If you can't give me up full stop quickly, then taper off until you forget me. But give me up, GEVMM, and move on to life, learning and living. Good luck.
Proud to say that Frankie was my uncle! I still have a vinyl copy of "Songs I Sing on the Jackie Gleason Show"!
"Hahahaheeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
Crazy Guggenheim was my favorite character on the old Jackie Gleason show when i was a young kid. The one song that i distinctly remember and sing often is “Red Roses For a Blue Lady”. No one could do it better. It was a true honor to have seen him and hear him.
He died much too young. I think he would have made a great Simpsons character had he lived into the 1990s.
Even though I was a very young kid at the time , your uncle gave me so much pleasure . I would always wait up until he came out and sang . then I could go to bed happy . god bless him and keep him .
He was hysterical in the old Jack Benny programs, and if you watch or listen to his appearances as John L.C. Silvoney on those, Jack loses it almost every time he's on with Frank. He always has a hard time keeping it together, he's laughing so hard.
Brings back so many fond memories.
MY parents waited for him to sing every week...what a voice!
I remember Frank (Crazy) from watching the Jackie Gleason Show as a child. I've mimicked his laugh over the years and kept him in my memory. He was great... Take Care..
I'm 70 years old when I was a kid I used to watch him on Jackie Gleason I just love the dude
Yeah He was Cool.
ALWAYS MADE ME CRY WHEN HE SANG
Todd, you are so right. Musicians played real instruments. No one had even imagined 'digital' music. I truly miss 'the old days'. JoAnn
I'm old and I couldn't think of his name for the last two weeks. I searched but I didn't have a keyword to find it. Tonight I asked a friend and he knew who I was talking about. A friend around your age is be better than Wikipedia, Google and even RUclips sometimes if you don't have a clue. Plus they can help in many other ways because you can bounce memories off of them and you'll both learn. Thanks Uncle Thom, I hope you're well and still cooking'... Like number 575 & comment 100!
In the mid 60s there used to be a little shop with a soda fountain that sold penny candy on Salem St. in Medford, MA. Frankie hung out there frequently and if we went in when he was there he'd buy all us kids candy and do his shtick for us. Loved the guy.
I was just 4 or 5 but still at 55 I remember "my" Crazy Guggenheim from my fave Jackie Gleason Show.That laugh was so original. Sad or funny, but, his eyes reminded me of my grandpa Oneal's whenever he'd come home late from getting some air.. My grandma Gwen would say that we had air here at home. He'd reply, "I like beer with my air. " So, was Crazy 's brain soaked with booze or would he now be in a facility and on daily meds? Whichever, I wish he was still around to laugh and make us laugh too. Toodles, Crazy! .
Brian Henson eeeeerrr
Yes I agree with you RUclips should replace these fantastic scenes, I always Treasure and Remember The Jackie Gleason Show watching TV with my Family over a half a Century ago, and always the Highlight was the Guggenheim singing his favourite song at the Bar, This Memory for me will forever live. Go on youtube allow the next Generation to Watch Real good Entertainment , Slainte from Ireland :)
This morning the name "Crazy Guggenheim" popped into my head. A name I haven't even thought of since I was a kid. I couldn't quite place the name or where this character came from - so I did a search and ended up here. WOW! I MISS THIS GUY!!! He was one of the funniest ever and can't believe I forgot about him until now. Thanks for posting this.
Crazy Guggenheim was my favorite on Jacky Gleason's show. And it is depressing watching these old shows.
No, It's Depressing Watching These New Shows, Feel Me.
@@maureencora1 no, it just reminds me that my younger years are gone.
@@1BlubeTube Touche' (smile)
It is sad they took his scenes with Jakie Gleason off of RUclips. It was great to see him on that show. I met him in 1954 when he played at the Vagabond Club, I was the stage manager. I watched his show every night from backstage. Bumped into him years later, sunning himself in one of the hotels on Miami Beach. He told me he had ten children. Next thing i knew, he was crazy Guggenheim. Loved watching him.
Ah yes -- we did indeed enjoy Frank's appearance. "Craze? Sure, he's right out back..."
Hearing him sing was my favorite part.
Brings a smile to my face, as screwed up as it was back then it was easier for us to relax and laugh, great voice !!!! 2021
Oh, what a voice he had.
The premier member of the Friendly Sons of the Smiling Sheleighleigh!
Some of my earliest memories is sitting in front of our 13" b&w TV set with built-in rabbit ear antenna and watching the Jackie Gleason Show with my Dad Joe Manzo Sr. Those were the special times in a young boys life when all Dad had to to is laugh at a comic, sing to a crooner or the cream of the crop, route for his favorite sports team and you were automatically hook line and sinker on board!
He would wait... no, we would wait for 50 minutes towards the end of each program to see Frank Fontaine as Crazy Gugenheim swap a few jokes with Jackie Gleason aka Joe the Bartender before he blew everyone away with his amazing singing voice.
Frank Fontaine was an unbelievable sound to hear ! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
How sweet it was. 😔😔🙁🙁
Frank Fontaine is my Great Grandfather. Glad I was able to find some video of him on youtube.
I want to see the Jackie Gleason shows with Guggenheim, They appear to be nowhere to be found!
One of the classic segments of all time on the Jackie Gleason Show was Joe the Bartender and Crazy!
Loved this guy when I was a kid, but when he sang ..it was what?..where's that sound coming from ?
Eeee, eee, aaah, aahhh ...😹😂
He was always such a fine entertainer.
Loved him. The best ❤️
Loved Him!
It's was Great When He Clown It Up and End It with a Jazzy Song. R.I.P.
Hey Joe. Hello Mr. Dennehy...
As a kid, I loved Fontaine's Crazy Guggenheim, but his singing, as great as it was, bored me to tears (I was too young to appreciate it). I also always loved Gleason's singing "My Gal Sal" to close the bits.
EVERY Saturday night was the Jackie Gleason Show from Miami. His "Joe the Bartender" sketch with the ever invisible & not heard "Mr. Dunahee" & then 'Ol Crazy would show up & tell Joe about the latest rings happening in his life. "I wasn't doin nuthin. Just hanging around, you know, just hanging around." After some trade offs with "Joe", Joe would ask Mr. Dunahee to slip a nickel into #14 on the jukebox, the orchestra would give the intro & then "Crazy" would sing a song just beautifully.
That was a different era when there was REAL talent & REAL entertainment for the entire family on TV. Not the so-called "reality" vulgar scatological crap of these days.
When Gleason as Joe The Bartender faced the camera and talked to unseen/unheard bar customer Mister Dunahy it made the home TV viewer feel like he was part of the sketch. A truly brilliant ahead of its time concept by The Great One. Sadly these days Frank Fontaine's brilliant hilarious portrayal of a goofy mildly mentally challenged character would be considered politically incorrect but it was the best part of Jackie Gleason's variety show ☺ ♣
Legend has it that Mr. Dunahee still goes in every night to have Joe pour him a drink.
why are his bar scenes not on youtube?
Jackie Gleason & Frank Fontaine had a skit where Frank pretended to come in and talk about some kids picking on a classmate, and he felt sorry for him. It was a profound skit that I saw when I was still in school. Does anybody know what I'm referring to, and if it is available?
Great Singer and Comic Actor May He R.I.P.
HE MADE ME CRY WHEN HE SING THEN AND HE STILL DOES NOW
Wesley Noggle In the late 1960s we would always turn the sound completely down every time Craz starting singing, then turn it up again the minute Joe was clapping - EXCEPT the time he sang "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles". I HAD to hear the lyrics to the 1931 movie's theme song, "Public Enemy".
Thank you, Mr. Dennehy.
Crazy, I believe, was on the OLD Gleason Show, from NYC. By the time he moved to FLA, that character, I'm almost positive, didn't 'move' with him. If you want to remember the 'pure' Gleason, it's the bcasts from New York. Early 50s.
I just read on the back of one of Frank's albums that he was "one of the first to pack his bags" when Jackie moved to Miami.
memories & memories...
Great talent
Frank Fontaine was absolutely hilarious!
Jackie Gleason proved he was truly the Great One on his "American Scene Magazine", which ended with his Joe the Bartender skit. He would entertain us with his comments and then came Frank Fontaine as Crazy Googenham, who would then steal the show, leaving us in stitches. We'd laugh almost to the point of tears.
Joe would yell "c'mon Crazy, sing us one of your songs!"
Then he would sing one of his ballads. What a voice he had!
Frank Fontaine stole the show not once, but twice every week.
His skits were once on RUclips until some total 💩 decided to pull them all off.
Here's hoping someone would post them all back again!
My dad used to let us do whatever we kids wanted while he was doing his comedy with Jackie Gleason, but once he started to sing we had to shut up OR ELSE!
The voice was the inspiration for Lew Zealand and Pete Puma.
Pete Puma pre-dated "Crazy" by a few years, I believe.
Talking about Pete Puma on The Bugs Bunny cartoons and I loved it I love all of it I used to impersonate crazy Guggenheim I was only 4 years old
They were here, and a good number of them, but they have apparently been removed. I had stored them as favorites but now they are not accessible.
The earliest I remember seeing Frank Fontaine was when he appeared in the early 1950's (I'm dating myself) as "John L.C. Silvoney." Same shtick with scattered appearances on TV. Then Jackie Gleason needed a character for Crazy Guggenheim. He knew Frank had the act he needed, and Frank had 11 or 12 kids depending source so he could use steady work. Jackie offered him a regular job trading quips with Joe the Bartender. Unfortunately Frank died of a heart attack at the age of 58.
+Richard 1941 I thought that I was the only gu who remembered that earlier character. No one around here remembers John L> C> Silvoney but me. Tanks.
Hi, do you have the Dec. 26th, 1964 show from J.G.'s American Scene Magazine. I remember Frank Fontaine doing some sort of Scrooge bit. Love to see that again
Hiya Joe! Heee Heee Hee Hee Why did the chicken cross the road? To eat a hot dog, his wife made meatloaf again for dinner! Heee Heee Hee Heee. He had a great singing voice. Rest in peace Crazy, we miss you. :)
You are right ! I find it amazing ! We had maybe 8 to 13 channels of analog TV and were able to find something to watch with a certain " redeeming social value",most of the time , and entertainment , as you stated " for the entire family" . Now what have we got 100+ channels of a lot of garbage that has to be policed for content . I miss those Farmer John hot dog adds ?? hmmm I'm trying to remember the name of that baseball team ?? padre dogs ? Red sox dogs ?Giant dogs??? Oh well.
jackie gleason
If you had eight channels, you had seven more than we did.
Rocky the Rhino the lost jungle book character. 0:10
Darn shame, especially since you can not buy these shows.
Apparently, when Gleason was willing to release the shows he had carefully stored, the buyers only wanted the Honeymooners, not classic stuff like this, the poor soul, reginald van gleason.
The post baby boom generation that never saw such shows, would really be impressed if able to see them
He looked goofy but he had a beautiful singing voice.
I recently read a biography of Jackie Gleason ("The Great One" by William Henry) and naturally it contained Frank Fontaine's character. It was spelled Googenham, and I thought that was sloppy misspelling, how could the author not know it was Guggenheim? But here Fontaine clearly says "Googenham," and a yt video of Gleason has him saying "Googenham" also. I'm starting to think we all had it wrong!
Jannelle Morgan This moron likes to put other people down. I'm sure it's to make himself feel like a man. He's a jerk! His mommy never taught him any manners.
I Hear The Hum Finally, a perfect match. Dumb and Dumber, twin stalkers with time on their hands. I'd suggest you reproduce with her, but... well, there was a TV show about such things. Mission Impossible.
Lol you are correct sir, it is Mission Impossible since I am also a female. Haha stalker. Yep I have nothing better to do than stalk you. Actually I just clicked on your profile name to see who I was talking to and below your profile was yet another instance of you being a sad little fella and trying to belittle others to make yourself feel good. Honey, go to the senior center and play a little shuffle board, drink a little wine and try to stop being so miserable to other people. Don't forget to take your teeth with you, there might be some free snacks. Have a happy day. P.S. after you post another amusing message don't wait around for my reply, as I will be out on a ship for several days with my friends. I'm sure you have heard of those, you used to have them. Anyways...have fun at the center darling.
I better be good, because You Sow What you Reap, or Karma .
***** Memories! Yes, Miss Morgan posted that Lucille Ball died of, if I recall, an "erotic aneurism." Currently she is on the staff of Harvard Medical School, curing leukemia, so it's best not to bother her. Listen, GEVMM, sure it's flattering that I am your new reason for- I use the expression loosely- living. But here's something better: First, cut down on energy drinks, tattoos (they can be unhygienic), booze and tobacco, and that includes vapor. That will increase your chances of making it to adulthood. That said- not that you'll take this advice- grow up, be curious and willing to learn. There's a lot to life, and you will miss it by concentrating on me, or your other latest obsession of the moment. Give me up and deal with what's important: education, for one, and doing useful things, and living a life that is productive both to yourself and to others. If you can't give me up full stop quickly, then taper off until you forget me. But give me up, GEVMM, and move on to life, learning and living. Good luck.
Yea, dude, they had chocolate Malt-O-Meal once, now can't find it. Anybody?!
His singing voice sounds a little like Bing Crosby.
Frank's singing sounds like Link Hogthrob.
Tim Kaine?
Bravo!
This guy....
Hey! Dos iz shayn!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I had no idea Biden had been in show business.
Crazy needed to brush his tongue...yick.
My brother imitated him