Joey Faye

{{Infobox person

| name = Joey Faye

| image = Joey Faye in Lock Up (His Father's Footsteps).jpg

| caption = Faye in an episode of Lock-Up (1960)

| birth_name = Joseph Antony Palladino

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|07|12|mf=yes}}

| birth_place = New York City, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1997|04|26|1909|07|12|mf=yes}}

| death_place = Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.

| occupation = Comedian, actor

| years_active = 1930–1994

| spouse = {{plainlist|

Eileen Jenkins
Ginna Carr
Judy Carlin

}}

| website =

}}

Joey Faye (born Joseph Antony Palladino, July 12, 1909{{cite news |first=Rick |last=Lyman |title=Joey Faye, 87, Burlesque Comic and an Actor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/28/arts/joey-faye-87-burlesque-comic-and-an-actor.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=August 21, 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=April 28, 1997 |page=B12}} or 1910{{cite news |last1=Vosburgh |first1=Dick |title=Obituary: Joey Faye |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-joey-faye-1260182.html |accessdate=July 24, 2018 |newspaper=Independent |date=May 7, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724180549/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-joey-faye-1260182.html |archive-date=July 24, 2018}} or 1902{{cite book |last1=Sage |first1=Dusty |title=Burlesque In a Nutshell - Girls, Gimmicks & Gags |date=2016 |publisher=BearManor Media |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8VBKDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT307 |accessdate=July 24, 2018}} – April 26, 1997) was an American comedian and actor.

Born in New York City, he gained fame as a comic in vaudeville and claimed that he created two of vaudeville's more renowned pieces of business, "Floogle Street" (a.k.a. "Susquehana Hat Company") and "Slowly I Turned".{{cite web |last1=Day |first1=Rebecca |title='Slowly I Turned': A Piece of America's Pop Culture |url=http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/slowly.html |newspaper=Niagara Falls Reporter |accessdate=July 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180724173805/http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/slowly.html |archive-date=July 24, 2018}} In addition to an active career in vaudeville and the legitimate theater, he appeared in many movies and TV shows.

Broadway

The Republic Theatre was the site of Faye's New York stage debut at age 21. During World War II, he entertained Allied military personnel in Africa and Europe as part of a troupe headed by Marlene Dietrich. He was known for having the "fastest sneeze in the West".{{cite news| last=Oliver| first=Myrna| date=May 1, 1997| title=Joey Faye; Comic Ranged from Vaudeville to TV Ads| newspaper=The Los Angeles Times| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-01-me-54397-story.html| access-date=March 13, 2023}}

Faye played second banana to Phil Silvers in two Broadway shows, High Button Shoes and Top Banana. He also appeared in the 1954 film. In a Broadway career that stretched between the late 1930s and the early 1990s, he appeared in 17 shows altogether, including Room Service (his Broadway debut) and The Tender Trap. He also appeared in the 1955 movie adaptation, the 1965 revival of Guys and Dolls, and Neil Simon's musical Little Me.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}} Faye was the green grapes in Fruit of the Loom underwear commercials throughout the 1980s.

He appeared as a guest in many TV shows from 1949 through 1984. He co-starred with another former burlesque comedian, Mickey Deems, in a series of 15-minute comedies produced for television. Mack & Myer for Hire (1963) had Mack (Deems) and Myer (Faye), traveling by motorcycle with sidecar, and hiring themselves out as general help. They would attempt various assignments (carpentry, plumbing, bricklaying, etc.) earnestly but clumsily.

In the 1980s Joey Faye worked with Benny Hill in a series of sketches produced for home video.

Personal life

Faye was married three times—to Eileen Jenkins, Ginna Carr, and Judy Carlin. He once lived in Great Kills, Staten Island.{{cite news |url=https://www.silive.com/guide/index.ssf/2012/04/famous_folk-_in_prog.html |title=Famous Staten Islanders from all walks of life |newspaper=Staten Island Advance |date=April 23, 2012 |accessdate=February 9, 2019}}