Actor Beloved By Millions Passes Away

Bill Dana, writer, actor and creator of the character Jose Jimenez, died at the age of 92.

Dana’s death was confirmed by Jenni Matz, a friend of the actor. New York Times reported that Dana died at his home in Nashville, Tennessee.

The iconic character of Jose Jimenez first appeared on “The Steve Allen Plymouth Show” in 1959. The character struggled with English and was an instructor for Santa Clause impersonators in training.

“I said, ‘My name … Jose Jimenez,’ and the [live] audience laughed,” he said in 2007, the Hollywood Reporter reported.

“I remember thinking, ‘This guy just said his name and everybody [went crazy]…It was the most amazing, B-movie type of thing, because [after the show aired] the phones started ringing [with viewers asking], ‘Who is this guy that wandered into the studio?'”

Jimenez, he said in 2011, was “a perfect example of a person that wanted to be assimilated into American culture, learn the language, always looked spiffy … not a bit of the racist stereotype about the unkempt Mexican.”

Dana, who was born in 1924 in Massachusetts, began his career doing comedy routines and was hired as a joke writer in 1952 by Don Adams as a joke writer.

“As a performer, I was always frightened to death until I got on stage, and then I wanted to stay there forever,” Dana said in an interview. “But I hated the fear of performing. Writing the stuff and then standing there, massaging the boxer’s shoulders, saying, ‘Go in there and get ’em!’ … that was for me.”

The character of Jimenez, he said in 1964, had a nationality that was never specified – something Dana said he did intentionally.

“I’ve always detested a certain type of dialect that’s an unkind caricature,” he said. “José is not a caricature. He’s the closest representation of a real human being that I can create.” He also called the character “universal” as opposed to classifying him as “Latin.”

In addition to writing and acting, Dana owned an advertising agency that represented clients like the International House of Pancakes. He produced variety shows for Donny and Marie Osmond, and had guest appearances on shows like  “Golden Girls.” He was also a talent manager at a company that represented artists like Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, and co-wrote a book in 1982 called “The Laughter Prescription,” which examined the healing power of comedy. 

Dana is survived by his wife Evy, to whom he was married for 36 years. 

Sources: Hollywood Reporter, New York Times / Photo credit: NBC Televison/Wikimedia Commons