Buddy Lester, a renowned stand-up comedian and character actor, was born in Chicago and enjoyed a seven-decade-long career on the international nightclub circuit. He had the privilege of opening for Frank Sinatra several times in Las Vegas and appeared alongside him in the Rat Pack films "Ocean's Eleven" (1960) and "Sergeants 3" (1962). Additionally, Lester collaborated with Jerry Lewis in five films, including "The Ladies Man" (1961),"The Nutty Professor" (1963),"The Patsy" (1964),"Three on a Couch" (1966),and "The Big Mouth" (1967).
Lester made his film debut in "The Gene Krupa Story" (1959),playing himself as an entertainer alongside Sal Mineo. He went on to become a popular figure on television, with a recurring role on "The New Phil Silvers Show" (1963). He also appeared in several episodes of the police series "Adam-12" (1968) and "Barney Miller" (1975),as well as shows such as "Love, American Style" (1969),"The New Dick Van Dyke Show" (1971),"The Odd Couple" (1970),and "Starsky and Hutch" (1975).
A charismatic performer with dark hair, Lester was known for his ability to adopt mockingly menacing personas due to a distinctive scar above his right eyebrow. He often regaled audiences with outlandish stories about how he acquired the scar, claiming it was the result of being blown off a barge at Guadalcanal, or getting it in a fencing duel while studying in Heidelberg. However, the truth was that he had received the scar at the age of three, when he fell off a chair onto a broken water glass.
Lester considered plastic surgery to remove the scar, but ultimately decided against it after a movie makeup artist liked it so much that he enlarged it for Lester's scenes. Buddy Lester passed away on October 4, 2002, at the age of 87, due to cancer complications in a Van Nuys nursing home. He left behind a legacy of laughter and entertainment, and was survived by his son Paul, daughter Sylvia Jensen, four grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.
