Jack Gilford was born Yankel Gellman in Brooklyn, New York, and began his career in the 1930s as an innovative comedian, performing satire and pantomime in Amateur Nights and nighttime clubs.
He became a regular at the prestigious Greenwich Village nightspot, Cafe Society, hosting shows featuring renowned performers such as Zero Mostel, Billie Holiday, and jazz greats like Hazel Scott.
Legend has it that Gilford invented the iconic phrase, "The butler did it!", as part of his movie satire routines, and also created a memorable facial pantomime of "Pea Soup Coming to a Boil".
In the 1950s, Gilford was a victim of the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) blacklisting, which stalled his TV career until the early 1960s. However, he bounced back to become a beloved popular comic character actor on numerous TV series and films.
One of his most iconic roles was as the rubber-faced guy on the "Cracker Jacks" commercials for a dozen years, from 1960 to 1972.
Gilford received Tony Award nominations for his performances in the Broadway musicals "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Cabaret", with the song "Meeskite" being written specifically for him by John Kander and Fred Ebb.
He also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film "Save the Tiger" (1973),opposite Jack Lemmon, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance.
