
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerardo Luigi "Jerry" Colonna (September 17, 1904 – November 22, 1986) was an American musician, actor, comedian, singer, songwriter and trombonist best remembered as the zaniest of Bob Hope's sidekicks in Hope's popular radio shows and films of the 1940s and 1950s.
With his pop-eyed facial expressions and walrus-sized handlebar moustache, Colonna was known for singing loudly "in a comic caterwaul," according to Raised on Radio author Gerald Nachman, and for his catchphrase, "Who's Yehudi?", uttered after many an old joke, although it usually had nothing to do with the joke. The line was believed to be named for violin virtuoso Yehudi Menuhin, and the search for Yehudi became a running gag on the Hope show.
Colonna featured in three of the popular Hope-Crosby Road films: Road to Singapore (1940) as Achilles Bombassa, Road to Rio (1947) as a Cavalry captain and The Road to Hong Kong (1962) in a cameo role. He can also be seen in the Fred Allen vehicle, It's in the Bag! (1945), as psychiatrist Dr. Greenglass, and he made a brief appearance with Hope in the "Wife, Husband and Wolf" sketch in Star Spangled Rhythm. In 1956 he performed the featured song "My Lucky Charm" in the film Meet Me in Las Vegas, starring Dan Dailey and Cyd Charisse.
He provided the voice of the March Hare in the Walt Disney animated film version of Alice in Wonderland (1951) (another radio legend, Ed Wynn, voiced the Mad Hatter) and also lent his zany narration style to several Disney shorts, including Casey at the Bat (1946) and The Brave Engineer (1950).

Alice in Wonderland
1951 · as March Hare (voice)

Joys
1976 · as Self

Make Mine Music
1946 · as Narrator (segment "Casey at the Bat") (voice)

Sis Hopkins
1941 · as Professor

Bob Hope's World of Comedy
1976 · as Self (archive footage)

Rosalie
1937 · as Joseph

Naughty but Nice
1939 · as Allie Gray

Valley of the Giants
1938 · as Saloon Singer

Road to Utopia
1946 · as Man on Boat to Alaska (uncredited)

Road to Singapore
1940 · as Achilles Bombanassa

This Is Bob Hope...
2017 · as Self (archive footage)

Ellis in Freedomland
1952 · as The Waste-away (voice)

It's in the Bag!
1945 · as Dr. Greengrass

The Road to Hong Kong
1962 · as Man Looking For Match (uncredited)

Ice Capades Revue
1942 · as Theophilus J. Twitchell

Road to Rio
1947 · as Jerry Colonna

Meet Me in Las Vegas
1956 · as Jerry Colonna

G.I. Journal
1944 · as Self