James Francis Durante (/dəˈrænti/ də-RAN-tee, Italian: [duˈrante]; February 10, 1893 – January 29, 1980) was an American actor, comedian, singer, vaudevillian, and pianist. His distinctive gravelly speech, Lower East Side accent, comic language-butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and prominent nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s. He often referred to his nose as the schnozzola (Italianization of the American Yiddish slang word schnoz, meaning "big nose"), and the word became his nickname.
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Eddie Cantor
American actor, singer, dancer and comedian
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Ben Bernie
American jazz violinist and radio personality
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Dick Powell
American actor
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Ralph Rainger
American songwriter and composer
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Billy Rose
American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist
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Al Dubin
Swiss-American lyricist (1891-1945)
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Jerry Colonna
American musician, actor and comedian
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Johnny Green
American conductor, arranger, composer, pianist; Harvard AB 1928, achieved early fame as a songwriter and orchestra leader in the 1920s and 1930s