Ed Ames

Edmund Dantes Urick (July 9, 1927 – May 21, 2023), known professionally as Ed Ames or Eddie Ames, was an American pop singer and actor. He was known for playing Mingo in the television series Daniel Boone, and for his Easy Listening No. 1 hits of the mid-to-late 1960s including "My Cup Runneth Over", "Time, Time", and "When the Snow Is on the Roses". He was also part of the popular 1950s singing group with his siblings, the Ames Brothers. to Jewish parents Sarah (Zaslavskaya) and David Urick, a.k.a. Eurich, who had emigrated from Ukraine. He was the youngest of nine children, five boys and four girls.

Talent scouts at 20th Century Fox saw Ames in the production and invited him to play Cherokee tribesman Mingo on the NBC television series Daniel Boone

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson While playing Mingo on television, Ames developed skill in throwing a tomahawk. This led to one of the most memorable moments of his career, when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on April 27, 1965.

During the course of the show, Ames and Johnny Carson were discussing Ames' tomahawk-throwing abilities. When Ames claimed that he could hit a target from across the room, Carson asked Ames if he could demonstrate this skill. Ames agreed, and a wood panel with a chalk outline of a cowboy was brought onto the stage. As the studio band played a bar of the theme music from Adventures of Pow Wow, Ames proceeded to throw the tomahawk, which hit the drawn cowboy square in the groin with the handle pointing upward. This led to a very long burst of laughter from the audience.

After a moment, Ames proceeded to walk toward the target to retrieve the tomahawk but Carson stopped him and allowed the situation to be appreciated for its humor. Ames then said to Carson: "Think I'm going into another business, John." To which Carson ad-libbed: "I didn't even know you were Jewish!" and "Welcome to Frontier Bris." (It's not known whether Carson was aware that Ames actually was Jewish.) Ames then asked Carson if he would like to take a turn throwing, to which Carson replied: "I can't hurt him any more than you did." The clip became a favorite of Carson's own yearly highlight show and subsequent blooper television specials.

Summer stock Later in his career, Ames became a fixture on the Kenley Players circuit, headlining in Shenandoah (1976, 1979, 1986), Fiddler on the Roof (1977), South Pacific (1980), Camelot (1981), and Man of La Mancha (1984).

Singing career

Ames recorded under the name "Eddie Ames" while still with the Ames Brothers, releasing the single "The Bean Song (Which Way to Boston?)" in January, 1957. Several of his other releases in 1963 and 1964 went unnoticed. He released his first RCA Victor chart single, "Try to Remember" in late 1964. A similar styled album preaching "brotherly love" was released later that year (Love of the Common People), though critics believed that Ames was not suited for the material chosen. Ames' recording career stopped after the RCA Victor contract ended in 1973. His final albums included tributes to Jim Reeves, (Remembers Jim Reeves) and Burt Bacharach & Hal David, (Sings the Songs of Bacharach and David). The latter was his final chart entry, placing at No. 199 nationally in February 1971.

Personal life and death Ed Ames married Sarita (Sara) Cacheiro in 1947 and they had three children, Sonya, Ronald, and Linda (known as Marcila, who died in 2007). The couple divorced on October 5, 1973 in Santa Monica, California. Ames married Jeanne Arnold Saviano in 1998; the marriage lasted until his death in 2023.

While maintaining his career, Ames attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where he received a bachelor's degree in theater and cinema arts in 1975.

At the age of 77, Ames stated: "I am a secular Jew, but I feel strongly about Israel and the Jewish communities of Europe".

While appearing in Daniel Boone, Ames maintained homes in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles and Teaneck, New Jersey.

From 1968 until 1987, he owned a percentage of the Phoenix Suns basketball team.

Ames died of Alzheimer's disease at his Beverly Hills, California home on May 21, 2023, at the age of 95. He is buried at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in Westwood, California.

Discography

The list below shows the singer's studio albums and hit songs only. His full discography, singles and other releases are described in a separate article. Ames placed several albums on the Billboard Top LP's and singles on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Studio albums

Opening Night with Ed Ames (1964) The Ed Ames Album (1964) My Kind of Songs (1965) It's a Man's World (1966) More I Cannot Wish You (1966) My Cup Runneth Over (1967) Time, Time (1967) Christmas with Ed Ames (1967) When the Snow Is on the Roses (1967) Who Will Answer? (1968) Sings Apologize (1968)

The Hits of Broadway and Hollywood (1968) A Time for Living, a Time for Hope (1969) The Windmills of Your Mind (1969) The Best of Ed Ames (1969) Love of the Common People (1969) Sing Away the World (1970) Christmas is the Warmest Time of the Year (1970) Sings the Songs of Bacharach and David (1971) Ed Ames (1972) Ed Ames Remembers Jim Reeves (1972) Songs from "Lost Horizon" and Themes from Other Movies (1972)

Hit songs