Jackie Vernon was born Ralph Verrone on March 29, 1924, in New York City to Italian American parents. Vernon was known for his gentle, low-key delivery and self-deprecating humor. He has been hailed as “The King of Deadpan.” His signature opening line was, “To look at me now, it’s hard to believe I was once considered a dull guy.”
Early in the 1950s, according to Dick Brooks, Vernon bounced around the country working whatever stand-up comedy jobs he could find, mostly in strip joints. Even then he had a unique style, often cracking up members of the band with his inside humor. He decided to give New York a try, and hung around Hanson’s Drug Store, a place where small-time comedians and acts in the theater section of New York would meet after making the rounds of agents who had their offices in the area. He was picked up by manager of comedian Willie Weber. In 1963, Steve Allen invited Jackie to appear on his late-night television show, Celebrity Talent Scouts, and his career went into overdrive.
In the 1960s, Jackie occasionally worked as the opening act for both Dean Martin and Judy Garland and was a regular fixture on The Merv Griffin Show, where he informed the host that his original stage name had been “Nosmo King,” which he had seen on a sign (i.e. “no smoking”). Vernon was also known to perform unique and darker sketches, such as his ultimately tragic attempt to turn a watermelon into a housepet. Plagued by strange occurrences and misfortune,
One of his early bits was the “Vacation Slide Show.” There were no slides visible; they were presumably offscreen as he described them, using a hand-clicker to advance to each “slide”:
Despite his reputation as a raunchy comedian, Vernon also supplied the voice of the title character of the popular Rankin-Bass television special “Frosty the Snowman” (1969), which has been broadcast annually on CBS since its debut. He later voiced Frosty in two more Rankin-Bass specials: “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland” (1976) and “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July” (1979).
Vernon died at his home in Hollywood, California, on November 10, 1987, from a heart attack at age 63.