Voting Station

Alan Carney

Please vote to return to collections.

Comedian

The Resume

    (December 22, 1909-May 2, 1973)
    Born in Brooklyn, New York
    Birth name was David Boughal
    Acted in 'Mr. Lucky,' 'Step Lively,' 'Girl Rush,' 'Zombies on Broadway,' 'Radio Stars on Parade,' 'Genius at Work,' 'Li'l Abner,' 'North to Alaska,' 'Who Was That Lady,' 'Swingin' Along,' 'The Absent-Minded Professor,' 'The Comancheros,' 'Son of Flubber.' 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,' 'Blackbeard's Ghost,' and 'Herbie Rides Again'
    Frequently played the character, 'Mike Strager,' in RKO comedies

Why he might be annoying:

    He resembled a slightly less chubby Eugene Pallette/Andy Devine.
    He was teamed with Wally Brown as RKO's answer to Abbott and Costello, but they failed to equal the more famous duo's iconic chemistry.
    Their teaming was so weak that they were famously upstaged by Nicodemus Stewart with a five-minute janitor role in 'Zombies on Broadway.'
    The two filmed an awkward remake of the Marx Brothers movie, 'Room Service,' with an off-screen narrator functioning in the Groucho-role.
    Their teaming became a running Hollywood joke, with Bob Newhart even taking time out of his autobiography to relate the story of the two being attacked by poodles during one of their vaudeville acts.
    Their contracts were both terminated by RKO, after several disappointing flops, in 1946.
    He and Brown figured heavily into the promotion of 'The Absent Minded Professor,' as if to suggest the team was making a comeback, even though they shared no scenes together (not like it would have helped sales much anyway).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His sense of comedic timing was pretty underrated.
    He and Brown did live USO tours for the troops in the Pacific, during WWII.
    He made an unexpected comeback in the 1960s, playing memorable supporting roles in a string of live-action Disney films.
    His horror-comedy films with Brown may have actually paved the way for the more popular 'Abbott & Costello meets ___' series.
    He was supposed to be reunited with Brown in the all-star comedy, 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,' but Brown died shortly before shooting began.
    He had a memorable role as Mayor Dawgmeat in the film version of 'Li'l Abner.'
    He died of a heart attack after completing 'Herbie Rides Again' (1974).
    He worked with Bela Lugosi, Helen Hayes, Spencer Tracy, Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra, Peter Ustinov, and Anne Jeffrys.

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 16 Votes: 12.50% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 100 Votes: 47.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying