My generation grew up with former Vaudeville comedians George Burns and Gracie Allen, Eddie Cantor, Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca, Red Skelton, and Jimmy Durante. Jimmy signed off every show with “Good Night, Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.” No one knows for sure who Mrs. Calabash was.
Good night from Views from the Edge. See you in the morning.
Shortly after Jimmy started his tv series he supposedly received a letter that was a rebuke for something he had said on an earlier show. He read the letter on the air it was signed MRS calabash. After that he ended every show with “goodnight Mrs Calabash where ever you are”. I don’t know if this is right or not or not. But I grew up in the 40’s and 50’s and this is what I heard at the time.
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Greetings, and welcome to Views from the Edge. I’d not heard this before. It gives a nice twist to the show’s ending, a Durante sense of humor to the end.
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It was said years ago and later supposedly confirmed by Jimmy that Mrs. Calabash was in reference to his first wife who while traveling with him became enamored with the town of Calabash. He thereafter called her Mrs. Calabash.
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Peter,
Thank you for the “supposedly confirmed” information on Jimmy and his beloved “Mrs. Calabash”! Always loved the show and the ending.
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