Jolene Brand (born Jolene Marie Bufkin ) is an American actress. She acted most in the 1950s and 1960s, and appeared in seven episodes of the Ernie Kovacs television shows.
14-476: Nairobi Trio may refer to: The Nairobi Trio , a comedy routine popularized by Ernie Kovacs Nairobi Trio, a musical group led by Nigel Gavin Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Nairobi Trio . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
28-443: A baton or a banana. To the viewer's left stood a gorilla holding two oversized timpani mallets. The identity of this ape varied, but among Kovacs's celebrity friends both Jack Lemmon and Frank Sinatra are known to have performed the character. Seated at a piano at screen right was a female simian, variously played by Barbara Loden , Jolene Brand , and Kovacs's wife, Edie Adams , who robotically thumped her hands up and down on
42-477: A new, lyrics-free version of the melody, now known as "Song of the Nairobi Trio," in 1961, billing his ensemble as "The Fortune Tellers." In 1966, as "Robert Maxwell, His Harp and Orchestra," he recorded yet a third arrangement of the melody. Of the three gorillas shown, all wearing hats, long coats, and white gloves, the middle gorilla, always played by Kovacs with a cigar, conducted the musicians with either
56-437: A novel and creative way. People in gorilla suits had long been a comedy staple. The ploy of well-known, predictable music pieces gone awry had been practiced by artists as diverse as Stan Freberg , Spike Jones , and P. D. Q. Bach . The "slow burn" of one character being annoyed by another, resulting in eventual retaliation, was not new. But the combination of all of those ingredients, combined with impeccable timing, produced
70-610: A unique and memorable result. The skit was a live-action version of a child's animatronic wind-up music box , performed to the tune "Solfeggio" by Robert Maxwell . According to an interview with Edie Adams in John Barbour 's 1982 documentary Ernie Kovacs: Television's Original Genius , Barry Shear, Kovacs's director at DuMont Television Network , brought the tune to Kovacs's attention in 1954. Harpist and songwriter Robert Maxwell had recorded "Solfeggio" himself in 1953. The lyrics, sung by The Ray Charles Singers , were simply
84-499: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nairobi_Trio&oldid=870523411 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages The Nairobi Trio The Nairobi Trio was a sketch comedy skit that Ernie Kovacs performed many times for his TV shows . It combined several existing concepts and visuals in
98-410: The keys. Nearly all of the Nairobi Trio skits operated in the same fashion. As "Solfeggio" plays, the gorilla with the mallets repeatedly uses the center gorilla's (Kovacs's) head like a drum at the end of every phrase, punctuating the song's sharp "ba-da-BUM" bongo riff . Every time this happens it brings a slightly changed and escalating response from the victim, who eventually tries to anticipate
112-410: The mallet assaults and outwit the perpetrator. Ultimately staring him down, Kovacs, in the gorilla suit, is eventually distracted by the third gorilla, which allows the drummer to give him three final blows. The victimized gorilla then stands up and smashes a prop vase over the percussionist's head. The sketch was repeated many times over the course of Kovacs's career. The audio was always "Solfeggio" but
126-493: The notes of the musical scale as the melody progressed ("Mi-sol-la, re-fa-re-sol..."). When Ernie Kovacs heard the Maxwell record, he immediately came up with a mental image of what would become The Nairobi Trio: "Solfeggio" became the permanent theme song for the sketch. The Nairobi Trio became so popular that M-G-M Records reissued the Maxwell record of "Solfeggio" as "Song of the Nairobi Trio" in 1957. Composer Maxwell recorded
140-406: The staging changed occasionally; one variation had the first and second gorillas handling building blocks in tempo, with the third gorilla pounding at a xylophone. Edie Adams later said that the skits were simple enough for any one of Kovacs's friends and associates to step into the drummer's role without needing a rehearsal, and that the gorilla masks provided anonymity. The last time the routine
154-568: Was a model on the television series Queen for a Day as well. Brand portrayed " Indian Emily " in the 1959 episode of the same name on the syndicated television anthology series , Death Valley Days , hosted by Stanley Andrews . The setting is the United States Army outpost at Fort Davis , Texas . Emily, an Apache captive, adopts the white man's ways but flees when a young officer, Tom Easton ( Burt Metcalfe ), whom she loves, prepares to marry someone else. She returns to warn
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#1732794458688168-766: Was from Baldwin Park, California . She graduated from Covina High School and attended Mt. San Antonio College . She won an American Legion beauty contest in 1951 and was queen of the Los Angeles County Fair of 1953, Miss Red Feather, Miss Baldwin Park, the Future Farmers of America Queen, and a WAMPUS Baby Star. Early in her career, Brand performed in Las Vegas, and in 1955 she sang and danced at Ciro's night club in California. Also in 1955 she
182-569: Was named a WAMPAS Baby Star . In 1958, she acted in the B-film Giant from the Unknown , about a man who was frozen in suspended animation for 500 years and was freed by a lightning bolt and goes on a killing spree. Later that year she was signed up to play a part in the Disney television show Zorro . She played the romantic interest for the main character played by Guy Williams . She
196-500: Was performed was on one of Kovacs's 1960s ABC specials shortly before his untimely death. On this occasion the combination of a bigger budget, the use of videotape , and the luxury of retakes helped him to perfect the timing of the sketch. But the Nairobi Trio wasn't always confined to silence with "Solfeggio" playing; they went into outer space and also became safe crackers on a US Steel special, Private Eye, Private Eye , which aired on CBS on March 8, 1961. Jolene Brand Brand
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