Dana

The Associated Press

Comedy writer, performer and former Hana resident Bill Dana, who reached stardom in the 1950s and ’60s with his character Jose Jimenez, has died. He was 92.

Dana died Thursday at his home in Nashville, Tenn., according to Emerson College, his alma mater.

Early in his career, Dana wrote jokes for Don Adams and Steve Allen, on whose show he served as head writer and a member of the performing troupe.

According to a biography posted on his blog in May 2008, “Bill has called Hana, Maui, his beloved home for the last 30 years.”

Born William Szathmary and a Massachusetts native of Hungarian-Jewish descent, Dana first appeared as Mexican immigrant Jimenez in a 1959 edition of “The Steve Allen Show.”

Introducing himself in broken English, “Jose Jimenez” cracked up the studio audience and convinced Dana that he had a hit on his hands.

He did. “My name . . . Jose . . . Jimenez” was soon a national catchphrase.

The character was embraced by the Latino community and, Dana once said, “was a perfect example of a person that wanted to be assimilated into American culture, learn the language, always looked spiffy.” But Dana bowed to changing standards and criticisms of stereotyping and retired Jimenez in 1970.

On Garry Moore’s variety program, Dana appeared as Jose the Astronaut. Being interviewed for his planned mission, Jose was asked what he planned to do while in space.

Wearing a fretful expression, he replied, “I plan to cry a lot.”

The character soon won Dana his own sitcom, “The Bill Dana Show,” which aired on NBC from 1963-65. A goodhearted naif, Jose was a bellhop at a New York hotel.

Dana recorded eight best-selling comedy albums, and made many TV appearances while continuing behind the scenes as a comedy writer. (He wrote the “Sammy’s Visit” episode of “All in the Family,” which featured Sammy Davis Jr. kissing bigoted Archie Bunker on the cheek.)

He also ran a talent management company and an advertising agency.

Looking back on his formative years in comedy for a 1998 interview, Dana said, “America was so uptight sexually you couldn’t show a close-up of the stork on ‘Zoo Parade.’ We were blessed with having to get our laughs out of pure comedy, pure in the sense of universality.”

Dana is survived by his wife, Evelyn Shular.