Buddy Hackett ✝

Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker; August 31, 1924 – June 30, 2003) was an American comedian and actor. His best remembered roles include Marcellus Washburn in The Music Man (1962), Benjy Benjamin in It\'s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), Tennessee Steinmetz in The Love Bug (1968), and Scuttle in The Little Mermaid (1989).\n', ' Hackett was born in Brooklyn, New York to Anna (née Geller) and Philip Hacker, an upholsterer and part-time inventor. He grew up on 54th and 14th Ave in Borough Park, Brooklyn, across from Public School 103. He graduated from New Utrecht High School in 1942.\n', ' While still a student, he began performing in nightclubs in the Catskills Borscht Belt resorts as "Butch Hacker". He appeared first at the Golden Hotel in Hurleyville, New York, and he claimed he did not get one single laugh. He enlisted in the United States Army during World War II and served for three years in an anti-aircraft battery.\n', '