Ed "Kookie" Byrnes born 30 July 1932

Edward Byrne Breitenberger (July 30, 1932 – January 8, 2020), known professionally as Edd Byrnes, was an American actor, best known for his starring role in the television series 77 Sunset Strip. He also was featured in the 1978 film Grease as television teen-dance show host Vince Fontaine, and was a charting recording artist with "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" (with Connie Stevens). 

Byrnes, who was born Edward Byrne Breitenberger in New York City, came from a poor family. His alcoholic father died when he was 13. Byrnes worked a variety of jobs, but he yearned for an acting career. At 17, he began to work as a photographer's model and was drawn into male hustling with wealthy older men that introduced him to a "strange world" of "art, wealth, sadism, limousines, sex for money, theater and fine restaurants," Byrnes wrote in his 1996 autobiography, " 'Kookie' No More." 

Still pursuing acting, in 1955 he drove to LA "with a few hundred dollars and a dream of making it big in the entertainment business," his son wrote. Byrnes was best known as Kookie on the private-detective series "77 Sunset Strip," which ran from ran from 1958 to 1964. Byrnes played a hip parking attendant at a Hollywood nightclub who helped out with cases. He was known for his hipster lingo, including the catch phrase "Baby, you're the ginchiest!"When he wasn't making wisecracks, Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III was lovingly combing his well-greased hairdo. 

At the peak of his popularity, Byrnes received more than 15,000 fan letters a week, exceeding the record that Warner Bros., the studio behind 77 Sunset Strip, had ever received for any star (yes, more than even Errol Flynn and James Cagney). The actor said he once appeared on 26 magazine covers in one week alone. "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)," a novelty record he recorded with Connie Stevens, sold more than 1 million copies and rose to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in May 1959. However, Byrnes chafed under a contract that cost him the chance of several roles in movies such as "Ocean's Eleven." 

                                   

He walked off the show in the second season, demanding a bigger part and better pay, and retreated into a heavy drinking period. He returned in an “upgraded” role in May 1960, with Kookie now a partner in the agency and sporting a coat and tie. After 77 Sunset Strip ended its six-season-run in 1963, Byrnes moved to Europe to star in a string of spaghetti Westerns and spy thrillers. He sporadically returned to Hollywood to capitalize on his Kookie notoriety. 

He appeared in dozens of movies which included Reform School Girl (1957), Darby’s Rangers (1958), Marjorie Morningstar (1958), Life Begins at 17 (1958), Up Periscope (1959), Yellowstone Kelly (1959), Beach Ball (1965), Michael Apted’s Stardust (1974) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989). He also appeared on episodes of several TV shows, including "Fantasy Island" and "Murder, She Wrote." In 1975, Byrnes was hired to host a new game show called "Wheel of Fortune" and filmed two pilots, but the job eventually went to Chuck Woolery. In the 1978 John Travolta movie "Grease," he played Vince Fontaine, the suave host of the "National Bandstand" TV dance show. 

Byrnes was married from 1962-71 to actress Asa Maynor (she played the stewardess in the famous Twilight Zone episode “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet,” starring William Shatner).  The marriage ended in divorce. Byrnes also struggled with alcohol and drug addictions for years before managing to kick them which he detailed in his 1996 autobiography, Kookie No More. 

Byrnes had a small role in the Erin Moran TV film Twirl (1981) and the lead in Erotic Images (1983) with Britt Ekland. Byrnes also appeared in Mankillers (1987); Back to the Beach (1987); Party Line (1988) and Troop Beverly Hills (1989).  Later appearances included parts in: Unhappily Ever After; Rags to Riches; Mr. Belvedere; Empty Nest; Burke's Law (the revival); Adam-12, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Murder, She Wrote. In 1987 he appeared on the sitcom Throb in the role of Bobby Catalina, a washed-up singer, and performed his trademark "Kookie" song. 

In 1992, he played a fictionalized version of himself on Married... with Children, being a celebrity endorser for a time share and singing a revamped version of "Kookie" with the thrash metal band Anthrax. One of his final TV roles was a small role in the mini-series Shake, Rattle and Roll: An American Love Story (1999). Byrnes appeared during the Memphis Film Festival in June 2014; he was reunited with his former Yellowstone Kelly co-star Clint Walker. On January 8, 2020, 87 year old Byrnes died unexpectedly of natural causes at his home in Santa Monica, his son, San Diego TV news anchor Logan Byrnes, said on Twitter. 

(Edited from The Hollywood Reporter, Wikipedia & Star Tribune)