Bill Dana

Bill Dana, an American screenwriter, actor and comedian, started out as an NBC page while doing nightclub comedy in New York alongside Gene Wood. During the 1950s he turned up on programs including The Danny Thomas Show and The Imogene Coca Show. While writing for The Steve Allen Show, he invented José Jiménez, a Bolivian character with a thick accent whom he often played as an astronaut. The role led to a recurring spot as an elevator operator on The Danny Thomas Show and then to a sitcom of his own on NBC, The Bill Dana Show, broadcast from 1963 to 1965. Later he wrote and provided a voice for an animated Alice in Wonderland television movie, and he had a hand in scripting the Get Smart feature The Nude Bomb (1980). His other film parts included The Busy Body (1967) and I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now? (1975). He died in 2017.