The Mercury Seven pair were sharing some comic relief, courtesy of Bill Dana. His sketches about Jose Jiménez, a Latino astronaut terrified of being shot into orbit, made him a favorite with space-age TV audiences and the Mercury teammates, who anointed Dana an honorary eighth member. "Is that a crash helmet?" a straight man such as Ed Sullivan might ask. Dana: "Oh, I hope not."
By the end of the '60s, such humor no longer flew. Dana, of Hungarian Jewish descent, retired José Jiménez in 1969 amid protests from Latino groups who deemed the character offensive. In turn, Dana's high-soaring career—he performed at John F. Kennedy's inaugural and starred in NBC's 1963-65 The Bill Dana Show—fell to earth, contributing to bouts of depression that lasted for more than 20 years. Now Dana, who turns 75 Oct. 5 and recently beat prostate cancer, is back in high spirits at the Maui home he shares with wife Evelyn, 50. "I've never been happier or more productive," he says.
He also hasn't quite hung up his space helmet. Along with sidelines such as designing plush toys and working with the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, Dana has recently revived José in nightclub gigs.
Though his alter ego gets mostly positive reactions these days, Dana still feels scarred by the contretemps. "In a revolution, there is a lot of innocent overkill," he says, pointing out that while some activists booed him, others lauded his work raising money for Latino causes with pals such as Anthony Quinn. Dana says he shelved Jose "out of respect." Alex Nogales, spokesman for the National Hispanic Media Coalition, calls Dana's decision "noble." José, he says, "was not a negative stereotype, but it was wrong for the times."
Born William Szathmary in Quincy, Mass., Dana won a Bronze Star as a World War II infantryman. At home, he snared a writing gig on The Steve Allen Show ("the Valhalla of TV," he says). In 1959, he started performing sketches featuring hapless José as a bobsled racer, diver or rancher. Then, in 1960, astronaut José achieved liftoff. Dana's comedy albums rocketed off shelves, and his opening line, "My name José Jiménez," became a catchphrase.
His biggest fans were the Mercury Seven astronauts. "We knew all of his punch lines," says Wally Schirra. Gordon Cooper yelled a Jiménez tag line—"Please don't let them do this to me!"—before his launch. In orbit, John Glenn, who favored a skit in which José worried about a mouse on a test flight, found a toy mouse floating out of his map case—thanks to prankster Alan Shepard.
After retiring Jiménez, Dana scrambled for work. He wrote an episode of All in the Family, managed a band, even wrote a comic strip. Despite falling for Evelyn, an environmental activist, in 1978, Dana (previously wed briefly in 1972) struggled with panic attacks and feelings of "fury and resentment." His depression lifted five years ago, around the time he underwent surgery for his prostate cancer.
But nothing could shake Dana's sense of schtick. Earlier this year, he performed as José at a roast for John Glenn. "Has NASA provided anything to break your fall?" asked Walter Cronkite. "Yes," said Dana. "The state of Nevada."
Samantha Miller
Lyndon Stambler in Maui
- Contributors:
- Lyndon Stambler.
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