- This article concerns the actor in 77 Sunset Strip. For the actor/director, see Edward Burns.
Edd Byrnes (born Edward Byrne Breitenberger, 30 July 1933, New York, New York, United States) is an American actor of German and Irish extraction. His alcoholic father died when he was aged thirteen. He changed his surname to Byrnes, which was his maternal grandfather's surname and appeared in the film, Marjorie Morningstar as Edward Byrnes. He was usually billed under the name Edd Byrnes.
His most famous role was as Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III on the TV detective series 77 Sunset Strip. He played a continuously hair-combing serial killer in the pilot, Girl on the Run, and was so popular as a result that he was brought back the following week as a regular cast member in a different role, with Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. explaining the situation to the audience before the episode. At the beginning of the episode which followed Girl, Zimbalist broke the fourth wall with the announcement:
We previewed this show, and because Edd Byrnes was such a hit we decided that Kookie and his comb had to be in our series. So this week, we'll just forget that in the pilot he went off to prison to be executed. [1]
—from the pre-credit sequence for the episode "Lovely Lady, Pity Me"
Kookie's constant tending of his ducktail haircut led to many jokes and a hit song, "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb", which he recorded with Connie Stevens. The Kookie character was an example of the hipster sidekick who talks jive talk and knows what is "the word on the street". Byrnes was later hired to host Wheel of Fortune, but was fired by Merv Griffin after only the pilot episode in 1974 and was replaced by Chuck Woolery in 1975; he has appeared in many TV shows and unmemorable movies including three spaghetti westerns. Made a cameo appearance in an episode of Married With Children. Appeared with the music group Anthrax whereapon Anthrax sang "Kookie, Kookie, Lend Me Your Comb". He also played the role of Vince Fontaine in the 1978 smash movie Grease. His son, Logan Byrnes, was a news anchor at WVIT-TV in Hartford, Connecticut.
