Ed Ames

Edmund Dantes Urick (July 9, 1927 – May 21, 2023), known professionally as Ed Ames or Eddie Ames, was an American pop singer and actor.<ref name=NYT>Template:Cite news</ref> He was known for playing Mingo in the television series Daniel Boone, and for his Easy Listening No. 1 hits of the mid-to-late 1960s including "My Cup Runneth Over", "Time, Time", and "When the Snow Is on the Roses". He was also part of the popular 1950s singing group with his siblings, the Ames Brothers.<ref name=NYT/>

Early life and career

Template:See also Ames was born in Malden, Massachusetts, on July 9, 1927,<ref name="LarkinGE">Template:Cite book</ref> to Jewish parents Sarah (Zaslavskaya) and David Urick, a.k.a. Eurich, who had emigrated from Ukraine.<ref name=ZOA_sings>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=life>Template:Cite news</ref> He was the youngest of nine children, five boys and four girls.<ref name=life/>

Ames grew up in a poor household.<ref name=life/> He attended the Boston Latin School and was educated in classical and opera music, as well as literature. While still in high school, the brothers formed a quartet and often won competitions around the Boston area. Three of the brothers later formed the Amory Brothers quartet and went to New York City, where they were hired by bandleader Art Mooney. Playwright Abe Burrows helped the brothers along the way, suggesting the siblings change their group's name to the Ames Brothers.<ref name=life/>

The Ames Brothers were first signed on with Decca Records in 1947, but because of the Musician Union's ban in 1948, a holdover from the 1942–1944 musicians' strike, Decca released only three singles by the brothers, and one backing Russ Morgan. As the ban was ending, they signed with Coral Records, a subsidiary of Decca. They had their first major hit in the 1950s with the double-sided "Rag Mop" and "Sentimental Me". The brothers later joined RCA Victor records and continued to have success throughout the 1950s with many hits like "It Only Hurts For a Little While", "You, You, You", and "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane". The brothers made regular appearances on network television variety programs, and in 1955 briefly had a 15-minute show of their own.<ref name=life/>

Acting career

Ames as Mingo in the 1960s NBC television series, Daniel Boone

In the early 1960s, the Ames Brothers disbanded, and Ed Ames, pursuing a career in acting, studied at the Herbert Berghof School.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> His first starring role was in an off-Broadway production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, going on to starring performances in The Fantasticks off-Broadway and Carnival!, which was on Broadway.<ref name="LarkinGE"/>

Ames was in the national touring company of Carnival. His dark complexion and sharp facial features led to his being cast regularly as a Native American. He played Chief Bromden in the Broadway production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, opposite Kirk Douglas.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Talent scouts at 20th Century Fox saw Ames in the production and invited him to play the Cherokee tribesman, Mingo on the NBC television series Daniel Boone,<ref name="LarkinGE"/> with Fess Parker. His character's father was an English officer, the Fourth Earl of Dunmore, played in the show by Walter Pidgeon. In that show, Mingo was the Earl's eldest son and thus entitled to claim the title as the fifth Earl, but decided to remain part of the Cherokee Nation.Template:Citation needed

In an episode of Season One, Ames also portrayed Mingo's evil twin brother, Taramingo. Ames' main character was actually named Caramingo, but went by Mingo throughout the entire series.Template:Cn

Ames played a wanted murderer holed-up in a hotel during a smallpox quarantine on a 1962 The Rifleman episode ("Quiet Night, Deadly Night"), and guest-starred as Kennedy in the 1963 episode "The Day of the Pawnees, Part 2" on ABC's The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, with Kurt Russell in the title role. He guest-starred in 1963 on Richard Egan's NBC modern western series, Redigo.Template:Cn

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

While playing Mingo on television, Ames developed some skill in throwing a tomahawk. This led to one of the most memorable moments of his career, when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on April 27, 1965.

During the course of the show, Ames and Johnny Carson were discussing Ames' tomahawk throwing abilities. When Ames claimed that he could hit a target from across the room, Carson asked Ames if he could demonstrate this skill. Ames agreed, and a wood panel with a chalk outline of a cowboy was brought on to the stage. As the studio band played a bar of the theme music from Adventures of Pow Wow, Ames proceeded to throw the tomahawk, which hit the drawn cowboy square in the groin with the handle pointing upward. This led to a very long burst of laughter from the audience.

After a moment, Ames proceeded to walk toward the target to retrieve the tomahawk but Carson stopped him and allowed the situation to be appreciated for its humor. Ames then said to Carson: "Think I'm going into another business, John." To which Carson ad-libbed: "I didn't even know you were Jewish!" and "Welcome to Frontier Bris."Template:Cn (It's not known whether Carson was aware that Ames actually was Jewish.)

Ames then asked Carson if he would like to take a turn throwing, to which Carson replied: "I can't hurt him any more than you did." The clip became a favorite of Carson's own yearly highlight show and subsequent blooper television specials.<ref>Ed Ames, throwing a tomahawk. Template:YouTube.</ref><ref name="Jewish Humor">Template:Cite web</ref>

Summer stock

Later in his career, Ames became a fixture on the Kenley Players circuit, headlining in Shenandoah (1976, 1979, 1986), Fiddler on the Roof (1977), South Pacific (1980), Camelot (1981), and Man of La Mancha (1984).<ref name="kenleyplayersmost">Template:Cite web</ref>

Singing career

The Ames Brothers in 1955, Ed Ames at top

Ames recorded under the name "Eddie Ames" while still with the Ames Brothers, releasing the single "The Bean Song (Which Way to Boston?)" in January, 1957.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Ames returned to singing as a solo artist in 1965. Ames is known for his baritone voice. He released his first RCA Victor chart single, "Try to Remember".<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The song did respectably (No. 73 on the pop charts, No. 17 in the Adult Contemporary listing). A bigger success came in 1967 with "My Cup Runneth Over".<ref name="LarkinGE"/> The song was both a No. 8 pop hit and a No. 1 adult contemporary radio hit. Thereafter he had Adult Contemporary hits with "Time, Time", "When the Snow Is on the Roses", and "Timeless Love", the latter written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. He did make the pop Top 20 one last time in his singing career with "Who Will Answer?" in 1968.<ref name="LarkinGE"/> "Apologize" reached No. 47 in the Canadian RPM Magazine hot singles chart.

Ames's distinctive baritone is a regular radio presence during Christmas season, as well, thanks to his version of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" The song received its best-selling treatment from Bing Crosby in 1962, but Ames' version, recorded a few years later, is in frequent holiday rotation.<ref name=life/>

Ames also sang the "Ballad of the War Wagon" in the John Wayne/Batjac Productions movie, The War Wagon in 1967.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Personal life

Ed Ames married Sarita (Sara) Cacheiro in 1947 and they had three children, Sonya, Ronald, and Linda (aka Marcila, who died in 2007). The couple divorced October 5, 1973 in Santa Monica, California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Ames married Jeanne Arnold Saviano in 1998, the marriage lasted until his death in 2023.<ref>"Ed Ames dies at 95, of Alzheimer's disease his wife says", Billboard, retrieved September 24, 2025</ref>

While maintaining his career, he attended University of California, Los Angeles, receiving his degree in theater and cinema arts in 1975.

At the age of 77, Ames, saying "I am a secular Jew, but I feel strongly about Israel and the Jewish communities of Europe",<ref name=ZOA_sings /> became president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Zionist Organization of America.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

While appearing in Daniel Boone, Ames maintained homes in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, and Teaneck, New Jersey.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

From 1968 until 1987, he also owned a percentage of the Phoenix Suns.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Ames died of Alzheimer's disease at his Beverly Hills, California, home on May 21, 2023, at the age of 95.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He is buried at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in Westwood, California.

Discography

Singles

Year	Single	Chart Positions						Album
		US AC <ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref>	US <ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>	CB <ref name="CB 2">Template:Cite book</ref>	CA (RPM)	CA (AC)	AU
1965	"Try to Remember"	17	73	83	39	-	-	Try to Remember
1967	"My Cup Runneth Over"	1	8	8	9	-	34	My Cup Runneth Over
	"Time, Time"	1	61	66	60	-	-	Time, Time
	"Timeless Love"	2	-	109	-	-	-	When the Snow Is on the Roses
	"When the Snow Is on the Roses"	1	98	97	-	-	-
1968	"Who Will Answer?"	6	19	14	6	-	71	Who Will Answer and Other Songs of our Time
	"Apologize"	10	79	66	47	-	-	Apologize
	"All My Love's Laughter"	12	122	106	-	-	-
	"Kiss Her Now"	22	-	77	65	-	-	The Hits of Broadway and Hollywood
1969	"Changing, Changing"	11	130	112	-	6	-	A Time For Living, A Time For Hope
	"Son of a Travelin' Man"	21	92	94	81	14	61	The Windmills of Your Mind
	"Think Summer" (with Marilyn Maye)	17	-	-	-	-	-
	"Leave Them a Flower"	19	-	-	-	33	-	Love of the Common People
	"A Thing Called Love"	21	-	115	-	22	-
1970	"Three Good Reasons"	38	-	-	-	-	-	Sing Away the World
	"Think Summer" (with Marilyn Maye)	38	-	-	-	-	-
	"Chippewa Town"	36	-	-	-	-	-

Albums

Year	Title	Peak chart positions		Certification
		US 200 <ref name="Whitburn">Template:Cite book</ref>	US CB <ref name="CB">Template:Cite book</ref>
1963	Try To Remember	—	—
1964	The Ed Ames Album	—	—
1965	My Kind of Songs	—	—
1966	It's a Man's World	—	—
	More I Cannot Wish You	90	100
	My Cup Runneth Over	4	4	RIAA: Gold<ref name="RIAA">Template:Cite web</ref>
1967	Time, Time	77	57
	Christmas with Ed Ames	—	—
1968	When the Snow Is on the Roses	24	22
	Who Will Answer?	13	12	RIAA: Gold<ref name="RIAA"/>
	Apologize	135	87
	The Hits of Broadway and Hollywood	186	—
1969	A Time for Living, a Time for Hope	114	—
	The Windmills of Your Mind	157	72
	The Best of Ed Ames	119	—
	Love of the Common People	172	—
1970	Sing Away the World	194	—
	This is Ed Ames	—	—
	Christmas is the Warmest Time of the Year	—	—
1971	Sings the Songs of Bacharach and David	199	—
1972	Somewhere My Love	—	—
	Ed Ames	—	—
	Ed Ames Remembers Jim Reeves	—	—
	Songs from Lost Horizon and Themes from Other Movies	—	—
1973	Do You Hear What I Hear?	—	—
2001	The Very Best of Ed Ames	—	—

External links

• Template:IMDb name
• Template:Discogs artist
• Ed Ames biography (Patterson & Associates)
• Ed Ames: My Cup Runneth Over album information
• Ed Ames recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.