During the late 1950s and early 60s, Edd Byrnes was a bona fide TV star, receiving in excess of 15,000 fan letters a week. As Gerald Lloyd 'Kookie' Kookson III, the jive-talking, ultra-cool parking lot attendant, on the hit ABC series "77 Sunset Strip", the actor created one of the nascent medium's better known characters. Byrnes, however, was unable to translate his small screen success into a lasting career. Despite periodic "comebacks", he has seemingly been relegated to the status of an answer to a trivia question.

Born in New York, Byrnes made his professional debut with Joe E Brown's