Jilly Rizzo

Infobox Person
name = Jilly Rizzo

---

caption =
birth_name = Ermenigildo Rizzo
birth_date = birth date|1917|5|6|mf=y
birth_place = New York City, New York
death_date = death date and age|1992|5|6|1917|5|6|mf=y
death_place = Rancho Mirage, California
occupation = Restaurateur
Television personality
nationality = American

Ermenigildo Rizzo (May 6, 1917 – May 6, 1992), nicknamed Jilly, was an American restaurateur and entertainer. A long time friend of Frank Sinatra, Rizzo made cameo appearances in several of his films. He was also a frequent guest on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In", where he would recite one liners in his monotone New York accent. During the 1970s, his night-club was torn down and replaced with Dean Martin's restaurant, Dino's.

On May 6, 1992, Rizzo was killed in a car accident when he was hit by a drunk driver on his 75th birthday in Rancho Mirage, California. [cite news|url=http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0CE1D6163FF934A35756C0A964958260|title=Jilly Rizzo, Close Aide To Sinatra, Killed at 75|date=1992-05-07|publisher="New York Times"|accessdate=2008-07-21] He is buried near Sinatra in the Desert Memorial Park in Palm Springs, California.

Trivia

Frank Sinatra mentions Jilly in a number of his recordings:
*Jilly's Restaurant is mentioned twice in his and Sammy Davis Jr.'s song "Me and My Shadow".
*At the beginning of the album "Sinatra at the Sands", Frank jokingly welcomes his Las Vegas audience to "Jilly's West."
*In his cover version of "Mrs. Robinson", he changes the name "Jesus" to "Jilly."
*In the 1969 song "Star!", Frank sings, "If they've got a drink with her name in Jilly's Bar, the chances are, the lady's a Star!"
*Actor/comedian Brad Garrett told some funny stories about being Frank Sinatra's opening act, and how Jilly temporarily fired him for allegedly making a bad joke about Frank. Jilly allegedly sent him, as a punishment, to open for Liza Minnelli.
* Jilly appears as a bartender in "The Manchurian Candidate" where one of his stories sets off Laurence Harvey into a hypnotic trance.

References

External links

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Persondata
NAME= Rizzo, Jilly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Rizzo, Ermenigildo
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Restaurateur, Television personality
DATE OF BIRTH= May 6, 1917
PLACE OF BIRTH= New York City, New York
DATE OF DEATH= May 6, 1992
PLACE OF DEATH= Rancho Mirage, California