# Buddy Hackett In Prison

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buddy-hackett-in-prison/186005>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 3, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buddy-hackett-in-prison/186005 "2003-07-03T12:54:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![thwartme](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@thwartme](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thwartme)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buddy-hackett-in-prison/186005/1 "2003-07-03T12:54:21Z")

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Years ago, I saw Buddy Hackett as a guest on the Tonight Show, and he mentioned - almost in passing - that he had been in prison for killing a man. He also said that while he was in prison, he killed a second man who attacked him with a knife. He seemed to be serious about it.

But now I read the newspaper bios of him, and no mention of this is made. I can’t find anything on-line about it.

So what’s the deal? Did Buddy do time?

Thanks,  
Bill

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**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\
**Post date:** [July 3, 2003, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buddy-hackett-in-prison/186005/2 "2003-07-03T14:27:59Z")

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Not only do the obits have no mention of a jail term (here’s the [NY Times’](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/02/obituaries/02HACK.html) – free but registration required – try cypherpunk/cypherpunk), but I don’t think he had time for one. He seems to have moved fairly rapidly into show business after his Army service in World War II.

He _was_ regarded as a pretty good actor, and I remember him doing a lot of deadpan leg pulling, especially with Johnny Carson, in joke setups. Johnny, of course, was a consumate straight man, and would have gone along unquestioningly with a setup like, “As you know, Johnny, I’ve done some time in jail…”