Edward Kinley dies at 82

Vaudevillian and comic had long career

By VARIETY STAFF

Edwin Kinley, a former vaudeville performer who later worked as a comedian with some of the top performers in the 1940s and 1950s, died March 31 of heart failure in New York City. He was 82.

Kinley, whose real name was Kienle, began his career at the age of 12 as a singer and dancer in the road show of Gus Edwards, a show business impresario who helped shape the careers of many well-known personalities, including Walter Winchell and Eddie Cantor.

Kinley joined with Eileen Grant for the dancing duo of Kinley and Grant, who made short films for Warner Brothers during the early 1930s.

Kinley later embarked on a solo career as a comic, and became known as "The Crown Prince of Comedy." He performed at major East Coast nightclubs throughout the 1940s and 1950s, working with Jackie Gleason, Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, Harry Belafonte, and Tony Bennett.

Born and raised in New York City, Kinley was a longtime member of the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA). He retired in the late 1950s and worked as a salesman for General Motors.

Kinley is survived by his wife, Gloria, two sons and a daughter.