Phil Silvers

Phil Silvers was an American entertainer and comedic actor. He first received his fame in the 1950s, when he starred as a sly, fast-talking con artist by the name of Sergeant Bilko in The Phil Silvers Show. He most notable film role was in 1963's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World, where he played as the overly greedy motorist, Otto Meyer.

There were many occasions where Hanna-Barbera referenced Phil, mostly by having some of their characters having voice impressions based after him.

HB references

• In "Sheep-Shape Sheepherder", a short from Huckleberry Hound, Chiefy uses a Phil Silvers voice.
• In "Oinks and Boinks", a short from Yogi Bear, the wolf uses a Phil Silvers voice.
• In the Hokey Wolf shorts, the title character, Hokey Wolf uses a Phil Silvers voice.
• In the Top Cat TV series, the title character, Top Cat uses a Phil Silvers voice and the show itself uses a format from The Phil Silvers Show.
• In "The Snorkasaurus Hunter", an episode of The Flintstones, the Snorkasaurus was given a Sargent Bilko-styled voice and character.
• In "The Astra' Nuts", another episode of The Flintstones, after Fred and Barney were recruited into the army, they were conned by an unnamed Bilko-like character into becoming astronaut test pilots.
• In "The Volunteers", the first episode of Yippee, Yappee and Yahooey, the sargent uses a Phil Silvers-like voice similar to that of Hokey Wolf.
• In the CB Bears shorts, the character Hustle uses a Phil Silvers voice.
• In The Powerpuff Girls episode "Film Flam," Bernie Bernstein is a Silvers-sounding con artist.