Happy 100th Birthday, Phil Silvers!

Comedic actor Phil Silvers would have celebrated his centenary today.

Born on May 11th, 1911 in Brooklyn, NY, Silvers found notoriety as a vaudeville performer before moving on to a career in film and television.  His most famous work was his eponymous sitcom, which featured the actor in the role of Sgt. Ernest G. Bilko, a scheming confidence man who often avenged the wrongs done to the mentally inferior cohorts he surrounded himself with.

Silvers' audacious comedic persona (indeed he was colloquially known as "The King of Chutzpah"), served as fodder for and the basis of a number of Hanna-Barbera's early funny animal characters such as Hokey Wolf and Top Cat, which is why Supercade has chosen to give an extra special shout-out to the man some 26 years after his death.

Voted one of the Top 50 Cartoon Characters of All Time, Top Cat still enjoys some popularity thanks to re-runs on Boomerang, and he remains hugely popular in Latin America (especially Mexico, where he's known as Don Gato) where he and his gang of alley cat ne'er do-wells will be the subject of their own 3-D animated feature from Anima and Illusion Studios.

Happy 100, Phil Silvers!  Despite all the credit you're actually due, we're sure you're still schilling for more in true Bilko/Top Cat style where ever you may be suitably slacking in peace!