Trainer Of Muggs The Chimp Dies In Tampa
CARMINE MENNELLA,
STAR PRIMATE A TV HIT
TAMPA Carmine "Bud" Mennella, the trainer for J. Fred Muggs, the world's most famous chimp, has died. He was 80. Mennella died Sunday in Tampa after suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, said his son, Gerald Preis. Muggs, who garnered worldwide fame on NBC's "Today" show in the 1950s, turns 50 today. "He was one of the kindest people you could ever find on this Earth," Preis said Wednesday. "We even took in orphaned chimps because people were going to destroy them or donate them to science. Just to save their lives, we took care of them until they passed." Mennella had trained as an opera singer, but paralyzing stage fright kept him from pursuing a career, his son said. Instead, he took a job as a page at the NBC studios in New York and purchased a pet shop in GlenRock, N.J., in l952. He bought a baby chimp from an animal wholesaler to use in publicity events for his new business and named him Muggs. Mennella had taken the primate to the hospital to visit a family member when he stopped off at the NBC coffee shop. Muggs dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee caught the eye of an NBC executive, Preis said. They retired to Tampa 27 years ago to perform at Busch Gardens. Living with Muggs is his performing chimp girlfriend, Phoebe B. Beebe, who is 48. "He lived his life for these animals," Preis said.
The Tampa Tribune - 14 Mar 2002, Thu
s/o Ciro and Julia (Jacarino) Mennella
CARMINE MENNELLA,
STAR PRIMATE A TV HIT
TAMPA Carmine "Bud" Mennella, the trainer for J. Fred Muggs, the world's most famous chimp, has died. He was 80. Mennella died Sunday in Tampa after suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, said his son, Gerald Preis. Muggs, who garnered worldwide fame on NBC's "Today" show in the 1950s, turns 50 today. "He was one of the kindest people you could ever find on this Earth," Preis said Wednesday. "We even took in orphaned chimps because people were going to destroy them or donate them to science. Just to save their lives, we took care of them until they passed." Mennella had trained as an opera singer, but paralyzing stage fright kept him from pursuing a career, his son said. Instead, he took a job as a page at the NBC studios in New York and purchased a pet shop in GlenRock, N.J., in l952. He bought a baby chimp from an animal wholesaler to use in publicity events for his new business and named him Muggs. Mennella had taken the primate to the hospital to visit a family member when he stopped off at the NBC coffee shop. Muggs dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee caught the eye of an NBC executive, Preis said. They retired to Tampa 27 years ago to perform at Busch Gardens. Living with Muggs is his performing chimp girlfriend, Phoebe B. Beebe, who is 48. "He lived his life for these animals," Preis said.
The Tampa Tribune - 14 Mar 2002, Thu
s/o Ciro and Julia (Jacarino) Mennella
Trainer Of Muggs The Chimp Dies In Tampa
CARMINE MENNELLA,
STAR PRIMATE A TV HIT
TAMPA Carmine "Bud" Mennella, the trainer for J. Fred Muggs, the world's most famous chimp, has died. He was 80. Mennella died Sunday in Tampa after suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, said his son, Gerald Preis. Muggs, who garnered worldwide fame on NBC's "Today" show in the 1950s, turns 50 today. "He was one of the kindest people you could ever find on this Earth," Preis said Wednesday. "We even took in orphaned chimps because people were going to destroy them or donate them to science. Just to save their lives, we took care of them until they passed." Mennella had trained as an opera singer, but paralyzing stage fright kept him from pursuing a career, his son said. Instead, he took a job as a page at the NBC studios in New York and purchased a pet shop in GlenRock, N.J., in l952. He bought a baby chimp from an animal wholesaler to use in publicity events for his new business and named him Muggs. Mennella had taken the primate to the hospital to visit a family member when he stopped off at the NBC coffee shop. Muggs dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee caught the eye of an NBC executive, Preis said. They retired to Tampa 27 years ago to perform at Busch Gardens. Living with Muggs is his performing chimp girlfriend, Phoebe B. Beebe, who is 48. "He lived his life for these animals," Preis said.
The Tampa Tribune - 14 Mar 2002, Thu
s/o Ciro and Julia (Jacarino) Mennella
CARMINE MENNELLA,
STAR PRIMATE A TV HIT
TAMPA Carmine "Bud" Mennella, the trainer for J. Fred Muggs, the world's most famous chimp, has died. He was 80. Mennella died Sunday in Tampa after suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, said his son, Gerald Preis. Muggs, who garnered worldwide fame on NBC's "Today" show in the 1950s, turns 50 today. "He was one of the kindest people you could ever find on this Earth," Preis said Wednesday. "We even took in orphaned chimps because people were going to destroy them or donate them to science. Just to save their lives, we took care of them until they passed." Mennella had trained as an opera singer, but paralyzing stage fright kept him from pursuing a career, his son said. Instead, he took a job as a page at the NBC studios in New York and purchased a pet shop in GlenRock, N.J., in l952. He bought a baby chimp from an animal wholesaler to use in publicity events for his new business and named him Muggs. Mennella had taken the primate to the hospital to visit a family member when he stopped off at the NBC coffee shop. Muggs dunking a doughnut in a cup of coffee caught the eye of an NBC executive, Preis said. They retired to Tampa 27 years ago to perform at Busch Gardens. Living with Muggs is his performing chimp girlfriend, Phoebe B. Beebe, who is 48. "He lived his life for these animals," Preis said.
The Tampa Tribune - 14 Mar 2002, Thu
s/o Ciro and Julia (Jacarino) Mennella
Inscription
J. Fred Muggs
US Navy - Midshipman
USS Prairie State
World War II
Family Members
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Records on Ancestry
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U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
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1940 United States Federal Census
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New York, U.S., Arriving Passenger and Crew Lists (including Castle Garden and Ellis Island), 1820-1957
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U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current
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U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947
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